Orrin Evans, with Branford Marsalis, Justin Faulkner (drums), Tim Warfield (tenor sax), Mike Boone (bass) Take The Coltrane Y'all need to check this one out. Poorly shot and poorly recorded but the quality is evident in this lineup
But to what purpose? When you take a step back from Coltrane and Coltrane derived music and listen to its superficies, it always sounds like a tone poem on surface transportation in midtown Manhattan at 8:30 am on a sweltering August Monday; not like the "A" train at all. Nor is this entirely because bebop: Getz' "Sweet Rain" is as fussy and dissonant without seemig to be all about frustration and insomnia. Still, I had heard about Justin Faulkner but never heard him, and this provides testimony to the rumor. But generally, I cross the street to avoid Coltranesque stuff, not to hear it... BTW, to harp on an old theme/beat a dead horse, did you know that Branford was a frequent sit in with the Grateful Dead? He's all over "Without A Net."
Tough room! But maybe the bolded explains it. No, I didn't know that. Sting and The Dead, too? I guess Wynton really WAS put out w/his brother. My knowledge of the Dead begins with Friend of the Devil and ends with I Will Get By, with absolutely nothing in between...
It's a 12-bar blues, really. The name isn't significant, IMO, other than maybe nothing else came to mind atm. How do you feel about Living For The City? It's among Stevie Wonder's greatest works for being so upfront, IMO. I see no reason why that sense should be left out of music or even relegated to a spot or two in the given performance. I don't always listen to music to forget things; sometimes I need to be reminded of them. That said... I think a lot of people miss out on the "We can do this shit and you can't" aspect of jazz. It's not as dissonant (mentally) to them as it seems to you. "...that day Orrin Evans took off from the free throw line, signed the ball in midair, and then dunked it..." What I hear here is guys shredding their asses off, not sharing their pain thru music. We all have our own ears, tho... I hope the rumors were complimentary- Faulkner's a damn beast. I had never heard of him, and I'm immediately impressed. The recording makes him stand out in the mix more than he actually is (now, he's hitting hard, no doubt, but so did Blakey and Blakey did so in a way that was unkind to his bassists). He's absolutely not an economy-of-motion guy, but he doesn't have to be because he's getting the job done without the usual ergonomics. What did you hear about him?
I can see why you are asking-- my problem is that I liked "Little" Stevie Wonder just fine, but the second career mostly just bored me, and that particular thing associates fairly strongly with Elvis" version of "In the Ghetto" for me for some reason, and I didn't much like that either. I like "A's" quite a bit tho'. (I think it is supposed to be the plural of "A," not "As," but I've never been sure... But that, of course isn't what you are driving at; as far as melodic stuff that relates the black experience, would Mayfield's "We People" do? I absolutely love that. Or how about "A Tribute To Jack Johnson?" I'm not opposed to being reminded some, but what I look to music for is some sense of grace, even when stuff is hot. Abdullah Ibrahim's "African Marketplace," Dewey Redman on Jarrett's "Foolsovallovus," have all the heat you could ask for, but they are tremendously graceful pieces. And bluegrass is, after all, almost entirely about shedding; it just can't confuse the rubes too much. Once in a while you can get by with something like "Plumber's Nightmare" (Andy Statman,) but if you program a whole set of it, most uf not all of the audience will head to the port-a-potties and the beer tents. Jack de Jonette's New Directions actually drove me from a room once. No two of them were playing in the same tonal system, except for accidental confluences. They proved they could do it, but I'd have been happy to stick to their earlier work. That he was some sort of a cross between Lenny White, Bernie Purdy, and Steve Jordan; but the person who brought the word knew some of the names I approve of, so I wasn't sure if he was picking those because he wanted me to be in an accepting frame of mind or because he actually heard similarities. Not sure I'd include Jordan in my three, but I can sort of see the other two, and I certainly was impressed-- it ain't just the beastliness, though that is there, but there's a sort of thought and purpose to it as well. And huge facility.
I've heard the Elvis tune maybe five times all the way thru, never cared much for it. I don't see a connection between the two at all- the story Elvis tells is from the outside and somewhat passively told, while Stevie's is from his experience and that of his ancestors. The middle section where he's conned by the slick NYCer also includes his sentencing and his treatment at the moment of incarceration. I think it's probably As. That's the first word in the song. Saved like a word processing doc? lol Some may get it from that song and that album, but I don't. You know where I DO hear it, even tho it's not necessarily there? In Killing Me Softly. I see that song as being about concern trolling from a conservative or centrist opining on the Black experience, rather than being about a bad relationship. That's a shame. It's not for everyone. It could be and should be, but it takes practice listening. There's so much I'd like to grasp, and it's only me I blame when I don't get something, as opposed to getting it and still not caring for it. I didn't get everything in those Evans and Marsalis solos the first listen, or the second, or the most recent. But I didn't go away and wait for simpler playing to come along. Jazz is going to always have a higher percentage of fans who play (at) the same instruments they are hearing. Kinda like the way players analyze Metallica, Rush, Phish or Dream Theater (or Pearl Jam but not Nirvana. Or not in the same way, at least). It's Purdie I don't hear, but again, we have our own ears. Your bolded: When I said "Beast", I was referring totally to his choice of what to play, not his energy/power. I do wish he'd been playing more softly, but I took the recording method into account.
Pilc Moutin Hoenig- Nardis Jean-Michel Pilc, piano Francois Moutin, bass Ari Hoenig, drums This is truly great. The previous post was just to get us to H...
"I Lie When I Drink" - Dale Watson He was playing at a local pub (where I had already seen him a few times) recently so I talked my wife into going. Now, she and I walk around singing this song which is hilarious (to me) because she doesn't drink (or when she does, I usually have to finish it for her). EDIT: At the pub, she had a coke. I tell people I married my designated driver.
We seemed to have passed over J, K, L; (So let me see what I can do here...) Jackie Wilson - "Lonely Teardrops" (That'll hold 'em)
With the World Cup coming up, I give you one of my favorite songs about soccer - about a soccer player at least. It's Jorge Ben's "Ponta de Lança Africano" from his classic album "Africa Brasil." EDIT: Ignore the YouTube title which says the song was produced by David Byrne, who did put it on a compilation CD in the late 80s but certainly didn't produce it. EDIT AGAIN: Also ignore the incorrect title, "Umbabarauma"
So Q . . . Q is hard. How about some singing from the classic film "Quo Vadis," nominated for eight Oscars in 1952 - including for Peter Ustinov as Best Supporting Actor, seen here singing as Nero. It won none of the awards, though Ustinov did win a Golden Globe.
"Reflections of My Life" - Dean Ford Dean Ford was the lead singer (and co-writer of this song) of the group Marmalade when this song was originally released in 1969.
"Turquoise Fins" - Pere Ubu This song includes one of my all time favorite lines: "Did you ever wonder why your Elvis fans were so much nicer people than the people who laugh at them?"
"Under the Gun" - Little Steven & The Disciples of Soul I was actually looking for "Until the Good is Gone", but came across "Undefeated". While looking for a good version of that, I came across "Under the Gun"; I decided this was my favorite.....at least today.
The original places me a spot in the road at the property line between their house and the family next door, facing the corner of the house where the garage is. Late afternoon, about 2 hours before sunset. Not only did I not stand there when I first heard the song, I'm not even sure we lived there yet. But the song always reminds me of that view and the people who lived around me then.