Eric Dolphy - Out To Lunch (1964)

"SS: When you would spend time together in New York, what were some of the things Eric enjoyed doing other than playing?

RD: Cooking swordfish steak. It was the first I’d ever heard of a swordfish steak. He went out to the neighborhood fish market, bought it and cooked it."


I find these two features from Stop Smiling magazine very telling about Eric Dolphy. The above quote comes from an interview with Richard Davis, the bassist on this album. The second is a short piece written by Bobby Hutcherson, the vibist on this album. Dolphy seems to have been a very humble, genuine person. The jazz world of the time had its share of egoistic and volatile players (if anyone knows of any stories detailing Dolphy's interactions with Mingus, please share). It's refreshing to read that Dolphy was respected as a sweet guy. Out To Lunch kicks off with "Hat and Beard", a tribute to the High Priest of Bop, Thelonious Monk. Instead of a pianist Dolphy employs Bobby Hutcherson on vibes. Dolphy also pays homage to flautist Severino Gazzelloni. As Wikipedia confirms, the final track of the album is meant to "to evoke a drunken stagger." Cheers.

Tracklist:

1. Hat And Beard
2. Something Sweet, Something Tender
3. Gazzelloni
4. Out To Lunch
5. Straight Up And Down

Personnel:

Freddie Hubbard, trumpet
Eric Dolphy, alto sax, flute & bass clarinet
Bobby Hutcherson, vibes
Richard Davis, bass
Tony Williams, drums

Produced by Alfred Lion
Recording by Rudy Van Gelder
Recorded on February 25, 1964
Digital Transfer by Ron McMaster
Cover Photo and Design by Reid Miles

Download

Hank Mobley - Workout (1961)

Another Hank Mobley Blue Note sesh fer ye. Workout features one of my favorite jazz guitarists, Grant Green, whose style I associate with tasteful restraint. His playing and tone are unique and instantly recognizable as his own. Like the last Hank record we posted, Wynton Kelly and Paul Chambers are back. However this time Philly Joe takes the stool in place of Art Blakey.

Tracklist:

1. Workout
2. Uh Huh
3. Smokin'
4. The Best Things In Life Are Free
5. Greasin' Easy
6. Three Coins In The Fountain

Personnel:

Hank Mobley, tenor sax
Grant Green, guitar
Wynton Kelly, piano
Paul Chambers, bass
Philly Joe Jones, drums

Produced by Alfred Lion
Originally recorded on March 26, 1961 at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
Remastered in 2005 by Rudy Van Gelder
All transfers from analog to digital were made at 24-bit resolution.

Download

Kurt Weill - September Songs

Kurt Weill is best known for his collaboration with Bertolt Brecht on The Threepenny Opera . The songs he composed for it have become standards and countless interpretations exist, especially the oft-performed "Mack The Knife". Nick Cave delivers on his version, although I think it could have benefited from a Bad Seeds interpretation closer to their "Avalanche" cover. It's a pretty diverse lineup, featuring PJ Harvey, Lou Reed, Elvis Costello and others. I'm glad they kept Lotte Lenya's original version of "Seeräuber Jenny", for she really is an inimitable character.

Tracklist:

1. Mack The Knife (Nick Cave)
2. Ballad of the Soldier's Wife (P.J. Harvey)
3. Alabama Song from The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (David Johansen)
4. Youkali Tango from Marie Galante (Teresa Stratas)
5. Lost in the Stars from Lost in the Stars (Elvis Costello)
6. Pirate Jenny from The Threepenny Opera (Lotte Lenya)
7. Speak Low from One Touch of Venus
8. Oh, Heavenly Salvation from The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (The Persuasions)
9. Lonely House from Street Scene (Betty Carter)
10. Weill: Happy End - Der Kleine Leutnant Des Lieben Gottes (Teresa Stratas)
11. Don't Be Afraid from Happy End (Mary Margaret O'Hara)
12. September Song from Knickerbocker Holiday (Lou Reed)
13. Mack The Knife from The Threepenny Opera (Bertolt Brecht)
14. What Keeps Mankind Alive? from The Threepenny Opera (William S. Burroughs)

