What Are You Listening To?

[Dennie]

At The Village Vanguard -- Mini Lp CD

Gerry Mulligan and The Concert Jazz Band

1960/2002 Verve Records

This is incredible January 21, 2006
By Pharoah S. Wail VINE™ VOICE
Format:Audio CD

I bought this sometime in 2005, loved it, but decided not to review it because right on the sleeve (it's a cardboard package with the cd slipped inside a fuzzy little envelope like the Sam Rivers - Crystals package, not a jewel case) it says it's a limited release that goes out-of-print in september of 2005. I just figured there's no point in reviewing it since the review would effectively die in several months. Now here we are in 2006 and it's still available.

The band is Gerry Mulligan on baritone sax and piano. Mel Lewis drums. Bill Crow bass. Nick Travis, Clark Terry, Don Ferrara trumpets. Bob Brookmeyer, Willie Dennis, Alan Ralph trombones. Gene Quill clarinet and alto saxophone. Bob Donovan alto. Jim Reider tenor saxophone. Gene Allen baritone saxophone and bass clarinet.

Who knows how much longer this will be around. If you think you might want it, GET IT. This band is amazing and the sound of the recording is fantastic! I like the couple slower tunes too, quite lovely interpretations of these tunes, but the uptempo stuff is the heart and soul of this album. There's not a single note I'd want to change here and the intensity is really something to behold. This band swings ruthlessly and the soloing is impeccable.

Even if you're not what you'd call a "big-band person", don't let that stop you. Glenn Miller this is not! Then again if you have high blood-pressure or arthritis you may want to take your medicine before popping this into the player because your heart-rate will rise and you're going to be moving. This is one of my favorite cds I bought in all of 2005 and from my first listen last year to my most recent listen yesterday, I've been in envy of everyone who ever attended a concert by this band on one of their good nights. I assume this was a phenomenal night because this thing knocks me out from the first track to the last, but if they were even better than this, and if that stuff was recorded, then please some label, any label, release or re-release all those albums because my soul and wallet are waiting.

Side One:

1. Blueport
2. Body and Soul
3. Black Nightgown


Side Two:

4. Come Rain or Come Shine
5. Lady Chatterley's Mother
6. Let My People Be

Gerry Mulligan (baritone sax)
Bob Brookmeyer (valve trombone)
Clark Terry (trumpet)
Mel Lewis (drums)
Nick Travis, Don Ferrara (trumpets)
Willie Dennis (trombone)
Alan Raph (bass trombone)
Gene Quill, Bob Donovan (alto saxes)
Jim Reider (tenor sax), Gene Allen (baritone sax),
Bill Crow (bass)
Composed & arranged by Al Cohn.

Recorded: live at the Village Vanguard, New York, December 11, 1960

 

[Botch]

But I thought they had 15 Greatest Hits!

Dennie

:angry-banghead: :angry-banghead: :angry-banghead:

Man, I'm battin' Zero today. :angry-cussingblack: You're right Dennie, Every 1's a Winner isn't on this collection!

 

[Dennie]

But I thought they had 15 Greatest Hits!

Dennie

:angry-banghead: :angry-banghead: :angry-banghead:

Man, I'm battin' Zero today. :angry-cussingblack: You're right Dennie, Every 1's a Winner isn't on this collection!

It just goes to show, never drink (excessively.. bscene-drinkingdrunk: ) and order music! :doh: :text-lol:


Dennie, who's learned the hard way. :eusa-whistle:

 

[Botch]

Well, I'd learned too not to order if imbibing, any more I just "Add to Cart" to make the order later.

And, I'm not so disappointed any more. Hot Chocolate had a LOT more hits than I realized; this collection goes thru 1976 or so, and it has some gems that I, like Every 1's a Winner, haven't heard in decades, including Brother Louie, Disco Queen, You Sexy Thing, and this one, which I'd searched for before but it wouldn't come up under "EmmaLean"....

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFYOHrwi-W8[/youtube]

:music-rockout:

 

[Dennie]

Well, I'd learned too not to order if imbibing, any more I just "Add to Cart" to make the order later.

