BFT 34 Discussion

[brownie]

It's March 15. Time to get this off the ground!

Hope the couple of missing envelopes will reach their destination very soon!

[tooter]

Some of the artists I’m sure I know but just can’t come up with the names, as usual.

I thought 1. was Kenny Dorham at first but King Ubu has hinted that this is wrong. In a previous BFT, a long time ago, I guessed KD for, if I remember correctly, Roger Guerin. So maybe it’s him on trumpet. It might fit with the French connection, if there is one.

I know the tunes of both 5. and 6. – “Minor Groove” and “My Romance” respectively but have no ideas as to who players are.

Sounds very like “The Preacher” by Horace Silver in 13. sometimes, but not always.

14. is a tune I know, very catchy, by a favourite tenor player – Phil Urso. Called “Extra Mild” and to me it sounds so much like a Jimmy Heath composition. The connection is the album [Playboys] for which Heath wrote the music I think and on which Urso played, together with of course Chet Baker and Art Pepper. So could it be Phil Urso playing here? One of the tenors sounds very like Tubby Hayes somehow but that doesn’t make much sense.

Thanks a lot for an extremely enjoyable disc, Brownie.

A modest start indeed!

[king ubu]

Ok, I'll stick my head out early for a change... I greatly enjoyed your disc, Guy, without being able to pin down anything else fore sure, after the opening track... -_-

#1 Terrific opener! Absolutely haunting melody, performed by K.D.-esque frog-eating trumpet

Love this one! What you miscalculated here, Guy, was how this melody sticks once one has heard it! It’s such a nice melancholy line, with those punctuations giving more hooks, and then that bitter-sweet trumpet on top…

He’s on trumpet,

he wrote the tune

and he arranged it.

#2 Very nice bass intro! Nice tenor… hmmm, does not ring a bell but I’d be astonished if this weren’t a bunch of guys I didn’t know! It all sounds very familiar, but I know I don’t know it…

#3 Nice! Sounds somewhat European? Again very nice bass, though the bottom end is a bit lowly recorded? I like this track a lot! Piano trio in the tradition of Bill Evans, I guess, but somewhat more swinging, in a very lyrical way. But except for the Evans influence (which is probably obvious with 95% of the piano trio music done after…) I am clueless.

#4 Monkish intro (reminds me of that tune, Little Rootie Tootie), but goes into a more standard straight ahead theme. I am again pretty clueless… but I like this arrangement quite a bit. Some Mingus in there? Could this be Martial Solal? Not quite sure – repeating!

Alto is very nice. Phil Woods? No, not fat enough sound, and some small things in there that are too… modern for him?

I remain clueless but I like it!

#5 Slightly generic, no? Oh, but there’s a bridge, too… nice hardbop… I assume I have this and should know it, but of late I have not played a lot of Blue Note albums, in fact it’s been years since I played any Sonny Clark or Horace Silver… tenor sounds familiar from the entrance on. Is this Kenny Dorham now? I am not quite sure… drummer sounds softer and much more relaxed than usual, which is good.

#6 “My Romance” – very nice. Out of the Tristano/Konitz/Marsh gang… is that Lee on alto? Very nice tenor, full but soft sound, very clear. Same for alto. But definitely not Lee – it just could have been him during the ensemble… those embellishments and all. Very nice track!

#7 Whoah! Or rather WHOAH!!! This is *it*! Great one! I have a feeling I should know at least all the horns, but I won’t stick my head out and make this even more embarrassing… Charlie Shavers?

#8 More classy stuff! Tune sounds familiar again… not “Flamingo”, is it?

Piano is great here!

So far, this BFT has been a class act!

I guess my comment on #5 wasn’t fair, since this only sounded slightly generic in the context of the great tracks surrounding it. In the middle of a Blue Note compilation, it could sound sophistiqué…

Is that Guy Lafitte on #8?

#9 Ooooh… what to say? The guy’s voice and his half-talking singing reminds me a bit of Joao Gilberto on those sixties sides with Getz. Very nice! Repeating and googling…

Ok, as I thought… same chap who wrote #1… is it really him singing? I don’t have any of his discs yet… Pan! Pan!

The song, maybe the album?

#10 Tenor is good, but piano gets into some almost classical stuff that I don’t find that great, to be frank. Oh, nice brass entrance, but still in a near-classical way. I like the tenor most here.

#211 Great trumpet solo! But sound has some warble… not exactly hi-fi… trombone entrance is fantastic! So smooth! Who could that be? Slide Hampton? Just a wild guess… Klook? No… this gets better and better! Lateef on tenor? Got to play this again! Fantastic track! That theme is so neat, and the playing then goes places!

#12 Nice one. Google tells me it’s Irving Berlin’s “How About Me” – never heard this song before, I think. Like it! Pianist accompanies very good!

