What are you listening to? August 2024

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Steve Lehman & Orchestra Nationale de Jazz - Ex Machina (2023)

Lehman decided an octet wasn't enough to present his vision. Here he steps out with a full orchestra, that ... well I don't have the musical knowledge to explain what I hear, so I'll quote Fastro from his RYM review.
Fastro said:
Basically somewhat similar to avant-prog... for example microtonal worlds in e.g. Chimera, and some interesting dark smooth waters sound surfaces, a bit reminding me of Annie Gosfield kind of combined with some chamber jazz, and some a bit calmer pieces...

Also, while the music is, I'd say, complex, it's not at all hard to listen to; it's immediately enjoyable. Although I would argue that most things that are harder to listen to are not actually complex, but more like dispersed; this is tight, but not in mindless technical show-off although I'd get that view too. But here the music flows great, it's few connected fluid layers but with multiple half-penetrating beams in various constellations. This is even kind of more like... Zolo by being so playful. And energetic, but it's also atmospheric in mysterious ways.

Elegant and somehow... eluding... use of melodic instruments, although sometimes there's too much typical "jazz" noodling with the brass (I'm rather biased here because I just don't generally like it), and - fortunately not much - oddly kind of repetitive and a bit swinging sharp rhythms kind of resembling jazz rap, spy jazz, some cool jazz... but it's catchy anyway. .... So many parts of the style here are not my absolute favourites, but the way they are composed is simply too great to ignore.
I'll forgive Fastro for not "generally liking" Jazz.
 
George Duke - Is Love Enough? (1997)

Mr Chameleon himself, playing with his entire bag of musical tricks. From "serious" straight ahead Jazz, to Zappa zaniness, to George Clinton like funk, Duke can do it all. And on most of his albums from '73's The Inner Source on, he did do it all. Every album was an Eff U to genre sergeants who demand music be put into a labeled box. With George Duke, you come for the music, not the box. Here, a song can go from a funk workout to a couple of Jazz solos to a couple of bars from a dynamic singer, to some genre-defying musical tinkering in a four-minute journey.

Like Quincy Jones (but much more frequently) once Duke aura grew, he brought in a horde of incredible musicians for every album. This one has contributions from dozens of talents, including Bennie Maupin, Airto Moreira, Doc Powell, George Howard, Gerald Albright, Paulinho da Costa and many more. Of course, the star is George on the keys, writing the music, and ringleading the whole thing.

Mmmmm, tasty.
Randy, you have inspired me to explore George Duke, an artist I have neglected up until now. Any suggestions as to where I should start?

Sony had one of those bargain basement complete album collection boxes but it’s now $200 used on Amazon. So that’s not an option. All I have is Reach For It, a fruit of the long forgotten Columbia contemporary jazz record club.
 
Randy, you have inspired me to explore George Duke, an artist I have neglected up until now. Any suggestions as to where I should start?

Sony had one of those bargain basement complete album collection boxes but it’s now $200 used on Amazon. So that’s not an option. All I have is Reach For It, a fruit of the long forgotten Columbia contemporary jazz record club.
While George's progression is a wonder for me to follow, I think jumping in the middle is probably a good idea.

A Brazilian Love Affair is a great little album. As I mentioned Quincy Jones before, I'd say this is sort of what might have happened if Joao Gilberto and Quincy created an album together in the late 60s and George Duke was commissioned to write it's sequel in 1980.

Among the musicians/singers Duke brought to this album were Brazilians Flora Purim, Milton Nascimento and Airto Moreira. That trio helps give this album a strong authentic (to my ears) Brazilian sound. George melded their sound with his usual mob of musical miscreants to create what I think is a thoroughly enjoyable album.

Like all his albums, there are Jazz explorations, like the long solos on "Brazilian Sugar" that create rewarding moments again and again through the song, and the album. Then there are the vocals, which George almost always seems to not overdo. I'm sure some Jazz purists don't appreciate the sort and quanity of vocals on George's albums, but I think he hits a nice mix. Also, I think he really didn't care because he was creating music, not anything to be easily slotted away.

Let me know what you like and dislike about that and I'll have a better idea of where to send you next.

PS -- If you're looking for something closer to purely instrumental music, his Muir Woods Suite might be of interest. It's Duke in a bass/drums/percussion quartet playing with an orchestra. The sound goes from Jazz with the drums/percussion behind it to almost purely orchestra/classical music without any drums/percussion in a Jazz sense. The album cover picture showing him with a piano among redwood trees, fits the sound very much.
 
Kamasi Washington - Fearless Movement (2024) disc 1 of 2

Kamasi's albums always sound a little undermixed to me. The drums/percussion/bass always seem kind of blurry or maybe the correct term is too low in the mix. Sometimes when he's using a full orchestra (or maybe just a lot of instruments ... same thing?) that blurry out-of-focus sound happens again.

Aside from that, this is another ambitious multi-album project from the LA impresario. Lots of big sounds and statement pieces that I'm going to need more than an initial listen to figure out how I really feel about it. I'm enjoying the ride so far.
 
While George's progression is a wonder for me to follow, I think jumping in the middle is probably a good idea.

A Brazilian Love Affair is a great little album. As I mentioned Quincy Jones before, I'd say this is sort of what might have happened if Joao Gilberto and Quincy created an album together in the late 60s and George Duke was commissioned to write it's sequel in 1980.

