JACK MARSHALL & SHELLY MANNE Sounds! 1966 256+ VBR LAME mp3 Vinyl rip & scans from Capitol ST-2610
The Girls of Sao Paulo
This is the final effort in the Sounds! series of duet albums Manne & Marshall did together during the early 60s. Manne was a drummer who always followed a different beat and was quite a bit more experimental than contemporaries like Buddy Rich and Louis Bellson. It was due to this bohemian bent that he proved the perfect percussionist for what amounts to sound-centred stereo test records that also provided an enjoyable listening experience.
The series was experimental to start with and was conceptualised as a showpiece for the flegdling Hi-Fi stereo sound consumers were still adopting at the start of the 60s and was envisioned as a way to demonstrate the frequency range and cutting-edge studio techniques of the era. In fact, after cruising some of the audiophile forums, it's surprising to see this particular LP in the series is still often slapped on to show off the strengths of a $erious $tereo $etup.
While Marshall has an exquisite tone and picks clean as a whistle throughout, Manne does his very best David Van Tieghem and pounds on whatever is at hand, whether shoe-boxes or sheet metal, giving the proceedings an avant-garde flavour belying the simple melodic strings Marshall effortlessly floats atop the percussion. Although a pleasurable listen in its own right, if you'd like to learn something about mic placement you need look no further than this long-play lesson in room, range and dynamics.
This one goes out to The Oracle for his excellent Portal of Groove blog, where you will also find the other releases in the series as well as a heapin' helpin' of hi-fi hi-jinx covering exotica, the-in-sound-from-way-out, space-age-bachelor-pad music and other auditory delights of the dollar bin variety.
Wild! Shelly Manne plays odd percussion behind Jack Marshall's jazzy guitar, and the two of them run through an odd bunch of tracks that will stretch the dynamic range of your stereo. More "hi fi" than jazz, but with a firm jazz base -- even though there's odd bits like shoeboxes, whistling, and handclaps. Cuts include "The Girls of Sao Paulo", "The Rain in Spain", and "Choros".
Jack Marshall - Guitar Shelly Manne - Percussion
1 Theme From "Lawrence Of Arabia" 2 Sweet Sue, Just You 3 All The Things You Are 4 Choros 5 Am I Blue? 6 The Rain In Spain 7 Spanish Dance No.5 8 S'posin' 9 Yesterdays 10 The Girls Of Sao Paulo 11 A Day In Brazil - Medley
Sound off with Manne, Marshall & SoundologicalHERE or HERE.
256+ VBR LAME mp3 Vinyl rip & scans from Finnadar SR 9024
Teo Macero is a name to which most readers of this blog should need no introduction: producer of landmark works such as Miles' Kind of Blue, Mingus' Mingus Ah Um , Monk's Monk's Dream and Brubeck's Time Out as well as one of the earliest, and most recognisable, proponents of Third Stream music. This historical document captures him while still a rising star and since gallons of ink have already been put to paper when it comes to this album, I'll leave you with a small sampling of same...
For starter's, here's whatDr. Progresso has to say in his excellent review of The Best of Teo Macero (the middle paragraph is transcribed from the liner notes on the back cover):
In 1978 Macero began work on his second (!) album, released in 1979 on Finnadar, a subsidiary of Atlantic/WEA. TIME PLUS SEVEN (SR 9024) did not represent any new recordings by Macero, but released for the first first time his 1963 recording of the title suite, "Seven," "Equals," "Time," and "Plus."
"This composition was commissioned by the Rebecca Harkness Dance Company, then directed by Robert Joffrey. 'Time Plus Seven' was choreographed by Anna Sokolow in 1963. ... Anyway, here it is, World Premiere 'Time Plus Seven' recorded at CBS's 30th Street Studio in New York, 1963. Fred Plaut was the engineer. I was the conductor. I wish I could find the contract which listed the personnel, but can't. To the great musicians who recorded this composition, my apology for not listing them and my everlasting gratitude for giving me a great performance."
The piece is starkly atonal, and not unlike the much shorter "Pressure," written for Orchestra U.S.A two years later. Thus it is hardly coincidental that side one of this LP is finished off with that recording of "Pressure." Side two of this LP reissues Macero's side one of WHAT'S NEW?, bringing it back into print on LP after fourteen years.