#13 Ooooooh! Suave groove! All falls together her, guitar with very nice sound, drums shuffling without ever getting loud or banging… sort of a low-fi groove, and a great one! This is somewhere in between the urban funk of Horace Silver and the rural folk-funk of Jimmy Giuffre – great!

#14 Oh, I have this… what is it again? Hmm, organ? Maybe I know some other version of this tune? First tenor is nice, second goes a bit too much into virtuoso runs for some time. Organ is rather perfunctory…

#15 Old stuff… more west coasty music? Very nice! Probably one of those Prez followers on tenor?

#16 Ok, one more to go that I won’t know sh*t about… oh, same singer again as before? Great choice to end a classy disc!

[Nate Dorward]

Nice BFT brownie. My hit/miss ratio is getting worse with every test but, well, here goes...

1: A lovely opening with the trumpet & the tympani rolling around there. Film music for opening credits, maybe? Seems about the right length.

2: No prizes for guessing the pianist on this one. "The Git-Go". No idea, really, about the rest of the band, though the bassist sounds like a classic Waldron bassist (i.e. really dark, very free in approach). I'm just consulting my version on My Colline's a Tresure & quite possibly it's the same bassist (Leonard Jones). -- MW's solo here is, for him, quite brief & almost jaunty, when this is the kind of bare, trancelike tune he could spin out for the length of an LP side, so I'm wondering if this is from an album led or co-led by the saxophonist despite the authorship of the tune. No ideas about who the saxophonist is, though, even after a couple listens.

3: Almost too nice ... Don't recognize the tune or the players. Very good though not, for me, especially memorable. The emphasis here seems to be on the tune rather than improv -- maybe from a songbook album or something?

4: This one was odd to me because the tart alto saxophonist & the opening bars of the arrangement reminded me of Sun Ra but clearly this is something more mainstream & more contemporary than Mr Ra. The pianist maybe not my cup of tea -- that Kind of Blue quote drops in JUST when I knew it would -- but he's fine; the alto saxophonist though is the wild card & the one I find myself listening to. Whozzat? No idea, though like Dolphy or Spaulding he seems determined to cut through even the thickest ensemble thickets with some off-the-wall ideas (& a few too many wiggly runs maybe but, OK, that's fine). No idea who anyone is here. The recording sounds like it was very recent.

5: OK old-school stuff, nice to hear after the more contemporary sound of the last few tracks. Hm, that's an interesting tenor player, I can't tell where any of the lines are going to go, or how long. The trumpet's on more familiar territory/licks, grabs me much less. 1950s I guess, no idea who this is, perhaps west coast attempt at hard bop idioms?

6: "My Romance": odd studio sound & separation between the horns that kind of buries the tenor at times, though I think of the two sax players I like the tenor better. I don't know, it's a good track but not getting me too excited. Surely old-time guys, though recorded recently.

7: That guitar marks a change of pace! Hm, some US expats with a European band? Webster on tenor? The sound/mood of this track appeals a lot to me.

8: The tenor sounds extremely familiar but I can't nail it at the moment. Maybe it'll click later. I liked this one -- wish I recognized the tune.

9: Well either the alto saxophonist is Jackie McLean or trying very hard to sound like him (I think the latter). As the rest, well, I dunno!

10: HyperCorean/Monkish piano with the tenor taking the opposite tack, quite pared down. Hm, maybe two pianists or overdubs are involved halfway through? The introduction of the trombones near the end was a complete surprise. I really don't know what to make of the track -- not sure why these particular elements are combined here.

11: OK, back in time a bit, probably mid-1950s "experimental" stuff, reminds me of Bill Evans' early work with George Russell though it's not them. I should recognize all these players I'm sure, they all sound very familiar, the trombonist the most striking, the tenor the one edging closest to the tip of the tongue.

12: Very good reading of this not particularly frequently covered standard. Nope, no idea who it is singing or the band. Somehow the way he handles the end of the B section both times reminds me of Helen Merrill though it's of course not Merrill.

13: This one's a little odd because of the mix of "light" tenor and "Sidewinder"ish tune which keeps going on for several choruses past when I expected a solo, with odd little harmonic detours & reharmonizations, before you get to the tenor solo. No idea who this is, not really grabbing me but it's OK, with the arrangement keeping me guessing.

14: OK, moving back in time (1950s surely). Nifty tune, & the feel on this is really nice (smile on my face when the olde-style organ comes in). I dunno, could be Mobley on (first) tenor (the slow solo, not the lightningfast one), but I don't think I really know anyone here.

15: 1940s or 1950s, evidently not a professional recording. Lacklustre not-going-anywhere trumpet solo, the lithe alto sax solo is more my speed, & I take it the real reason for the inclusion of this track. Oops, unless there's something wrong with my CDR there's what sounds like an ugly edit which cuts out the piano & bass solos, drat.

