What Are You Listening To?

[Dennie]

Ballads -- Remastered CD

The John Coltrane Quartet

1962/2007 Impulse/Verve Records

Music To My Ears. . .And For Your Ears, Too, March 14, 2009
By Rebecca*rhapsodyinblue* (CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)
This review is from: Ballads (Reis) (Rstr) (Dig) (Audio CD)

"I think the main thing a musician would like to do is to give a picture to the listeners of the many wonderful things he knows of and senses in the universe." ~ John Coltrane (1926-1967) ~

Gene Lees wrote on Liner Notes that John Coltrane had on occasion expressed puzzlement over such descriptions of himself as "best of the angry tenors." He once said: "I guess they say that because I play the horn hard." And if I may add, he played with love and dedication that shows in every note, his interpretations radiate simple elegance and respect to the material.

"Ballads" is a collection of eight striking tunes recorded in 1961 and 1962 by John Coltrane Quartet featuring himself on tenor sax, McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass and Elvin Jones on drums, with the special participation of a guest musician, bassist Reggie Workman on "It's Easy To Remember," one of my absolute favorite tunes from one of my favorite composers of all-time, Richard Rodgers.

The quartet's musicianship is unrivaled. They play with utmost confidence making sure that all the tunes are precisely executed starting off with my top choice from this set, a Jimmy McHugh classic standard with a beautiful melody that is deeply felt, "Say It (Over and Over Again)" down to the perfect ender, "Nancy (With The Laughing Face)." Every tune is an exquisite musical moment where Trane shows off his virtuosity, subtlety and finesse in his playing.

This collection represents some of the sweetest sounds in jazz that music lovers will find irresistibly charming ... tunes that are soothing and easy on the ears. Don't miss out on this CD. It's one of "the angry tenor's" best recordings. It is so beautiful that you can even classify it as a Desert Island CD without having second thoughts.

With my heartfelt recommendation for your listening pleasure now and forever.

P.S. For more irresistibly beautiful music, please check these out - My Favorite Things, The Gentle Side of John Coltrane, A Love Supreme and John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman.

"Say It (Over and Over Again)" (Jimmy McHugh) — 4:18
Frank Loesser wrote lyrics for this song, but this recording is instrumental.
"You Don't Know What Love Is" (Gene DePaul) — 5:15
Don Raye wrote lyrics for this song, but this recording is instrumental.
"Too Young to Go Steady" (Jimmy McHugh) — 4:23
Harold Adamson wrote lyrics for this song, but this recording is instrumental.
"All or Nothing at All" (Arthur Altman) — 3:39
Jack Lawrence wrote lyrics for this song, but this recording is instrumental.
"I Wish I Knew" (Harry Warren) — 4:54
Mack Gordon wrote lyrics for this song, but this recording is instrumental.
"What's New?" (Bob Haggart) — 3:47
Johnny Burke wrote lyrics for this song, but this recording is instrumental.
"It's Easy to Remember" (Richard Rodgers) — 2:49
Lorenz Hart wrote lyrics for this song, but this recording is instrumental.
"Nancy (With the Laughing Face)" (Jimmy Van Heusen) — 3:10
Phil Silvers wrote lyrics for this song, but this recording is instrumental.

-------

John Coltrane - tenor saxophone/soprano saxophone
McCoy Tyner - piano
Jimmy Garrison - bass
Elvin Jones - drums

 

[Dennie]

A Swingin' Night at Birdland -- Remastered CD

Joe Williams

1962/1991 Roulette/Blue Note Records

In 1961, after six years as one of the main attractions of Count Basie's orchestra, Williams (with Basie's blessing) went out on his own. One of his first sessions was this live recording, cut at Birdland with a strong quintet that featured trumpeter Harry "Sweets" Edison and Jimmy Forrest on tenor. Williams mostly sings standards and ballads, but also tosses in a few of his popular blues (including "Well Alright, OK, You Win" and "Goin' to Chicago") during a well-rounded and thoroughly enjoyable set. ~ Scott Yanow

Track Listing
1. September in the Rain
2. Come Back Baby
3. 5 O'Clock in the Morning
4. By the River St. Marie
5. This Can't Be Love
6. Teach Me Tonight
7. Well O. K. Alright You Win
8. I Was Telling Her About You
9. Have You Met Miss Jones?
10. Roll 'Em Pete
11. You're Everything But Mine
12. Falling in Love With Love
13. Goin' to Chicago Blues
14. The Very Thought of You

Personnel includes: Joe Williams (vocals), Harry "Sweets" Edison (trumpet), Jimmy Forrest (tenor saxophone), Hugh Lawson (piano), Ike Issacs (bass), Clarence Johnson (drums).Recorded live at Birdland, New York City in June 1962.

