Consider Phlebas .... but that is another story.

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Mud.

BTW, that Howlin Wolf track wasnt "Howlin for my baby", as listed in the schedule. I once came face to face with Howling Wolf in a Bristol pub on the American Folk and Blues tour in the 60s...he said, "keep the noise down Bluesnik, Im trying to have a quiet pint and read the Socialist Worker." V. nice guy. Very very big.


BN.

[Tenor Freak]

The welfare system is being shreaded, meanwhile R4 and Guardian listeners agonise on -line as to what social strata they are!

Priceless.

BN.

BTW, I see that listening to jazz was one item in the "Social Capital" upwardly mobile shopping list. Me, I only listen to Ken Colyer. Tres proletarian, tres home made banjo from old pit props. But I do shop at Waitrose.

It's all BS anyways as most of us are one paycheck away from the poorhouse. (Coming soon to a town near you once IDS and Eric Pickles have negotiated the contracts with Capita)

[Tenor Freak]

Thanks Calum, it all sounds really, reaaaaally unmissable.

Anyone hear Alan Yentob (£6.3m BBC pension fund and rising) vs Melvyn Bragg vs Gillian Reynolds on BBC et the "Arts" on the R4 Media Show last week? Hilarious. As good as Chris Morris.

BN.

No but I can just imagine the aching smugness emanating from the radio when that was going on. "TEH BBC: WE ARE ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT AT EVERYTHING AN' TING"

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

What made me laugh out loud was when Gillian Reynolds said she was sick of arts programs fronted, backed and sideways by Mr. Personality Yentob, he trounced and flounced..."Well, millions do watch!" He aint no one hit wonder.

BTW, thanks for the Clifford link Calum, loads of other stuff on there inc. Ray and Otis Spann. A good afternoons worth.

BN.

[grippie]

JRR Earlier than some listening's
I went by the Radio Times list and put it on at 8pm and waited, Thank goodness for the iPlayer

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

yep r3 is very sloppy these days about the facts, Ma'am, the facts ....

[grippie]

'Just the facts, ma'am'?

Dragnet's Sgt. Joe Friday

[Serial_Apologist]

Given that Clifford Brown died tragically young we can only surmise at where his music would have gone . (I think he would have ended up very much in the Blue Note school of things as opposed to pursuing a more radical path.)

You might be right there about CB, Ian. That said, being as I was already in possession of one of the main CB/MR Qnt LPs, I once overheard a live recorded track being played in a shop, and, not knowing that the Quintet had recorded in concert, was flabberghasted to be informed that it was such: some surprisingly 'out' playing coming from Brownie in a situation where he could stretch out.

Henry Lowther swears by Clifford Brown, btw, but never at him.

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

There's a live recording of Clifford at a jam session with either Billy Mitchell or Billy Root that is stunning in its fluency. Its been billed as Brown's last recording but I think was made a year or so before his death. Its the melody, warmth and humanity that I find so refreshing. A joy in his playing.

BN.

BTW...his very first recorded solo with the Blue Fames, no not Georgie, is also great and slams out of Calysonian R et B.

[Ian Thumwood]

When I was first getting in to jazz a friend gave me a tape of Brown's work on the West Coast. The arrangements are pretty good but it is very much of it's era. As much as I love Rollin's work, the quintet that he was in with Brown always seems a bit lacking in warmth. I think the music is still very much rooted in Be-bop but played with a fluency that would not have been possible 5-10 years previously.

Last week I was listening to Miles' 50's quintet and it was quite staggering how this music now seems pretty mainstream. For my money, this is like a "Rolls Royce" band and represents a summation of mid-50's jazz. Max Roach always seems a more adventurous and progressive drummer than his origins with Be-bop suggest but I find this particular group tiring to listen to. It is a very "urgent" style of jazz . I much prefer Davis' band of this time even though you could argue that Red Garland's piano which comes very much from Nat "King" Coles style from the previous decade. For me, Garland is the icing on the cake for this band and the relaxed groove of Chamber's and Jones' bass and drums is more agreable to listen to. Although i still prefer Miles' more blistering trumpet in the next decade, the style is very pleasing to listen too and his solo's are , for me, more memorable that Brown's hectic, machine -gun approach. Granted Brown's tone is exceptional but I find he outstay's his welcome very quickly. I've got quite a few VB records in my collection but they don't get played too often.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

the first five or so tracks on Julian's JLU are magic, especially Kit Downes but all form a delightful sequence ...



