BFT 240 Reveal

[Dan Gould]

Thanks to all who participated as compilers and guessers across this two-part celebration of that Organissimo tradition started by @DrJ lo these many  years ago.

For my track, I had several of my usual bluesy jazz track options I went back and forth on, but then I had an opportunity to throw in a couple of CDs to a discogs order, and once received my choice became clear. There will be other opportunities for those skipped tracks, and I chose to honor the man who called himself SGUD Missile here and died last November.

 

It was track 2 from this:

https://www.discogs.com/release/5715293-Phil-Kelly-The-NW-Prevailing-Winds-Convergence-Zone

and for those who wondered about the engineering/sound of the track, I can advise that the liner notes mention that it was a bit of a studio creation, with the rhythm section recorded elsewhere and delivered via ProTools files, and that soloist Pete Christlieb overdubbed the entire saxophone section. Similarly for the two trumpets and two trombones.

I heartily recommend both of the CDs I received, this one and Battle of the Bouncing Beagles.

Calling on @JSngry, @felser, @mjzee, @medjuck, @tkeith, @Joe, @mikeweil, @Ken Dryden and the grand pooh bah himself, @DrJ to post their track reveals and any needed comment at their earliest convenience.

I presume that regularly scheduled programming will resume April 1 with BFT 241. And also hoping that Tony Jerant can put together a whole BFT for September which AFAIK is still open.

 

Edited March 31 by Dan Gould

[felser]

Happy Easter, everyone, He is risen!   My cut was "Sir Galahad" from Billy Harper's 'Capra Black' album, released on Strata-East in 1974.  The album cover has been my avatar on this forum since I joined in 2005!  Harper is joined by Jimmy Owens on trumpet, Julian Priester on trombone, George Cables on piano, Reggie Workman on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums on this beautiful cut.   Classic debut album by my favorite musician!  Responses to this cut ranged from positive to ecstatic with one notable exception 😊.  Thanks for listening and participating, and thanks to Mr. Notable Exception for coordinating this BFT, and to Thom for hosting/posting it.

[Ken Dryden]

Track 10 is from this CD

:

Bengt Hallberg is better known for his work as a jazz pianist, yet he was the first one to make a recording on this newly built pipe organ. Given the organ/cornet duets that I have in my collection featuring Dick Hyman and Ruby Braff, I thought it would be fun to share Hallberg's recording with alto saxophonist Arne Domnerus. 

I'll have to admit that I've been getting on a Bengt Hallberg purchasing bing, this is one of several recent acquisitions, though the others are all piano recordings.

I figured that most people would recognize "Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin'" by Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn.

[Joe]

My contribution.

Jimmy Hamilton, "Mr. Good Blues." From It's About Time (Prestige Swingville, 1961). (Reissued on the Fantasy / OJC 2fer Can't Help Swinging.)

Personnel:

• Jimmy Hamilton (tenor sax and clarinet)
• Clark Terry (trumpet)
• Britt Woodman (trombone)
• Tommy Flanagan (piano)
• Wendell Marshall (bass)
• Mel Lewis (drums)

Colorful, as you would expect from this gathering of Ellingtonians. I picked this mostly as I wanted to showcase Hamilton's somewhat overlooked tenor playing. Plus, you do get a clarinet solo from him, so there's an opportunity to A/B his different horn-specific approaches. Also, let's give some props to one produce Esmond Edwards for his work here and on the entire Swingville series. Those records contain some of the best documentation of seldom spotlighted (or otherwise obscurish) musicians, all beautifully recorded by RVG.

1 hour ago, Ken Dryden said:

Track 10 is from this CD

:

Bengt Hallberg is better known for his work as a jazz pianist, yet he was the first one to make a recording on this newly built pipe organ. Given the organ/cornet duets that I have in my collection featuring Dick Hyman and Ruby Braff, I thought it would be fun to share Hallberg's recording with alto saxophonist Arne Domnerus. 

I'll have to admit that I've been getting on a Bengt Hallberg purchasing bing, this is one of several recent acquisitions, though the others are all piano recordings.

I figured that most people would recognize "Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin'" by Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn.

