The Don Rendel Ian Carr Quintet "Change Is"



From the shelves

That bassist, Linda May Han Oh, is a master player. *





I'm not as familiar with her electric work as on the contrabass violin. I've heard a few of her leader dates playing her music and don't really connect with them BUT as a sidewoman she is awesome! Lovano and Douglas and many others work with her when they can.

Interesting about the street work on your end as my wife has spent half a year at trustee meetings and in email confrontation with the trustees to get our road repaved--there has been nothing but some pot hole filling for 20 plus years, and not even pot hole filling for nearly 10 and it's really a hazard, especially for walkers, and there are a handful of elderly couples that walk it, some daily. They kept telling us that there was no money in the budget and we were on the schedule for 2025. . . well that changed finally and the last week of last month it was resurfaced. A stopgap that will last five years maybe but at least it's smooth and safe now.

After spinning a classical SACD I am on to an Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie disc on Pablo.

"Ella and Basie--A Perfect Match" Pablo cd.



A few decades ago I thought both Ella and Basie at this time of their lives was sort of skippable. I was so wrong. They both (well the woman, the man AND the Orchestra) are so powerful and expressive in the final decade. This is a nice live one in excellent sound.

From the shelves

Recorded in Cuba, a great session.

Stefon Harris/Christopher Scott/David Sanchez "Ninety Miles" Concord cd

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninety_Miles_Project





From the shelves

Chet Baker "Baby Breeze" Limelight/Verve cd.

This is one that sounds better with my DAC phase "Inverted." Nice session.

From the shelves

Yes, Bennie was such a buoyant and vivid musical character. I have most all his output but half of it I fear is in storage. All his Blue Notes are here in the house though. And this Bethlehem, a Time Records, and several others.

Then there's Benny Green, the more contemporary pianist. He once emailed me out of the blue one day about 12 years ago wondering if I could send him a  set of cdrs of a ten cd set of rare Bud Powell material that he hadn't been able to find and had seen in a post online that I had. I did, and he sent me a three cd set of Bud Powell on Steeplechase I did not have. That was fun!

Yes in a way. He really has the cleaner hands. He wanted me to help him have the music. He could have meant send him my original discs, or help him to find new or used copies for himself. . . neither of these two things were going to happen -- I was not going to sell or give away mine, and they were just unobtainium. I took it upon myself to get out my burner and make him copies. Mea culpa!

I didn't hesitate. I knew how it was to be fascinated with Bud Powell and covet these rare recordings made mostly by Francis Paudras.

It may well be too early for this music, especially as the SEWE300B has really bloomed lately and is sounding so atmospheric and this music is. . . eerie to say the least, full of resonant spacey effects. But it suits today well enough!

Sun Ra & His Intergalactic Solar Arkestra: Space Is The Place (Music From The Original Soundtrack) 2 cd set and also remastered DVD and Blu-ray of the film, now listening to CD 1



From the shelves

Julian Priester Keep Swingin' Riverside/OJC cd.



Looking at that band lineup you know it's going to be great, and it is.

From the shelves

All the Basie of that time frame is excellent, but yeah, that's a great one on top of all that.

It was "Benny Green," who is an English white jazz pianist. I used to always get him mixed up with Bennie Green (who on some releases is "Benny," aiding to confusion). I have had similar experiences with musicians who, at least within their genres, could hear a song and assimilate it that easily. And others who couldn't do a Tin Pan Ally tune with ease if they grew up with the Stones or Allman Brothers. Like with any profession there are all sorts of musicians.

I needed that Sun Ra to sort of get me out of my head. The good thing about today is that it's my youngest brother's 61st birthday and we'll be having a brunch with him and my other brother and their wives in a few hours. The sad thing about today is that it is 16 years ago today my first wife expired and this time of year always brings both great and grisly memories back to me. I'm going to shake it off and remember the wonderful times today. And realize how fortunate I am to have a new life with a wonderful wife.

Have a great Sunday my friend.

I was going to mention this article I saw this morning.
Headline from AAJ:

"Songstress Antonia Bennett, Daughter Of Jazz Icon Tony Bennett, Launches Solo Career At Dizzy's Club On November 30, 2023"

I have not heard her work, but I am quite curious.

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/news/songstress-antonia-bennett-daughter-of-jazz-ic...

Interesting, indeed. I will keep watch.

Funny coincidence about our Green talk occurred. While perusing that site a Youtube vid came up in the new stuff.
It is a new thing they are asking for help/member response and participation (you know what that means) in promoting; instead of just a Song of The Day, they also want to inset a video component as a thing.

So, it is Youtube and I am skeptical about sound quality, even using my twenty year old Yamaha servo drive computer speakers (I was at my desktop, out in the garage, enjoying my pipe), which still sound better than all the more up-to-date modern Logitech, Klipsch, Creative, etc. that I have tried over the years, looking for something better. These are the best I have heard, period.

I hesitated, but the music was great. I gave it about a minute on the vid and went to find my own CD collection and dig that one out.

Grant Green, Idle Moments was the video for today.

So, I am spinning that one. It is a "Five Original Albums" variety, of which I have bought many.

I felt compelled to play this next.

"Idle Moments"  is a great album!

