BFT 223 - NOW BOARDING!!!

[felser]

Trying to figure out #2.  I hear the line which gives it all away, but can't quite make out the words.  Sounds something like "We're the Chiefs with Jimmy from Columb-eye-a", so Columbia Records.  But not finding much on Google.  Bouncy little cut which gets into your head!

Update: Guessing it's a promo for "Run Back to Mama" by Chase, with involvement of Jim Peterik (earlier of Ides of March, later of Survivor), trying to get it carried on juke boxes (remember those)?

Edited October 6, 2022 by felser

[JSngry]

31 minutes ago, felser said:

Trying to figure out #2.  I hear the line which gives it all away, but can't quite make out the words.  Sounds something like "We're the Chiefs with Jimmy from Columb-eye-a", so Columbia Records.  But not finding much on Google.  Bouncy little cut which gets into your head!

Update: Guessing it's a promo for "Run Back to Mama" by Chase, with involvement of Jim Peterik (earlier of Ides of March, later of Survivor), trying to get it carried on juke boxes (remember those)?

No, it's not Chase. But it's definitely a jukebox-centric aim with the record. DubModal got the gist of it in that regard.

If you really want to sleuth, you can look at the Singers Unlimited individuals backgrounds, and two of them will have a group in common that you are almost certainly totally unaware of. I know I sure was. But with the Internet being the generous soul that it is...you can go from totally ignorant about a group to being instant expert in a couple of clicks.

37 minutes ago, Dan Gould said:

Maybe this is well known but I just verified with formerly active member HaroldZ that Connie Lester, mostly playing alto with Jimmy McGriff on a couple of 70s recordings is the same guy.

Glad to know that Harold is alive. He's got stories to tell!

[Quasimado]

#4 Brookmeyer is there in the mix (with Mulligan) ... can't quite get the tune ...

[JSngry]

11 minutes ago, Quasimado said:

#4 Brookmeyer is there in the mix (with Mulligan) ... can't quite get the tune ...

You are correct about Brookmeyer!

[Dub Modal]

4 hours ago, JSngry said:

Yep!

 

3 hours ago, Dan Gould said:

It's track 10 from this but that makes your clue about guitarist being most famous player not really appropriate. KB played on four of that album's tracks and not this one.

I don't have any Freddie Roach leader albums and don't listen to him often even though I love the B3. He was actually my 3rd guess but I left it with the two I mentioned b/c I didn't want 3 strikes already on the first song! There's more bass in there than I usually associate with Freddie even though I'm not overly familiar with him. I was aware of his R&B inflection but not much beyond that. I've got the Quebec Spring album he's on but admittedly I haven't listened to that one much at all. I'll have to revisit it and check out his other albums. This is one of the things I love about BFTs. 

[JSngry]

Freddie Roach is easily overlooked by the more rigid "jazz purists". Possibly because he did lean heavily forward into the more R&B (in the wrong hands, little more than a marketing term) side of jazz, and he did make an album  with a vocal group. But it is perhaps the best of that idiom, imo.

I mean, ok, if that feeling is not relevant to your lifestyle, ok. But it is certainly relevant to a lot of other things!

And his liner notes...there's no mistake about what is music is saying. Exemplary!

He also made a few albums on Prestige that are equally community-oriented. Ver interesting music, all of it.

And then, the story goes, he decided to be a playwright (which is really not surprising) and nobody ever heard from him again?

But yeah, Freddie Roach!

For the "jazz purists", there this is:

 

1 hour ago, Dub Modal said:

He was actually my 3rd guess but I left it with the two I mentioned b/c I didn't want 3 strikes already on the first song! 

No baseball here! 

[Dan Gould]

I won't say I love every Freddie Roach album but his first 4 on BN are enough to make a strong jazz reputation, IMO. (Even if he did cover the Junior Parker hit "Next Time you See Me".)

[JSngry]

.Junior Parker is one of those guys whose work can be used to touch a lot of bases if the umpires allow it. 

And vice-versa...his records with Jimmy McGriff often laugh - proudly laugh - in the face of the notion of "boundaries".

 

Not everything "works", but talk about just not giving a damn...

Did Joe Williams ever cover this one?

 

I got no problem with using Freddie Roach to shine a light on Junior Parker...and vice-versa! 

[randyhersom]

Two (or more) different worlds are one!

 

[JSngry]

Sooner or later. 

[felser]

#2 - M.O.A. by the J's with Jamie.  I assume a promo release on/by Columbia Records.  Very cool story!  They were huge in the advertising industry, did a couple albums on Columbia in 63/64 and another on Decca later in the decade.  Fun sleuthing, thanks!

