Sometimes you have to go crate digging in your own collection. I recently picked up a nice vinyl copy of V.S.O.P – The Quintet and it reminded me of this very important album from my youth. This was one of the first albums I purchased as an 18-year-old budding music head. Not sure why I bought it – assume it must have gotten a lot of press at the time. Little did I know at the time that it was an classic retrospective of one of modern jazz’s great players, composers and band leaders.
This a pretty amazing album – it is a live recording of a concert on June 29, 1976 in NYC, The intention was to be a retrospective of Herbie’s career to date, but as Herbie put it this is really a “tribute to Miles Davis” who was a very sick puppy at the time. It gathered three great bands Herbie was associated with:
- The Miles Davis Second Great Quintet (Ron Carter – bass, Wayne Shorter – sax, Tony Williams – drums, Herbie Hancock – keyboards, and Freddie Hubbard serving as understudy for Miles Davis on trumpet) – sides 1&2. There are some who say that side 1 and 2 of this album were instrumental in hatching the neo-bop young lion movement of the early 80s (e.g. Wynton Marsailis). These guys had not played in this style for quite a few years and it was a thrill for the jazz world to see this great group reunited.
- The Mwandishi Sextet – side 3 – this was a group that took the spirit of Mile’s Bitches Brew forward into very deep and profound territory.
- The Headhunters Band – side 4 – this group was a funk inspired outfit and would have been representative of the music of the moment for Hancock at the time of this concert.
I played this album to death in the late 70s – especially the Headhunter’s side, but really the whole album has had a great impact on my listening to this day – all three bands and the styles they represent are very dear to my heart. If you want a quick intro to the music of Herbie Hancock this is the album to do guide you in that discovery. This was a popular album so it is pretty easy to find a decent quality vinyl edition at a reasonable price.
I barely understand hip hop. But I do understand funk and if you disregard retro soul, hip hop is the funkiest show in town. In my mind there are two kinds of funk – party funk and thoughtful funk – and sometimes (e.g. masterpieces) it serves both masters.
I want to be a Kanye hater, but he keeps putting out masterpieces. Yeezus is audacious, combative and brilliant. This is not crossover music, but fuck off music. Kanye is flipping off the whole pop world and he is doing it with serious swagger. It is harsh, offensive and in your face, but it is so cleverly executed that it is impossible to dismiss.
Not something that I will repeated listen to, but I have to give the guy props – he is a genius and fearless. He is capable of being a pop star, but prefers to run down the dark alleys. The music is austere, yet very interesting. The lyrics are not something I get – I don’t have a clue what Kanye is rapping about. I feel like I am eavesdropping on gossip where I don’t know any of the people talked about – it seems interesting, but I am not emotional involved. Kanye is not speaking to anything I know or living a life I fantasize. But he is one interesting and intriguing one-man circus. Worth stopping a few minutes to see if he falls off the high wire or makes it to the other side and back.
All the same
I am not much of metal guy – Metallica is about as hard as I get. I have long had a soft spot for Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne. It is hard not to not like Paranoid – Iron Man was one of the first riffs I learned on the guitar. It is hard to believe that it has been something like 35 years since Ozzy has done a studio recording with Black Sabbath. I was really into their live Reunion album and I am bit embarrassed that I thought that album came out about 5 years ago – it was 15 years!
Rick Rubin has been trying to pull this album off since 2001 and he finally did it. Unlike Chinese Democracy this was worth the wait. It sounds like early 70s Sabbath but with modern production values. Simply put it rocks.
I think Ozzy sounds great and Toni Iommi guitar sounds fantastic. Geezer Butler provides a nice thick foundation. I am not enough of a Sabbath aficionado to have an opinion about the drums except to say they sound spectacular to me. Brad Wilk (Rage Against the Machine/Audioslave) sits in for Bill Ward who could not make peace with the rest of the band. Rick Rubin brought out the best in these guys.
If you are a fan of early Sabbath and early Ozzy solo work, I am hard pressed to imagine you won’t love this album. It is a totally solid return without any embarrassment factor that typically would infect a reunion album like this. This is shockingly good like the Van Halen reunion was last year. Bravo boys!
I have tried to remain cynical and detached about the new Daft Punk album, but I have failed. It has totally overwhelmed me. This weekend I indulged in the Electric Fetus anniversary sale and I couldn’t pass up buying a vinyl version of RAM. I have been listening on Spotify since the album came out and each day I have been loving this album more. My Twitter buddy @EgyptoKnuckles convinced me I had to have the vinyl edition. I tried to resist, but ultimately failed. I stand by my original review, but at the time, but I was trying to be too cool.
The vinyl edition embraces the analog spirit of RAM. It sounds thick and lush. It is wonderful that a contemporary pop act embraces analog the way that Daft Punk has. I am pretty oblivious to the whole EDM scene that Daft Punk comes from but I can’t deny the serious late 70s disco groove that Daft Punk has embraced.
