BFT 251: The Revealing Science of Golb

[Joe]

Please excuse the Tales From Topographic Oceans - Adventure Time mashup. 

All links below go to additional information available via Discogs. I've added some notes of my own as well.

1. "Odile," Fred Tompkins
2. "Recorda Me," Jason Marshall
3. "Cool Struttin’," Bennie Green
4. "Chito’s Song," Cochemea Gastelum
5. "La Danse Des Ferrailleurs," Yochk’o Seffer
6. "Prohibido," Benny Carter
7. "Yesterdays" (arr. by Jimmy Giuffre), Hal McKusick
8. "Five-Two," Scott Colley
9. "Turn It Around," Matana Roberts
10. "Sophisticated Lady," Curtis Clark
11. "Fair Weather" (words and music by Kenny Dorham), Bob Mover (sax and vocals)
12. "The Magnetic A," Donald Smith

1. Fred Tompkins, who plays flute and wrote this composition, is a new name to me. But apparently he's been doing interesting things in St. Louis for awhile. Here's his Wikipedia entry (it gets into his relationship with Elvin Jones) and a link to an interview with him from last May. Jimmy Owens is owning it on this track, as he almost always does. In fact, if you're a Jimmy Owens fan and have not yet seen this... you'll want to!

2. I don't know much about Jason Marshall but this record, which I stumbled upon via Bandcamp, makes me want to hear and learn more. And snaps for Marc Cary!

3. So, did Sonny Clark do A&R for Time Records. Because this is secretly a Clark record. Fantastic front line, and this era of Jimmy Forrest is peak Jimmy Forrest, I think. Interesting too that this same composition appears on Cool Struttin' but as "Blue Minor." Evidence of Clark trying to get around a bad publishing deal he signed with Lion and Wolff? 

4. Cocehmea is the sax player for the Daptones (as in Sharon Jones and the). As may listeners noted, the nods to Eddie Harris is prominent here. I actually rather like the restraint showed here, the attention to sonic nuance and melody. But, yes, this may be a bit too optimized for Spotify. But good to know there are still players following this R&B/soul/funk path to experimentation.

5. No restraint here! So, who is this guy? He's associated with Margam, Christian Vander, and Zeuhl. If you're as dedicated to tracking Coltrane's influence as far and wide as it goes (which is far and wide), you'll have to reckon with Zeuhl, whether you end up enjoying that experience or not. You can;t quibble with the dude's technical abilities, though. Here's an interview with Seffer from 2022.

6. Polite? Perhaps. Subtle? Profoundly so. It's bossa-esque, but no bossa nova. Maybe that explains the hint of unease or melancholy here. The variation on the chorus that follows the the first of Mundell Lowe's guitar solos is a marvelous thing indeed. the brief tenor solo is courtesy of Bill Perkins... I think. The original liner notes are a bit confusing on this one. But they indicate that this track originated from those sessions (not the sessions with Teddy Edwards and Barney Kessel).

7. Hal McKusick is, for my money, always worth hearing. But he's also a guy who basically disappears from the discography after 1958 - this LP, in fact. He ran with fast company for sure: Boyd Raeburn, Claude Thornhill, George Russel, Art Farmer, Bill Evans. The Konitz influence is strong but not overpowering. As noted, hints of Paul Desmond as well. But I picked this mostly on account of Guiffre's arrangement, which, once you know it's Giuffre, becomes quintessentially Giuffre. Connie Kay on finger cymbals!

8. Moody! I kind of approach my BFTs like old-school mix tapes, and I liked the progression from the Carter to this track. The tension is very plastic or fluid here, and these are all players who can really wring maximum effect from every note. Craig Taborn, Ralph Alessi, Brian Blade and, yes, Bill Frisell. As minimal as they appear to be, the composed elements here have a lot of strength. Not nearly as funky as Mingus' "Folk Forms No. 1," but echoes that cellular approach here.

9. I dig the Coin Coin records well enough, although I find they suffer from heavy-handedness here and there. This recording stands as a ice counterpart / counterpoint. The setup is more traditional and facilitates "blowing," but it also shows how deep Roberts' AACM roots run.

10. I've followed Curtis Clark ever since I read New Dutch Swing and learned about Letter From South Africa in the late 90s / early 00s. But this live solo performance from 1987 was new to me last year. The record is very much worth hearing and mostly favors Clark's own compositions. But this! Damn. I guess all that time he spent in Europe didn;t help his profile all that much, but he's just an important extension of the Ellington-Monk continuum as Mal Waldron, Ran Blake, etc. Ample demonstration of that here.

11. The late-period Chet Baker is strong with this one. I find this track very moving (pun intended). Another guy who came up in the 70s, made a strong impression, then kind of got drowned out as the hype machine started humming behind the Young Lions / Neoclassicists / Neoconservatives. Oh well. Killer rhythm section here: Kenny Barron, Bob Cranshaw, and Steve Williams. Josh Evans is on trumpet and Steve Hall on tenor sax. Mover himself has shared a "making of" documentary about this album on YouTube.

12. You'd be excused for thinking this is a Cecil McBee date. Or a Jack DeJohnette-led session. So outsized are their contributions here. But Donald Smith - who I mostly know from his association with Oliver Lake (and the fact that he's Lonnie Liston Smith's little brother) - still holds his won here. Tyner-esque, sure. But there's also a individual lyricism on display, too. It would have been nice to have more Donald Smith records, I think. But this one is pretty good, and very much of its time. Thanks again to Masahiko Yuh and the folks behind Whynot Records!

Thanks to everyone for listening, offering thoughts, and making guesses.

Edited Saturday at 02:22 PM by Joe

[Dub Modal]

Good stuff. I have that Benny Carter album and almost never play it. No idea why. Lots of interesting leads on new artists for me here too. I was drawn to that rhythm section on track 11 and want to hear that album now, as I've never heard Mover at all. 

Nice collection and write up. Thanks! 

[clifford_thornton]

Ah! Curtis Clark! Never had his FMP but have long been curious about it. Never seen a copy in person, strangely enough. I have a few of his records and saw him live once with the brothers González, excellent live experience.

The only one of these I own is the Donald Smith, but I have not liberated it from overstuffed shelves in ages. 

Been curious about Fred Tompkins' records too, but never picked one up. Now's the time to rectify that.

Excellent BFT, very well done.

[Joe]

37 minutes ago, clifford_thornton said:

Ah! Curtis Clark! Never had his FMP but have long been curious about it. Never seen a copy in person, strangely enough. I have a few of his records and saw him live once with the brothers González, excellent live experience.

The only one of these I own is the Donald Smith, but I have not liberated it from overstuffed shelves in ages. 

Been curious about Fred Tompkins' records too, but never picked one up. Now's the time to rectify that.

Excellent BFT, very well done.

Thanks! 

[JSngry]

I know the name Fred Tompkins from an Elvin record or two, and he seemed to always have a record or two in the shelves at Peaches back in the day. But for some reason I never checked him or then out.

Glad to at least finally have the opportunity. That was good!