Chico Hamilton

'The Dealer' by Chico Hamilton. From 1966 on the Impulse! Records label.

I saw it described as, Post-Bop. It certainly sounds different to my ears than most jazz from those years. That's not meant to diminish it. I enjoyed it very much. 

There are rewards to looking up. I spotted it up high on the wall in the record store. With eyes drawn to the image on the album cover, took a photo and headed for home to listen to a few quick samples, sent a message to the store owners, inquiring about the asking price, debated with my inner voices for two days while trying to decide if I was willing to pay that price .....

.... And eventually the voice saying, 'go for it,' like it usually does, won out!! 

And now I'm going through the same process with another record. A radical departure from what I generally post about here. 'Molotov Solution' by Modern Action. Punk-rock from 2010. Again, drawn in by the album cover art.

Captured image as seen in "the wild" of my local record store.

I have nothing in my collection that could be considered, 'Punk Rock.' I've been wanting to change that status. This sounds and feels like a good place to start.

You may chuckle but when Tom Petty's first record was released, 45 years ago, I remember thinking of it as punk. I must have heard someone on the radio or in a magazine, call it that. 

Looking back, I had so much to learn. Still do. 

Chicago Underground Trio

'Possible Cube' by Chicago Underground Trio. From 1999 on the Delmark Records label and on compact disc.

Cornet by Rob Mazurek weaving its way through various backgrounds of sonics, electronics, textures, soundwaves and atmospheres. Other members of the trio are Chad Taylor (percussion) and Noel Kupersmith (bass). Jeff Parker adds guitar and organ on three songs.

I found this recording, three years ago, at the Friends Store in the local public library for fifty cents. Drawn in by the cover photo. Sometimes the cover photo alone is all one needs. It let me know that this wasn't the usual jazz trio. This is avant-garde or free jazz and at times very minimalist.

Though I don't care for a steady diet, I find these sounds very interesting. It's funny how suddenly I am much more willing to sit down and listen to a recording like this, from start to finish, than I have ever been before.

Saturday Vinyl Finds

I haven't listened yet other than a few snippets on YouTube but two finds from a brief stop at the record store. I'm considering it a Christmas gift to myself:

'From This Moment On" by Marian McPartland. From 1979 on the Concord Jazz label. A piano jazz trio recording. For many years, she had a jazz themed program on National Public Radio. Her name is mostly known to me through an old friend who played piano and was a huge fan.

'Bashin' by Jimmy Smith. From 1962 on Verve Records. 

Jimmy Smith is an organist. Side one of this recording is with a big band while side two is a trio setting.

A friend was telling me a few months ago that she had picked up a Jimmy Smith album and commented that a little jazz organ is needed in every collection.

Changing Earth

'Changing Earth' by Matthew Halsall.

An EP from 2022. Four songs of beautiful jazz trumpet. 

Discovering his 2011 album titled: 'On the Go' 2012's Fletcher Moss Park' is what initially fueled my search for other directions in jazz. His music isn't a radical shift, but it was enough to edge me to look for new voices. It all has resulted in finding artists like; Makaya McCraven, Jeff Parker and Ambrose Akinmusire ...... So far that is. I haven't stopped looking.

I'm hoping there's much more to discover.

The aforementioned, 'Fletcher Moss Park.'

Because the four song EP just wasn't enough. That's the eternal condition and complication with music you enjoy. Never getting enough.

Kham Meslien

I noticed a person that I follow on Twitter, tweet about this recording, and because I've been obsessed with Jazz bassists of late ......

Kham Meslien - 'Fantomes ... Futurs.' Recently released in September and on vinyl. 

It feels like I ordered it a decade ago and it finally arrived today. It had been so long that I was thinking I had ordered a compact disc so was puzzled as to what was in the vinyl shaped packaging on my doorstep. Though I'm feeling ecstatic now that it's vinyl. 

Kham Meslien plays double bass, both bowed and plucked. Fascinating listening. Amazing album cover photo, overriding any possible uncertainty or hesitation towards deciding to purchase. 

The French album title translates to: 'Ghosts ... Future.'

