What LPs have you listened to recently?

neobop · « **Reply #7260 on:** 25 Mar 2015, 07:30 pm »

Quote from: ArthurDent on 25 Mar 2015, 03:28 pm

Hey neo, Thanks for the thoughts on DB. Agreed on the mixed bag aspect. My intro to him was in the early '70s, Electric Byrd, which I can recommend, though it is what would be considered a fusion album. It's pretty much a stand-a-lone style-wise. Check it out, would be interested in your take.
JD

I'll keep an eye out. I had to look up the album, '70 Blue Note. Want to see something amazing? Donald Byrd discography:
http://www.jazzdisco.org/donald-byrd/catalog/album-index/

Have a spare hour or two? At the top click on the session index.
neo

neobop · « **Reply #7261 on:** 27 Mar 2015, 02:25 pm »

Recorded 1961 Blue Note

Pepper Adams - baritone
Herbie Hancock - piano
Doug Watkins - bass
Eddy Robinson - drums

Chant was recorded around the same time as ~~Byrd in Hand~~ Royal Flush. It was released for the first time in '79 with the cover pictured above. Blue Note had an abundance of great musicians and sessions, but releases overwhelmed sales so decisions had to be made.
Chant begins with the tune I'm an Old Cowhand, played a little differently than Sonny Rollins in his cowboy album of '57. Byrd and company do this up-tempo and the head flies bye quickly. Then Pepper growls out a baritone solo that leaves you wanting more, and you get it, you really get it. The tune is just a vehicle, in this case an old jalopy driven at 100 mph, and it's a fun ride, but I suspect it's also the reason this stayed in the vaults for nearly 20 years.

The rest of the album has a couple of Byrd originals and Ellington's Sophisticated Lady. The title cut Chant is by Duke Pearson - part Gregorian chant and part gospel, it's beautiful and haunting. You can also hear how this session and similar sessions influenced Herbie with his straight up Blue Notes. This is a good album. Glad I dug it out of my vaults and gave it another listen
neo

neobop · « **Reply #7262 on:** 27 Mar 2015, 09:12 pm »

1957 Savoy

Curtis Fuller - trombone
John Jenkins - alto
Tommy Flanagan - piano
Doug Watkins - bass
Art Taylor - drums

Years ago someone told me this was a nice album. I like the tune Star Eyes, and nobody is better with a tune like that, than Donald Byrd. Different maybe, but not better. Jenkins on alto, was a decent player. He put some space in his solos and they make sense. Reminds me of Wayne Shorter only with a very different voice, more like an abrupt Jackie McLean.

This is a traditionally played album and it's well done. Last night I played it immediately after Chant and to be honest, by the end of side two I was ready for something else. I guess that's unfair because it's mostly very well played. Donald Byrd does sound great throughout, and Tommy Flanagan heads up an excellent rhythm section. I can recommend this album. If your normal fare is more modern or complex, it might be a good idea to mix it up.
neo

Toni Rambold · « **Reply #7263 on:** 28 Mar 2015, 06:49 pm »

Miles Davis: Kind of Blue

... remastered by Bernie Grundman in 1995 for Classic Records:

neobop · « **Reply #7264 on:** 30 Mar 2015, 12:07 pm »

Quote from: Toni Rambold on 28 Mar 2015, 06:49 pm

I don't think that is entirely accurate. Sony bought CBS records in 11/87 and Sony engineers "discovered" that side 1 of this '59 tape was recorded 1.25% slow? I'm pretty sure this was known before Sony.

I don't have this reissue, but for the hell of it I played side 1 a little slow. Without a digital readout to give exactly 1.25%, I did it by ear. If you slow it down too much the piano sounds funny, so get it so the piano sounds like it does side 2 at normal speed. This takes the edge off the horns and the top of the cords. I like it better the way it was originally issued, but maybe that's because of familiarity.

This Classic reissue has the reputation for wonderful fidelity on the best selling jazz album of all time. Today, there seems to be a lot of negativity about Miles, which is ironic. Miles Davis was one of the greatest jazz musicians of all time. You can complain about his technique or tone, but he changed the sound of the trumpet. No small feat, he was the only one to do that since Louis Armstrong defined it.
Back in the day a jazz musician got recognition by graduating from one of two bands, Art Blakey or Miles Davis. Blakey always had a hard hitting bop band with great musicians. Miles explored further out in the galaxy with two of the greatest jazz bands ever, the one with Coltrane and the one with Herbie Hancock/Wayne Shorter. Miles earlier work with Gil Evans writing, was simply beautiful, and the popularization of modal playing was also world-changing.

Sorry if I'm preaching to the choir, but I saw a goofy thread on Jazz Circle..... Some people just don't get it.
neo

BTW, In the '60's I had a master tape dub on 1/4" RTR. If this Classic sounds like that, you'd be in for a treat.

neobop · « **Reply #7265 on:** 30 Mar 2015, 12:52 pm »

1961 Blue Note

Donald Byrd - trumpet
Wayne Shorter - tenor sax
Herbie Hancock - piano
Butch Warren - bass
Billy Higgins - drums

Another good one, this time with Herbie and Wayne. Donald comes out of the gate on a tune called Pentecostal Feeling, sounding like a Lee Morgan style bugaloo. There's a heavy call and response like a pastor and the congregation. Then Night Flower, a ballad by Herbie, is a little slow, but beautifully played. Side 1 ends with a Byrd tune Nai-Nai possibly written for his daughter? It's sing-songey, but once the solos start it becomes something else.