Download

Hank Mobley - Soul Station (1960)

I'm really feeling Hank Mobley right now. He seems to be a relatively-forgotten figure in the sax world, especially compared with tenor giants like Trane and Sonny Rollins. We already posted some Hank earlier on Shhh, but in a larger group context that included trumpeters Lee Morgan and Donald Byrd. Here, in quartet setting, Hank really is the star. It doesn't hurt that behind him is an incredibly solid, all-star rhythm section. Hank can kill it on the faster bop numbers but there is a beautiful delicacy to his playing that I really admire. I'm also into how concise these Blue Note sessions are. Dig it.

Hank Mobley, tenor saxophone
Wynton Kelly, piano
Paul Chambers, bass
Art Blakey, drums

Produced by Alfred Lion
Recorded on February 7, 1960 at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
Originally recorded and remastered in 1998 by Rudy Van Gelder
All transfers from analog to digital were made at 24-bit resolution

Reissue produced by Michael Cuscuna
Cover photograph by Francis Wolff
Cover design by Reid Miles
Liner photographs from the actual session by Francis Wolff © Mosaic Images
Originally issued as Blue Note BLP 4031 and BST 84031

Download

Captain Beefheart - Grow Fins: Rarities (1965-1982)

Great collection of Beefheart from Revenant Records. Little else need be said.

Download

Shirim Klezmer Orchestra - Pincus And The Pig: A Klezmer Tale (2004)

The Klezmer version of Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf", written and narrated by Where the Wild Things Are author Maurice Sendak. I've been on a big Tzadik kick recently and I'm trying to get my hands on more of their "Radical Jewish Culture" series. John Zorn is the man.

Maurice Sendak, narration
Glenn Dickson, clarinet
David Harris, trombone
Brandon Seabrook, banjo, mandolin
Michael McLaughlin, piano, accordion
Jim Gray, tuba
Eric Rosenthal, drums

Suddenly someone remembers an old melody; it rises in him as if from nowhere and breaks out from his lips. Involuntarily he puts a new feeling into it - ths is, a new soul; it is almost as if a new melody has been born.

- Y.L. Peretz as retold by Maurice Samuel.

Download

Paul Bunyan - Benjamin Britten (1988)

One night he dreamt he was to be
The greatest logger in history.
He woke to feel something stroking his brow,
And found it was the tongue of an enormous cow...

This, one of Britten's more accessible if still quirky Operas. Britten finished it more than thirty years after a failed run in the beginning of his career, only returning to it after an open-heart surgery which left him physically and psychologically frustrated. The book was written by the impossibly masterful poet W.H. Auden, who died in 1973, three years before the eventual stage production of the revived opera was pulled off. Auden's flexible verse tells the story of the great American folk hero, the lumberjack Paul Bunyan. The music wanders through an eclectic mix of operatic and folk styles in an unmistakeably Britten way. The whole thing is sometimes goofy, sometimes fantastic, sometimes moving and always magical.

This recording is by the soloists, chorus and orchestra of the Plymouth Music Series, the London Philharmonic Choir and the English Chamber Orchestra. Philip Brunelle. 1988.