And, I'm not so disappointed any more. Hot Chocolate had a LOT more hits than I realized; this collection goes thru 1976 or so, and it has some gems that I, like Every 1's a Winner, haven't heard in decades, including Brother Louie, Disco Queen, You Sexy Thing, and this one, which I'd searched for before but it wouldn't come up under "EmmaLean"....



:music-rockout:

Nice! I bet you were singin' along! :music-singing: I love having a stereo that I can turn up louder than I can sing! :handgestures-thumbup:



Hey, Look what I found...

I have this one...

Dennie

 

[Dennie]

Workingman's Dead -- CD

Grateful Dead

1970/1990 Warner Bros. Records

The Grateful Dead were already established as paragons of the free-form, improvisational San Francisco psychedelic sound when they abruptly shifted gears for the acoustic Workingman's Dead, a lovely exploration of American roots music illuminating the group's country, blues, and folk influences. The lilting "Uncle John's Band," their first radio hit, opens the record and perfectly summarizes its subtle, spare beauty; complete with a new focus on more concise songs and tighter arrangements, the approach works brilliantly. Despite its sharp contrast to the epic live space jams on which the group's legend primarily rests, Workingman's Dead nonetheless spotlights the Dead at their most engaging, stripped of all excess to reveal the true essence of their craft.

1. Uncle John's Band
2. High Time
3. Dire Wolf
4. New Speedway Boogie
5. Cumberland Blues
6. Black Peter
7. Easy Wind
8. Casey Jones

 

[Dennie]

Home Cookin' -- Remastered CD

Jimmy Smith

1960/2004 Blue Note Records

Soul Food, Chicken Grease, and Hammond B-3 soul, April 20, 2000
By Sean K Hur (New Brunswick, NJ) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Home Cookin (Audio CD)

Wow, now here's a good work for you hammond b-3 fans. The small 3 personal group that basically epitomizes the Jimmy Smith sound in his blue-note years are here. With the added tenor saxophone work of Percy France, you got a great combination of soul food for you ears! Like the title of the album, there is a great deal of blues entwined inside every track. Highlights on the album were immediately the really driving "I Got a Woman," a great Ray Charles standard that Kenny Burrell, another fine jazz guitarist really shines. There are points when it seems that this is more a blues-jazz group, there isn't much in terms of be-bop flashiness, which may turn off some arrogant jazz types. It seems that Jimmy Smith's greatest work isn't in the spitty organ leads he pumps, its the subtle organ bass lines that sound incredible. THERE IS NO BASS PLAYER IN HIS GROUP! Every track reveals a good blues sensibility that the hammond b-3 organ seems to lend itself too. Jimmy Smith's album here helps to bridge a great gap between the intellectual and heady jazz of the era with the low-down chicken house organ sounds... Incredible, and this album is one of his best!

All compositions by Jimmy Smith except as indicated

"See See Rider" (Ma Rainey) - 6:35
"Sugar Hill" (Kenny Burrell) - 5:19
"I Got a Woman" (Ray Charles, Renald Richard) - 3:55
"Messin' Around" - 5:55
"Gracie" - 5:54
"Come on Baby" (Burrell) - 6:50
"Motorin' Along" (Jimmy McGriff) - 5:09

Bonus tracks on CD reissue:

"Since I Fell for You" (Buddy Johnson) - 4:19
"Apostrophe" (Percy France) - 6:35
"Groanin'" (Jack McDuff) - 8:10
"Motorin' Along" [alternate take] (McGriff) - 5:02
"Since I Fell for You" [alternate take] (Johnson) - 6:27

Recorded on July 15, 1958 (tracks 7, 8, 11, 12), May 24, 1959 (tracks 3, 10) and June 16, 1959 (tracks 1, 2, 4-6 & 9).



