Saturday Vinyl Finds

It would be kinda funny, if it wasn't sad in my eyes but for the records that I'm interested in, the used bookstore is turning out to be a better source for interesting and surprise finds than the two record stores in town.

Late 60's, post-bop jazz from Germany. 

'Blues Happening' by The Klaus Doldinger Quartet.

A complete unknown and purchased for the album cover image and the potential gleamed from a quick speed reading of the back cover liner notes ..... and very pleasantly surprised at what I've heard. Causing a re-thinking of my avoidance lately of soprano saxophone recordings.

A 1969 release on the World Pacific Jazz Records label and with vinyl in near mint condition. (I love when that happens.) This is proving to be a priority with this bookstore's used record buyer.

Also from 1969 ..... 'Another Voyage' from The Ramsey Lewis Trio. On Cadet Records.

I've only listened to a couple cuts but there's a funk-jazz sound and vibes present here that I've always associated with the late 1970's. Possibly a decade ahead of its time.

So, I'm thinking with these weekend vinyl finds, that I'm about to venture down an additional record collecting rabbit hole with late 1960's, early 1970's period post bop recordings. 

I returned the next day to take home a record that I left behind on Saturday. I first noticed it in another guy's hands. He eventually decided against it and put it back into the racks. Not sure of the sound and unwilling to take a leap of faith at the asking price, I previewed it at home via YouTube. It may be the highlight of the weekend finds ....

'Outback' from Joe Farrell. Released in 1972 on CTI Records. A huge bonus that Chick Corea is playing electric piano on the album. Also present is Elvin Jones, who played drums on classic John Coltrane records. It's certainly jazzier than what became the normal CTI (soft jazz) sound.

Weekend's Vinyl Finds

Saturday vinyl search and finds. The place was busy and crowded so the search was cut short. I did have a couple records in hand at one point that were returned to the bins. I did take home:

Jimmy Raney - 'Live In Tokyo.'  from 1976. A new name for me and certainly a different face/name than most of the recordings I see shared in the vinyl community. I noticed Sam Jones on bass and I do have an album of his that I enjoy. 

A guitar focused jazz trio recording. There's a short, very complimentary review on the All Music Guide website.

'Town Hall Concert' by Charles Mingus. Recorded in 1962 (I think) and I assume originally released then. This is a reissue and something about the feel of the record and sleeve in my hands caused me to wonder if it was possibly a poor audio quality reissue but hey, it's Mingus!! One of the masters. I gave it a spin today and it sounds great. 

Big Band or orchestra jazz on clear vinyl and Destination Moon Records. (Which caused me to smile.) Post Bop sounds.

I was intrigued by several of the album covers in both the indie rock and punk sections. Charles Mingus is always a sure thing for me. And though I think that I have pretty good intuition on such matters, I'm always hesitant to take multiple financial chances on titles that I know nothing about. I need to take notes and research such things. 

New Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel - i/o.

It's on order but won't arrive for a few more days. I'm considering taking the day off from work.

I used to get so excited and anticipatory for new releases and it's nice to feel that old excitement again. I've been looking forward to a new Peter Gabriel record for years.  

There's a dark-side and a bright-side mix. I don't really know if I'll be able to tell the difference. He's been releasing one song at a time for the past year on the occasion of full moons. I've listened to four or five of these tracks but not more than once. I want to experience the record like the old days when a new record would be previously unheard on release day. 

I want to hear one song at a time as if it's the first time. In some cases it will be. I haven't heard any of the recent releases yet and don't recall the tracks heard months ago. 

I wouldn't have ordered it online if I could feel any amount of assurance that I could find a physical copy locally. But that assurance doesn't exist, so I'll be watching for the delivery truck coming around the corner. I might need to monitor my blood pressure hourly.

While I'm waiting for the Peter Gabriel to be delivered .... This arrived today and was heard late evening. 'Floa' by Mammal Hands. From 2016 on Gondwana Records. 

I'm attempting to become a completist .... of the band and possibly the record label. 

Mammal Hands

I just discovered this band and a few hours later, the recording is on my doorstep.

"Gift From the Trees" by Mammal Hands. On compact disc. Released this year on Gondwana Records. 

For the past year or two, I've been searching for new sounds and directions in jazz. Something besides bands covering the standards. Mammal Hands is one of the results of that search. 

I rarely sit and listen to an album all the way through. My usual method is to listen to two or three songs at a time. But I was unable to walk away from this. 

