not ONE person can comment on SAMURI SAMBA?!

[Guest]

i can enjoy tatum and ellignton AND samuri samba--- good melody doesnt go unnoticed by me, despite era or instrumentation. i know a lot of people here have certain reputations they need to adhere to- preventing them from enjoying certain types of music, but you should allways keep an open mind. When i teach my children about music i not only play them Earl Hines records but i also play them Bartok records as well as 80s pop. i try and teach them that no matter what the genre, a good melody is always a pleasure to enjoy.

i assure you, listening to the Yellowjackets will not harm your jazz credibility or your status among your peers!!

[Guest]

oh, but feel free to make fun of the cover all you want!

[Alexander]

I can't speak for anybody else, but I honestly have never heard it or any other Yellowjackets album. My dad (whose taste is largely repellent) owned a couple of Yellowjackets albums (which are now in my basement, still unheard by me) but I don't think that this was one of them.

[Rosco]

I seem to recall liking some early Yellowjackets stuff when Robben Ford was playing guitar for them (although I also recall some cringe-inducing synth sounds).

Not heard those records in years, though.

[Jim R]

i know a lot of people here have certain reputations they need to adhere to- preventing them from enjoying certain types of music...

Well, there are more open-minded jazz fans here than I ever realized existed. People here listen to all kinds of things, and they post about it (there have been a few "guilty pleasures" type of threads over the years, including admissions about all kinds of musical pleasures outside of jazz). If somebody says they don't enjoy Spyro Gyra or the Yellowjackets or whomever, maybe it's because they actually (honestly, sincerely, maybe even after years of trying) don't enjoy it. I think that's more likely than your scenario, at least.

[Dave James]

Jim,

Well stated. Back in the day, musicians like George Benson and Spyro Gyra served as a bridge between my rock/soul/pop/blues period and what has now become my life long avocation, jazz. I feel no need whatsoever to revisit any of this "bridge" material as it's already served its purpose. I'm reminded of the old saying that at least in part goes "...when I became a man, I put away childish things." That's the way I feel about the smoothies. No offense intended to anyone who appreciates this kind of music, but as Gertrude Stein said about Oakland, California; "There's no there there."

Up over and out.

[king ubu]

Back when I was 13 or 14 or so a friend played me some Yellowjackets, and I haven't liked it even back then, when I was just entering into jazz via late (80s) Miles (which I still like, to some extent, but play much less often than back then.... I went on to Trane and Mingus and Monk quickly from there, so I guess my interest in the likes of the Yellowjackets or Spyro Gyra - the same friend wanted to make me hip to them, too, but they always were boring and simplistic to me, also Corea's electric schtick - has more likely diminished than grown over the years...)