Jimmy Smith – organ
Percy France - tenor saxophone (tracks 1, 4-6 & 9)
Kenny Burrell – guitar
Donald Bailey – drums

 

[Dennie]

At Last -- SACD

The Gene Harris/Scott Hamilton Quintet with Herb Ellis, Ray Brown & Harold Jones

1990/2004 Concord Jazz

If anyone ever asks you what jazz is, words won’t do. Just play this music. The pulse, the flowing time that is the nurturing essence of jazz is distilled by Gene Harris, Herb Ellis, Harold Jones, and Ray Brown as they shape rhythm waves on which Scott Hamilton’s tenor glides, dives, and soars. And Gene Harris, when he solos, also rides the tides of the past as well as the powerful presence of the moment. Each of the players has a full, open, personal sound—and each always has sound in mind...It is being heralded as a lost art that has been rediscovered. But the guys on this date have never lost that art.”—Nat Hentoff (From the original 1990 liner notes)

Track listing

1. You Are My Sunshine
2. It Never Entered My Mind
3. After You've Gone
4. Lamp Is Low, The
5. At Last
6. Blues for Gene
7. I Fall in Love Too Easily
8. Some of These Days
9. Stairway to the Stars
10. Sittin' in the Sandtrap

Gene Harris (piano); Scott Hamilton (tenor saxophone); Herb Ellis (guitar); Ray Brown (double bass); Harold Jones (drums).

 

[Dennie]

Sunflower -- CD

Milt Jackson - Herbie Hancock - Freddie Hubbard - Ron Carter - Billy Cobham

1972/1997 CTI/Epic Legacy

Recorded over two days in December of 1972 at Rudy Van Gelder's Englewood, New Jersey home studio, vibraphonist Milt Jackson's Sunflower is the first -- and best -- of his three albums for Creed Taylor's CTI imprint. (And one of the finest offerings on the label.) With a core band consisting of Herbie Hancock (playing electric and acoustic piano), bassist Ron Carter, drummer Billy Cobham, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, drummer/percussionist Ralph McDonald, and guitarist Jay Berliner. A chamber orchestra exquisitely arranged and conducted by Don Sebesky adorns the session as well. Jackson's "For Someone I Love," opens the five-tune set, with Berliner playing solo flamenco guitar before the vibes, trumpet, and elements from the chamber orchestra delicately, impressionistically color the background. It gradually moves into a languid, bluesy ballad that slowly gains in both texture and dynamic until the strings trill tensely. Hubbard and Hancock engage them in solos that gently swing out the tune. The reading of Michel Legrand's "What Are You Doing for the Rest of Your Life" is a gorgeous showcase for Jackson; his solo dominates the arrangement. Carter gets downright funky on his upright to introduce Thom Bell's "People Make the World Go Round," and Hancock follows him on Rhodes. Jackson takes the melody, striking a layered contrast as Hubbard slips around all three playing an extension of the melody with requisite taste, fluidity, and taut phrasing. Hancock gets funky to the bone in his brief solo, as the vibes soar around and through his phrases. The title track is a Hubbard composition that floats and hovers with a Latin backbeat before shifting tempos as the solos begin. The expanded harmonic palette of trumpet with the reeds, woodwinds, and strings on the melody add an exotic textural palette for his solo. Jackson's "SKJ" closes the set with an old-school, swinging hard bop blues with barely detectable embellishments by Sebesky. While Sunflower sometimes feels more like a group session rather than a Jackson-led one, that's part of its exquisite beauty. [In 2011, Sunflower saw reissue as part of Sony's 40th Anniversary series celebrating CTI. It was remastered from the original two-track analog tapes in order to best capture the sound of the LP.] ~ Thom Jurek

1. For Someone I Love
2. What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?
3. People Make the World Go Round
4. Sunflower
5. SKJ



Milt Jackson – vibes
Freddie Hubbard - trumpet, flugelhorn
Herbie Hancock - piano
Jay Berliner - guitar
Ron Carter - bass
Billy Cobham - drums
Ralph MacDonald - percussion
Romeo Penque - alto flute, English horn, oboe
Phil Bodner - flute, alto flute, piccolo, English horn
George Marge - clarinet, bass clarinet, alto flute, English horn
Max Ellen, Paul Gershman, Emanuel Green, Charles Libove, Joe Malin, David Nadien, Gene Orloff, Elliot Rosoff, Irving Spice - violin
Charles McCraken, George Ricci, Alan Shulman - cello
Margaret Ross - harp
Don Sebesky - arranger, conductor