Teo Macero is likely to be known to the average jazz fan for his work as a producer of others' records, though he is also a composer, tenor saxophonist and conductor. This compilation LP released by Finnadar in 1978 collects music from three separate sessions. "Time Plus Seven" was a commissioned ballet and clearly falls into Third Stream music, though the delay added to the saxophones comes across a bit lame. Sadly, none of the personnel are confirmed due to the loss of the record contracts, though Clark Terry seems likely as the trumpeter in "Time."
The work "Pressure," which first appeared on the John Lewis' Orchestra U.S.A. release Sonorities, is an atonal work that sounds like music for an overblown mystery. Of more interest are the advanced compositions from a 1955 session, especially "Neally" and "T.C.'s Groove," which mix jazz soloists like Art Farmer, Eddie Bert and John LaPorta with the bizarre but catchy accordion of Orlando Digirolamo. Ernestine Anderson provides the overdubbed voices in "Sounds of May," though the tape has been manipulated to make it sound like a male chorus. This LP quickly disappeared from print, though all of this music was reissued on the Stash CD The Best of Teo Macero, which is also no longer available.
Some wonderful slices of 50s modern jazz -- work recorded under the leadership of Teo Macero, who was best known as a producer for Columbia during their glory days in the jazz business, but who was also a budding young genius in the years before then! The set features a handful of tracks from Teo's early What's New album for Columbia, plus a track from an Orchestra USA session, along with the side-long, previously-unreleased "Time Plus Seven", an extended jazz ballet suite. Macero's approach is a blend here of both third stream styles and some of the New York whimsy of players like Gil Melle at the same time -- and titles include "Pressure", "Neally", "Adventure", "TC's Groove", and "Sounds Of May".
Finnadar was founded by Atlantic records engineer/producer Ilhan Mimaroglu as an outlet for his left-field leaning proclivities, with an emphasis on the burgeoning electronica movement of the era. Here's a very interesting interview with him recorded on October 10, 1975 that covers the label's inception (courtesy of the Internet Archive).
The jazz avant-garde has produced dozens of notable improvisers (not surprisingly, since improvisation is arguably the music's defining element) but relatively few great composers. Henry Threadgill is a member of that exclusive club. With his fellow Chicagoans Anthony Braxton and Muhal Richard Abrams, he's one of the most original jazz composers of his generation. Threadgill's art transcends stylistic boundaries. He embraces the world of music in its entirety, from ragtime to circus marches to classical to bop, free jazz, and beyond. Such might sound merely eclectic in the telling, but in truth, Threadgill always sounds like Threadgill. A given project might exploit a particular genre or odd instrumentation, but whatever the slant, it always bears its composer's inimitable personality. Threadgill is also an alto saxophonist of distinction; his dry, heavily articulated manner is a precursor to that of a younger Chicagoan, the alto saxophonist Steve Coleman (no coincidence, one would suspect).
Threadgill took up music as a child, first playing percussion in marching bands, then learning baritone sax and clarinet. He was involved with the AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians) from its beginnings in the early '60s, collaborating with fellow members Joseph Jarman and Roscoe Mitchell and playing in Muhal Richard Abrams' legendary Experimental Band. From 1965-1967 he toured with the gospel singer Jo Jo Morris. He then served in the military for a time, performing with an army rock band. After his discharge, he returned to Chicago, where he played in a blues band and resumed his association with Abrams and the AACM. He went on to earn his bachelor's degree in music at the American Conservatory of Music; he also studied at Governor's State University. In 1971 he formed Reflection with drummer Steve McCall and bassist Fred Hopkins. The trio would re-form four years later as Air and would go on to record frequently to great acclaim. It's 1979 album Air Lore featured contemporary takes on such early jazz tunes as "King Porter Stomp" and "Buddy Bolden's Blues," prefiguring the wave of nostalgia which was to dominate jazz in the following decade.
