First posted on Mark Is Cranky:
It was a bright, almost springlike (temps over 32!) Saturday afternoon. The wife had a hair-styling appointment. This gave me about an hour to schmooze around with Mike at the used record store (yow, I almost talked myself into buying a couple of thousand easy listening records for a mere $200) and to flip through some vinyl. Here are the results.
Oregon - Out Of The Woods. Folks out of the know will often lump these guys into the 'new age' category. Big mistake. McCandless, Walcott, Moore and Towner put out some fantastic music that just happened to cross over a lot of boudaries. This record is no exception.
Michael Brecker - Michael Brecker. To be honest, I have to call this one "Mark bought it because Pat Metheny plays on it". But seriously, there's some fine playing on this album, what with the crazy-great cast of Brecker on horns, Metheny on guitars, Charlie Haden on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums.
Louie Bellson & the Explosion Orchestra - Sunshine Rock. While there are some moments of swing on this release, most of the time is taken up blowing through some smokin' charts. Think Tower of Power or maybe Billy Cobham with a horn section. Also, an album like this serves as a prime example for why I'm so high on vinyl. Sunshine Rock is out of print. Crazy.
Yehudi Menuhin & Ravi ShankarWest Meets East. Two legendary masters, one of the sitar the other of the violin, get together for one thought-provoking session. Plus, all those tasty tablas! Man, I wish I owned a sitar.
Rick James - Bustin' Out Of L Seven. I do remember all those wild Funkadelic, Parliament and Rick James records being advertised in Creem magazeen back in the day. Never bought any at the time. Years later I got a copy of Funkadelic's One Nation Under A Groove and realized that I'd made a terrible mistake. All those years devoid 'o funk! This particular James record is a full-on funk assault, recorded before all of those nasty and sterile 80's studio habits came into being. Check it out.
Article comments
1 - Shark
Oregon was happenin' before "New Age" was a gleam in some marketing consultants eye.
I love those guys. They made an album with the late great Elvin Jones, believe it or not.
Colin Walcott has some great solo albums, too.
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The East meets West was also in my library. Great stuff.
Thanks for the memories, Mark!
2 - Mark Saleski
wow! i had no idea about the Oregon/Elvin Jones thing. gotta check that one out.