Side 2 starts with a Byrd tune called French Spice that swings, and winds up with the title track. Free Form is a bit of an intellectual challenge as the melody and solos are played independently of the rhythm. These are great musicians and can hear what everyone else is doing so it doesn't get atonal or cacophonous. Billy Higgins maintains a strong beat and it's interesting to hear Butch Warren stay with the rhythm and melody at the same time.
Wayne Shorter's tone sounds a little different than in later albums, but Free Form gives a taste of what's to come, a good taste.
neo

jimdgoulding · « **Reply #7266 on:** 30 Mar 2015, 01:29 pm »

Quote from: Toni Rambold on 28 Mar 2015, 06:49 pm

Miles Davis: Kind of Blue

... remastered by Bernie Grundman in 1995 for Classic Records:

Hi, Toni. I miss your posts. Don't be such a stranger.

neobop · « **Reply #7267 on:** 1 Apr 2015, 05:17 pm »

1967 Blue Note - released 1981

Donald Byrd - trumpet
Sonny Red - alto sax
Pepper Adams - baritone sax
Chick Corea - piano
Miroslav Vitouš - bass
Mickey Roker - drums

Fast forward to '67 and things got worse for jazz record sales, but not for Donald Byrd. This is a straight up session with Chick, Miroslav, and Roker doing the rhythm honors. The LP begins with Samba Yanta, written by Chick, a very different up-tempo rendition from that tune on Chick's Circlin' In album. But the album isn't mostly written by Chick. He wrote one other tune here. Byrd follows with a ballad which he does so well. Maybe he's not as emotional or schmaltzy as some other players, but he did it right.
The rest is all good, a "normal" Blue Note session from that era. It precedes the fusion/R&B Blackbirds, Return to Forever (Chick), and Weather Report (Miroslav).
neo

S Clark · « **Reply #7268 on:** 1 Apr 2015, 06:50 pm »

Anything with "Death March of the Marionettes" duo with bassoon and piano has to be interesting.
L'Apres-Midi D'un Dinosaur Bassoon & Piano Music on Hyperion in a DMM mastering. Nice lp.

Can't find a photo. Look for the green dinosaur playing a bassoon.

neobop · « **Reply #7269 on:** 2 Apr 2015, 01:02 am »

found it

S Clark · « **Reply #7270 on:** 2 Apr 2015, 01:16 am »

Ring-a-Ding. We have a winner! Give that man a Cupie Doll!
It's interesting that the Helios doesn't mention the direct metal mastering. I guess that whether it's Hyperion or Helios, they all came out of the Teldec plant- I think they were the sole provider of DMM.

neobop · « **Reply #7271 on:** 3 Apr 2015, 07:33 pm »

1967 Blue Note

Donald Byrd - trumpet
Sonny Red - alto sax
Hank Mobley - tenor sax
Cedar Walton - piano
Walter Booker - bass
Billy Higgins - drums

'67 was just before Byrd went in a different direction. Here is another good one, this time with Hank Mobley and Cedar Walton in the mix and they sound excellent. Seems like a good Blue Note type session until you hear a tune Eldorado written by one of Byrd's students Mitch Farber. The tune has an uncanny resemblance to a Gil Evans/Miles Davis tune on Miles Ahead. It's an unexpected treat to hear this group play in this mode.
neo

Devil Doc · « **Reply #7272 on:** 4 Apr 2015, 09:30 pm »

Dylan sings the American Song Book. He pulls it off!

Doc

neobop · « **Reply #7273 on:** 6 Apr 2015, 12:09 pm »

1981 Pablo

Oscar Peterson - Bosendorfer piano
Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen – bass
Terry Clarke – drums

Live at the '81 Montreux jazz fest - great performance and good recording for '81 digital. Perhaps the piano is a little too immediate, but overall it's clear, detailed and dynamic. Put this red vinyl spinner high on your list.
neo

Toni Rambold · « **Reply #7274 on:** 6 Apr 2015, 08:33 pm »

... found the Track Record :

and this is on the back cover:

Toni Rambold · « **Reply #7275 on:** 6 Apr 2015, 08:53 pm »

... just spinnin' :

Lincoln Mayorga & Distinguished Colleagues Volume III

Sheffield Lab 1

roscoeiii · « **Reply #7276 on:** 6 Apr 2015, 09:06 pm »

FINALLY Available on vinyl (as an import). I can't stop singing this to myself, and I have no idea what they are saying or even the language. An ALL TIME FAVORITE ALBUM!!!!!

Ali Farke Toure and Ry Cooder: Talking Timbuktu

Toni Rambold · « **Reply #7277 on:** 6 Apr 2015, 09:30 pm »

Thelma Houston & Pressure Cooker: I've got the Music in Me

Sheffield Lab 2

Toni Rambold · « **Reply #7278 on:** 6 Apr 2015, 09:45 pm »

Harry James & His Big Band: The King James Version

Sheffield Lab 3

who?me? · « **Reply #7279 on:** 7 Apr 2015, 12:30 am »