Encore

I apparently didn't get enough last night. so tonight, I returned to Robert Haigh and his record, 'Black Sarabande.' From 2020 on vinyl, also on the Unseen Worlds label.

More piano, more atmospherics!!

Had to listen three or four times to the song that ends side A, 'Ghosts of Blacker Dyke.' The combination of piano, cello or bowed bass and soundwave effects took me to places hidden deep in my thoughts and dreams. Places that I didn't want to leave because there's something there, waiting for me.
Bandcamp Page 

Creatures of the Deep

'Creatures of the Deep' by Robert Haigh. From 2017 on compact disc and from the Unseen Worlds label. 

Acoustic piano and atmospherics. Floating above the noise and clutter of the day. Best if played late at night with the lights turned out. It certainly creates a mood. 

Robert Haigh is a recent discovery through a friends posting on social media. I'll be ordering more.

Lost In Transmission

Another 'Lost In Transmission' program and playlist created from the sounds enjoyed .....

• Frank Fairfield - But That's Alright ..... A front porch, acoustic guitar, fiddle and vocals tune.
• Mark Orton - Their Pie ..... From the soundtrack for the movie, 'Nebraska,' seen several years ago in a small theater. The best way to take in a movie. 
• Sam Amidon - My Old Friend .... You live here in this place (world), and you'll likely have a friend along the way that stands out above all the others.
• John Fizer - Lady Lying Lovely
• Clarence Ashley & Doc Watson - Coo Coo Bird ..... Another front porch song with banjo. I've heard it before with a slightly different title. I'm not sure if this is considered a "traditional" these days?
• Serious Sam Barrett - Bramhope Tunnel Monument
• The Baird Sisters - A Soldier Being Tired
• Yasmin Williams - Urban Driftwood 
• Phil Tyler & Sarah Hill - Heathery Hills of Yarrow
• Joseph Decosimo - Wild Goose Chase ..... An instrumental banjo tune.

Playlist

Listening to a 'Lost In Transmission' show from Folk Radio that I receive regularly. Picking out my favorite tunes. Most, if not all, of these songs and musicians are new names to me. Marking my favs with, ***

• Frankie Cosmos - Floated In ***
• Trembling Bells - Swallows of Carbeth
• Tindersticks - Hey Lucinda
• Jo Mango & Friends - Bitter Fruit ***
• Ilaria Graziano & Francesco Forni - Crying ***
• My Bubba - Charm *** .... I think I am well educated in recorded music .... but then I'm put in my place by discovering all this great music that an hour ago, I had no idea existed. 
• Dawn Landes & Piers Faccini - Book of Dreams ..... Part of the lyrics are the three words: "Last page turning" I'm thinking that would be an even better song title.
• Hiss Golden Messenger - Smoke Rings ***** .... Five stars because it's not only one that I've heard of, but also my favorite band these days.
• Stanley Brinks and The Kaniks - This World .... Sounds like the Brit Folk I used to use a reel-to-reel machine to record from the radio programs and then transfer my favorites to cassette tapes. That was 25 -30 years ago. I still have those finished tapes in a box in the closet.

From the 'Temporary Resonant Radio Hour' program ......

• Beth Orton - Whenever ***** ..... Have several Beth Orton records but not the one with this song. New song for me.

Vinyl Finds - Day Two

Stayed in town today for a couple additional vinyl finds. During the flipping through the bins process, the owners informed me that from now on, I was going to receive a 10% discount. I'll call that, my "senior moment" for the day. What I found .....

Kai Winding - 'Trombones' A 1972 reissue of an original 1961 release. On Impulse Records. Known for quality jazz.

I was viewing a store video on Facebook of recent vinyl acquisitions and spotted this. I've become a seeker specifically of trumpet and trombone recordings over the past year and Kai Winding has been on my radar for years. I've always remembered his name from reading it many years ago in a Jackson Browne interview with Rolling Stone Magazine ..... where he was mentioned as someone that his father either actually played music with or played the records of around home. Having just said that, I sure hope my memory is correct but accurate or not, Kai Winding is a name I have remembered for years, and I've slowly been adding his albums to my collection whenever I come across one. I stressed a bit on this one after reading a posted comment of another viewer who said he would be at the store in the morning at 7am ..... they don't open until 11am, so I was concerned that he was pulling connections and had his eyes set on the same record.