Charles Mingus

On the turntable tonight .....

Stumbled across this in an antique mall where my longtime local record store (now closed), keeps a booth.

From 1966 on the Fantasy Records label. 'Right Now,' a live recording from one of the greatest names in jazz history, bassist, Charles Mingus. 

Jazz Playlist

A jazz playlist. What you might hear if I had my own late night, radio program. 

For this rainy evening session, a heavy emphasis on contemporary jazz or new jazz directions. 

• Ambrose Akinmusire - Piano Sketch (Beyond Enclosure)
• Wolfgang Muthspiel - Triad Song
• Thomas Stronen - Time Is a Blind Guide
• Christian Scott - The Eraser
• Makaya McCraven - The Fifth Monk / Universal Beings
• Eri Yamamoto Trio - Wonder Land
• Matthew Halsall - Music for a Dancing Mind / Song for Charlie ..... Trumpet player from England. He's become my favorite. He's the reason that I've been engaged lately in a trumpet obsession. He started it.
• Colin Vallon - Cendre

I do not pretend to know much about any of this music. I do though, find my senses and emotions responding in ways I can't describe, to these sounds. And I've felt for quite a few years that jazz has the most interesting song titles, inviting a closer listen.

• Jacob Young - Minor Peace
• Gabor Szabo - Fire Dance ..... An oldie but goodie. From 1968.
• John Abercrombie - Excuse My Shoes
• Lisa Hilton - Adventures and Alibis
• Danny Green Trio - Katabasis ..... My first thought was: "The basketball player?" 😉

Several of these choices are recordings from the ECM Records label. 

Art Blakey

Live recording from 1958. On compact disc. 

I really don't know much about jazz, its history and various styles. Oh sure, I know many of the names of the players and have a few where I search for their recordings, but I mostly sit and listen without attempting to analyze or describe what I'm hearing. I think I know swing when I hear it but the difference between bop and post-bop, I have no clue. 

I do know that Art Blakey is a drummer. And Lee Morgan, who is also on this recording, plays trumpet. 

I'm fascinated with the album cover photographs on jazz recordings from the 1950's and 60's. It's an art form that I wish were employed more often these days. If only producers, musicians and record labels felt the same about the everlasting power and beauty behind photographic images as I do.

Saturday Vinyl Finds

The working day over, I ran to the local record store / drum shop, this afternoon to see what I might find ....

I've had a thing for jazz acoustic bass players lately. Stumbled across three that qualify.

I went through a saxophone phase (but not soprano) and then a trumpet/trombone phase and it's since evolved into an acoustic bass phase. There was a piano period in there at some point also. I can't visualize a drum or flute phase but who knows?

The shop owner informed me that these records just came in to the shop. Like I've said more than once before: "Timing is everything."

And I was excited to find another on the ECM label.

1) Oscar Pettiford - 'Blue Brothers' .... from 1973 on the Black Lion Records label. I love these little known but often fascinating record labels.

2) Dave Holland - 'Emerald Tears' .... from 1978 on ECM Records.

3) Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen - 'The Eternal Traveller' .... from 1985 on Pablo Records.

None of these were there the last time I was in. This is one memory issue that I don't have struggles with.

This is my idea of an exciting Saturday these days. Time spent quelling addictive urges, flipping through hundreds of previously owned records resulting in two or three vinyl discoveries. (Even had I found only one, it would have been exciting.) There are few places I'd rather be. And few modes I'd rather be in than full-on vinyl nerd mode.

Friday Evening Vinyl Finds

Friday evening, strolled into a record store, not expecting to find much but within a few minutes, stumbled across these .....

All from the 1960's with the cover photos and art that I love. All meeting my requirements for album covers (and vinyl too) in good condition. I generally won't even consider the purchase if the cover is looking chewed up and tattered. 

It was one of those record buying excursions where I walked out of the shop, feeling like I had found treasure. None had price tags attached so I had to ask. Those moments the shop owner spends researching the titles on Discogs, always frightens me. Especially when it involves vinyl from the 1960's. The resulting asking price was very much less than I was expecting.

The finds? Well, it was like .... Here's a stack of randomly placed records, I wonder if there's anything eye catching, to take home?

These moments of discovery are always exciting for me. 

Glen Campbell's recording if 'Wichita Lineman' has been a longtime favorite of mine. Though it's not on this record, it was exciting to find a recording with another great, old classic 60's pop tune, 'By the Time I Get to Phoenix.' It was all over the radio back then.