 

[Xgm3]

 

[Xgm3]

 

[Dennie]

Band On The Run - 25th Anniversary Edition -- 2 CD Box Set

Paul McCartney & Wings

1974/1999 Capitol Records

Amazon.com essential recording

Band on the Run should have been a disaster. Two of Wings' original members quit in a huff just before its production. The whimsical decision to record in Lagos, Nigeria, became a nightmare when McCartney and company found themselves in a decaying studio, then had many of the project's demos stolen by armed bandits. Despite these hardships--perhaps because of them--Band on the Run remains the most focused and consistently satisfying record of McCartney's wildly uneven post-Beatles career. This mini box set contains the original album, a well-written booklet by Mark Lewisohn, and a bonus disc featuring outtake snippets and interviews with all the album's participants (including its cover crew, which includes actors James Coburn and Christopher Lee) and Dustin Hoffman, who recounts how he spurred McCartney to spontaneously write "Picasso's Last Words" on a dare. This second disc would make a fine radio show; it comes up short where it matters most--in music. Time spent detailing the album-cover photo session could have been more gratifyingly devoted to more contemporary outtakes (much of the bonus Band material is culled from live performances from as recently as the mid '90s; perhaps McCartney wants us to know how important the record has been to him over the years) or to a pair of single B-sides, which are curiously absent here. --Jerry McCulley


Disc 1
The first disc features the original US version of the album.

"Band on the Run" - 5:11
"Jet" - 4:07
"Bluebird" - 3:21
"Mrs. Vandebilt" - 4:39
"Let Me Roll It" - 4:47
"Mamunia" - 4:50
An Arabic word for "safe haven" which McCartney happened upon while on holiday in Marrakesh
"No Words" (Paul McCartney/Denny Laine) - 2:33
"Helen Wheels" - 3:44
"Helen Wheels" was included on only the US edition of Band on the Run in 1973
"Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me)" - 5:46
Inspired by actor Dustin Hoffman's suggestion to McCartney to compose a song on Pablo Picasso's recent passing
Features Ginger Baker on shakers
"Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five" - 5:29


Disc 2: Bonus Materials

"PAUL McCARTNEY (Dialogue Intro) /Band On The Run (Nicely Toasted Mix)" - 1:12
"Band On The Run (Original)/PAUL McCARTNEY (Dialogue link 1) - 2:17
"Band On The Run (Barn Rehearsal - 21 July 1989)" - 4:59
"PAUL McCARTNEY (Dialogue link 2) /Mamunia (Original)/DENNY LAINE (Dialogue)/Mamunia (Original)/LINDA McCARTNEY (Dialogue)/PAUL McCARTNEY (Dialogue link 3)" - 4:23
"Bluebird (Live version - Australia 1975)" - 0:55
"Bluebird (Original)/PAUL McCARTNEY (Dialogue link 4)" - 0:23
"PAUL McCARTNEY (Dialogue link 5) /NO WORDS (Original)/GEOFF EMERICK (Dialogue)" (Paul McCartney/Denny Laine) - 1:24
"No Words (Original)/PAUL McCARTNEY (Dialogue link 6) /TONY VISCONTI (Dialogue)/Band On The Run (original)/TONY VISCONTI (Dialogue)" (Paul McCartney/Denny Laine) / (Paul and Linda McCartney) - 1:47
"Jet (Original from Picasso's Last Words) /PAUL McCARTNEY (Dialogue Link 7) /Jet (Original from Picasso's Last Words) /AL COURY (Dialogue)" - 2:55
"Jet (Berlin Soundcheck - 3 September 1993)" - 3:52
"PAUL McCARTNEY (Dialogue link 8) /CLIVE ARROWSMITH (Dialogue)" - 1:44
"Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five (Original)/PAUL McCARTNEY (Dialogue link 9) /JAMES COBURN (Dialogue)/PAUL McCARTNEY (Dialogue link 10) /JOHN CONTEH (Dialogue)" - 3:24
"Mrs. Vandebilt (original) / PAUL McCARTNEY (Dialogue link 11) / KENNY LYNCH (Dialogue)" - 2:10
"Let Me Roll It (Cardington Rehearsal - 5 February 1993)"/PAUL McCARTNEY (Dialogue link 12)" - 3:52
"PAUL McCARTNEY (Dialogue link 13) /Mrs. Vandebilt (Background)/MICHAEL PARKINSON (Dialogue)/LINDA McCARTNEY (Band On The Run Photo Shoot) (Dialogue)/MICHAEL PARKINSON (Dialogue)" - 2:25
"Helen Wheels (Crazed)/PAUL McCARTNEY (Dialogue link 14) /CHRISTOPHER LEE (Dialogue)" - 5:32
"Band On The Run (Strum Bit) /PAUL McCARTNEY (Dialogue link 15) /CLEMENT FREUD (Dialogue)" - 1:01
"Picasso's Last Words (Original)/PAUL McCARTNEY (Dialogue link 16) /DUSTIN HOFFMAN (Dialogue)" - 4:22
"Picasso's Last Words (Drink To Me) (Acoustic version)" - 1:11
"Band On The Run (Nicely Toasted Mix) /PAUL McCARTNEY (Dialogue Link 17)" - 0:42
"Band On The Run (Northern Comic Version)" - 0:37