16: opening reminiscent of Mingus's "Reincarnation of a Lovebird" but then it cuts out. Uhoh here's our French sprechstimmer again... Is this really a live disc, or is the crowd noise overdubbed? Sounds a little canned to me. Hm, another good Birdlike alto sax player but surely not the same one as before? Anyway, nice way to end the BFT.

Edited March 16, 2006 by Nate Dorward

[brownie]

Interesting responses so far. Hope that everybody likes the disc.

I am very aware that some of the items are pretty difficult to pin but I included them so that the music becomes available to as many listeners as possible. A number of tracks come from obscure and hard to find or badly distributed CDs.

Tooter was going in the right direction with his take on track 14.

Ubu is also heading in the right directions on some tracks. Correct on track 9. But it's not Guy Lafitte on track 8!

Nate also getting close on several tracks.

And yes that opening track, is film music which I thought might be fun to start the disc until someone indicated it had been done before (and before I started taking part in those Blindfold Tests)!

[Clunky]

great selection, only nailed first track for sure, the level of my ignorance knows no limit.

1- Movie soundtrack available on CD from a series that has had lots of discussion in these parts

2- Mal Waldron- no idea who else? Sonny Fortune perhaps

4- Anthony Ortega ??- great sounding alto

5 great BlueNote sound which I know I know but can't place

10- Getz/Barron ??

11 Brownie?- Quincy Jones like arrangment- could this be from Brownie's Parision sessions- wild guess

15 Tony Fruscella or Chet perhaps

great sounding alto behind the male vocal tracks- weird separation suggests the vocals were overdubbed

Edited March 16, 2006 by Clunky

[brownie]

Clunky, you're doing fine on a couple of tracks!

great selection, only nailed first track for sure, the level of my ignorance knows no limit.

1- Movie soundtrack available on CD from a series that has had lots of discussion in these parts

2- Mal Waldron- no idea who else? Sonny Fortune perhaps

4- Anthony Ortega ??- great sounding alto

- it is Ortega indeed!

5 great BlueNote sound which I know I know but can't place

10- Getz/Barron ??

11 Brownie?- Quincy Jones like arrangment- could this be from Brownie's Parision sessions- wild guess

15 Tony Fruscella or Chet perhaps

- Fruscella with a very distinctive sound even on low fidelity!

great sounding alto behind the male vocal tracks- weird separation suggests the vocals were overdubbed

- the singer insisted on no dubs! he was even pretty fanatic about this at the time

[king ubu]

That Ortega is very nice, brownie!

On #15, is that Brew Moore then on tenor?

[king ubu]

And the singer on the closing cut *is* the same again as the one I identified, yes?

[brownie]

On #15, is that Brew Moore then on tenor?

No Brew...

The man is playing alto saxophone. Yes it's low fidelity!

[brownie]

And the singer on the closing cut *is* the same again as the one I identified, yes?

Oui, Monsieur Roi!

[Nate Dorward]

Hm, thinking about the Waldron track, probably it's off the RCA Victor album Soul Eyes, which I've never seen/heard (you'd think with that lineup & label it'd be easy to find.....). Joe Henderson, Reggie Workman, Andrew Cyrille. The saxophonist had sounded to me like he had a Henderson influence but not really like Joe himself, though, so I'm still not quite positive... but I guess it was late in the day for Joe.

Edited March 16, 2006 by Nate Dorward

[mikeweil]

I knew this would be a collection of excellent and interesting selections! Thanks so much!

No AMGing or looking up, just my thoughts upon listening.

Track 1: Very nice overture - could be some film music. The trumpet sounds a lot like Kenny Dorham to me, but I don't have this - not yet, that is ....

Track 2: Must be Reggie Workman on bass, although it sounds a bit like a pickup which I never heard him use. But the phrasing is som much like him. Oh - Mal Waldron, unmistakeably. I'm not sure who the tenor and drums are - should be from the latter part of his career. Very modern drummer with good chops, but not obstrusive. I will buy that some day. No I won't look around what it excatly is but keep the suspense .... Very good and typical Waldron, but not stuck in personal clichés - like it very much.

Track 3: 1st part of the melody reminds me of some (Russian) folk song, second part of Autumn leaves. Nice little ditty, but not characteristic enough for me to get who it is. Could have been longer for my taste, with more personal solos.

Track 4: Very exiting modern big band. That pianist likes his Chick Corea of the "Now he Sings" album. The wrting is a bit like this, too. Alto saxist digs in, too. He's not quite my type, and the band, too, but the overall energy and performance is so dedicated I like to listen to this. No idea, though.