Tracklist:
Act 1:
1. Introduction and Prologue
2. Since the Birth of the Earth
3. No. No. We Don't Want Life To Be Slow
4. Ooh! Ooh! O How Terrible To Be As Old Fashioned As A Tree
5. You Are All To Leave Here
6. It Isn't very Often The Conservatives ARe Wrong
7. First Ballad Interlude: The Cold Wind Blew Through The Crooked Thorn
8. Act 1, Scene 1. Bunyan's Greeting
9. Call of Lumberjacks
10. Lumberjack's Chorus: My Birthplace was in Sweden
11. Bunyan's Welcome
12. Quartet of Swedes: Swedish Born and Swedish Bred
13. Western Union Boy's Song: A Telegram from Oversea
14. Cooks' Duet: Sam for Soups, Ben for Beans
15. Animal Trio: Ah! Miaow! The Single Creature Leads a Partial Life
16. Bunyan's goodnight (I)
17. Exit of Lumberjacks: Down the Line.... Timberrrr
18. The Blue: Gold In the North Came the Blizzard To Stay
19. Bunyan's Goodnight (II)
20. Second Ballad Interlude: The Spring Came and The Summer and Fall
21. Act 2, Scene 2. Food Chorus: Do I Look Like The Sort of Fellow?
22. Chorus Accusation: There, Now Look What You Have Done!
23. Slim's Song: In Fair Days and Foul
24. Bunyan's Return: Look, The Chief Is Back
25. Inkslinger's Song: It Was Out In the Sticks
26. Entrance of Chorus
27. Tiny's entrance
28. Tiny's Song: Ah! Whether the Sun Shine Upon Children Playing
29. Inkslinger's Regret: All the Little Brooks of Love
30. Bunyan's Goodnight (III)

Act 2:
1. Act 2, Scene 1. Bunyan's Good Morning
2. Shears' Song: It Has Always been MY Dream
3. Bunyan's Warning
4. Farmers' Song: The Shanty Boy Invades the Wood
5. Farmers' Exit
6. The Mocking of Hel Helson: Heron, Heron, Winging By
7. Fido's Sympathy: Won't You Tell Me What's the Matter
8. Cat's Creed: Let Man the Romantic In Vision Espy
9. The Fight: What Is It? What's Happening?
10. Love Duet: Move, Move from the Trysting Stone
11. Mock Funeral March: Take away the Body and Lay It On Ice
12. Hymn: O Great Day of Discovery
13. Third Ballad Interlude: So Helson Smiled and Bunyan Smiled
14. Act 2, Scene 2. (The Christmas Party). Rah! Another Slice of Turkey
15. Dear Friends, With Your Leave
16. Carry Her Over The Water
17. Where We Are Is Not Very Far
18. A Telegram From Hollywood
19. We Always Knew That One DAy You
20. Bunyan's Farewell
21. Litany: The Campfire Embers are Black and Gold
22. Appendix: Overture
23. Inkslinger's Love Song
24. Lullaby of Dream Shadows

Download Act 1
Download Act 2

Bill Evans Trio - Portrait in Jazz

The classic Bill Evans trio recording featuring Scott LaFaro on bass and Paul Motian on drums, from Orrin Keepnews' Riverside Records. For those unfamiliar with Bill Evans, you'd never expect the clean-cut square staring at you on the cover to have some of the best jazz chops. Evans had just recorded Kind of Blue with Miles, and here we have two trio versions of Miles' composition "Blue in Green" from that album. I see Evans' style of soloing as so clean and precise but able to avoid being mechanical. Scott LaFaro, who died 2 years later at the age of 25, has some fantastic solos, moving liberally into the instrument's high register. The epitome of the era's piano trios.

1. Come Rain Or Come Shine
2. Autumn Leaves [Take 1]
3. Autumn Leaves [Take 2]
4. Witchcraft
5. When I Fall In Love
6. Peri's Scope
7. What Is This Thing Called Love?
8. Spring Is Here
9. Someday My Prince Will Come
10. Blue In Green [Take 3]
11. Blue In Green [Take 2]

Bill Evans, piano
Scott LaFaro, bass
Paul Motian, drums

Produced by Orrin Keepnews
Recorded in New York; December 28, 1959
Digital remastering, 1987 - David Luke (Fantasy Studios, Berkeley)

Download

Loretta Lynn - Country Music Hall Of Fame

"You daggone right"

Many people know of Loretta Lynn thanks to Jack White, who produced her 2004 comeback album Van Lear Rose . It's a solid release, but for my money, these hits are really where it's at. My favorite has gotta be "Fist City", on which Loretta threatens to lay down an ass-whuppin' on anyone who gets near her man. 100% Badass. Peep the embedded video below. It somehow sounds even more menacing as she says it with a smile on her face... There's an incredible juxtaposition in the transition from "One's On The Way" to "The Pill": First, she plays the loyal matriarch, obediently staying at home with the children while her man is out getting drunk. Thank heavens for the invention of birth control, as Loretta sings her ode on "The Pill". What a controversial subject for the time... I could listen to this collection all day.