Jazz Crusaders - 'Stretchin' Out' A 1964 release on Pacific Jazz Records. 

I love recordings from smaller, less known labels that still strive to put together a quality looking package. From the front cover photo and presentation to the liner notes on the back side. It usually means that the music within is also quality stuff. 

This find was a result of flipping through bins of used records with nothing specific in mind. I had a 'feeling' about this one. 

Vinyl Finds

Hit the road yesterday for a short trip south to Corvallis, Oregon, home of Oregon State University (Go Beavs) and a place holding many memories from my days in college. I ventured out from my semi-hermit ways, on a long-anticipated hunt for vinyl records. When it comes to "long-anticipated' with vinyl, that might be defined as a month. There are two record stores, three blocks apart, in the downtown core. It was a nice walk from one to the other while taking in the murals that are all over downtown buildings.

Drove home afterwards with five records .....

David Friesen - 'Star Dance'. From 1976 on Inner City Records. 

An acoustic bassist with roots/connections in Oregon. I've had an obsession with acoustic bassists lately and I was thrilled to come across this title. I've been a fan of David Friesen for many years since first finding one of his recordings at Django's in Portland in the 1980's. I mistakenly thought he was a cello player back then. This is his debut recording.

Gordon Bok & Ann Mayo Muir - 'Seal Djiril's Hymn'. From 1972 on Folk-Legacy Records. The cover is what initially grabbed my attention.

Songs and spoken word poetry about seals, men and the sea. Gordon Bok's life and career was as a maritime worker. This record and the musicians are completely new to me. Cover art matters.

 

Fred Neil - 'Bleecker & MacDougal'. From 1965.

A folkie, Singer/songwriter type, who wrote the song, 'Everybody's Talkin,' which became a hit when it was recorded by Harry Nilsson for the 1969 movie, 'Midnight Cowboy'. Neil Diamond also covered it on his 'Touching You, Touching Me' album which I've identified before as the possible starting point of my record collecting years.

'Lifelines' by Arild Andersen. Released in 1981 on ECM Records. Contemporary Jazz in the ECM style of the 1970's and early 80's. The vinyl appears to be in mint condition. Arild Andersen is a bassist. There is also flugelhorn contributions from Kenny Wheeler, another recent discovery of mine.

I've been striving to become a completist with ECM releases.

'Mary's Garden' by Linda Waterfall. Released in 1976 on Windham Hill Records, one of the labels earliest releases. 

A singer/songwriter recording on a label that was known mostly for their solo acoustic guitar and piano releases. I had read previously about the labels history and knew there was this offering from the labels earliest days but had never seen it and assumed I never would. But there it was yesterday at a great price!!

From what I can tell, this is an original printing, and I don't think very many were ever printed. I hesitate to call it "rare" (though it may well be) but it's certainly not easily found.

Playlist #2458

Just another random, frantic, deranged and most probably delusional playlist for the good of the extremely weary and obscure soul staying up way too late at night ..... 

• Rob Duskey & The Rounders - Good Gets Better .... I have three albums by The Rounders that don't get played enough and one in the mail. 
• The Rounders - Let Me Talk At You
• Scud Mountain Boys - Crown of Thorns / She Falls Apart / Silo .... Not sure why or what it means but I have the feeling that I'm watching a movie as I listen.
• Say Hi - Galaxies Will Be Born / Northwestern Girls / The Grass Is Always Greener
• The Ruffes - Marvelous 
• The Folk Implosion - Free to Go / My Ritual
• Lou Barlow - In My Arms 

Gary Peacock

Gary Peacock - 'Voices'

On compact disc. A 1971 release originally. Part of the 'Jazz Collection 1000' series. Recorded and printed in Japan.

All original compositions by jazz bassist, Gary Peacock. It would fit in nicely with the recordings he later made for ECM Records with Keith Jarrett and Jack DeJohnette. It's focused on Peacock's bass playing (as it should be). There are occasional vocalizations that would cause one to think that Jarrett was present, but his sidemen here, are all Japanese musicians.

It can be listened to on Soundcloud. 

Soundcloud