Among the musicians/singers Duke brought to this album were Brazilians Flora Purim, Milton Nascimento and Airto Moreira. That trio helps give this album a strong authentic (to my ears) Brazilian sound. George melded their sound with his usual mob of musical miscreants to create what I think is a thoroughly enjoyable album.

Like all his albums, there are Jazz explorations, like the long solos on "Brazilian Sugar" that create rewarding moments again and again through the song, and the album. Then there are the vocals, which George almost always seems to not overdo. I'm sure some Jazz purists don't appreciate the sort and quanity of vocals on George's albums, but I think he hits a nice mix. Also, I think he really didn't care because he was creating music, not anything to be easily slotted away.

Let me know what you like and dislike about that and I'll have a better idea of where to send you next.

PS -- If you're looking for something closer to purely instrumental music, his Muir Woods Suite might be of interest. It's Duke in a bass/drums/percussion quartet playing with an orchestra. The sound goes from Jazz with the drums/percussion behind it to almost purely orchestra/classical music without any drums/percussion in a Jazz sense. The album cover picture showing him with a piano among redwood trees, fits the sound very much.
Thanks a lot, Randy. I will start with A Brazilian Love Affair and report back for further guidance.

As you may have noticed from my recent Vinyl Spins of the Day, I’m still working my way through the stack of amazing 70s and 80s lp’s that my DJ friend gave me. So the mix of vocals and instrumentals fits right in to the summer groove around here.

:banana:
 
Earth, Wind & Fire - Touch The World (1987)

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Vinyl Spin of the Day.

This is the last of the fine albums from my DJ friend, at least until he and his wife come over for dinner again. :(
 
George Strait - Strait Country (1981)

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The current state of the retail record business is interesting. In the past year or two, I've become accustomed to paying high prices to reacquire some of the classic boomer albums of the 60'on vinyl in decent condition. This country album presents a different fact pattern: it was released initially on LP in 1981, with a budget CD following six years later. Today, Discogs shows 55 copies for sale: 25 LP's, 25 cassettes and 5 CD's.

But here's the surprise, at least to me: the cheapest CD is about $10 but the LP will set you back at least $25! I understand the nostalgia for dropping the needle on The Beatles and The Stones, but George Strait? Most of his career unfolded A.D. (After Digital) anyway, so I'll go for the big boost in convenience and sound quality every time. Must be an awful lot of boot scooters hoisting Lone Stars in front of their Clearaudio turntables.

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:Matt:
 
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^ Is that what you have, Dear Ojai-ness One? A Clearaudio Transcription Turntable?
Oh, no. I'm using an old Audio-Technica 120 USB and an even older Technics SL-1200 Mk2 with a USB preamp. Love 'em both!

Elvis Presley - Elvis Aron Presley (1980)

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Vinyl Spin of the Day.

Three years after Elvis died, RCA released this beautiful limited edition, numbered. silver 8 LP box, subtitled "1955-1980: 25th Anniversary". It was lovingly compiled and produced by Joan Deary, one of the first female executives in the music business. Starting as a secretary in 1954, she wound up working for the company over 40 years. Joan was the first woman Manager, Director, and Executive Director in RCA Victor history, ending her career as Executive Director of all A&R Administration.

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These albums are a cornucopia of rarities from every aspect of Presley's career: early TV appearances, movie outtakes, unreleased performances from Las Vegas, lost singles and more. Each record comes in an full cover photo sleeve plus there's a booklet loaded with still more pictures and ephemera.

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Obviously Joan was given a huge budget and unlimited access to the RCA vault, ands the results are stunning, a fitting tribute to the late icon and to Joan Deary as well.

:5.0: on the Sam-O-Meter.
 
Gary Stewart - You're Not The Woman You Used To Be (rec. 1968-71, MCA comp 1975)

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Vinyl Spin of the Day.

After Gary Stewart hit big for RCA with "Out Of Hand" in 1975, MCA dug these failed singles for Kapp out of the vault for this collection. In retrospect, it's clear that ace producers Walter Haynes and Owen Bradley were simply ahead of their time. At the height of the Vietnam War, country audiences simply weren't ready for Gary's angst-laden vibrato, bouncing beat and edgy songs like "Caffeine, Nicotine, Benzedrine".

This album is a forgotten precursor of the whole alt country movement, but never received the digital reissue it deserved. That's a pity because the label could easily have added the remaining stray singles on Decca and MCA from 1970.
 
Cream - Those Were The Days (rec. 1966-69, Polydor box set 1997)

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Polydor did a really nice job with this encyclopedic collection. For a supergroup whose live performances were legendary, they wisely included two full discs of concert material to go along with the two capturing all of the studio tracks. The remastering is a great improvement over the original albums which always sounded muddy to me. Clapton's guitar really cuts through the imaginary smoke that fills my office, making the studio version on Fresh Cream far more appealing than before. I'm going to stop after that album (which covers half of the first disc) and come back for more another day. Apart from possible cholesterol problems, too much Cream at one sitting tends to be a bit monotonous.
 
Melissa Aldana - Echoes of the Inner Prophet (2024)

Been listening to this since it was released in early spring and have been loving it. Her sax works really well alongside the guitar by Lage Lund. Just really really good.

Her idol is Wayne Shorter, so that must mean something. My idol is Wile E, and I know that means something.
 
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