Track 5: Now this sounds terribly familiar, but ..... Could be some lesser known US boys or some Europeans who really have that late 1950's / early 1960's style down, or a mixed band. Probably the track where I slap my forehead for not naming these players. Like it, would like to hear more.

Track 6: Hmm .... I'd say the tenor player is an older guy. Hard to say who, I'm not too familiar with these stylists. Strange alto sound, between Desmond and Carter. Not really cool, not really swing, not really bop .... I'm stumped.

Track 7: The guitar intro is almost like "House of the rising sun". Then a swing style sounding trumpet. Oh - then it starts to sound like a band of swing veterans ... And the guitarist strumms happily along. Tenor sounds Ben Websterish. Strange - the piano is on the left channel on the intro, then on the right for the tenor solo, and I seem to hear a vibraphone comping softly. I'm stumped again.

Track 8: Now the recorded sound of this, especially the bass, is the way I like it. All the instruments have their natural balance. Oh - no wonder, as it is a live recording. The tenor has some similarities to Dexter Gordon, but it ain't him. Stumped again ..... I like this tenor - he takes his time.

Track 9: Alto sounds terribly like Jackie McLean. That singer is nice, but the sound is like he overdubbed. I like him, he sounds like a French Bob Dorough. The drummer plays hard, but with plenty drive, and I dig him. Wonder who that singer is, like him very much. Seems I won't get any of the guys on this disc.

Track 10: This one makes me wonder where the Barney Wilen track is. But again ..... This is a tenor player to check out. Like the saxist much more than the pianist - I have a problem with these semi-free tinklers. That track was full of surprises - suddenly some brass etc. - interesting, making me curious abou the rest of the album.

Track 11: The theme has that "existentialist" touch that I like a lot about much of the 1960's themes. Where's your left hand, Mr. Piano Player? Well .... can't say who the trumpet is, he has not got the real chops for that tempo. Drummer has problems keeping the high hat on two and four during the bass solo. Bassist is good. A valve trombone? Hmmm. Drummer has a nice fat bass drum sound. Do I hear applause during his solo? It's well done, but not very inventive. Another solo? Brother Yusef!!! Is that a Mingus track?

Track 12: Very fine singer. Five stars. But again, no idea. I'd buy this. Classic execution. Flawless. Who is it? I must have this!!!

Track 13: Now that is too sloppy for my taste. Rhythm guitar and drummer are not together, and then the tenor and guitar and tenor do not phrase together. You either couldn't adopt to each other or didn't rehearse, folks! That drummer should have stayed away from these rhythms. Sounds like a 2nd rate swing drummer going latin rock without really understanding it. Sorry. They had fun doing this, but it can be done a lot better. Bassist isn't really at ease with these rhythms, either. Only the guitarist has it down, so I guess it is his tune.

Track 14: I think I have heard that theme. Something from the early 1950's. Like it. Duh - and organ after the head, and an old style player too?!?! Stumped again. Even some R & B touches in the first tenor solo, and that after the semi-cool theme. I'm puzzled, too! This swings nicely. Are these older players? Very interesting mixture of styles.

Track 15: This sounds like a private recording from some cool style player's living room with phone book brushes. Probably some big names among them.

Track 16: This should be from the same singer as track 9 - but I suppose that club ambience is faked. Very nice - I'd really like to know who that singer is.

Well, a very nice trip that makes me look like a jazz beginner - one of the hardest BFTs so far in this respect. Thanks for the trip and the education - the depths of your collection may not be measured ...

p.s.

I wish I had more time, but in the morning I'm off to Spain, and then to Turkey for some concerts with this singer, which is a totally different world, not just musically ... I probably won't have the opportunity to post during the next two weeks, so if anybody here misses me - I will be back by the end of the month.

p.p.s. edited to add a sentence to my comments on track 10.

Edited March 17, 2006 by mikeweil

[dutchmanx]

nice compilation!

track 3 - Russian song "Nights near Moscow" - in Russian is sounds like "Podmoskovniye vechara". Main theme is played by bass (off key a litttle)

everything else- no clue, sounds rather comfortable for my ears

Edited March 17, 2006 by dutchmanx

[brownie]

p.s.

I wish I had more time, but in the morning I'm off to Spain, and then to Turkey for some concerts with this singer, which is a totally different world, not just musically ... I probably won't have the opportunity to post during the next two weeks, so if anybody here misses me - I will be back by the end of the month.

Some very keen remarks, Mike! Even if you're close on several tracks, you may be in for some surprises. But that was the idea behind this compilation!

Enjoy Spain and Turkey. The answers will be posted by the time you get back!

[brownie]

nice compilation!

track 3 - Russian song "Nights near Moscow" - in Russian is sounds like "Podmoskovniye vechara". Main theme is played by bass (off key a litttle)

everything else- no clue, sounds rather comfortable for my ears

I had no idea that theme from track 3 had some Russian connection (mikeweil also mentioned this).