I am 54 and old enough to know what Studio 54 is and to have dipped my toe into the Minneapolis equivalent. Currently I am serious enough about analog to have a small room sound system that embraces that sound (see photo above – tube amp, tube phono-preamp and fairly serious turntable). The vinyl edition of RAM sounds truly amazing on my sound system – I have been seduced.
The long and short is the vinyl edition of Daft Funk RAM reveals subtle nuances that show these guys were serious about their analog dreams. In the process they may have produced the most significant pop album of 2013.
I have been a Herbie Mann fan forever. As a kid I was infatuated with the piccolo and asked my parents if I could get one and learn to play. My folks checked into it and learned you don’t just pick up the piccolo and play it in 4th grade – you need to learn to play the flute first. So they rented me a flute and I started talking lessons. I had a great teacher in a guy named Mr. Schulte (sp?) at the MacPhail Center for Music in Minneapolis. One of the cool things that Mr Schulte used to do for me is a blind test – I would turn my back and he would play two flutes – one a cheap flute ant the other a fine quality flute and ask me which one I preferred – I consistently picked the finer instrument and he treated me as genius for my golden ears.
Things progressed and I got reasonably good at the flute. I entered Junior High and naturally joined the band only to learn that the flute was a girl’s instrument. Insecure I quit before the end of the year despite siting directly across from a girl my age who was sprouting breasts to my great amazement and admiration.
Fast forward to when I was about eighteen and in college and I discovered popular music. I discovered Herbie Mann’s Brazil – Once Again in 1978 – first for the sexy cover, but ultimately for the groove/soul/jazz/disco on the platter. I was hooked – here was a guy playing my sappy instrument in a funky and sexy way.
I picked up the flute again in the late 80’s when some buddies started a band. I would amplify my flute and spice up some of our originals and our one cover – “The Girl from Ipanema” with some funky flute – take that Ron Burgundy (I had a cow bell too – say thank you whysowhite!).
Over the last few years in my vinyl renaissance I have been snapping up the Herbie Mann discography on vinyl. Some are stinkers but most are pretty brilliant. My latest pick up is Windows Open from 1968 on Atlantic Records. When I picked this out of of a vendors $1 bin at the recent Minnesota Record Show and turned it over to look at the credits I was blown away. Check out these credits: Roy Ayers – who would go on to be an acid jazz giant, Sonny Sharrock a free jazz giant, Mirosov Vitous who would become a founding member of Weather Report, and superstar producers Joel Dorn and Arif Mardin.
The cover was mint and still in shrink-wrap and the disc was in fine shape. I threw it on the turntable tonight and it is a pretty stunning album mixing pop tunes and jazz tunes, but never pandering. This is accessible, yet legitimate jazz. Herbie is front and center proving the flute can be a legit jazz instrument and lead instrument. Totally cool album – I will be spinning this quite a bit over the next few weeks.
Last fall I was reading Michael Chabon’s Telegraph Avenue and around that time Chabon had an essay in Rolling Stone where he talked about what he call backbeat jazz (AKA soul jazz, acid jazz, etc.). The essay total validated my musical taste,. He listed what he considers classics of the genre and this album was on his list. I had most everything on his list but this album – which I had never heard of. I rushed out and bought a CD and was kind of disappointed – it was cool – but nothing special.
Then yesterday I fond a pristine original at the Minnesota Record Show. I figured I would pick it up. I got home and put it on the turntable and it literally blew me away. The CD version was a pathetic representation of the original. The vinyl is off the charts swinging.
The titular song “Black Talk” is an improvisation on the Beatles’ Eleanor Rigby and it is absolutely inspired. The rest of the album is equally amazing and now I understand why Chabon had it on its list. Sometimes great albums can only be appreciated in their original state. I feel lucky to have found this treasure in near mint condition for just 7 bucks.
A cherry on top is that this Prestige recording is by Rudy Van Gelder.
I have been a Pat Metheny fan for about 35 years, but the last few years he has really blown me away. Between the Orchestrion project, the Unity Band and now this John Zorn album, Metheny is on a serious roll. Metheny is one of those rare musicians who can balance between pop art and “serious” art effortlessly. This album is on the “serious art” side of things, yet it is highly accessible.
I will admit that I am only vaguely aware of John Zorn – I know he is a “serious” musician. I only have one of his albums in my collection – 1986’s The Big Countdown – John Zorn plays the music of Ennio Morricone (famous for his scores of spaghetti westerns). I was not aware of his highly ambitious Masada songbook of which Book of Angels is a part of. From my limited research I learned Zorn has composed hundreds of compositions based on Jewish music. Zorn has authorized various musicians and bands to interpret the works from the song book and Pat Metheny is the latest.
As a long time Metheny fan it is a great pleasure to hear him lend his musical palate to the songs of another composer – nearly all of Metheny’s recorded works are his own compositions. Metheny is clearly inspired by Zorn’s compositions and he uses his entire arsenal to address them. The album is pure Metheny, but it is not – as a long time fan I can tell these are not his compositions – yet he feels completely at home with them.