 

[Dennie]

Concorde -- Remastered 20bit K2 XRCD2

The Modern Jazz Quartet

1955/1997 Prestige/JVC Records

Cool Counterpoint April 27, 2004
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD

This underrated album is an Apollonian masterpiece. It balances the cool, formalist approach to jazz (that one expects from MJQ) with a genuine swinging impulse. The recording features two originals (by Jackson and Lewis) framing a set of superb and superbly played standards. "I'll Remember April," transformed into a hard-swinging scherzo, is a real stand-out (although Erroll Garner's version from a few months later remains definitive in my book). The concluding title track is Lewis's tour-de-force, a complex jazz fugue that lends the session a strong feeling of culmination. Throughout, the album delivers subtle counterpoint ("Softly" begins by quoting from Bach's Musical Offering) and thoughtful structure; it really rewards carefully attention. If you like your jazz on the cool, cerebral side, or if you are coming to jazz from the world of classical music, this album should be mandatory listening. But the music isn't austere: in addition to being substantive, it's a lot of fun.

1. Ralph's New Blues
2. All Of You
3. I'll Remember April
4. Gershwin Medley: Soon/For You, For Me, Forevermore/ ove Walked In/Our Love Is Here To Stay
5. Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise
6. Concorde

The Modern Jazz Quartet: John Lewis (piano); Milt Jackson (vibraphone); Percy Heath (bass); Connie Kay (drums).Recorded in New York, New York on July 2, 1955. Originally released on Prestige (7109). Includes liner notes by Ira Gitler.Digitally remastered using 20-bit K2 Super Coding System technology.

 

[Dennie]

Plays Ellington Songs -- CD

Harry Allen with the Bill Charlap Trio

1999 RCA Victor Records

Allen's tenor sax sound is perfectly suited for the music of Duke Ellington. His literate, traditional approach and occasionally Stan Getz-ian breathy tones go to the heart of Duke's melodic and harmonic concepts. Pianist Bill Charlap is excellent through and through, while bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington are dutiful in attending to their swing. Several of these tracks are read pretty straight, as the ballad "Lush Life," the easy swinger "Just Squeeze Me," the Afro-Cuban to bop "Caravan," and the air-filled "Sophisticated Lady." But the band changes up the rest. At the least extreme, "Mood Indigo" is easy swing as opposed to balladic; "Take the A Train" is slowed way down with Allen and Charlap only, while the pianist plays the melody while Allen's tenor counter-swipes licks on "C Jam Blues." More adapted is the slow tick-tock to bossa of the usual wall-melting ballad "Solitude," and a low-down, lugubrious bluesy swing with Charlap loading up on the intro and melody of "Things Ain't What They Used to Be," with Allen's stacatto stopped accents. At their most energetic, the quartet charges hard and trade eights during the up-tempo workout "Cotton Tail," whereas Allen and bassist Washington in duet need no other instrumental accoutrements in order to rhythmically fire up "It Don't Mean a Thing if It Ain't Got That Swing." This is most likely Allen's best batch yet, for he is a great interpreter rather than innovator. Duke did all the inventing necessary here, and this true collective quartet is hard to top. Recommended. ~ Michael G. Nastos