As for the bass player, he is one of the more 'on' key player ever! If it sounds like this, it's because he wanted it to sound like he played it!

And yes, I kept the compilation rather 'comfortable'! The idea was to surprise not upset any listener

[Alexander Hawkins]

A really enjoyable CD - thank you!

1. Tympani makes me think Max Roach...the trumpeter is very reminiscent of Kenny Dorham. Nice, atmospheric group sound; very filmic.

2. I'm not usually a fan of basses amplified like that, but it's not too distracting here. Nice groove. I'd think Mal Waldron (the tune almost inhabits Andrew Hill territory, though). It's the obsessive working over of motives; Brahms-like fascination with the middle register; and general dark intensity of the thing. I don't really know who the tenor player is; my best guess would be Joe Henderson, but I don't think it is him somehow. A great track - although more and more frightening with each listen: it's extraordinarily focused and concerted piano playing.

3. Post-Bill Evans piano trio - if that isn't nearly a tautology, unfortunately, these days. That said, I really quite enjoy this. I don't know who this is, but I will say this: if it's not Oscar Peterson (and I don't quite think it is), it's the piano player he could have been if he cut the BS more often. The voicings are VERY reminiscent of some of OP's ballad playing (e.g. 'Nightingale', that strings track). What's not to like here, I suppose, although that's not the attitude, if you're not in the mood!

4. Now, the band is quite ragged, I'd say (not a working unit, I'd have thought, more a collection of name players?), but I like the sound a lot. Great arrangement. Piano player certainly not for me. It's piano 101 - learn your chord/scale stuff and you're there. Congratulations. The 'Jordu' quote is just egregious to my ears. Anyway, don't like the piano player at all. Things markedly pick up for me after that! I like what comes next, though I couldn't name a player. Bass player is doing a grand job of keeping it all moving.

5. Now I really liked this. Fairly generic hard bop stuff, but none the worse for that! Horribly familiar players - I think I'm going to be exercised all day before I get these. A really nicely constructed tenor solo, and a nice tone. The piano player and trumpeter are so familiar that I've got to move on out of frustration. I don't have this - yet. One to add to the list - so thank you!

6. My Romance. With a rhythm section who swing HARD. Can't place either horn player, but it sounds as though they're (stylistically, at least) from either US coast, and playing together is just tending to make them meet in the middle. First soloist sounds like he'd play harder in a different context (and the rhythm section are playing hard for him, as though they know his true game), whilst the second sounds like he's playing slightly harder than he might otherwise (sounds like it mightn't be his rhythm section of habit). Piano solo doesn't do too much for me, but it's nice enough.

7. This is FAR OUT. No idea what it is. Although it might be the love child of a drunken night spent between 'The House of the Rising Sun' and 'My Romance'. Trumpet OK, but not my thing. Is the tenor player Ben Webster? I wondered on first listen if the piano player senses the tenor player is lost; he feeds him a lot of slightly too obvious 'clues' towards the end of his solo, but maybe not...Don't know what this is, like I say, but I'm definitely curious! Are there Frenchmen on board?

8. Very familiar tune...I can't place it though. I want to so 'I Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry', but I'm not sure. Don't know...Dexter Gordon looms in some way here, but I don't know I'm afraid. A nice performance for sure. Nothing out of the ordinary, but beautiful of its kind.

9. This is great! Jackie McLean on alto? Funny vocals - overdubbed I'd have thought initially, but it would've been a bugger of a job getting the backing track down in that case (maybe the vocalist put down a guide track). Don't really know what to say here, but fun!

10. New to me, not something I know, but something I'd like to get to know. Very responsive playing between the two. Nothing outstandingly original in the playing of either, I'd say, but the interplay is what's most of interest here.

Hang on, now we've got more than two hands on deck at the piano - does the tenor player sit at the piano to join in? I take it it's not a line-up with two piano players! No, maybe not - unless the tenor's return is a tape splice. Hmmm. I'm foxed!

11. Nice tune. Don't know who the players are, but they're familiar. The touch of the piano player is reminiscent of Tristano. It's a good solo IMHO! I'd like to hear more of this, for sure. Trumpet player sounds pushed, but plays more interesting perhaps even because of this? 'Bone player, I don't know. Nice job though. Or is it a trombone? I don't know now...something funny about it...Nice sax - that split tone came from nowhere, and was very effective. Great stuff. Wow, and listening again, it gets better. It slightly reminds me of a Max Roach arrangement, but I don't know where that leaves my thinking!

12. A nice voice. I'm not too predisposed to this kind of stuff, but there's something about this actually. It's hard to dislike, and I don't mean that to sound damning. It's very by the book, but beautiful. Lyrics/delivery more important than the music, in many ways. Piano solo, however, treads water for the first bit, at least. Can't place the musicians.