[JSngry]

8 hours ago, felser said:

#2 - M.O.A. by the J's with Jamie.  I assume a promo release on/by Columbia Records.  Very cool story!  They were huge in the advertising industry, did a couple albums on Columbia in 63/64 and another on Decca later in the decade.  Fun sleuthing, thanks!

That's them! Jingles...you might be surprised at who was doing jingles. A lot of talent there! 

If you're old enough, this was a group that you have heard, somewhere, and never had a clue who they were.

It's...

 

[JSngry]

Pretty invigorating first week.Thanks to all for your participation!

Still a few things waiting to be identified, and, of course, always room for further discussion, thoughts, etc. 

[webbcity]

Here are my thoughts as they occurred to me while listening... I haven't looked at anyone's comments yet but will be taking a peek immediately after posting this.

Track 1 - Well this is just a total blast, wow! What a groove! Damn, I am loving this drummer. Not to leave out the rest of the group. Some incendiary organ playing and beautiful tenor work here. Boy I love the energy on this. Anxious to learn who it is!

Track 2 - This is a fun jingle but I don't have much to say about it, except here's to the MOA!

Track 3 - Staying in fun mode here... Again I'm drawn to the drums first, some great feeling there. This track doesn't do a ton for me but it sure is played well. Nice guitar solo.

Track 4 - Wow, where have we headed now? Ahhh, so it sounds like someone who's grabbed some old recordings and added a "modern" beat. The horn players sound great. Don't really know what the "drums" add but I feel like they take away a lot. This one isn't for me. I should probably be able to ID the horn players but I'm having trouble getting there.

Track 5 - Meanwhile, in another galaxy... I do like this a lot. I can't tell if all that background noise is an effect or just layers of noise from an old tape that's been copied many times. The more I listen, it's probably the latter. This could be an old, lost Sun Ra recording? That seems too easy though. I like the use of space, big time. Very AACM. Really curious about this one.

Track 6 - This absolutely feels like a great follow-up to the last track. More of a groove, more of a middle-eastern flavor. Some excellent soprano playing on this, terrific lines. Great dynamics overall from the group. Okay, was definitely not expecting any synth here! This is wild. Again I have no guesses but this has got me thinking.

Track 7 - I can already tell I'm going to like this. Powerful narration. I feel like I should be able to ID the speaker but I can't. As far as the backing band, I'm hearing hints of Parker & Drake, but can't be certain of that yet. I really like how the saxophonist is responding to the vocals. Hang on, this must be older than I think it is. Rudd on trombone? The deeper I get into this the less sure I am of who it is, but I'm really liking it. A fantastic group, communicating at a high level.

Track 8 - We might be in two different worlds, but I'm loving this one here. Beautiful feeling & mood. I don't recognize the vocalist but what a voice! Outstanding support from the pianist. The tenor player's solo is a master class in how to do it. Wow! And the piano solo shimmers. This is so good. Excited for the reveal!

A really interesting, wild bunch of tunes this month, really enjoyed it! Thanks for your efforts putting this together!

[webbcity]

Update: Wow, I did not notice that #1 and #8 were the same tune. Well played! And Freddie Roach... will definitely be checking out more of that record. 

[JSngry]

2 hours ago, webbcity said:

Here are my thoughts as they occurred to me while listening... I haven't looked at anyone's comments yet but will be taking a peek immediately after posting this.

Track 1 - Well this is just a total blast, wow! What a groove! Damn, I am loving this drummer. Not to leave out the rest of the group. Some incendiary organ playing and beautiful tenor work here. Boy I love the energy on this. Anxious to learn who it is! As you have found, already identified by a team effort of Dub Modal & Dan Gould. What a groove indeed!

Track 2 - This is a fun jingle but I don't have much to say about it, except here's to the MOA! Wondering if you had anything to say about the bass player? That's part of the "story" here. But Felser has identified the record and the group.

Track 3 - Staying in fun mode here... Again I'm drawn to the drums first, some great feeling there. This track doesn't do a ton for me but it sure is played well. Nice guitar solo. So far, no guesses on this one have been even close. I will say again - the leader does not solo on this cut. And the rest of the band are time-trusted favorites of may here.

Track 4 - Wow, where have we headed now? Ahhh, so it sounds like someone who's grabbed some old recordings and added a "modern" beat. The horn players sound great. Don't really know what the "drums" add but I feel like they take away a lot. This one isn't for me. I should probably be able to ID the horn players but I'm having trouble getting there. When we get to the reveal (or sooner, if somebody guesses correctly), I will post the source cut. It's not really a question of adding anything as it is transforming it, from one place to another. Personally, on any given day, I will prefer this one to the original.

Track 5 - Meanwhile, in another galaxy... I do like this a lot. I can't tell if all that background noise is an effect or just layers of noise from an old tape that's been copied many times. The more I listen, it's probably the latter. This could be an old, lost Sun Ra recording? That seems too easy though. I like the use of space, big time. Very AACM. Really curious about this one. Quasimodo gave us the correct genre of music. After that, I can say that there is no tape noise, and it is not Sun Ra or AACM.

