BLINDFOLD TEST #5 - discussion

[RDK]

Thanks to John (and Jim Dye) for the disc. My initial impression is very favorable. The standout tracks to me so far are 4 and 9, but it's all quite good.

Have only had time for a cursory listen so far, but will spin it again tomorrow and hopefully post some comments then.

[John B]

I really enjoy track #10. Not sure who this is but will probably pick up this disc when I find out. It sounds a little too "rock-ish" to be the Art Ensemble, but I could be wrong. Definitely sounds early '70's to me, almost with a blaxploitation film soundtrack quality to it, albeit a more avant garde soundtrack than I would expect. Great stuff!

#12 is one from one of the more straight-ahead discs I have by this trombone player. I saw him live last year with his New Orleans brass band and will be seeing him again in March with his bass and drums trio. Great player, great sense of humor. All of his discs are worth exploring but this one, for some reason, has connected with me the least, so far.

[Man with the Golden Arm]

I really enjoy track #10.  Not sure who this is but will probably pick up this disc when I find out.  It sounds a little too "rock-ish" to be the Art Ensemble, but I could be wrong.  Definitely sounds early '70's to me, almost with a blaxploitation film soundtrack quality to it, albeit a more avant garde soundtrack than I would expect.  Great stuff!

#12 is one from one of the more straight-ahead discs I have by this trombone player.  I saw him live last year with his New Orleans brass band and will be seeing him again in March with his bass and drums trio.  Great player, great sense of humor.  All of his discs are worth exploring but this one, for some reason, has connected with me the least, so far.

I'm thinking I might know track number #10 as being down this river. The trombone thread is sort of in fullest swing (sic) on this one as part of the mix. This disc is 'Swell'.

As for #12, I do think this might be his most "serious" recording but for me his work on these-- here and here--, two stellar albums that Blue Note should be re-whipping onto the shelves, is where it's at!!!

Edited January 12, 2004 by Man with the Golden Arm

[John B]

I really enjoy track #10.  Not sure who this is but will probably pick up this disc when I find out.  It sounds a little too "rock-ish" to be the Art Ensemble, but I could be wrong.  Definitely sounds early '70's to me, almost with a blaxploitation film soundtrack quality to it, albeit a more avant garde soundtrack than I would expect.  Great stuff!

#12 is one from one of the more straight-ahead discs I have by this trombone player.  I saw him live last year with his New Orleans brass band and will be seeing him again in March with his bass and drums trio.  Great player, great sense of humor.  All of his discs are worth exploring but this one, for some reason, has connected with me the least, so far.

I'm thinking I might know track number #10 as being down this river. The trombone thread is sort of in fullest swing (sic) on this one as part of the mix. This disc is 'Swell'.

As for #12, I do think this might be his most "serious" recording but for me his work on these-- here and here--, two stellar albums that Blue Note should be re-whipping onto the shelves, is where it's at!!!

re:10 Really??? I would be shocked. I have never been a fan of that particular group but I would have to rethink my attitude if you are correct.

re:12 I have never heard either of those discs. Based on the reviews you linked to I would love to hear them.

[couw]

re:12 I have never heard either of those discs. Based on the reviews you linked to I would love to hear them.

me too

[king ubu]

re:12 I have never heard either of those discs.  Based on the reviews you linked to I would love to hear them.

me too

I only have the second of them, and being a fan of this man and having some 6 or 7 of his CDs, I have to admit this one if very good!

They should see CD reissue! A double time would be nice, like the Don Grolnick one. Hope we don't have to wait till he dies...

ubu

[John B]

I feel like I should know #5. It sounds very ECM-ish to me. If it weren't for the lack of trumpet I would be guessing it was something by Tomasz Stanko. It sounds very Eastern-European to my ears. I'll have to give this one some more thought.

[Man with the Golden Arm]

Man o man I have done minute searching ( google le obtuse) and am WAAAAY off the mark on the track #10. Pay no mind to my ignorance, but at least this is not what I thought.

All I'll say now is "I'm lonely and I'm blue..." Good lord I do hope that some one who posts here will give us the real deal as it went down on this one. I had no idea that the vocalist .....

couw, I almost want to post a link to this that contains a great, great article about the piece. I'll wait for permission. B)

[couw]

save it for the afterparty please! Glad you like it!

[John B]

track #9 - no clue who this is, but I am very curious. This sounds like a rock rhythm section supporting a Lacy disciple. It almost seems like the drummer doesn't need to be here as they are not really adding anything to this tune. The rhythm section doesn't bug me but they don't do all that much for me, either. I dig the clarinet player, however.