13. I'll be honest - I can't tell if it's an alto or tenor. Very post Lester Young. Nice feel, and quite a fun arrangement. Not the sort of feel I associate with saxophonists of this type. No guesses at all!

14. Nice arrangement. Very familiar. That organ sound is crazy. Is it a Wurly? It's a real achievement to get anything else sounding remotely like that I'd have thought. Saxophonist is very familiar, although I can't place any names. This track is growing on me, actually! The organ sounded very heavy-handed first time around, but I'm coming around to it!

15. Is that an English accent counting them in?!? That doesn't help me at all. It's very West-coast influenced, obviously. I have no guesses, but I like it a lot. I don't think I've heard the soloists before, because I'd hope I pick them with a few listens under my belt - they seem very distinctive.

16. A manic tune. Fun again. Is this our friend from number nine? I love this guy! Rhythm section swings hard. Nice piano player!

Once again, very enjoyable, thank you...I look forwards to reading the rest of the proceedings now!

[brownie]

Red, glad you liked it!

Some random points:

3- it's not Peterson!

7- it's a joint French-US effort! Not Ben Webster!

10- as far as I know, there is only one piano player on the track!

14- it's a plain Hammond Organ!

16- singer is the same as on track 9!

[Alexander Hawkins]

Red, glad you liked it!

Some random points:

10- as far as I know, there is only one piano player on the track!

14- it's a plain Hammond Organ!

Wow - a hammond? I've got to confess, I'd never have picked it!

Track 10...hmmm...I'm stumped here. I'm going to have another listen in the morning. Does anyone else hear more than one guy at the piano? Maybe I'm losing it. Too many late nights!

[Nate Dorward]

Yes, I thought it was definitely two people--or, actually, it sounded like it was probably overdubbed (I didn't hear two distinct styles/touches). Definitely the strangest track on the whole disc (stranger than the vocals!).

[brownie]

Yes, I thought it was definitely two people--or, actually, it sounded like it was probably overdubbed (I didn't hear two distinct styles/touches). Definitely the strangest track on the whole disc (stranger than the vocals!).

I said - and repeat - there is only one piano player on this track. Overdub is a possibility!

[Stereojack]

BFT 34

I usually listen straight through to these BFT discs twice in the car over a couple of days, and then bring the disc inside and play it on my computer through earphones while typing up my responses. Sometimes on the third play through I hear things I missed the first two times, like the countoff at the beginning of track 1!

1. Trumpet sounds like Kenny Dorham a bit, but I can’t identify the performance. A very nice intro to this baffling set!

2. Bass intro, nice sound. The whole thing has an early-60’s feel, but by the drum sound it seems like it might be a more recent recording. Again, a nice track, although I haven’t a clue who’s playing.

3. A nice light trio performance. My first thought was Roland Hanna with George Mraz. What is this tune? I’m sure I’ve heard it before.

4. This didn’t kill me – a little too aggressive for my tastes. Pianist has got chops, don’t care for the alto player. Interesting chart.

5. Well, this certainly sounds like vintage hard bop side, with the horns panned hard left & right. Both the trumpet have nice, if brief, solo spots, but they don’t seem familiar to me. During the second play of this BFT I began to suspect that maybe we are listening to primarily European (or perhaps all French) recordings. This has all the earmarks of an original US session, but I’m frustrated that I can’t pin down the players.

6. “My Romance”. The alto might be Gary Foster, which blows my all-Euro theory out of the water. Nice lyrical tenor. I’d like to hear more tracks like this on BFT’s, and fewer of the modal tunes, old fart that I am!

7. This starts out like “House of the Rising Sun”. A pretty, folksy melody. I think the trumpet may be Bill Coleman, and maybe Guy Lafitte on tenor? Liked this more each time I heard it.

8. A nice tenor player. The tune starts out like “Crazy He Calls Me”, but then goes elsewhere. They must be well known, because it sounds like they’re playing in a theater to a pretty large audience.

9. Sorry, this does nothing for me. Some French hipster, with a little alto solo to tease us. No thanks. -_-

10. Semi-free tenor & piano, not too enticing. (yawn)

11. Now here’s a vintage track, 1950’s. Can’t place the trumpet, but I swear the trombone sounds like Jimmy Knepper, and the tenor is very reminiscent of Yusef Lateef. I know they both played with Mingus, but this ain’t Mingus! Or is it???

12. “How About Me”. The singer enunciates nicely, has good intonation, but is a little bland. Aside from the giants, I’m not good at identifying singers.

13. Well, this certainly recalls many mid-1960’s sides groove-wise, and the guitar is very much in a Jimmy Raney (or possibly Jim Hall) bag, but I have no idea who this is. The tenor didn’t do much for me, but I like the guitar.