 

[mjzee]

Track 5 is "Happy Hooligan" from:

Al DeRisi, Bernie Glow, Nick Travis, tp; Eddie Bert, Ollie Wilson, tb; Tony Miranda, frh; Hal McKusick, as; Al Cohn, ts; Charlie O'Kane, bs; Elliot Lawrence, p; Russ Saunders, b; Don Lamond, d.  1956.

This was identified during the BFT, as was Al Cohn's contribution.  I liked that it was lively, in the Basie mold, but with an added intellectual layer on top.  And that it was short!  I was aspiring to have all short tunes in my upcoming May BFT, but sadly I failed.

I didn't know much about Elliot Lawrence, and found his career to be fascinating: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliot_Lawrence

Many thanks to all who organized this all-star BFT!  Let's hope to do it again in another 20 years.

[tkeith]

My contribution became a pick when I just had my listening drive on shuffle one night.  Crazy Ray always seems to catch my attention, but to my ear, there is something extra special in this cut.

Ray Anderson     Wishbone Suite:  Part II - Wish For The Folks     From Wishbone



Ray Anderson - trombone, Mark Feldman - violin, Fumio Itibashi - piano, Mark Helias - bass, Dion Parson - drums, Don Alias - percussion



Edit:  Just a quick heads up, I've started to rebuild the archive (long, slow, tedious process).  If you have a moment and can check it out, I'd appreciate any feedback (via private message so as not to derail the thread, please).  If you're on the regular listening page, you can access via the menu (Blindfold Tests/Archive Blindfold Tests).  So far, I've only done the first half of 2023 (click the 2023 button).  Thanks in advance.

Edited March 31 by tkeith

[Dan Gould]

@Joe Definitely on the hunt for that CD and here is a photo from the Leonard Gaskin Papers from a Jimmy Hamilton gig at Carlos 1 in 1984.

 

Leonard Gaskin Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

[JSngry]

I had Illinois Jacquet, Lullaby Of The Leaves from Swing's The Thing

Illinois Jacquet

Roy Eldridge

Jimmy Jones

Herb Ellis

Ray Brown

Jo Jones

However you dance, this should do it. 

[medjuck]

The cut is called Need to be Loved and is credited to all 3 as composer.  The bass player is Essiet Okun Essiet.   I got it because I'm a fan of Mac  (BTW I really like his Ellington cd) and was surprised to see him with Blakey and Newman.  

 

Edited March 31 by medjuck

[mikeweil]

A Night In Tunisia with new Spanish language lyrics from the album Live Lunch Break by arguably the best Latin Jazz singer, Maria Rivas (1960-2019), It probably was recorded in 2011 and released only as a download, together with her last Studio album, Motivos, which was recorded in 2018, while she already was diagnosed with the cancer that soon took her life. Sidemen were not identified, except for her husband Miguel Chacón on bass, and are hard to guess, as she performed with changing personnel often different from her studio groups. She is a favourite of mine and this is the third time I featured her in a BFT. This is the style that was at the center of her activities, she thought of herself as a Latin Jazz singer in the first place. There is a number of videos on YouTube in that style.

 https://www.discogs.com/artist/960981-Maria-Rivas

Edited April 1 by mikeweil

[Joe]

7 hours ago, Dan Gould said:

@Joe Definitely on the hunt for that CD and here is a photo from the Leonard Gaskin Papers from a Jimmy Hamilton gig at Carlos 1 in 1984.

 

Leonard Gaskin Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

Awesome; thanks!

[webbcity]

Thanks all, great reveals! This was a fun one. Dan, thanks so much again for your efforts putting together these big collaborative anniversary BFTs. As always there's fun exploring ahead as I dig into a few of these. And thank you TK! Hopefully I can help you with your WordPress issues very soon. 🙂

[Dan Gould]

36 minutes ago, webbcity said:

 Dan, thanks so much again for your efforts putting together these big collaborative anniversary BFTs. 

It was my pleasure and really not very time consuming at all .... in fact it suggests an option for the future if there is an unclaimed month, for a quick and dirty collaborative effort again.