I like Grant Green, and "Idle Moments" is one of my favorite of his albums.  Glad to see it posted, and I take it as confirmation of my good taste!

I have 3 of the other albums in that "5 Original Albums" set, and liked all of them (the one I have not heard is "I want to hold your hand," but have seen positive reviews).  I also have bought a lot of the "5 original albums" series - I think they are a pretty good deal - I think I have most of the ones I am interested in at this point.

Bob Dylan "More Blood, More Tracks - The Bootleg Series Volume 14" disc 4





From the shelves

This one helped me last night ease out of troubled mind from watching news analysis. It's quite a nice release with some interesting arrangements of Strayhorn material.

Planet D Nonet "Salute to Strayhorn"



From the shelves

Needed a little hot grease in the pan right about now.



George Benson "Beyond the Blue Horizon" CTI/Mosaic Records cd

Bass – Ron Carter
Drums – Jack DeJohnette
Guitar – George Benson
Organ – Clarence Palmer
Percussion – Albert Nicholson, Michael Cameron

From the shelves

Another Dr. John and it was time for some big band, but a little different.
I let the fire die down during this one.


Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Gate Swings.

I'm done with the Miles Davis personnel crate. Nothing to cull! Keeping every disc.
Not much listening again for this day, after the work started on the street.
I swear that huge roller machine they use could confuse a seismic detector.

Those street workers are done and gone now. They finished today.



This is a newer acquisition I have enjoyed a few times.


Buck Hill, Relax

Jay Hoggard "The Fountain" Muse cd

Kenny and Jay are always a nice combination.



From the shelves

Such beautiful music.

Duke Ellington "Ellington Indigos" mono Columbia LP



From the shelves

I chose the next carton because I knew it was CDs. Bones feel lazy today. Lots of fall yard prep yesterday.

First grab is twelve Joe Henderson albums.
I'm starting with the first Blue Note. This one is a remaster, reissue in stereo from '99, but I'm glad to have it.
Discogs borrowed pic does not have this version illustrated correctly, but the numbers come out to be the '99 reissue.

Joe Henderson, Page One

Right, well I have a real history with this box set.

The first appearance of this music was two separate Sony LPs that came out in Japan. I heard about them, but never found copies at their release to buy. Then Columbia US put out the two LPs as a two LP set and that became almost my favorite Miles for a while.

About ten years later I'm in Austin, TX and my best friend, trumpeter Dave Laczko, is the jazz and classical buyer for Tower Records. He hears that Japan is releasing a 7 cd set of Plugged Nickel and that only about 200 are going to be sent to the US for Tower stores. He wrangles to get 2 sets for Austin, one for him, one for me. But. . .they never came. Apparently Tower NYC managed to keep most of them and jilt the other stores. We fussed and fumed, huffed and puffed, and never could get any of those sets.

Finally years later Columbia US released the set you have (and I have) without the edits that Teo Macero did for the Japanese set. I was very happy to have it, loved it, listened to it a lot. A few years later I realized that the Japanese had released a second version of the set on gold cds, same music exactly. I tried like heck to get one, didn't find one . . . kept getting close and someone else either outbid me or got there first. Then years later I saw a set on amazon one day for 100 bucks. Grabbed it, hoping it was legit. . . it arrived and was and it became my go to version.

Then a few months ago on a jazz bulletin board I frequent someone mentioned that Tower Records Japan (one of the only Tower Records still about) was releasing a really limited edition (only 1000 sets) on SACD of the tape source Mosaic Records used for their LP set (the master tapes used for the US cd set were apparently were lost). I scrambled, checked with those I knew who were most savvy at getting things from Japan and found I could use the Proxy Service from cdJapan to possibly get a copy. That worked, and my copy should be here tomorrow.

In theory I could sell one or two of my other sets. Probably won't for a while.

And you got your copy from the library. Wow.

Right now
Bebel Gilberto's tribute album (newly released) of her father Joao's material, on cd: "Joao" . . . .



In from amazon

Followed by
Stevie Wonder "Inner Visions" Audio Fidelity gold cd



From the shelves

The new SACD version of Miles Davis "Complete Live at Plugged Nickel" 8 cd box set from Japan, a Tower Records exclusive, arrived last night via DHL. I listened to disc 3 last night and am listening to disc 1.

I know many of us were hoping that the tonal balance of this version would be improved. Well. . . I don't think that it really is. Listening to the SACD layer there are subtle improvements in the depth of the sound stage and some instances of dynamic contrast improved, but the overall "tone" of the music remains basically the same to my ears. I'm a bit challenged as I have been listening to the second (gold disc) Japanese version of this release for years and the separate 2 LP versions from Japan and in the "Complete" box that are based on the US Wilder remix. My copy of the original US box set is somewhere in my storage unit fifty miles away. When others get the set and compare directly there will be a moreo definitive comparison I am sure.

Anyway: I love the music, and the subtle improvements SACD brings are nice to listen for and hear.

In from cdJapan's proxy service

Lon wrote on 10/12/23 at 09:44:34:


Now listening to discs 2a and 2b.

The new SACD version of Miles Davis "Complete Live at Plugged Nickel" 8 cd box set from Japan, a Tower Records exclusive, arrived last night via DHL.

Now listening to disc 3.

Walter Smith III "Return to Casual" Blue Note cd





From the shelves