Track 6 - This absolutely feels like a great follow-up to the last track. More of a groove, more of a middle-eastern flavor. Some excellent soprano playing on this, terrific lines. Great dynamics overall from the group. Okay, was definitely not expecting any synth here! This is wild. Again I have no guesses but this has got me thinking. Thanks for feeling the similarities in this one and the one before, I felt it too. Not sure if there are any "synthesizers" though, at least not in the way we generally understand the term today. There are definitely electronics though.

Track 7 - I can already tell I'm going to like this. Powerful narration. I feel like I should be able to ID the speaker but I can't. As far as the backing band, I'm hearing hints of Parker & Drake, but can't be certain of that yet. I really like how the saxophonist is responding to the vocals. Hang on, this must be older than I think it is. Rudd on trombone? The deeper I get into this the less sure I am of who it is, but I'm really liking it. A fantastic group, communicating at a high level. T.D.has correctly identified it as The New York Art Quartet with Amiri Baraka doing the recitation(s). Rudd & John Tchichai are their typically outstanding selves, but so are Reggie Workman and Milford Graves. I guess it is older than you might think, but for this band, it was a later effort, a reunion type thing. Either way, just one helluva band!

Track 8 - We might be in two different worlds, but I'm loving this one here. Beautiful feeling & mood. I don't recognize the vocalist but what a voice! Outstanding support from the pianist. The tenor player's solo is a master class in how to do it. Wow! And the piano solo shimmers. This is so good. Excited for the reveal! Quasimodo correctly iendified this as being a Sonny Rollins date with Earl Coleman singing and Kenny Drew on piano. It's from one of sonny's last Prestige sessions, maybe even the last(?), and yeah, he was in peak form. 32 bars of distilled perfection. And yeah, Earl Coleman!

A really interesting, wild bunch of tunes this month, really enjoyed it! Thanks for your efforts putting this together!

And thanks for playing. Always happy when somebody listens and responds to the music as they hear it!

 

2 hours ago, webbcity said:

Update: Wow, I did not notice that #1 and #8 were the same tune. Well played!

And if you're so inclined and/or have the spare time (I know...), there's a bit of a narrative built in between those bookends. Almopst certainly, it's likely to be one that only I can hear, but I'm willing to be surprised!

[webbcity]

Can't believe that I didn't get Sonny on track 8. Maybe a context thing, but I should have ID'd him! And Earl Coleman-- I just realized he's on Elmo Hope's Rikers Island LP, a personal favorite.

I imagine the "Two Different Worlds" narrative thread has to do with two different elements coming together on these tracks? Not that I can identify/clarify all of those differences but I definitely hear them on a lot of cuts... old meets new... spoken word meets jazz... Japanese music meets space music... Sonny Rollins meets Earl Coleman??  haha

I'll have to listen for that bass player again on #2...

 

[T.D.]

3 hours ago, webbcity said:

... And Earl Coleman-- I just realized he's on Elmo Hope's Rikers Island LP, a personal favorite.

+1...no, I didn't recognize him on #8. 

[danasgoodstuff]

I think I have a copy of #1, Jimmy McGriff?

(27) George Braith - Chop sticks - YouTube   this is #3 with GG, BJP, & BD

[danasgoodstuff]

Embarrassed I missed #1, but glad I figured out #3

[JSngry]

And figure it out you did!

The title is singular, though. And the OG LP cover brings bonus points to whoever posts it, for spreading joy to all the little boys and girls all over this whole world!!!!! 

[felser]

I'll take those bonus points.  Never heard (or heard of) this album, though I have the BN's that come before it, and 'Musart' that came after it (thank you, Real Gone Records annual clearance sale!).  Reminds me of my four year old grandson!

[danasgoodstuff]

2 minutes ago, felser said:

I'll take those bonus points.  Never heard (or heard of) this album, though I have the BN's that come before it, and 'Musart' that came after it (thank you, Real Gone Records annual clearance sale!).  Reminds me of my four year old grandson!

I have this, mostly because I love his BNs and GG so much.  But this one's a little different.  Fun record.  My fav tho' is BJP's Blue John w/ Braith and Green.

[JSngry]

An afternoon spent checking out George Braith's Spotify catalog - all of it - is not a bad way to spend an afternoon. Even if they don't have all of the Excellence releases and neither of the Prestige.

George Braith is an American Original! 

[webbcity]

I listened to #2 again, the bass playing is definitely solid and it sounds like whoever it is, they're certainly a jazzist. But I don't have any illumination beyond that. I will say, that jingle is firmly lodged in my brain now though. Thanks?