Power Tools - Strange Meeting
Now this is where Bill Frisell was headed. With Melvin Gibbs on bass and Ronald Shannon Jackson on drums, Strange Meeting sounds like the jazz equivalent of a rock power trio.
Art Ensemble of Chicago - Kabalaba, Live at Montreaux Jazz Festival
With guest Muhal Richard Abrams on piano, this is the Art Ensemble at their polyrhythmic, squeekalicious best.
Keith Jarrett - Bop-be
The time will come when architects and engineers will be summoned to my house to shore up the floor beneath my Keith Jarrett collection. Not yet though. The latest addition is a sealed copy of Bop-Be, a session covering the music of Jarrett, Charlie Haden, Dewey Redman and Alec Wilder. The cast includes Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden and Paul Motian. Contains some inspired play (as you would expect from this group) and some incredibly annoying Jarrett whining.
Buddy Emmons - Steel Guitar Jazz
A jazz quartet plus steel guitar as lead instrument. This might sound like a novelty record but instead it's Emmons playing his heart out on a program of standards and originals (the opening "Bluemmons" is killer). Very cool to hear the steel guitar trading fours with the sax. The unison playing on Sonny Rollins "Oleo" is just nuts.
A bonus with this last record (and one of many reasons why used record shopping is so much fun) is the old record sleeve. One side contains a bunch of ads for artists of the day: Brook Benton, Smothers Brothers, Lesley Gore, Johnny Mathis, Mitchel Trio and Sarah Vaughn. The other side has three ads for various portable Mercury record players. Yep, mono and stereo phonographs, some of which ran on flashlight batteries. Precursors to the iPod? Sort of. Anyway, the ad copy is great: "Mercury Full Throated Fully Transistorized Portable Phonographs".
Oooh, fully throated!
Article comments
1 - Michael J. West
WOW!!!!! You found a copy of Steel Guitar Jazz on vinyl?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Was it expensive?
2 - Mark Saleski
unfortunately, yes: $15.
3 - JR
Bet it was less than a dollar when it was new.
Should you be letting those albums lean like that? I thought that was bad.
4 - Mark Saleski
it's ok as long as they don't lean too far over. i'm in the middle of a giant reorg so what you see is temporary.
i usually try to 'split' them, as in the top left crate.
5 - Mary K. Williams
Mark - your love of music, especially jazz comes through with these writings. Also because you refuse to let vinyl die out as a listening medium. Bravo!
6 - Mark Saleski
two (but not the only two) reasons for vinyl:
-all sorts of stuff vanished, never making it to cd
-sounds better
7 - Mark Sahm
Don't forget it's also the primary diet for turntablists! Or would that be considered sacreligious to the vinyl purist?
8 - Mark Saleski
nah, as long as they're not doin' it with MY records.
plus, one you see the movie "Scratch", you fall in love with what that's all about.
9 - Red C.
you have the ugliest feet in the world!!!