Track Listing
1. C Jam Blues
2. Solitude
3. Mood Indigo
4. It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)
5. Lush Life
6. Just Squeeze Me (But Don't Tease Me)
7. Things Ain't What They Used to Be
8. Caravan
9. Take the "A" Train
10. Cotton Tail
11. Sophisticated Lady

 

[Dennie]

Healing The Wounds -- CD

The Crusaders

1997 GRP Records

The Crusaders as they should be!, October 10, 2000
By Allen Davis (Greensboro, NC USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Healing the Wounds (Audio CD)

This cd is music by The Crusaders as it should be. As a long time Joe Sample and Crusaders fans, it was good for me to enjoy what I would consider to be "vintage" Crusader stuff. It also did me a lot of good for me to hear my favorite bassist, Marcus Miller, added to the mix. He adds that touch of funk that only he can do. With Marcus thumpin' the bass, Joe tickling the ivory, and the rest of the guys doing their things, you can't help but love this piece. "Healing the Wounds" is probably the best Crusader cd to date. If you like the old Crusader stuff, you'll love this! It's great music from cover to cover.

Track listing

1. Pessimisticism
2. Mercy, Mercy, Mercy
3. Little Things Mean a Lot
4. Cause We've Ended as Lovers
5. Shake Dance
6. Maputo
7. Healing the Wounds
8. Running Man

 

[topper]

(2013 release)

Two time Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Stephen Stills and five-time Grammy nominated guitarist, songwriter and singer Kenny Wayne Shepherd may be separated by a musical generation, but they are bonded by a mutual love of the blues. When they joined forces with famed Chicago rock/blues keyboardist Barry Goldberg and formed The Rides, their extraordinary collective histories proved to be unparalleled - blazing a 21st Century trail for the historical American art form. Launching an exciting new chapter in each of their storied careers, the trio's new band is further powered by the explosive rhythm section of bassist Kevin McCormick and Shepherd's longtime drummer Chris Layton (also a veteran of the legendary Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble). Their 429 Records debut, Can't Get Enough features the new single Don't Want Lies and showcases a hard hitting mix of Stills-Goldberg-Shepherd penned blues/rock originals as well as some classic blues tunes. Also included are brilliant interpretations of Muddy Waters, Honey Bee, Elmore James and blistering twists on Stills' favorite Neil Young anthem & Rockin' In The Free World as well as the Iggy Pop & The Stooges early 70s classic Search and Destroy.


The Rides embark on their first US tour this fall

 

[Dennie]

Rural Renewal -- CD

The Crusaders

2003 Verve Records

Everyone should own this record, May 8, 2003
By Jan P. Dennis "Longboard jazzer" (Monument, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Rural Renewal (Audio CD)

I know virtually nothing about the Crusaders. Their kind of music--ultra-sophisticated, roots-based jazz-funk--has fallen outside my musical experience.

My loss.

Let me come straight out and say it. This is one of the most accomplished and satisfying discs I have ever encountered. There's this deep groove coming from some authentic place--Texas, I learned, since I became interested in this group. This is not the kind of music that can be mass produced, predicted, or even successfully copied. It has its own inherent, uncompromising authenticity and authority.

How can it be so precise without being slick? So soulful without being cliché? So sophisticated yet completely natural? I'll tell you. A lifetime of commitment combined with pure genius and musical telepathy set loose, UNLEASHED, given free rein.

Fundamentally, a project like this gains nothing by heavy-duty analysis, so I'm going to quit while I'm ahead. Trust me on this: Just buy it.