14. Another 1950’s track, and a familiar tune, I think. The organ took me by surprise. Nice tenor, with that swinging old feel. Oh yes, there’s another tenor! These guys have very similar styles. Hmm, maybe an early Ronnie Scott & Tubby Hayes side?

15. This one is not recorded very well, or perhaps remastered badly. Now that I’m hearing it on headphones, I can hear voices during the performance, but no audience. Maybe this is a demo or rehearsal recording, issued many years later. It sounds like some early “cool” jazz, with a trumpet that might be Tony Fruscella, the alto has got elements of Lee Konitz.

16. Another French guy, or maybe it’s the same guy as #9. I think they are the same. Nothing to grab me here.

A challenging set, Brownie! Now that I’ve weighed in, I can go back and read the responses from others.

[brownie]

Stereojack, not bad!

Looks like you might be in for some surprises when the answers are posted! Most - not all - of the players involved are musicians you should be familiar with. It is indeed a mix of US and European tracks.

Re some suggestions:

3- it is neither Roland Hanna, nor George Mraz!

7 - it is neither Bill Coleman, nor Guy Lafitte!

11- there is a clear Mingus overtone to the music but his name does not appear anywhere on the CD from which the tune was taken!

14 - No Ronnie Scott/Tubby Hayes in sight!

15- that's from a privately recorded jam session in pretty bad fidelity. It is Fruscella!

16- yes, it's the same singer as on track 9!

[Alexander Hawkins]

Yes, I thought it was definitely two people--or, actually, it sounded like it was probably overdubbed (I didn't hear two distinct styles/touches). Definitely the strangest track on the whole disc (stranger than the vocals!).

I said - and repeat - there is only one piano player on this track. Overdub is a possibility!

'Curiouser and curiouser...'

[JSngry]

Finally, some time to post at length! More listens than usual, but no looks.

Thanks to Brownie for a stimulating collection of (mostly) non-familiar material. These guess will be just that for the most part!

TRACK ONE - Sounds like a movie cue, mostly due to the alto flute in the 2nd section, and, I think, French horn in the opening ensembles. Alto flute was a trademark of Mancini, but I seriously doubt that this is him. Possibly an excerpt of a soundtrack by Quincy Jones from the 1960s, but again, I doubt it. Whatever, it serves as an effective opener for the disc, with a bit of combination martial/spy thing going on - we're on a recon mission, baby, coordinate your watches! Nice writing, and the stylistic impurity works both for and against it, depending on what its origianl intent was meant to be. Here, it defintiely works.

TRACK TWO - From the git-go, I recognized this one. This album wasn't released in the states, which is a crime, and this is the only cut on which this scion of Lima, Ohio appears, which would be a drag if the rest of the album wasn't as good as it is. The only other time that this tenorist & pianist appeared together was on a nifty little album on Palo Alto that was reissued a few years ago. They made a good pair, I think.

TRACK THREE - Don't know this one at all, tune or players. It's nice, definitely out of a Bill Evans-ish "introspective romantic" bag. Can't say that a lot of this would be something I'd look forward to, but as an occasional "flavor" dropped in the mix, I enjoy it. The pianist is really influenced by Evans w/o copying him too much. Could be Denny Zeitlin, but I don't think so. The tune has, for me, a kind of "French" air to it, which would, of course be fitting!

TRACK FOUR - Fellow board member Greg Waits loaned me a Martial Solal big band LP a while back that sounded very much like this, but I don't remember it well enough to say that that is what this is. Besides, this doesn't sound like a full big band, but rather like a 9-10 piece group. I like it. There's a strong "non-American" flavor to the writing and the improvising that I find refreshing, not because it's "different", but simply because it's non-imitative. People who dismiss Euro (and other) jazz for not sounding "American" are sometimes the same ones who will then turn around and complain about a lack of "individual voices". Well hell, if you're not American, why sould you sound like you are? The altoist is somewhat reminiscent of Steve Potts, which, in the light of that previous statement, would be ironic in a way, but then again not. No matter, this is music of integrity, passion and skill. Good enough for me, no matter where it comes from!

TRACK FIVE - Nice. Tenor could be Ronnie Scott, with that Mobley-esque tone. Bassist is walking a very nice line. I'm digging the pianist's comp too. Sounds like some players who took to Hard Bop as their language and gave themselves over to it wholly and willingly, which at the time this was probably recorded, would have been the "right" thing to do. Curious to find out who this is.