Lee Konitz
Five, Four and Three

Performer: Lee Konitz (Sax), Enrico Rava (Trumpet), Franco D’Andrea (Piano), Giovanni Tommaso (Bass), Gege Munari (Drums) Composer: Tommaso

Spiritual Jazz Vol.4, Jazzman Records JMANCD 057
Kit Downes Wander And Collossus

Performer: Kit Downes (Piano), James Allsopp (Bass Clarinet), Calum Gourlay (Bass), James Maddrem (Drums), Lucy Railton (Cello) Composer: Kit Downes

Light From Old Stars, Basho Records SRCD 42-2
Image for Joshua Redman
Joshua Redman Lush Life

Performer: Joshua Redman (Sax), Brad Mehldau (Piano), Larry Grenadier (Bass), Brian Blade (Drums) Composer: Billy Strayhorn

Walking Shadows, Nonesuch Record Label 532 288
Image for Martin Speake
Martin Speake Tom

Performer: Martin Speake (Sax), Mike Outram (Guitar), Jeff Williams (Drums), Composer: Martin Speae

Always A First Time, Pumpkin Records
Image for Avishai Cohen
Avishai Cohen Russian Song

Performer: Avishai Cohen (Double Bass & Vocals), Nitai Hershkovits (Piano), Amir Bresler (Drums), Cordelia Hagmann (Violin), Amit Landau (Viola), Noam Haimovitz Weinschel ( Viola), Yael Shapiro (Cello & Vocals), Yoram Lachish (Oboe) Composer: Avishai Cohen, Vladimir Grigoryevich

White Label Promo, White Label Promo
BBC Evesdrop Recording, recorded at the Scarborough Jazz Festival on Friday 28th September 2012.

[Tom Audustus]

And then we come to a very well played but boring set by Taylor and Barnes. I saw the duo at the Fleece last year and listening to this programme on iPlayer today confirmed my view of that concert.

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Ian, with total respect, there was nothing "machine gun" about Clifford Brown's playing...in fact the very opposite. Why not listen to the records again with an open mind? One not based on the West Coast session. Go on, TREAT yourself, Lee Morgan, Art Farmer, Freddie Hubbard, Booker Little and esp Benny Golson, who said the jazz world stopped at Clifford's death' can't be THAT wrong? Surely? They idolised him.

I am being polite bcause Margaret Thatcher has just died and I have broken out the brandy.

BN.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

the rat a tat tat kicks in at 2' 30"

[Ian Thumwood]

Calum / Bluesnik

I've got that Helen Merrill album although my copy includes the session she recorded with Gil Evans at the same time. As much as I love Gil, there are only a couple of arrangements which are up to his usual standard slbeit one track opens with some terrific writing for strings which was unusual for him. The track with Brownie are ok but I prefer the Sarah Vaughan record where he also plays. Not too fussed by Jimmy Jones' piano on this record. The Merrill disc hasn't stood up to time very well and some of it is effectively 1950's pop.

I don't think that Clifford Brown was anything less than a terrific trumpet player and would never deny his worth or merit. Obviously someone that talented if going to be loved by his fellow musicians. I just find his playing uninteresting and a bit too clean. Nothing wrong with him as a jazz musician and more to do with his music not being to my taste. Of that era I would rather listen to Miles' or, if you went further on in time, to players like Freddie Hubbard or Lee Morgan . If you went back slightly earlier, I would have to say that someone like Dizzy Gillespie appeals much more too. There is a wider range of timbre and probably the greatest grasp of dynamics with Dizzy's playing that I feel was lost with the likes of Brownie. It is a shame that jazz evolved so fast in the 1950's that Dizzy got surplanted by a newer generation of players. The same thing applies to players today like Terence Blanchard whose tone is also a bit to clean for my taste.

Curious to see you expressing enthusiaasm for Avishai Cohen, Calum. I saw his last year at Vienne and he played somethung like four encores. At first I was a bit blaise about his music but I ended up behind convinced by his music and the warmth of hsi personality. Very much enjoyed that set but not snapped up anything on record by his although I have been tempted by his trumpet-playing namesake (a must if yoy dig Don Cherry):-