Joe Castro Box Set on Sunnyside

[kh1958]

Here's a today only 15% off discount code for ordering Sunnyside releases through Bandcamp.

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[Dan Gould]

Anyone unaware, Sunnyside offering 20% off thru Sunday:

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[JSngry]

Back to the first set - Disc 4, the quartet session with Teddy Edwards, Leroy Vinnegar, and Billy Higgins is long-list essential, maybe shorter-than-long-list. Excellent, excellent music.

[Dan Gould]

10 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Back to the first set - Disc 4, the quartet session with Teddy Edwards, Leroy Vinnegar, and Billy Higgins is long-list essential, maybe shorter-than-long-list. Excellent, excellent music.

Oh hell yeah.

Was hoping for more in Box 2 but mostly unissued alternates ... not so special.

But I still gotta have it.

 

[JSngry]

Ok, the big band date on disc 5 is really good too. Castro's arrangements are sorta like Gerald Wilson 101 (or 102 at times), so nothing really "original" here, but DAMN what a band! A great band playing good charts is always a good thing...sometimes having a great band is more to the point than is great charts, I mean, hey, thought is important, but so is action, and if one can lift the other up, so much the better, as long as nothing gets dragged down. That's a, uh...drag. But that does not happen here, no sir.

Air moving, once again, if you have not heard a REAL big band in person, you are missing a genuinely physical experience that will likely stay with you for life. Good luck finding one these days, though.

[kh1958]

I can't decide whether to buy volume 2. All the great guests sold volume 1; volume 2 seems to be more about Joe Castro than the guests. Am I wrong to hesitate?

[Niko]

after having played everything once, I would say: I am happy to have this but you're not making the problem up, the first set is clearly better. The better half of the Paul Bley tracks is very very strong, the George and Flo Handy tracks on the same cd are interesting and really nice to have as well. Nothing wrong with the Groove Funk Soul album with Edwards, Vinnegar, Higgins either (except that the title doesn't fit), it has been out before but at least there are 12 minutes of additional tracks and 14 minutes of new alternates. The remainder of the set are 4 CDs that Castro as pianist has to pull off more or less by himself... for the two trio disks I would even say that they are slightly better than I would have expected... but they remain somewhat harmless + my exceptations weren't high... the other two disks are more in a "somewhat ambitious cocktail piano" style... and yes, you do get something like twice 16 bars of Cannonball Adderley solos... but what really stands out in the band on Mood Jazz is the Swingle Singers type ensemble singing...

[Dan Gould]

Thanks for that report Niko. I guess I'll just keep thinking about it ... 

[JSngry]

Back to the first set - Disc 6, the Teddy Edwards Tentet makes for a very useful and enjoyable companion to Booker Ervin's Booker and Brass, also arranged by Edwards with not dissimilar instrumentation within the space of about 18 or so months . Contrast, compare, and enjoy!

[ejp626]

I was surprised how quickly the 2nd set arrived on iTunes, so you can sample it that way as well...

[jcam_44]

19 hours ago, JSngry said:

Air moving, once again, if you have not heard a REAL big band in person, you are missing a genuinely physical experience that will likely stay with you for life. Good luck finding one these days, though.

Wholeheartedly agree with this statement. A real big band in person is a transformative experience that isn’t replicated no matter how well recorded. 

[JSngry]

Finished the second set this morning. It's very good, and the trio with Kotick & Motian is solid as a rock. There's not the discoverywonderment on this box as there was on the first, but having them both is not something I regret, even slightly.