What are you listening to? November 2023

[JazzyRandy]

Joshua Redman - Spirit of the Moment: Live at the Village Vanguard (1995)

Now that I've actually witnessed a show at this place, every time I listen to an album recorded there I tend to get very caught up in the idea of it being recorded there. I've always thought this album was excellent ... but now I think it sounds a little more excellenter.

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

Samuel Barber - Vanessa (BBC Symphony Orchestra/Leonard Slatkin/Susan Graham/Christine Brewer)

Ugh...Anatol is the worst

 

[Ojai Sam]

Buck Owens - Open Up Your Heart (rec. 1965-68, Bear Family comp. 2006)




The second of Bear Family's three big Buck Owens boxes captures him at his peak with the best iteration of his Buckaroos. In 7 CD's we get all of his albums and those of The Buckaroos plus alternate takes, unissued songs and even a bit of studio chatter. During this time period, his singles always topped the charts and he began his long-running syndicated TV show.

Naturally, my favorite song in this set is "Sam's Place":

Well, they've got a swingin' band down at Sam's Place.
You can hear 'em pickin' twenty blocks away.
They're playin' country music down at Sam's Place,
From the setting sun until the break of day.

There's ol' Shimmy Shakin' Tina
She hails from Pasadena.
She always got a big smile on her face.
There's Hootch-y-Kootchy Hattie, she comes from Cincinnati,
Yeah, there's always a party at Sam's Place.

What can I say? The man captured my lifestyle perfectly!

I don't need to tell you what label Mr. Owens recorded for.

 

[axolotl]

^ What does you wife think about those lyrics, you party animal, you?

 

[Ojai Sam]

^ What does you wife think about those lyrics, you party animal, you?

It was all long before her time. Today, they are just songs, nothing more.

 

[axolotl]

Julian Lage ~ Squint (2021)

 

[JazzyRandy]

Randy Newman - Sail Away (1972)
flisten

 

[JazzyRandy]

J. Cole - The Off-Season (2021)


Completely unintentional playlist this morning, but I found Newman and Cole to be a complimentary duo. Each of these guys is a great storyteller, character analyst, and masters of, in terms of songwriting, getting in, getting to the point and getting out concisely.

 

[JazzyRandy]

Roy Hargrove (as) The RH Factor - Distractions (2007)

Roy thought it would be better to avoid the confused resentment Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock received as they evolved their sounds and embraced multitudinous influences. So, Roy used the name The RH Factor to delineate between his more traditional Jazz albums and his more far-reaching progressive Jazz albums. Personally, I think he should have done like Miles and Herbie and said "screw the people who can't keep up," and just continued using his name on the albums.

Good stuff, which laid the ground for all the following generation of musicians who followed Hargrove, like Robert Glasper, Ezra Collective, Theo Croker and dozens of others.

 

[Unsomnambulist]

The Smiths - Hatful Of Hollow (1984)

 

[Unsomnambulist]

Beirut - Hadsel (2023)

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

Malcolm Williamson - Complete Works for Piano (Antony Gray)

 

[Unsomnambulist]

Califone - villagers (2023)

 

[Ojai Sam]

Neil Young - The Old Homestead (rec. 1974, rel. 2020)



This is Disc 6 of Archives Vol. II.

It contains alternate takes, outtakes and live cuts from the same time period as Homegrown, falling between On The Beach and Zuma. The songs are mostly in a quiet, intense acoustic style. All are strong, richly deserving their liberation from the vault.

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

Neil Young - The Old Homestead (rec. 1974, rel. 2020)

View attachment 10758

This is Disc 6 of Archives Vol. II.

It contains alternate takes, outtakes and live cuts from the same time period as Homegrown, falling between On The Beach and Zuma. The songs are mostly in a quiet, intense acoustic style. All are strong, richly deserving their liberation from the vault.

And on Spotify?

 

[Ojai Sam]

And on Spotify?

I had forgotten that Shakey doesn't stream. Neither does Joni. Two good reasons why stick with my own media.

 

[Unsomnambulist]

I had forgotten that Shakey doesn't stream. Neither does Joni. Two good reasons why stick with my own media.

Young streams on Qobuz in lossless. He just objects to lossy music.

 

[JazzyRandy]

Phonte - Charity Starts At Home (2011)

 

[JazzyRandy]

Keyon Harrold - The Mugician (2017)

This is the Grammy award winning Jazz musician whose son was attacked in a hotel lobby by a woman who lost her cell phone and claimed the boy stole it. Story
This is a cool fusion of Jazz+, with songs merging with Reggae, Hip-Hop, R&B and other genres. Good stuff that has me awaiting a future (unannounced) release by Mr Harrold.

EDIT: I just learned he has a release on tap for 2024.

 

[JazzyRandy]

David Gilmore - Transitions (2017)

I think my mission for 2024, if I choose to accept it, is to stalk this man's schedule until I can put myself and him in the same state, in the same city, in the same room while he's playing guitar.