Track Listing
1. Rural Renewal
2. Creepin'
3. Heartland
4. Healing Coming On, A
5. Sing the Song
6. Shotgun House Groove
7. Territory, The
8. Greasy Spoon
9. Viva de Funk
10. Lazy Sundays
11. Goin' Home

 

[Dennie]

Ashes To Ashes -- CD

Joe Sample

1990 Warner Bros. Records

This was My first classic CD, please make it one of yours., March 9, 2006
By
Lloyd L. Favors "Str8-no-chaser" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: Ashes to Ashes (Audio CD)
There are not many words that can tell what this album means to me. This album was a milestone in my life, thats how good it is. I bought this album in 1991, while I was in college. I have been a Jazz music lover since the age of 6 or 7. At the time I was not aware that Joe Sample was a part of the group, The Crusaders. At the time I was experimenting with new artists in an effort to broaden my collection and come across some new groups. See, trial and error was the best way to find out about stuff that your peers were not versed in. Keep in mind this was the pre-internet years. I will admit, I chose to buy the album because of the art on the album cover, other than that there was not much to go on because this name was new. But I will say, that was a gamble that paid off. From the first time I listened to that album, I was amazed. I could not believe that an album could have so many songs that were consuming. Out of the 9 songs on this album, I found myself mentally caught up in the Piano (the instrument that JS plays)on 7 of those songs, the other two songs were just plain fun. This album is the best album by a Jazz pianist I have ever heard. And ever since 1991, I have been telling everyone that can hear, Joe Sample and Ashes to Ashes is the best.

Track Listing
1. Ashes to Ashes
2. Road Less Traveled, The
3. Mother's Eyes
4. Last Child, The
5. Born in Trouble
6. Strike Two
7. I'll Love You
8. Born to Be Bad
9. Phoenix

Personnel includes: Joe Sample (keyboards); Michael Landau (guitar); Marcus Miller (electric bass); Omar Hakim (drums); Lenny Castro (percussion).

 

[Dennie]

Cowboy Christmas - Cowboy Songs II-- CD

Michael Martin Murphey

1991 Warner Bros. Records

A collection of cowboy Christmas songs divided into two parts, the first dealing with Christmas "On The Range", the second "At The Dance."A "western cowboy" holiday album might seem like a contradiction in terms, but Michael Martin Murphey, in his typical tradition, is able to pull off the unexpected with Cowboy Christmas. Like his other records, Murphey balances traditional songs with originals that manage to capture not just the style, but the very feel of classic cowboy songs and it has a downhome warmth and honesty that is lacking from most Christmas albums, including most country Christmas albums. ~ Thom Owens

Track Listing
Part One: On The Range
1. I Heard The Bells On Christmas / Old Time Christmas
2. Jolly Old St. Nicholas / The Christmas Letter
3. The Creak of the Leather
4. Christmas on the Line (The Line Rider's Christmas
5. Sleigh Ride / Jingle Bells
6. The Christmas Trail
7. Merry Texas Christmas You All
8. Ridin' Home on Christmas Eve
9. Water and Wood Corn

Part Two: At The Dance
10. The Cowboy Christmas Ball
11. Polka Medley: Good King Wenceslas / Under The Double Eagle / Redwing / Golden Slippers
12. Christmas Cowboy Style
13. Santa Claus Shottische
14. Two-Step 'Round the Christmas Tree
15. Two Step Medley: Cotton-Eyed Joe / Buffalo Gals / Soldier's Joy / The Girl I Left Behind Me / Deck The Halls
16. Log Cabin Home in the Sky
17. Waltz Medley: O Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum) / Put Your Little Foot (The Varsouvianna) / The Westfalia Waltz / Over The Waves (The Skaters Waltz) / O Christmas Tree / The Christmas Dance
18. Pearls in the Snow
19. Good Night Ladies / Auld Lang Syne

 

[Dennie]