Download

Hank Williams Revealed: The Unreleased Recordings (Boxset)

To make up for a shameful lack of posts in recent times...

Download

Radio Myanmar (Burma)

A collection of radio snippets that includes music, news segments, and advertisements. The brevity of the snippets and eclectic selection give the impression of someone impatiently flipping through stations. There's better information about the release here.

Download

Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Johnny Mercer Song Book (1964)

Ella only made one record in tribute to a single lyricist, and what an honor she does to Johnny Mercer. Mercer, an extraordinarily prolific songwriter and co-founder of Capitol Records, was the writer behind popular classics like "Moon River" and "Hooray for Hollywood", but also has a profound sense for light verse and cultural vernacular. The casual wordplay and familiarity of of lines like "Yes you're much too much, and just too very very/ To ever be in Webster's Dictionary" mark Mercer as one of the keenest pop geniuses of our time. Ella and the Nelson Riddle big band bring fast-paced tunes like "Too Marvelous for Words" and "Something's Gotta Give" to life with musical acrobatics and impressive diction, but the First Lady of Song gives me the shivers the most on her ballads, especially the classic "Skylark" and one of my very favorite songs ever, "Early Autumn".

Enjoy!

Tracklist:

1. Too Marvelous For Words
2. Early Autumn
3. Day In, Day Out
4. Luara
5. This Time, The Dream's On Me
6. Skylark
7. Single-O
8. Something's Gotta Give
9. Trav'lin' Light
10. Midnight Sun
11. Dream (When You're Feeling Blue"
12. I Remember You
13. When a Woman Loves a Man

Download

Cambodian Cassette Archives: Khmer Folk And Pop Music Vol. 1

God bless the Brothers Unconnected - Alan and Richard Bishop. Here's a release from Alan's fantastic record label, Sublime Frequencies: a compilation of Cambodian pop songs put together from tape archives in a public library in Oakland. I'm omitting the tracklist here because most of the song titles are unknown. Most of the performers also remain anonymous - I read that the Khmer Rouge executed about 9/10 of Cambodia's musicians in an attempt to repress dissent. What remains from the time is a trove of funky gems: both influenced by American pop and rock music and simultaneously rooted in Cambodian culture. More SF to come...

Download

Love - Forever Changes (1967)

Because it's the only Love album I have, I can't speak on how this album fits into the group's catalog, but Forever Changes feels like a special album. It embraces a full, lush production sound (comparable to something like The Zombies' Odessey and Oracle). Strings and horns are abundant - I love the little mariachi break in "Alone Again Or". And the sad irony of the lyrics that follow: "I think that people are the greatest fun, and I will be alone again tonight my dear". Forever Changes feels like a peak inside Arthur Lee's head, full of introspective thoughts as well as commentary on mid-60's society.

Tracklist:

1. Alone Again Or
2. A House Is Not A Motel
3. Andmoreagain
4. The Daily Planet
5. Old Man
6. The Red Telephone
7. Maybe The People Would Be The Times Or Between Clark And Hilldale
8. Live And Let Live
9. The Good Humor Man He Sees Everything Like This
10. Bummer In The Summer
11. You Set The Scene

Download

Erik Satie - Compositeur De Musique (1998)

It's almost Christmas and somehow I still have studying to do. I've found that accordion music gives the perfect balance of moderate festivity and melancholy ambience necessary to dissect Plato despite my Christmas tree being up. These recordings of avant-garde accordionist Teodoro Anzellotti playing the music of self-labelled "phonometrician" Erik Satie is an almost unsettling mix of nostalgic sleepiness and wintry tension. Particularly so is the 6 part "Gnossiennes". Its interesting to compare the fairly gentle touch of Anzellotti with more intense players, for instance the passionate tango of Piazzolla. Enjoy and be merry!