[DrJ]

Sorry for being late to the party (again), here is the reveal of my track: "Momentum," which has Dorian Devins lyrics set to Wayne Shorter's tune "Deluge" from his Juju album as @JSngry and then a couple others also astutely picked up. The track appears on this fabulous album: 

Dorian Devins - The Procrastinator (self-produced CD, with liner notes by Jack Walrath). The players: Richie Vitale trumpet and flugehorn, Peter Brainin tenor and soprano sax, Lou Rainone on piano (and I might add, killing it throughout!), Karl Kaminski bass, and Steve Johns drums. None of these guys are well known, at least they weren't to me - but they play really well, and together. Great line up of tunes here including the Shorter piece but also three by Lee Morgan (the title track, Lament for Stacy, and Soft Touch), one by Dorham (La Mesha), one by Al Cohn (Night Bird), plus Let's Get Lost, I Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry, Better Than Anything, Dreamer, and Time Was. One of my favorite vocal jazz albums of recent eras, and my wife also loves it - often played around here! Nice review and full track listing here: https://www.allaboutjazz.com/the-procrastinator-dorian-devins-self-produced-review-by-c-michael-bailey  

Edited April 1 by DrJ

[felser]

49 minutes ago, DrJ said:

Dorian Devins - The Procrastinator , Lou Rainone on piano (and I might add, killing it throughout!)

Thanks so much, just picked up the Devins on ebay following the reveal.  You've won me over on Rainone for sure, and opportunity to hear him and those Lee tunes is well worth my $8!

[DrJ]

19 minutes ago, felser said:

Thanks so much, just picked up the Devins on ebay following the reveal.  You've won me over on Rainone for sure, and opportunity to hear him and those Lee tunes is well worth my $8!

That's great, glad you enjoyed it! Would love to hear your thoughts after you have a chance to absorb the whole disc. 

[felser]

6 minutes ago, DrJ said:

That's great, glad you enjoyed it! Would love to hear your thoughts after you have a chance to absorb the whole disc. 

Will do!

[DrJ]

On 3/31/2024 at 2:50 PM, JSngry said:

I had Illinois Jacquet, Lullaby Of The Leaves from Swing's The Thing

Illinois Jacquet

Roy Eldridge

Jimmy Jones

Herb Ellis

Ray Brown

Jo Jones

However you dance, this should do it. 

This was my favorite in the BFT, thanks for posting on it! After the discussion in the active BFT thread pretty much revealed who it was, I ordered the hybrid SACD that Analogue Productions released of this title some years back, been enjoying it since. Great music in excellent sound. 

On 3/31/2024 at 8:05 AM, Joe said:

My contribution.

Jimmy Hamilton, "Mr. Good Blues." From It's About Time (Prestige Swingville, 1961). (Reissued on the Fantasy / OJC 2fer Can't Help Swinging.)

Personnel:

• Jimmy Hamilton (tenor sax and clarinet)
• Clark Terry (trumpet)
• Britt Woodman (trombone)
• Tommy Flanagan (piano)
• Wendell Marshall (bass)
• Mel Lewis (drums)

Colorful, as you would expect from this gathering of Ellingtonians. I picked this mostly as I wanted to showcase Hamilton's somewhat overlooked tenor playing. Plus, you do get a clarinet solo from him, so there's an opportunity to A/B his different horn-specific approaches. Also, let's give some props to one produce Esmond Edwards for his work here and on the entire Swingville series. Those records contain some of the best documentation of seldom spotlighted (or otherwise obscurish) musicians, all beautifully recorded by RVG.

I also really enjoyed this one! And in fact was chagrined to find that I already had it - as part of this Fantasy/Prestige twofer CD release Can't Help Swingin' that also includes the album of the same name which is also from 1961 - a quartet, with Flanagan again on piano and Marshall again on bass but Earl Williams on drums. 

[felser]

On 4/1/2024 at 8:40 PM, DrJ said:

That's great, glad you enjoyed it! Would love to hear your thoughts after you have a chance to absorb the whole disc. 

Finished up listening.  I also like the bass player a lot, and still love the pianist (BTW, looks to be his label issuing the disc), and they play really well together.  The idea of adding lyrics to Shorter/Morgan/Dorham is intriguing.  Still not sold on the singer as a singer, but she does have ideas and a style.   The horns and drummer are functional, don't get in the way.  Overall, a nice listen which will reside on my secondary shelves.  The cut you picked is my favorite on the album.  Thanks for the lead!