Threadgill moved to New York in the mid-'70s, where he began forming and composing for a number of ensembles. Threadgill began showing a love for unusual instrumentation; for instance, his Sextett (actually a septet), used a cellist, and his Very Very Circus included two tubas. In the mid-'90s he landed a (short-lived) recording contract with Columbia, which produced a couple of excellent albums. Throughout the '80s and '90s Threadgill's music became increasingly polished and sophisticated. A restless soul, he never stood still, creating for a variety of top-notch ensembles, every one different. A pair of 2001 releases illustrates this particularly well. On Up Popped the Two Lips (Pi Recordings), his Zooid ensemble combines Threadgill's alto and flute with acoustic guitar, oud, tuba, cello, and drums -- an un-jazz-like instrumentation that nevertheless grooves and swings with great agility. Everybodys Mouth's a Book features his Make a Move band, which consists of the leader's horns, with vibes and marimba, electric and acoustic guitars, electric bass, and drums -- a more traditional setup in a way, but no less original in concept.
After ten years as a member of the innovative trio Air, Henry Threadgill's first album as a leader immediately plunged into experimental waters. He utilized a nonet the likes of which had certainly never been heard before and probably not since: four reed players, four bassists, and a vocalist. The bass quartet was made up of participants in Brian Smith's Bass Violin Choir, and here they provide not only most of the rhythmic impetus but also carry a good deal of the melodic weight, as Threadgill's massive talent for mid-size band arrangements is immediately apparent. Their opening few minutes on "Celebration" presents a marvelous array of bowed, hymn-like tones as well as deeply grooving pizzicato lines.
The songs are less solo vehicles than complete compositions, already prefiguring several of the directions the leader would take with his subsequent ensembles. Only "Air Song," an ethereal piece scored for four flutes and voice, meanders a bit and fails to really catch hold, though even then it presents some wonderful textures and colors. The closer, "Fe Fi Fo Fum," is the most traditionally jazzy of the pieces, allowing for something close to a theme-solos-theme format, Threadgill's alto given a moment to shine in all its acerbic glory. As of 2002, X-75, Vol. 1 was unreleased on disc and, even more disappointingly, there was never a "Vol. 2." But Threadgill fans looking for a link between Air and his Sextett owe it to themselves to search this one out.
JAMES NEWTON Axum 1982 256+ VBR LAME mp3 Vinyl rip & scans from ECM 1-1214
Soundological submits some Sunday morning spiritual sounds for you and yours. A deeply personal album by a critically acclaimed flautist exhibiting his trademark contributions to jazz in an intimate setting, it is mostly remembered for the brouhaha with the Beastie Boys after one of the tracks was sampled on Check Your Head with ECM's permission (mechanical) and not Newton's (publishing). Not exactly a landmark case, but it reinforced the Eurocentric bias in the US court system towards the L.C.D. of simple diatonic melody. You can read James' take on the whole deal further down the page.
James Newton's set of unaccompanied flute solos is generally more intriguing and diverse than one might expect. An expert at multiphonics (often humming through his flute in order to get more than one note at a time), Newton is also very strong at constructing logical yet utterly unpredictable improvisations. His playing on nine of his originals covers a fair amount of ground, and he alternates between three different types of flutes (his regular horn, alto flute and bass flute). Still, the results are more for specialized tastes.
1 The Dabtara 2 Malak 'Uqabe 3 Solomon, Chief of Wise Men 4 Addis Ababa 5 Choir 6 Feeling 7 Axum 8 Susenyos and Werzelya 9 The Neser
Letter From James Newton About the Decision on Beastie Boys Sampling of His Tunes reprinted from On Lisa Rein's Radar
To whom it may concern,
It seems like a real "Weird Nightmare" to be writing you this email. For the last two years I have been involved in a suit because the Beastie Boys sampled a part of my composition "Choir" and did not contact me for permission. They did not change in any way what they sampled from "Choir". It begins with the sampled six and a half seconds and loops in the song over forty times. "Pass the Mic'" has appeared in CD, MP3, LP, and DVD formats.
The law clearly states that to use someone else's music one must contact and receive permission from both the record company and the copyright owner. "Choir" was registered with the copyright office and ASCAP in 1978. My publishing company JANEW MUSIC controls 100% of the rights. Nevertheless the Beastie Boys only contacted and received permission from ECM Records and ignored me.
