What are you listening to? June 2020

[JazzyRandy]

The Jazz Tribe - The Next Step (2000)

Basically a Bobby Watson album with some guys that he regularly played with in the 90s. Some great percussive flair. I'm not sure why they decided to change the name of the group. Loud, brassy with only one horn, uplifting, joyous, fun, great. Sounds like a band that would play on the coolest cruise ship in the history of cruise ships.

 

[Unsomnambulist]

Built To Spill - Built To Spill Plays The Songs Of Daniel Johnston (2020)

 

[JazzyRandy]

Kerry Strayer - Mentor (2003)

As traditional as apple pie on July 4th, but Strayer's baritone sax adds some pop. The septet creates a full sound for this album of mostly covers (Strayhorn, Brubeck, Bird, and others). My internal critic automatically deducts points for albums that lean to heavily on covers, but this is very well done.

 

[Nickyboy]

Kurtis Blow- The Best of Kurtis Blow (1994)

 

[JazzyRandy]

Wes Montgomer - Smokin' At The Half Note (1965)

If you're going to talk about great Jazz guitarists with somebody that knows their stuff, Wes Montgomery better be among the first three names to come out of your mouth or you're going to look like an idiot. ... Montgomery's skills very well may have been at their peak when Smokin' At The Half Note was recorded

Damn this is good! ...
Smokin' indeed ...
this live set undoubtedly contains some of Wes' best soloing ...
First, I want to give props to Walter Grant. That takes an exceptional person, and Grant was exactly that.

The last guy is speaking about the announcer on the album.

 

[Unsomnambulist]

Cerberus Shoal - Homb (1999)

 

[Nickyboy]

Us3- Hand on the Torch (1993)


a bit dated at this point, but still good and always worth a spin.

 

[JazzyRandy]

Us3- Hand on the Torch (1993)


a bit dated at this point, but still good and always worth a spin.

I listened to that a few weeks ago (maybe longer than that) and felt the same way. When I come across it while shelf surfing, I usually default to "I don't want to hear something as dated as I assume this will sound," but when I do actually listen to it, I always appreciate the spin.

 

[JazzyRandy]

Mike Moreno - Another Way (2012)

This quintet features Aaron Parks on piano and Warren Wolf on vibraphone

 

[Ojai Sam]

Woody Herman - At Carnegie Hall, 1946 (Verve comp. 1999)

Expanded version adding 8 songs to the old MGM LP release of a seminal postwar concert. Herman's band never went down the rabbit hole of bebop, leaving it free to mix flagwavers like "Wildroot" with a Stravinsky suite. Even vibist Red Norvo dropped in for the festivities.

 

[Ojai Sam]

Nina Simone - Nina Simone Sings The Blues (1967)

Definitely "truth in advertising" with this album. Nina dishes up lucky 13 helpings of unadulterated blues. Look for the RCA/Legacy edition with 2 bonus tracks.

Of course songs of outrage like “Backlash Blues” are mere historical curiosities. Things are much better now.

on the Sam-O-Meter.

 

[JazzyRandy]

Prince - Lotusflow3r (2009)

I love me some late era "old man" Prince. He isn't the hungry proud young lion restlessly and ceaselessly running the grounds, growling, defending and growing his territory. He's the boss in the late era, sauntering into the studio to casually create dominant music that he loves and that his fans love. Sometimes rocking out, sometimes getting a little Jazzy, sometimes mournful, sometimes sexy, sometimes playful, sometimes using a song to tell a little story, sometimes nonsensical, sometimes spiritual, sometimes seeking justice, always funky. His name might be Prince, but he's the King.

 

[JazzyRandy]

John Ellis - By A Thread (2006)

One of my favorites from '06. Ellis is a fantastic performer and composer. He's always creative, no matter the subtle genre changes in the sounds of his albums. Here, his band includes Aaron Goldberg on keys, and Mike Moreno on guitar, in addition to Ellis on a variety of woodwinds.

 

[JazzyRandy]

Tia Fuller - Healing Space (2007)

 

[JazzyRandy]

Funkadelic - Let's Take It To The Stage (1975)

I can definitely hear echoes of this in a contemporary band like The Internet. Musically mostly in the rhythm and keys and basslines, not lyrically. Lyrically, Clinton is in a league world of his own.

 

[JazzyRandy]

Help! I've fallen in the Fs and can't get out!

Rachell Ferrell - Individuality (Can I Be Me?) (2000)

 

[JazzyRandy]

Foo Fighters - The Colour and the Shape (1997)

 

[JazzyRandy]

Fourplay - Elixir (1995)

 

[axolotl]

^ Waiting for Fugazi

 

[JazzyRandy]

^ Waiting for Fugazi

That may take a while.