 

[Dennie]

16 Biggest Hits -- CD

Kris Kristofferson

1997 Monument Legacy

Classic Kristofferson, May 11, 2009
By Dr. David R. Brock (Centennial, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: 16 Biggest Hits-Kris Kristofferson (Audio CD)

Almost all these songs were recorded previously by others, but this album gives them the songwriter's gravel-voiced, hard-lived edge that they need. I listened to this and Gordon Lightfoot over and over through college. The songs are classic. If you aren't familiar with them, but appreciate music from the heart of a life lived hard, I highly recommend it. Lyrics like, "the beer I had for breakfast wasn't bad, so I had one more for dessert" from Sunday Morning Coming Down take experience to write, much like Gordon Lightfoot's Second Cup of Coffee from his Don Quixote album(I'm on my second cup of coffee and I still can't face the day, I'm thinking of the lady who got lost along the way).


Track Listing
1. Me and Bobby McGee
2. Jody and the Kid
3. Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down
4. From the Bottle to the Bottom
5. Once More With Feeling
6. For the Good Times
7. Taker, The
8. Help Me Make It Through the Night
9. Come Sundown
10. Pilgrim - Chapter 33, The
11. Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again)
12. I'd Rather Be Sorry
13. Nobody Wins
14. Stranger
15. Why Me
16. Highwayman

 

[Dennie]

Habits Old and New -- Vinyl + CD

Hank Williams. Jr.

1980/2009 Curb Records

What a great opportunity..., February 12, 2011

By Doug DePew "Author of "SAT & BAF!"" (Missouri, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Habits Old And New: Original Classic Hits, Vol. 5 (Audio CD)

I'm so glad they re-mastered the classics by Hank! This record was one of the greats by one of the greats. Old Bocephus put together a real classic here. I see the singles available up there, so I'll review a few of the lesser known songs you might want to check out.

"Dinosaur" is a very meaningful song to me personally. It's about a guy who just doesn't quite fit in anymore. I hear this song in Nashville bars a lot, but almost never anywhere else. It's a song that kind of denotes a real Hank, Jr. fan.

"The Blues Man" is another hard core Hank fan song. I simply love this song. It is purely what Hank was going through in the years leading up to the album, and you should hear it. It's a great song.

Those are the two you should listen to if you do nothing else. After that, I think you'll want to buy the who record. You won't regret it.

All tracks composed by Hank Williams Jr.; except where indicated

"Old Habits" – 3:02
"Dinosaur" – 3:17
"Kaw-Liga" (Hank Williams, Fred Rose) – 4:21
"Here I Am Fallin' Again" – 3:37
"The Blues Man" – 4:18
"All In Alabama" – 4:01
"The American Way" – 3:04
"Move It On Over" (Hank Williams) – 3:05
"Won't It Be Nice" (Hank Williams Jr., Merle Kilgore) – 3:08
"If You Don't Like Hank Williams" (Kris Kristofferson) – 2:51

 

[Dennie]

Hard Rain -- CD

Bob Dylan

1976 Columbia Records

Very underrated October 4, 2003
By Docendo Discimus
Format:Audio CD

If you sometimes find yourself shouting "Judas" at the radio when Bob Dylan comes on playing something band-backed, this record is probably not your thing.
Me, I love it. It's too short by far, but Dylan and the Rolling Thunder band rock like never before or since. In my opinion, the intense "Hard Rain" is just as great as the fabled "Live 1966" (the so-called Royal Albert Hall concert from the Free Trade Hall in Manchester).

Bob Dylan and his band play some of the hardest, rawest and most ragged rock n' roll music of his entire career - just listen to him tearing through a spiced-up "Maggie's Farm" or doing a melodic folk-rock interpretation of "One Too Many Mornings".
But the highlight of "Hard Rain" has to be the closing ten-minute rendition of the venomous "Idiot Wind". Dylan sneers and shouts his way through a magnificent version of one of his most memorable songs - that one cut alone is worth the price of admission. Powerful stuff!