Random Access Memories -- CD

Daft Punk

2013 Columbia Records

When Daft Punk announced they were releasing a new album eight years after 2005's Human After All, fans were starved for new material. The Tron: Legacy score indulged the seminal dance duo's sci-fi fantasies but didn't offer much in the way of catchy songs, so when Random Access Memories' extensive publicity campaign featured tantalizing clips of a new single, "Get Lucky," their fan base exploded. But when the album finally arrived, that hugely hyped single was buried far down its track list, emphasizing that most of these songs are very much not like "Get Lucky" -- or a lot of the pair's previous music, at least on the surface. The album isn't much like 2010s EDM, either. Instead, Daft Punk separate themselves from most contemporary electronic music and how it's made, enlisting some of their biggest influences to help them get the sounds they needed without samples. On Homework's "Teachers," they reverently name-checked a massive list of musicians and producers; here, they place themselves on equal footing with disco masterminds Giorgio Moroder and Nile Rodgers, referring to them as "collaborators." That could be self-aggrandizing, yet it's also strangely humble when they take a back seat to their co-stars, especially on one of RAM's definitive moments, "Giorgio by Moroder," where the producer shares his thoughts on making music with wild guitar and synth solos trailing behind him. Elsewhere, Daft Punk nod to their symbiotic relationship with indie on the lovely "Doin' It Right," which makes the most of Panda Bear's boyish vocals, and on the Julian Casablancas cameo "Instant Crush," which is only slightly more electronic than the Strokes' Comedown Machine. And of course, Pharrell Williams is the avatar of their dancefloor mastery on the sweaty disco of "Lose Yourself to Dance" as well as "Get Lucky," which is so suave that it couldn't help but be an instant classic, albeit a somewhat nostalgic one. Indeed, "memories" is the album's keyword: Daft Punk celebrate the late '70s and early '80s with lavish homages like "Give Life Back to Music" -- one of several terrific showcases for Rodgers -- and the spot-on soft rock of the Todd Edwards collaboration "Fragments of Time." More importantly, Random Access Memories taps into the wonder and excitement in that era's music.

Track Listing
1. Give Life Back to Music
2. The Game of Love
3. Giorgio by Moroder
4. Within
5. Instant Crush
6. Lose Yourself to Dance
7. Touch
8. Get Lucky
9. Beyond
10. Motherboard
11. Fragments of Time
12. Doin' It Right
13. Contact

 

[Dennie]

A Momentary Lapse of Reason -- CD

Pink Floyd

1987/1997 Columbia

Amazon.com

Though many predicted that Roger Waters's acrimonious split with the band after 1983's aptly named Final Cut would ultimately spell the end of Pink Floyd, the remaining band members confounded pundits by extending their status as classic rock's most ponderous dinosaurs into the 1990s and beyond. And if the title was a gentle jab at Waters after a years-long legal struggle over the Floyd moniker, the music was all too familiar; some would say even formulaic. And lest anyone doubted that the absence of Waters's dour soul would lighten things up a bit, guitarist and post facto leader Dave Gilmour gamely took on the Mantle of Conscience for topics ranging from the cold war ("The Dogs of War") to yuppie self-indulgence ("On the Turning Away"). And if this album sometimes evokes an uncomfortable feeling of a band on autopilot, it's one that can still turn out the likes of the anthemic "Learning to Fly" on cruise control. --Jerry McCulley

1. Signs of Life [Instrumental]
2. Learning to Fly
3. Dogs of War
4. One Slip
5. On the Turning Away
6. Yet Another Movie/Round and Around
7. New Machine, Pt. 1
8. Terminal Frost
9. New Machine, Pt. 2
10. Sorrow

 

[Dennie]

The Last Waltz -- 2 CD Box Set

The Band

1978/ 1990 Warner Bros. Records

Amazon.com

"As you might have heard, we got a couple of friends joining in with us tonight," mutters Robbie Robertson dryly. Recorded at San Francisco's Winterland on Thanksgiving Day 1976, the Band's swan song is a rousing celebration, not a bittersweet eulogy. The friends in question: Ronnie Hawkins, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Neil Diamond, Dr. John, Paul Butterfield, Muddy Waters, Pinetop Perkins, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, Ron Wood, Ringo Starr. Add studio sequences featuring the Staples and Emmylou Harris, and you have a pretty formidable supporting cast for the Band, who always did quite well on their own. All involved have done better work elsewhere, but that's far beside the point, which is that anyone who wasn't there should be very, very jealous. --Marc Greilsamer

Side one

No. Title Writer(s) Singer/Guest Performer Length
1. "Theme from The Last Waltz" Robertson 3:28
2. "Up On Cripple Creek" Robertson Levon Helm 4:44
3. "Who Do You Love" McDaniel Ronnie Hawkins 4:16
4. "Helpless" Young Neil Young 5:47
5. "Stage Fright" Robertson Rick Danko 4:25

Side two

No. Title Writer(s) Singer/Guest Performer Length
1. "Coyote" Mitchell Joni Mitchell 5:50
2. "Dry Your Eyes" Diamond, Robertson Neil Diamond 3:57
3. "It Makes No Difference" Robertson Rick Danko 6:48
4. "Such A Night" Rebennack Dr. John 4:00