It turns out Metheny is a long time fan of Zorn and deeply familiar with his music. Metheny completely immerses himself in Zorn yet he does not lose himself – his voice is clear and never lost – like a great Shakespearean actor interpreting the bard.
I loved this album at first listen – which is not always a good thing – I often get bored by albums that I love at first sight – but this one is different – every listen reveals more secrets and has me reviewing Metheny’s back catalog: I re-listened with new ears to the highly challenging Zero Tolerance for Silence and the accessible debut Bright Size of Life – both of which I can hear in Tap.
So why the name Tap? Zorn’s Book of Angels compositions have Jewish names – as do all the songs on Tap. Therefore my only conclusion is that Tap is just Pat spelled backwards – as if Metheny has found his kindred spirit in the mirror – everything he is – but opposite.
In summary this is my favorite album of 2013 – hopefully it will continue to reveal its secrets over the next few months.
This album has been hyped to the max, so I felt compelled to check it out. Thanks goodness for Spotify. I am old enough to have experienced the golden age of disco in the late 70s (and not embarrassed to say I liked disco). When I first listened to this album I was cynical – this was just cheap imitation of Chic and Giorgio Moroder. But then I dropped my pretensions and just listened. Yes it is retro and unoriginal – but it is brilliantly executed. Lets face it, most of Daft Punk’s audience are not in their mid-50s with random access memories of the late 70s, but young EDM and pop fans who are likely hearing high quality 70s disco for the first time. So let the youth indulge in this sweet concoction.
This music needs to be taken for what it is – the musical equivalent of a well executed summer popcorn movie blockbuster. Not high art, just good fun. So go find a white suit, some platform shoes and a club with a mirrored ball and turn this album up loud and savor the guilty pleasure that is Daft Punk Random Access Memories.
I am a little slow – I just started to use Spotify (which I constantly mispronounce ending in an E vs. I – just to emphasize how much of a n00b I am). WOW – this is the greatest thing since the wild west of the early Napster days. Pretty much any song or album I want is available for ten bucks a month. This is a streaming service vs. a download site like iTunes. I really did not understand how advanced steaming has become, you can actually download music to a portable device and listen offline.
The sound is decent MP3 quality and not high quality digital or vinyl, but hey you are paying for convenience and access not quality. Most of the time I will be listening on crappy ear buds via my iPhone anyway.
It was pretty amazing to go through this past “Release Tuesday” and listen to a half-dozen releases – in my listening room, in the car and while running. Normally I would only be able to afford one CD, but this week I enjoyed the all-inclusive-resort that is Spotify. Turns out of the several albums I listened to mostly sucked and I only one of them would have been worth buying (Natalie Maines – Mother).
I will buy fewer CDs or records because of this, as I will likely sample things first on Spotify and then if I really like it I will get a physical copy. emusic is out the door. I had got frustrated with emusic because of the medium to low quality of the MP3s – if I am going to own something it needs to be at least CD quality if not better. As much of collector of music I am, it does not really bother me that don’t own the music – if want to I can – but mainly what I have always wanted is to unlimited access to new music at a reasonable cost.
I am sure I will be frustrated at times that I can’t find something – but I had that with emusic, iTunes and of course my local record store. I am guessing there will be technical bugs, like the song “Miss Fantasy” from the new Fleetwood digital EP that will not play past the 1 minute mark on my iPhone (but works fine on my PC). The iPhone app’s search feature sucks, but hey for this kind of access to a music catalog for ten bucks a month it is hard to complain?
All and all – pretty damn amazing.
One of the great jazz album’s of my youth was Woody Shaw’s Rosewood (1978). The cherry on the top was that I got to see an intimate show at the University of Minnesota’s Whole Coffee House of the tour that supported that album. This album captures that tour at the legendary Village Vanguard.
Woody was a phenomenal trumpet player but an even better composer. Three of his compositions grace Larry Young’s jazz classic Unity. Woody had a highly sophisticated sense of melody – almost every one of his compositions feels like a standard – and many are.
The late 70s were a heady time for jazz – the labels were flush with cash and labels like Columbia spared no expense to record and support their artists. The fact that there was a small audience was meaninglessness. Woody was signed to Columbia based on the endorsement of Miles Davis – it does not get much better than that.
Most of the songs on this album are from the Rosewood album and Woody had a superb band (see correction in the comment below – most are not from that album, but the personnel is the same giving it a very similar feel to Rosewood). This LP captures them at the height of their powers. Woody’s tone is breath-taking. The remote recording is exquisite. This is straight ahead hard bop that flipped the bird to the jazz rock and emerging light jazz of the period. It would set the foundation for the young lion movement that would follow a few years later. This is the jazz that I first discovered at 18 years old and stole my musical heart forever.
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