Tracklist:

1. Sports et Diverissements
2. Rêverie Du Pauvre
3. Les 3 Valses Distinguées Du Précieux Dégoûte
4. Petite Ouverture A Danser
5. Le Piège De Méduse
6. Avant-Dernières Pensées
7. Première Pensée Et Sonneries De La Rose † Croix - Première Pensée
8. Gnossiennes - 1. Lent
9. Gnossiennes - 2. Avec Étonnement
10. Gnossiennes - 3. Lent
11. Gnossiennes - 4. Lent
12. Gnossiennes - 5. Modéré
13. Gnossiennes - 6. Avec Conviction Et Avec Une Tristesse Rigoureuse
14. Peccadilles Importunes
15. Les Pantins Dansent
16. 3 Gymnopédies - 1. Lent Et Douloureux

Download

A Dipset Xmas - Jim Jones (2007) (192 VBR)

Sometimes I get a little wispy-eyed when I think about that couple of years there, say,'04 '05ish, when it seemed like Dipset were really on top. Before Cam'ron started to "Get It In Ohio" and when Juelz Santana still couldn't legally buy cigarettes. Coming at the end of that era, with the unexpected visibility provided by the smash "We Fly High", Jim Jones released this gem, which I thought would only be appropriate for the season. The Kufi Smacker says on the liner notes that he "wanted to make a Christmas album for kids in the hood and shit like that". Unfortunately I only have it in 192 VBR, but after a few egg nogs and rye you won't even notice.

Jam-packed with clever double entendres involving, among other things, snow, tree, and pie, the album is perfect soundtrack for wholesome family activities such as gingerbread house construction and the stringing of Christmas lights.

Seriously, though, Christmas music mostly sucks, and this is one of the few Christmas records that can hold company with other successful holiday records by the likes of Willie Nelson, Mariah Carey, and Herb Alpert (who am I missing?).

Tracklist:

1. Dipset X-Mas Time
2. Have a Happy Christmas
3. Wish List
4. Ballin' On Xmas
5. If Everyday Was Xmas
6. We Get Money
7. Too High
8. City Boys
9. We Fly High (Remix) (Feat. T.I., Diddy, Baby & Young Dro)
10. Letter to the Game
11. Hood Side of Things
12. Tough Talk (feat. Mel Matrix & Stack Bundles)
13. Industry Problems

Download

It should be noted that this was by no means the last Dipset Christmas effort. One highlight of the next round includes Juelz Santana's minimal rendition of "Jingle Bellz":



And lest ye forget the original Christmas raps:

Nancy Sinatra - How Does That Grab You? (1966)

Nancy's follow-up to Boots. This includes her famous version of "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)". Lee Hazlewood has producer's credit and wrote many of the songs. He appears on "Sand", a track that would appear on their duet album two years later (highly recommended). This version's got the bonus tracks that include her duet with daddy on "Feelin' Kinda Sunday".

1. Not The Lovin' Kind
2. The Shadow Of Your Smile
3. Sorry 'Bout That
4. Time
5. Sand
6. Crying Time
7. My Baby Cried All Night Long
8. Let It Be Me
9. Call Me
10. How Does That Grab You, Darlin' ?
11. Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)
12. The Last Of The Secret Agents
13. Until It's Time For You To Go
14. Lightning's Girl
15. Feelin' Kinda Sunday

Download

Juvenile - 400 Degreez (1998)

Classic Cash Money release by Juve the Great. 400 Degreez embodies the late-90's New Orleans rap sound. Beats done by Cash Money's in-house producer, Mannie Fresh, who was vital in the development of the N.O.'s earlier Bounce music sound. You also get to hear pre-syrup, "wobbledy-wobbledy"-era Wayne (does anyone else remember watching "Back That Thang Up" and "Get Your Roll On" on The Box?) There are 3 versions of Juve's "Ha" single: the Hot Boys remix and another that surprisingly features Jay-Z. Hov's appearance speaks to Cash Money's popularity and the attention the south was gaining at the time. Anyway, just look at the awesome Pen N' Pixel artwork, featuring Juvenile & hoes burning money, a watch, and an entire library. Word.