[desertblues]

Got my copy of BT5 and am listening to it (2nd time) now. My first impression is: Great Job! the sound quality is very good on this disc-and this is mostly stuff I like-a lot! Having said that, I have a feeling there are quite a few cats represented here that I haven't heard before so I don't have many guesses yet-but was that Pepper Adams' bari on #3? Also track 4 is a standout, at least in my opinion! I've listened to this one several times-I know I haven't heard this before, but I'd like to hear more! I think I should know who's playing on track 8 - I love this one too. As for a theme, I haven't picked up on it but it seems to me a lot of these could be led by bassists or drummers as the rhythm sections are so out front. All I can add for now is: Thanks for a great disc!

[rockefeller center]

Thanks for this cool, pianoless disc, couw! Listened to it twice and enjoyed most of it.

1. Nice overture. It doesn't leave a strong impression on me. I have no clue who this could be.

2. Roach on drums? Otherwise, same comments as above.

3.

4. My first thought was Mangelsdorff but it would be a surprise to me if it's him. This track starts very promising but somehow it never really takes off - it keeps you waiting for something that won't happen.

5. Moody stuff, very good. Perfect soundtrack for beer drinking while feeling sorry for oneself. No clue who the players could be.

6. Had to skip this track. It didn't mesh well with my Tinnitus (sound wise).

7. A Parker tune (?) + "Straight, No Chaser."

8. I absolutely dislike the sound of the bass. The bass player ruins this for me.

9. Don't like the rock beat combined with the busy soprano saxophone.

10. Hurray! AMG link I like this song very much - the "dirty" sounding el-bass with lots of fret noise, F.B.'s voice, all those noises, everything.

11. Funny tango! The octaves on the bass make me laugh.

12.

13.

14. Beautiful! One of the few discs I have by this artist. Need to get more. AMG link Isn't the bass's final note (2:21) pretty strange?!

Thanks for remindung us of the BFT#4 discussion.

15. "Lover Man," I have not the slightest idea who this alto player is.

[Adam]

I didn't even get the CD, but it sounds like #10 is track 1 from this:

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&u...l=A28jieat14xg7

Unless someone has done a cover of it.

(How does one convert that link into just one little word)?

(Oh, Rockefeller beat me to it)

Edited January 12, 2004 by Adam

[chris]

I'm still eagerly waiting for my CD-- you lucky bastards... given my track record on the last test I could do just as well without using the CD at all!

[Jim R]

Just got my disc (thanks John, and Jim Dye). I only had time to skim through it right now, but I can tell I'm going to be stumped on most of it. A lot of pianoless stuff here, and I suspect a lot of players I'm not so familiar with.

A few tunes I recognized (don't know the exact recordings) :

7 = "Au Privave" / "Straight No Chaser"

13 = "It Never Entered My Mind" (VERY slow, almost Shirley Horn-esque in that respect!)

14 = "Ask Me Now" (I have a hunch who's playing, but only because I just read about it recently... It's a veteran clarinetist, one you wouldn't associate with Monk at all)

15 = "Lover Man"

More later...

[JSngry]

Just got mine. I'll listen at work tonight and post tomorrow.

[Tom Storer]

It's funny, two posters so far have seen the soprano player (if it's a soprano) on #9 as sounding like Steve Lacy, but to me they're nothing at all alike - Lacy is warm and calm with a fat tone, not a man to play fast flurries of notes, and this guy sounds nothing like that and his fingers are in a flurry all the time!

Edited January 13, 2004 by Tom Storer

[tjobbe]

14 = "Ask Me Now" (I have a hunch who's playing, but only because I just read about it recently... It's a veteran clarinetist, one you wouldn't associate with Monk at all)

Hi Jim,

you should have heard him playing Blue Monk together with Monk on the Newport live sessions... great

Cheers, Tjobbe

BTW: at #4 Still wondering who that Bass-player is....Charlie Hadfen was quoted already but I've never heard him together with Trombones... could it be Eberhard Weber playing there as he's also playing this singing bass?

[rockefeller center]

BTW: at #4 Still wondering who that Bass-player is....Charlie Hadfen was quoted already but I've never heard him together with Trombones... could it be Eberhard Weber playing there as he's also playing this singing bass?

Though I haven't heard Weber on acoustic bass yet, it would be a surprise to me if this was him.