Larry Coryell

'Spaces' by jazz guitarist, Larry Coryell. A vinyl find this afternoon on Vanguard Records. A 1970 release. A fusion of jazz and rock. Chick Corea is on this record playing electric piano. The back cover photo of the album is shown here. 

I love finding these early records of musicians who went on to have long careers. Found in a dusty, cramped record shop, in a plastic bin, under the racks of more well known, better selling recordings. I've stumbled across several interesting recordings in these bins.  

Pipe Dream

'Pipe Dream' by Hank Roberts. From 2018, on compact disc and the C.A.M. Jazz record label. 

For the past six months or so, I've been searching for and listening to more and more of the music that resides in the spaces that intersect between jazz, modern classical, avant-garde, modern creative, chamber music, exploratory and possibly a few other genres. Music not generally found or heard. One has to be fortunate to stumble upon a title ..... possibly through a online friend (like in my case) .... and explore and discover from there.

I don't care what its assigned label eventually becomes, I just want to stop and hear more.

Today's Vinyl Finds

Hit the road again, ending up in Albany Oregon and within thirty seconds of walking in the door of the record shop, found another Gordon Bok album on vinyl to go with the other that I found two or three months ago in Corvallis. 

Titled; 'Peter Kagan and the Wind' from 1971. I had never seen these records in over half a century of record collecting. It feels like finding hidden treasure.

A few minutes later, I came across, 'Wade In the Water' by Ramsey Lewis from 1966, on Cadet Records. 

I've said this before, but I love the cover photos and design of records from the 1960's. I might have to create a section on my shelves specifically for these. 

From the All Music Guide review: .... "this record evokes its era indelibly."

And then, 'Dance' by the Paul Motian Trio. From 1978. On ECM Records ..... I love finding these ECM recordings from the 1970's and 80's. Perhaps I'm nearing completist status. 

Fact: I had a longtime question answered recently. Does ECM stand for anything? Turns out it stands for, Edition of Contemporary Music.

I walked away feeling pretty good about my record shopping haul. These three records, two Mary Lou Lord compact discs and a Pink Floyd pin, the cover image from The Division Bell album, for $21. Afterwards, stopping at a seafood place for a delicious bowl of clam chowder, all making it an enjoyable vacation day taken from work. (Even if I had to have blood drawn in the morning.) All days should be like this.

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. 

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.'

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

Portico Quartet

New vinyl titled, 'Terrain' from Portico Quartet.

Discovered this group about a year ago while searching for new directions in jazz. This is their recently released recording. A fusion of sounds .... jazz, contemporary jazz and maybe even a little avant-garde or free jazz.

Makes me wish that I could review records and relay an accurate idea of what was heard. 

Fascinating looping rhythms that swirl and soar (in my case), for moments after the needle has been lifted from the turntable.

Kenny Wheeler

Kenny Wheeler and the John Dankworth Orchestra - 'Windmill Tilter: The Story of Don Quixote.' Just arrived on my doorstep a few days ago. A 2021 reissue of a 1969 album. On 180-gram black vinyl.

 

Kenny Wheeler is a jazz trumpeter. In places I hear this sound or tone that I've come to associate in my thoughts with movies from the 1960's that have underlying themes or feelings of loneliness. It's a sound that I love.

The audio quality is incredibly good!! And the cover art is what initially caused me to seek out song samples.

Brother Jack McDuff

I guess I don't need to type out the title. It's right there for all to see, in big, bold lettering on the album cover. 

A vinyl find from 1963 on Prestige Records. Brother Jack McDuff is a jazz organist. One of those record labels that I trust for quality. 

You just never know what you're going to find on a visit to the record store and I love stumbling across previously unknown vinyl from sixty years ago.

Reading the back cover liner notes, feels like I'm in a history class. That's the way it is with records from half a century ago. I'm fascinated with the designs of so many of these older recordings.

New Makaya McCraven

 

'In These Times' by the drummer/percussionist, Makaya McCraven. Newly released and on vinyl. 

New directions in Jazz that I've been searching for. Modern Jazz, if that helps. But certainly not avante-garde. 

I discovered Makaya McCraven (along with Ambrose Akinmusire), two or three years ago and have been interested in his music since. 

I wish I had the words and ability to break down recordings. If you find yourself interested in Jazz paths beyond the traditional, then check it out. 

It's on the International Anthem Records label. I love the packaging and visual presentation of their offerings. There's obvious dedication to quality here.