What Are You Listening To? November 2020

[Ojai Sam]

I demur, since I'm often told that over the internet.

***************************
This evening's listening:

The Jayhawks ~ Hollywood Town Hall (1992)




The Jesus and Mary Chain ~ Stoned and Dethroned (1994)

I’ve always liked you, Axo, because op. cits. attract.

 

[axolotl]

I’ve always liked you, Axo, because op. cits. attract.

O bitter dictum ...but I appreciate it, anyway.

Ibid.

 

[JazzyRandy]

Joe Henderson - Canyon Lady (1975)

 

[Unsomnambulist]

Brain Donor - Too Freud To Rock'n'Roll, Too Jung To Die (2003)

 

[Unsomnambulist]

Dumbo Gets Mad - Quantum Leap (2013)

 

[Unsomnambulist]

Destroy All Monsters - 1974-1976 (1994)

 

[Ojai Sam]

Paul Page - Castaway
- Pieces Of Eight
- The Reef Is Calling
- Ports O'Call
- Let's Have A Luau (1963)

Same songs, same label, same catalog number. I’ve heard of recycling but this is ridiculous.

 

[axolotl]

^ At least they didn't waste money on clothes.

 

[Ojai Sam]

I found an explanation for the multiple releases. According to Forced Exposure:

“Paul Page and his Paradise Music entertained in Polynesian themed restaurants all over Southern California from the late '30s to the mid-60s, then all the way out to the Kona Coast during the late '60s and early '70s. The whole time, he kept leaving behind these little independent albums, recorded specifically for the purpose of selling them to the people coming to his small venue shows... which, when you think about it, is basically what all the most-worthy bands to dig do these days.”

These were all Southern California Polynesian restaurants: The Reef, The Luau, etc.

 

[JazzyRandy]

Christian Scott - Yesterday You Said Tomorrow (2010)

 

[axolotl]

I found an explanation for the multiple releases. According to Forced Exposure:

“Paul Page and his Paradise Music entertained in Polynesian themed restaurants all over Southern California from the late '30s to the mid-60s, then all the way out to the Kona Coast during the late '60s and early '70s. The whole time, he kept leaving behind these little independent albums, recorded specifically for the purpose of selling them to the people coming to his small venue shows... which, when you think about it, is basically what all the most-worthy bands to dig do these days.”

These were all Southern California Polynesian restaurants: The Reef, The Luau, etc.

Who is Bernie Kaai Lewis? I am assuming it is the singer.

And, when will Sam get back to Samoa?

 

[Ojai Sam]

Who is Bernie Kaai Lewis? I am assuming it is the singer.

And, when will Sam get back to Samoa?

Bernie seems to have been a Hawaiian singer dating back to the 1940’s:



I’ll go back to Samoa as soon as I finish making some s’mores.

 

[axolotl]

I’ll go back to Samoa as soon as I finish making some s’mores.

I'll have the Chicken Kona Kaai, Matey, with a side order of Sweet Someone.

 

[Ojai Sam]

Hikaru Hayashi - Choral Works (1996)



This extremely hard to find CD collects three mostly a cappella choral suites composed and conducted by the late Hikaru Hayashi. His versatility extended through orchestral and operatic works, even film music. The best known piece here is unquestionably "Little Landscapes of Hiroshima" but every one addresses the horror of the nuclear attack. The somber tone is developed through his recurrent use of minor melodies, while the ethereal voices convey both a tragic sense of death and a poetic spirit of rebirth through remembrance. I would love to hear these works performed in person but this recording succeeds admirably in conveying their sheer power and emotion.

 

[Unsomnambulist]

Captain Beefheart & His Magic Bands - Magneticism III: The Best Of Captain Beefheart & His Magic Bands (2020)

​

 

[Unsomnambulist]

The Nels Cline Singers - Share The Wealth (2020)

 

[JazzyRandy]

Ben Wendel - High Heart (2020)

Ben probably flies under the radar for a lot of Jazz fans, but he's been a busy guy. Born in Vancouver, raised in LA, and now living in Brooklyn. He taught at USC and at the New School in NYC. In addition to his varied Jazz career, he's played with Prince, Snoop, Daedelus, and scored a movie for John Krasinski. He's won awards for Jazz Composition and Chamber Music. He's a modern or contemporary Jazz musician who embraces "new" non-traditional approaches to Jazz, like Miles in the past or fellow contemporaries like Donny McCaslin or Marcus Strickland - musicians who fully embrace the notion of maintaining the Jazz tradition of constantly evolving Jazz.

He plays tenor sax and bassoon, as usual. While he's supported here by straight-ahead Jazzists like Gerald Clayton, Joe Sanders and Nate Woods, Wendel accentuates the music with some studio wizardry and in-the-moment keyboard highlights. There is a lot to like here, especially the subdued grandness of the compositions. It feels almost ready to explode (like Wendel's fusion group Kneebody) but always plays it close to the vest, like a guy on the corner saying "pssssst, come look at this and see if you interested ..."

 

[Ojai Sam]

The Checkmates, Ltd. -Love Is All We Have To Give (1969)

 

[Ojai Sam]

Patty McGovern & Thomas Talbert - Together Alone (1956)

 

[axolotl]

Baecastuff ~ Out of this World (2000)

Out of This World - Baecastuff | Album | AllMusic

Out of This World by Baecastuff released in 2001. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.

www.allmusic.com