[Tom Storer]

Eberhard Weber plays ordinary acoustic bass on "Intercontinental," a 1970 Joe Pass album that's one of my desert island discs. He sounds great, but IMO nothing like the bassist on #4 (or for that matter, anything like he himself sounds on his electrified stand-up bass).

[king ubu]

I feel like I should know #5. It sounds very ECM-ish to me. If it weren't for the lack of trumpet I would be guessing it was something by Tomasz Stanko. It sounds very Eastern-European to my ears. I'll have to give this one some more thought.

That was my very first thought, too!

But I really have no idea who this could be. One of the highlights, in my opinion, though

ubu

[king ubu]

It's funny, two posters so far have seen the soprano player (if it's a soprano) on #9 as sounding like Steve Lacy, but to me they're nothing at all alike - Lacy is warm and calm with a fat tone, not a man to play fast flurries of notes, and this guy sounds nothing like that and his fingers are in a flurry all the time!

Tom - I do hear no similarities at all, too! Someone took it for clarinet, even. This really indicates how different a sound these two players have. You would NEVER take Lacy's soprano for a clarinet, wouldn't you?

I like both of these, by the way. And the guy in question is a rather important figure, too.

ubu

[randyhersom]

1. Initially evoked Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, but flutes and clarinets became evident as the piece went on and those weren't used much by Blakey. Still, no other name comes to mind. Art Blakey.

2. I sure think that's Max Roach. Very melodic drum playing. Pianoless ensemble with trombone.

3. I'm thinking this is someone who had an opportunity to hear Coltrane's Atlantic recordings (and admired them greatly), rather than Coltrane himself. I've never been good at picking out Joe Henderson, but somehow I don't think its him. The bari solo is fine and should be a clue, but nothing has jumped out at me. Could be European, but I don't know enough to guess well in that area. George Coleman, maybe with Cecil Payne?

4. Stylistically, the intro has me thinking seventies or later. The bass playing is killer, very evocative. It's featured far enough forward in the mix and arrangements that it might be the bassist's date. Dave Holland Quintet with Chris Potter and Robin Eubanks?

5. Darn Lovely. Perhaps one of Elvin Jones later ensembles? On second listen this is bugging me. I'm not liking my guess because it sounds very familiar. But what?

6. Sonny Rollins. Maybe Wilbur Ware on bass and Elvin Jones on drums. Doesn't sound like a live recording, though.

Pianoless seems to be the theme here. I'm really grooving on the bass playing so far in this Blindfold test.

7. A Bird tune. I always guess the title wrong so I don't know why I keep trying : ) Yardbird Suite? I know Bob Brookmeyer recorded with a European ensemble and I'm not finding a better guess, so I'll guess that.

8. I figure Joe Lovano must be in here somewhere and this might be it.

I didn't know there was such an abundance of pianoless dates in this general style. The absence of piano really does open up the sound quite a bit.

9. Bass clarinet at the beginning, alto sax later. Highly virtuosic bass playing early on. It doesn't sound quite edgy enough to be Thomas Chapin, but thats my best guess.

10. Absolutely sure of this one. A classic! I like the Bass!

11. Air?

12. Woody Shaw with Steve Turre? I've heard about disk three of the Mosaic, but I don't know if it was pianoless.

13. I'm thinking Surman or Garbarek, neither of whom I can recall a pianoless quartet with trumpet for. Near the end it gets that crying alto sound I associate with Abdullah Ibrahim's bands, and Carlos Ward is a possibility. I'll go with Garbarek.

14. Nice trombone and clarinet. Ken Peplowski?

15. Lover Man on solo sax. At first I thought alto, but now I'm thinking tenor. I think Lew Tabackin has done some solo sax work. I'll go with Lew.

A very enjoyable set.

[couw]

Pianoless seems to be the theme here. I'm really grooving on the bass playing so far in this Blindfold test.

...

The absence of piano really does open up the sound quite a bit.

interesting remarks as I myself noted the same thing. I'll refer back to it once I reveal the answers.

[desertblues]

Just a few more comments on a couple of these-what a bootin' version of Straight No Chaser on #7! Sounds to me like it could be the Jones/Lewis big band, but I don't know the album (if it's them). That drum break made me think Mel Lewis. Track #9 is probably the only one on the disc that I don't like-but then I don't like much soprano anyway. To these ears the absolute killer track is #4, which I praised earlier-I'm gonna guess it's a Dave Holland group with Steve Turre blowing so mellow, can't wait to find out 'cause I gotta get this! B)