The case went up for summary judgement one month ago and Judge Nora Manella of US Federal Court ruled against me!!!!!!!!!!! She stated as a fact of law that my music was unoriginal !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The liner notes of Axum begins with a quote from the New York Times that "James Newton is the most accomplished and original flutist now playing Jazz".The year that Axum was released (1982) was also the first year that I won the Down Beat International Critics Poll as the best jazz flutist. The judge must feel that her opinion is more significant than all of the experts in the field.
The six and a half second sample consists of three sung notes C,Db ,C and a held flute harmonic C2, as a result of the combination of voice, harmonic and a balanced distribution of each a series of shifting multiphonics are created. She ignored the multiphonics because they weren't written on the score and said that there are just three notes in the score which aren't protectable. If you go to the Beastie Boy's DVD of the piece "Pass the Mic" to signify the song their is only my flute sample and a drum beat . There is a spectrograph that moves wildly when my multiphonics are played. If there was only one pitch the movement would be minimal. She also consistently used European paradigms to judge my music. An aria from Purcell's "Dido and Aeneas" and Cole Porter's "Night and Day" were examples of what is protectable. "Choir" is about four black women singing in a church in rural Arkansas. This work is a modern approach to a spiritual. As you well know, one would be hard-pressed to find multiphonic fingerings in most jazz scores, even when multiphonics are used!!!! If I'm writing for a classical ensemble I'll write out the multiphonic fingerings because of how notation is used in that culture of music.
Spirituals come out of the oral tradition, and if they are notated they're in the most simplest form which is the way that I wrote out "Choir" On the same LP one can find "The Neser" which is influenced by Ravel and is a 8-minute work for flute quartet where everything is written out except a short alto flute cadenza. I certainly didn't become dumb when I dealt with my own culture in "Choir." The urgency of this letter is that after unjustly winning the case the Beastie Boys have filed a motion with the court for me to pay their legal fees of $492,000 after they stole my music. I have already spent a considerable amount of money for a creative musician and college professor. This would, of course, send me into bankruptcy, and I stand a chance of losing my home and all that I have worked for through the years. If you can spread the press release around to your colleagues in the European press, it will help the cause greatly. The more newspapers, magazines and journals that this is placed in will help. Please inform us of any press that appears so that we can use it in our legal endeavors. Also any of you that are heads of organizations or lawyers please contact my lawyer, Alan Korn (aakorn@igc.org), and he can give you the information of where to send Amicus letters.
This decision is a dangerous one that would affect jazz composers and other composers that choose to write in other ways. I have had plenty of training to write all of my scores in the most eurocentric Boulezian fashion but why should I be forced to to please a Judge who has very limited musical knowledge, certainly little of the Afro-American musical tradition. The strain on this trial and subsequent rulings have been immense. It has curtailed much of my artistic output because of the seriousness of this situation. For many years I have tried to give much as an artist and educator to the world community. This is a time when I have to now ask for your help. I have never sued anyone in all of my years on the planet up to this point. I am fighting for my rights and the ability to express myself in my own and any other cultural perspective that I choose as an artist. Please spread this around as much as possible.
Yours in music and freedom, James Newton
Ethical arguments aside, if you focus on the ruling itself rather than the personalities involved and their actions leading up to, during or after the trial there's only one major conclusion you can draw. Justice ain't only blind, She deaf too.
Reissued on CD in 1994 (how's that for timing on ECM's part?) which is also OOP. Like the review said, it's not exactly everyone's cup o' tea but if you like Paul Horn's Inside series or if you like your relaxing New Age sounds less newy and more agey, then you'll likely enjoy this. You never know until you try HERE or HERE.
CHICO HAMILTON El Exigente 1970 256+ VBR LAME mp3 Vinyl rip & scans from Flying Dutchman FDS-135
We complete our Give The Drummer Some! series on Chico Hamilton with this avant garde excursion into the fusion sound from 1970. At this point, Chico's abandoned his Quintet in favour of smaller, more transient combos. As if to offset the extremely commercial appeal inherent in his work creating jingles and theme songs, Hamilton spent this period exploring the avant garde, often in a very electrified fusion format. In the ensuing decade, he also returned to his experimentation with Eastern influences and even let loose with some funk once in while. He laid off recording and soundtrack work for quite a while in the 80s and just before the start of the last decade of that dead century he popped back on the scene and has been firing hard on all cylinders since.