1. Intro (Feat. Big Tymers)
2. Ha
3. Gone Ride With Me
4. Flossin Season (Feat. Big Tymers & B.G.)
5. Ghetto Children
6. Follow Me Now
7. Cash Money Concert
8. Welcome 2 Tha Nolia (Feat. Turk)
9. U.P.T. (Feat. Hot Boys & Big Tymers)
10. Run For It (Feat. Lil Wayne)
11. HA (Hot Boyz Remix) (Feat. Hot Boyz)
12. Rich Niggaz (Feat. Turk, Lil Wayne & Paparue)
13. Back That Azz Up (Feat. Mannie Fresh & Lil Wayne)
14. Off The Top (Feat. Big Tymers)
15. After Cash Money Concert
16. 400 Degreez
17. Juvenile On Fire
18. HA (Jay-Z Remix) (Feat. Jay-Z)

Download

Pharoah Sanders - Black Unity (1971)

Dang, I was checking out the Pharoah Sanders label on here and realized I forgot to attach a link for the Black Unity post! Whoops! Here's the recycled post, with download link:

I've been on a real Pharoah Sanders binge recently, so I decided to post 1972's Black Unity. Like other Pharoah releases, this recording is very spiritual and features some amazing players. It's one track running 37:22, with lots of great atonal freakouts. This album is very percussive, with two drummers as well as a percussionist. The two bass players, Cecil McBee and future Return to Forever member Stanley Clarke, are just as vital to the rhythmic feel. You can hear African and Asian influences in the music, sounds Pharoah experimented with for his entire career.

Tracklist:

1. Black Unity

Personnel:

Pharoah Sanders, tenor saxophone, balaphone
Hannibal Marvin Peterson, trumpet
Carlos Garnett, tenor saxophone
Joe Bonner, piano
Cecil McBee, bass
Stanley Clarke, bass
Norman Connors, drums
Billy Hart, drums
Lawrence Killian, congas, talking drums, balaphone

Original sessions produced by Lee Young
Reissue produced by Michael Cuscuna
Recording engineer: Tony May
Recorded at A & R Recording Studios, New York City, on November 24, 1971

Impulse!
IMPD-219

Download

John Coltrane - The Olatunji Concert: The Last Live Recording (1967)

This posthumous release, recorded at the Olatunji Center for African Culture in Harlem, emphasizes the direction Coltrane was heading at the end of his career. The ensemble had expanded in numbers, adding another horn with Pharoah Sanders. McCoy had left the group and was replaced by Coltrane's wife Alice on piano, and Rashied Ali sat in place of Elvin Jones. Only Jimmy Garrison remained as the veteran from the A Love Supreme days. Trane was known to use two bass players as well, usually enlisting Art Davis, but Jimmy holds it down here solo. I think the two pieces selected are great contrast - "Ogunde", one of Coltrane's last compositions, and "My Favorite Things", his biggest commercial hit and probably most played tune. Of course Coltrane's style had changed immensely since his 1961 version of the tune. By the end of his career, a show would consist only of two or three selections, each running for about half an hour, maybe playing the head once or twice. He was finished with exploring scales and harmonic structure and was now probing the depths of the instrument (multiphonics). The sounds, tone and power of his playing are indescribable, it feels almost useless to try and write anything. Please listen, and comment if you dig this.

1. Introduction by Billy Taylor
2. Ogunde
3. My Favorite Things

Personnel:

John Coltrane, tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone
Pharoah Sanders, tenor saxophone
Alice Coltrane, piano
Jimmy Garrison, bass
Rashied Ali, drums
Algie DeWitt, Batá drum
(possibly) Jumma Santos, percussion

Recorded April 1967 in New York City

Impulse! 314 589 120-2

Download