Side three

No. Title Writer(s) Singer/Guest Performer Length
1. "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" Robertson Levon Helm 4:34
2. "Mystery Train" Parker, Phillips Paul Butterfield, Levon Helm 4:59
3. "Mannish Boy" London, McDaniel, Morganfield Muddy Waters 6:54
4. "Further On Up the Road" Robey, Veasey Eric Clapton 5:08

Side four

No. Title Writer(s) Singer/Guest Performer Length
1. "The Shape I'm In" Robertson Richard Manuel 4:06
2. "Down South in New Orleans" J. Wright, J. Anglin Bobby Charles, Dr. John 3:06
3. "Ophelia" Robertson Levon Helm 3:53
4. "Tura Lura Lural (That's An Irish Lullaby)" Shannon Van Morrison, Richard Manuel 4:15
5. "Caravan" Morrison Van Morrison 6:02

Side five

No. Title Writer(s) Singer/Guest Performer Length
1. "Life Is A Carnival" Danko, Helm, Robertson Levon Helm, Rick Danko 4:32
2. "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down" Davis, von Schmidt Bob Dylan 3:00
3. "I Don't Believe You" Dylan Bob Dylan 3:23
4. "Forever Young" Dylan Bob Dylan 4:42
5. "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down (reprise)" Davis, von Schmidt Bob Dylan 2:46
6. "I Shall Be Released" Dylan Bob Dylan, Richard Manuel 6:22

Side six

The Last Waltz Suite written by Robbie Robertson
No. Title Singer/Guest Performer Length
1. "The Well" Richard Manuel 3:27
2. "Evangeline" Rick Danko, Emmylou Harris, Levon Helm 3:17
3. "Out of the Blue" Robbie Robertson 3:03
4. "The Weight" Levon Helm, Mavis Staples, Pops Staples, Rick Danko 4:38
5. "The Last Waltz Refrain" Richard Manuel 1:28
6. "Theme from The Last Waltz" 3:22

 

[Flint]

I am working from home today, so I am enjoying some great tunes while I respond to emails, write white papers and positioning statements, and plan trade shows & budgets.

This is one amazing album. Roine Stolt gets better and better with every The Flower Kings album. Early in his career his writing wreaked of marginally successful attempts to steal style and composition ideas from the classic prog-rock bands of the 70s and 90s. It was decent stuff, but not truly inspired. However, Desolation Rose is proof that practice makes perfect. He has gotten better and better over the years and his work with artists like Neal Morse and Mike Portnoy has rubbed off on him.

This new album is amazing and if you love well made Prog-Rock like I do, I strongly recommend it. The bonus CD is worth getting as well, so if you can get the two CD version of this album, please do.

 

[PaulyT]

^--- never heard of them, but sounds interesting - ordered!

 

[Dennie]

Idle Moments -- RVG Edition Remastered CD

Grant Green

1964/1999 Blue Note Records

This is part of the Blue Note Rudy Van Gelder Editions series.It was always a part of Blue Note's development and marketing to introduce new artists as sidemen on more well-known leaders' projects before giving them dates of their own. The system worked pretty well, and the irony is that a release like 1963's IDLE MOMENTS looks likes more of an all-star session in retrospect. Sure, we get to hear Grant Green stretching out. But we also get Bobby Hutcherson and Joe Henderson, who were just winning their first Downbeat polls at the time.Green himself had come through this system, appearing with organ combos and on other hard bop sessions, before graduating to his own Blue Note dates. IDLE MOMENTS may be one of his finest dates in the studio, simply on the strength of the elegant melancholy of the title cut and the deep groove the band settles into on "Django." Green's playing has much in common with that of such labelmates as saxophonist Stanley Turrentine and pianist Gene Harris. He manages to bring solid bebop sensibilities to a spare, down-home approach and delivers it all with an oaken tone at once dry, dark, and full of character.


"Idle Moments" (Pearson) – 14:56
"Jean De Fleur" (Green) – 6:49
"Django" (John Lewis) – 8:44
"Nomad" (Pearson) – 12:16

Bonus tracks on CD reissue:

"Jean De Fleur" [Alternate Take] - 8:09
"Django" [Alternate Take] - 13:12

Recorded on November 4 (#1, 4-6)and November 15 (#2-3), 1963.