1 As I Open My Eyes 2 Take Me There 3 I Came And Saw The Beauty Of Your Love 4 How 'Bout Bobby 5 Stomp, Stomp, Stomp 6 Swingin' On A Sitar 7 Up Front What Counts/On The Trail/Seat Belt/Volvo's/Gonna Get Some Right Now
I don't know who was timing the tracks on this LP but they must have been high on something 'cause the running times don't even kinda match most of the actual tracks. The second side is presented as a suite, which I've kept intact.
A fairly in-demand piece, if you can find a copy the rock bottom price is usually $30 but you'll probably have to shell out $50 or more. Soundological is not so demanding and offers it for considerably less HERE and HERE.
Discography as bandleader:
1955 Chico Hamilton Trio (10" LP) 1955 Spectacular!c/o My Jazz World 1955 Chico Hamilton Quintet ft. Buddy Collette at JAZZY BLUES (FLAC) 1960 Original Chico Hamilton Quintet 1956 Chico Hamilton Quintet In Hi-Fi 1956 Chico Hamilton Trio (12" LP) 1957 Chico Hamilton Quintet 1957 Zen: The Music Of Fred Katz 1957 Sweet Smell Of Success OST 1958 South Pacific In Hi-Fi at mohaoffbeat 1958 Chico Hamilton Trio intro. Freddy Gambrell at mohaoffbeat 1958 The Original Ellington Suite ft Eric Dolphy at mohaoffbeat 1959 Ellington Suite ft Bud Collette at mohaoffbeat 1959 With Strings Attached 1959 Gongs East! 1959 The Three Faces Of Chico 1959 That Hamilton Man at mohaoffbeat 1960 Bye Bye Birdie/Irma La Douce at mohaoffbeat 1960 Chico Hamilton Special 1962 Drumfusionat Music-a-k-o /My Jazz World (mp3) + JAZZY BLUES (FLAC) 1962 Litho 1962 Transfusion at Soundological (via slsk) 1962 Passin' Thruat mohaoffbeat 1963 Man From Two Worldsat mohaoffbeat (ape) + Blue Eyed Knight's Place (mp3) 1963 A Different Journeyat Musica Desde Las Anitpodas 1965 Easy Livin'at Soundological 1965 Chic Chic Chico at Soundological (via slsk) + Guitar and the Wind (mp3) 1966 El Chicoc/o My Jazz World 1966 The Further Adventures Of El Chico at Soundological (via slsk) 1966 The Dealerat Radiodada / Last Train To Cool (mp3) + Into The Rhythm (mp3/FLAC) 1967 The Best of Chico Hamiltonat Soundological 1968 The Gamutc/o My Jazz World 1969 The Head Hunters 1970 El Exigente/The Demanding Oneat Soundological 1973 The Master c/o MyJazzWorld + at notas agudas 1974 Live At Montreux (w/Albert King & Little Milton) 1975 Peregrinationsat ? 1976 And The Playersc/o My Jazz World 1977 Catwalk 1979 Reaching For The Top 1980 Nomad 1988 Euphoria 1991 Reunion 1992 Arroyo 1993 Trio! 1994 My Panamanian Friend (The Music Of Eric Dolphy) 1994 Dancing To A Different Drummer 1998 Complete Pacific Jazz Recordings of the Chico Hamilton Quintet 1999 Timely 2001 Foreststorn 2002 Thoughts Of... 2006 Juniflip 2006 Believe 2006 6th Avenue Romp 2006 Heritage 2007 Hamiltonia 2008 It's About Time EP 2008 Alternative Dimensions of El Chico EP 2009 Twelve Tones of Love
The discography was cobbled together from Wikipedia, Chico's site and AMG. Each of them were missing items on at least one other list, so it may not be complete. As always, if you happen to have any additions (either info on recordings to be added or links to blogs/forums with any of the releases in question), please leave them in the comments.
Links checked and updated Aug 26, 2009 MyJazzWorld links replaced with Smooth's oiginal RS links Feb 6. 2010
Just tryin' to put back into the music blogosphere by fillin' in any blanks I can with out-of-print vinyl as well as the occasional mix, remix, re-edit, art or rant. But mostly vinyl. Mostly.
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