All songs by Bob Dylan, except where noted.

"Maggie's Farm"– 5:23
"One Too Many Mornings"– 3:47
"Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again"– 6:01
"Oh, Sister" (Dylan, Jacques Levy)– 5:08
"Lay Lady Lay"– 4:47
"Shelter from the Storm"– 5:29
"You're a Big Girl Now"– 7:01
"I Threw It All Away"– 3:18
"Idiot Wind"– 10:21

 

[heeman]

1. "All of Me" <5:15>
2. "The Giving Tree" <4:53>
3. "Live or Die" <4:26>
4. "Blue Sky / Mad Mad World / The Good God is a Woman and She Don't Like Ugly (feat. Chuck D)" <4:58>
5. "California Dreamin'" (feat. Patti Russo) [The Mamas & The Papas Cover] <3:57>
6. "Party of One" <3:57>
7. "Another Day" <5:03>
8. "40 Days" <5:20>
9. "Our Love and Our Souls" (feat. Patti Russo) <3:57>
10. "Stand in the Storm" (feat. Trace Adkins, Lil Jon and Mark McGrath) <4:36>
11. "Blue Sky" <2:56>
12. "Fall from Grace" <3:47>

 

[heeman]

:banana-dance: :banana-rock: :banana-dance: :banana-rock:

1. Broken Things
2. Belly Belly Nice
3. Mercy
4. Gaucho
5. Sweet
6. The Riff
7. Belly Full
8. If Only
9. Rooftop
10. Snow Outside
11. Drunken Solider

 

[Dennie]

The Rolling Stone Women In Rock Collection -- 3 CD Box Set

Various Artists

1998 Razor & Tie

If you like rock and roll...you'll love this., January 3, 2000
By Jackie - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Rolling Stone Women In Rock Collection (Audio CD)

What a great CD! I have a radio show that focuses on women in music, and I got this CD for christmas this year. I was more impressed with it after I listened to it, finding gems like Belly's "Feed the Tree," Lucinda Williams' "Side of the Road," Gladys Knight and the Pips' "Midnight Train to Georgia" and even Dionne Warwick's "Walk on By" sounding even better among other top women's music of the times. Rolling Stone shows a strong interest in women's music not only through this album but also through their book 'Women in Rock' which goes hand in hand with this album (check it out too). Some of the people Rolling Stone could've included in this compilation are Joni Mitchell (I am really surprised she doesn't appear on here), Siouxie Sioux, Karen Carpenter, and Liz Phair, but the collection they do have should only be added to, nothing should be removed. This is an anthology for women of our times, an anthology of anyone who likes rock and roll, and it should be a staple in any music lover's collection.

Disc: 1
1. Hound Dog - Leiber, Jerry
2. Tell Mama - Carter, Clarence
3. Crazy - Nelson, Willie
4. Remember (Walkin' in the Sand) - Morton, G.
5. Dancing in the Street - Gaye, Marvin
6. Stop! In the Name of Love - Dozier, Lamont
7. Walk on By - Bacharach, Burt
8. I'll Be Your Mirror - Reed, Lou
9. Somebody to Love - Slick, Darby
10. Me and Bobby McGee - Foster, Fred
11. Chain of Fools - Covay, Don
12. Son of a Preacher Man - Hurley, John
13. I Shall Be Released - Dylan, Bob
14. Eli's Coming - Nyro, Laura
15. It's Too Late - King, Carole

Disc: 2
1. You're So Vain - Simon, Carly
2. Midnight Train to Georgia - Weatherly, Jim
3. You're No Good - Ballard, Clint Jr.
4. Lady Marmalade - Crewe, Bob
5. At Seventeen - Ian, Janis
6. Luxury Liner - Parsons, Gram
7. Oh Bondage, up Yours! - Bell, Marian
8. Hot Stuff - Bellotte, Pete
9. Brass in Pocket - Honeyman-Scott, Jam
10. Hit Me With Your Best Shot - Schwartz, Eddie
11. Bad Reputation - Cordell, Ritchie
12. We Got the Beat - Caffey, Charlotte
13. What's Love Got to Do With It? - Britten, Terry
14. I Feel for You - Prince
15. Would I Lie to You? - Lennox, Annie
16. Running Up That Hill - Bush, Catherine
17. Manic Monday - Prince