TRACK SIX - "My Romance", with some quaint vibratos! Again, no idea. Tenorist has a very Haw-ish flavor to his eighth notes, and a nice "mainstream" quality overall. Sounds like somebody who was touched by bop, but not radically changed by it. I dig players like that, who could retain their older personality yet still incorporate some more chromaticism into the content of their lines. Alto player I'm less enamored of. Maybe past his prime, or having a bad day. Obviously a fine player, with trraces here and there of early Konitzian rhythmic gamesmanship, but on the whole, he sounds less than inspired to me. Pianist is kind of stiff, and ever so slightly on top of the beat, which is something else I usually don't care for. Thre's also some latent Bill Evans influence there, which might account for the "rushing" quality. Evans was like that a lot of times himself. The tenorist is the hero of this cut for me. Fine player and fine playing there! It's not Gianni Basso by any chance, is it?

TRACK SEVEN - Well, I was all set to give this one a "huh" until HE showed up. I'd listen to a Kenny G record if Lockjaw was on it! Sounds like some kind of Sweets/Jaws thing with a "Parisian" flavor to it. I have no idea what that might entail, but any Lockjaw that I've yet to hear is a blessing, so I am blessed by this cut!

TRACK EIGHT - Well now, that's just a gorgeous tune. Since I'm beginning to suspect some sort of "French" theme to this test's contents, I could guess Barney Wilen. but I'm still not familiar enough with the bulk of his catalog to do so on anything more than a hunch. But the tune is really beautiful, and it's played well, with plenty of feeling (and again, a little bit of Mobley-esqueness). Another one I'd be interesting in finding out more about.

TRACK NINE - A J-Mac sample! Or is it a fresh cut? NO idea, but something totally unexpected. The curiosity is piqued!

TRACK TEN - Again, no idea, but this is very nice. Some really spontaneously interactive duet work, which happens less often than you'd expect. That's a lot of piano...Tenorist almost, almost sounds like Getz in more than a few spots early on, less so as the thing progresses...Well, so much for the duet! WTF?!?!?! This is different! And in a good way! Again, the curiosity is piqued!

TRACK ELEVEN - Hmmm...sounds like....I dunno...that melody is pretty "forward looking" relative to the time it was recorded (early-mid 50s, I'm guessing). Not exactly "standard" changes either...Trumpeter spunds like he's scuffling with that. Not his chops, but trying to find a way to fit his vocabluary into that which the tune requires. Sounds like Jimmy Knepper on trombone, which would suggest something at lest tangentally Mingus-related, but I'm not at all familair with this. something fromthe Debut box/sessions? But that's not Mingus on bass, I'm pretty sure...Is that Yusef on tenor? Yeah, that's Yusef, so that's Bernard McKinney on euphonium? Defintiely not Curtis Fuller... This thing ends up a helluva lot faster than it started out... Probably(?) a Yusef Savoy date, and one with which I am not famiiar. But I sure dig Yusef, so, again, the curiosity is piqued.

TRACK TWELVE - Helen Merrill, perhaps? Or perhaps not...The timbre of the voice is similar but not exact. Same w/the enunciation. And this is far more "unvulnerable" than Merrill would ever do a song like this. Neither a song nor a singer with which I am familiar. And the ending, that's definitely not Merrill...Time for a little research...Ok, google tells me that it's an Irving Berlin song. Berlin could write these lyrics that could be either hopelessly mawkish or genuinely touching, depending on the interpretation they were given. This singer goes the latter route, and I enjoyed everything about it. She really took the story seriously and gave it a moving interpretation. Which of course is different that a "personal" interpretaion, but that is an altogether different art. I have no quibble either way as to which one is "better". It's all good when it's all good, dig? And this is good.

TRACK TWELVE - Ok, I should know this one. I really should know this one. But damned if I can call it. Whatever...It's GROOVY! Seriously, it is! Nice tight, little chicka-boom thing going on that gets the feet to tapping, nothing wrong with that. Guitarist sounds like a busier Jim Hall...Howard Roberts? Arrangement gets a little "heady", to no real effect, but to no real harm either...One wants to guess Chico Hamilton, but one does not quite think so...No idea, but very groovy!

TRACK THIRTEEN - Wow, that's pretty cool. One of those "friendly" bebop type heads, and you don't hear the old-school organ until the solos begin. First tenor calls Stitt to mind, might well be him. Second tenorist also calls Stitt to mind initially, but less so as he proceeds, and begins to call Griff to mind, but I don't think it's him. But maybe...Drummer is really into Max...This is a most....intriguing cut, and yet again totally unfamiliar to me. Do I need to say that my curiosity is again piqued?

TRACK FOURTEEN - Cool! In both senses! From a private tape originally, obviously. Interesting...But no idea.

TRACK FIFTEEN - From the same source as #9? Wish I spoke French... As Sinatra would say, "Koo Koo!" I get the feeling that, as on #9, this is some sort of "remix" job. No idea, but again, the curisoity is...you know.

A most interesting compilation. Merci beaucoup!