The Rudy Van Gelder Edition of IDLE MOMENTS includes an essay by Bob Blumenthal.Personnel: Grant Green (guitar); Joe Henderson (tenor saxophone); Bobby Hutcherson (vibraphone); Duke Pearson (piano); Bob Cranshaw (bass); Al Harewood (drums).Producer: Alfred Lion.Reissue producer: Michael Cuscuna.Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on November 4 & 11, 1963. Includes liner notes by Duke Pearson and Bob Blumenthal.Digitally remastered using 24-bit technology by Rudy Van Gelder (Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey).

 

[Dennie]

Elegant Soul -- Remastered CD

Gene Harris and His Three Sounds

1968/2008 Blue Note Rare Groove Series

ELEGANT SOUL (1968) was the penultimate release by the Three Sounds, and sees them leaving behind the cool instrumental jazz that had typified most of their previous output, and moving more decisively in the direction of easy-listening pop. While the group had always had something of a light, accessible take on post-bop, ELEGANT SOUL, with its string arrangements and pop-oriented ambitions, finds them crossing over into easy listening. The 2008 reissue, part of a Blue Note reissue project targeting rare groove collectors and fans of soul-jazz, contextualizes the album for what it is: a unique jazz-soul-pop hybrid.


"Elegant Soul" (Virginia P. Bland) - 3:15
"Do It Right Now" (Bland) - 6:20
"Sittin' Duck" (Monk Higgins) - 9:18
"(Sock It to Me) Harper Valley P.T.A." (Tom T. Hall) - 2:48
"Sugar Hill" (Dee Ervin, Miles Grayson) - 2:48
"African Sweets" (Ervin) - 4:30
"Black Gold" (Grayson) - 3:29
"Book of Slim" (Higgins) - 3:26
"Walls of Respect" (Gene Harris, Higgins) - 3:13

Recorded at RPM Studios, Los Angeles, California on September 19 (tracks 3, 4 & 8) and September 20 (tracks 1, 2, 5-7 & 9), 1968


The Three Sounds: Gene Harris (piano); Andy Simpkins (bass instrument); Carl Burnett (drum).Additional personnel: Al Vescovo (guitar); Henry Felber (violin, strings); Dave Burk, Leonard Malarsky, Ralph Schaeffer (violin); Philip Goldberg (viola); Jerry Kessler (cello); William Kurash, Albert Steinberg (strings); Jim Horn (flute); Bob Jung (reeds); Miles Grayson, Paul Humphrey (drum); Alan Estes, Dee Ervin (percussion); Louis Kievman.Arranger: Monk Higgins.

 

[Dennie]

Stardust - The Music of Hoagy Carmichael -- SACD

Bill Charlap

2002/2003 Blue Note Records

Amazon.com

With his elegant lyric sensibility and use of classic harmonics, which might best be characterized as equal parts Hank Jones and Bill Evans, pianist Bill Charlap manages to suggest something at once timeless and modern in his approach to jazz piano. And while references to past and present masters of the keyboard abound in this recital of Hoagy Carmichael compositions (as in his tasty appropriation of Evans's tolling intro to "Some Other Time" on a poignant reading of "The Nearness of You," or his interpolation of Red Garland's "Billy Boy" as a prelude to "I Walk with Music"), Charlap manages to evoke the dreamy, unhurried character redolent of so much of Carmichael's music, while maintaining his own probing, crystalline presence. Thus, while a briskly swinging jaunt through "Jubilee" finds him navigating an equestrian set of changes in a round-robin romp with his exceptionally empathetic rhythm mates (bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington), his sultry flirting with tenorist Frank Wess on "Blue Orchids" and his lofty harmonic byplay with guitarist Jim Hall reveal a musician wise beyond his years--restrained and relaxed and confident enough not to hide behind a fusillade of empty notes. Such maturity is part of what makes his storytelling accompaniments behind master vocalists Tony Bennett and Shirley Horn--and a breathtakingly slow, humid trio treatment of "Georgia"--so richly rewarding. --Chip Stern

1. Jubilee
2. I Get Along Without You Very Well
3. Rockin' Chair
4. I Walk With Music
5. Two Sleepy People
6. Nearness Of You
7. One Morning In May
8. Blue Orchids
9. Georgia On My Mind
10. Stardust
11. Skylark