Disc: 3
1. Luka - Vega, Suzanne
2. Side of the Road - Williams, Lucinda
3. Express Yourself - Bray, Stephen
4. Ladies First - Apache
5. Tunic (Song for Karen) - Gordon, Kim
6. Silent All These Years - Amos, Tori
7. Free Your Mind - Foster, Denzil
8. Feed the Tree - Donelly, Tanya
9. Shoop - Babyface
10. Possession - McLachlan, Sarah
11. Down by the Water - Harvey, PJ
12. One of Us - Bazilian, Eric
13. Your Little Secret - Etheridge, Melissa
14. Who Will Save Your Soul - Jewel
15. If It Makes You Happy - Crow, Sheryl
16. Sunny Came Home - Colvin, Shawn

 

[heeman]

Sammy's 8TH Studio Album....

I'll Fall in Love Again" (Sammy Hagar) - 4:15
"There's Only One Way to Rock" (Hagar) - 4:15
"Baby's on Fire" (Hagar) - 3:34
"Can't Get Loose" (Hagar) - 5:39
"Heavy Metal" (Hagar/Jim Peterik) - 3:51
"Baby, It's You" (Hagar) - 4:46
"Surrender" (Chas Sanford) - 3:14
"Inside Lookin' In" (Hagar) - 4:26
"Sweet Hitchhiker" (Hagar/David Lauser) - 4:10

 

[Dennie]

His Band and the Street Choir -- CD

Van Morrison

1970/1990 Warner Bros. Records

Amazon.com

His Band and the Street Choir appeared at a time--1970--when Van Morrison was building on the great critical successes of Astral Weeks and Moondance. His third Warner Bros. album contains a number of radio-friendly tracks clearly aimed at the singles market and few clues of the serious, brooding melancholy of Astral Weeks. Kicking off with the jaunty "Domino," the album is generally dominated by uptempo swingers such as "Call Me Up in Dreamland," "Give Me a Kiss," and "Blue Money." The cover photography and liner notes by then wife Janet Planet reveal a smiling Morrison and hint at a newfound personal contentment. This mood did not last long after Van left the artists' community of Woodstock. But even here, in "I'll Be Your Lover Too" and "Crazy Face," there are moments that are essential listening for fans of his sullen splendor and mysticism. --Rob Stewart

Side one

"Domino" – 3:06
"Crazy Face" – 2:56
"Give Me a Kiss (Just One Sweet Kiss)" – 2:30
"I've Been Working" – 3:25
"Call Me Up in Dreamland" – 3:52
"I'll Be Your Lover, Too" – 3:57

Side two

"Blue Money" – 3:40
"Virgo Clowns" – 4:10
"Gypsy Queen" – 3:16
"Sweet Jannie" – 2:11
"If I Ever Needed Someone" – 3:45
"Street Choir" – 4:43

 

[Dennie]

Led Zeppelin IV -- CD

Led Zeppelin

1971/1994 Atlantic Records

 

[Dennie]

Live At The Apollo -- CD

B.B. King

1991 GRP Records

Amazon.com

It's not that there's anything wrong with this 1990 recording: King's expressive guitar work and vibrant vocals rarely disappoint in a live setting, and this release here he has a top-notch big band behind him. In addition to U2's "When Love Comes to Town," King rolls through nine staples, including "Sweet Sixteen," "Thrill is Gone," and "Paying the Cost to Be the Boss." On the other hand, King has produced a number of absolutely riveting live albums, including Live at the Regal, Blues Is King, and Live in Cook County Jail. They remain high points of blues history, relegating this solid release to the second tier. --Marc Greilsamer

"When Love Comes to Town"
"Sweet Sixteen"
"The Thrill Is Gone"
"Ain't Nobody's Bizness"
"Paying The Cost To Be The Boss"
"All Over Again"
"Nightlife"
"Since I Met You Baby"
"Guess Who"
"Peace To The World"

 

[Botch]