there is a hole in my bucket dear listener

[Paul Campbell]

He's a nice young man, only confused... but I don't mind Wynton. His full 7cd Vanguard box set is going for a crowd pleasing 8.99 as a download down the river. Worth a punt i reckon.

[burning dog]

QUOTE=Paul Campbell

He's a nice young man, only confused...

Not so young now!

Like me he have to travel to Southern Florida or the Dorset Coast to be called that.

I like his small groups though. I preferred his 80s line ups before he became the Establishments "Voice of Jazz" and thought he could throw in a Louis Armstrong or Bubber Miley impression. He is a kind of replacement for Freddie ( in VSOP he was literally). Of course Hubbard was at the cutting edge of hard bop whereas in Wynton's time that style was mainstream, but WM is more than a carbon copy or a simulacrum, he has his own sound. What he definitely isn't is an Ellington The LCJO is OK when it does beefed up versions of Art Blakey tunes, but the longer works... no thanks!


Just my opinion of course.

[Paul Campbell]

I agree with all of that, Burning Dog. The "Voice of Jazz" thing is unfortunate (we all know thats Braxton) and I disagree with most of what he has to say for himself, but he can play his horn and his small groups are tight enough. I'm pleased with the Vanguard box, I only had the selection disc previously.

[Ian Thumwood]

BD

I agree! The LCJO is an ok band but not great. Wynton's sub-Ellington stuff is a bit dull and when I last saw them play (I think I've seen them about 5 or 6 times) the venue was only about 60% full. I think audiences have become a bit t ired of this band. Just my opinion. A salutory experience for me was hearing the LCJO play some Mingus about a week aft5er I'd heard the Mingus BB perform the same composit5ion. There was no competition.

The disappointing thing for me is that Branford seems to recieve a degree of the criticism levelled at his brother whereas he has fronted a band for a long while now that has produced a brilliant body of work. I'm a big fan of his quartet.

[burning dog]

BD

I agree! The LCJO is an ok band but not great. Wynton's sub-Ellington stuff is a bit dull and when I last saw them play (I think I've seen them about 5 or 6 times) the venue was only about 60% full.

Yes first time they turned people away the third time they just opened the stalls. The first concert was really good to be fair (2001?) with outstanding solos from the trombonist and a blistering "Free for All" responding well to the audiences enthusiasm.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

Branford is as Ian says an artist who has given us a major body of work as a quartet leader