Archie Shepp - Attica Blues

This one is a rarity around here because it was taken from a cd. Not sure if it is available easily or not. Just posted it to friend's site to fill in some blanks. Thought I would share it here.

Y'all want my opinion, Shepp handles the large ensemble nicely. In reflection of its namesake, it's gritty and urban. Because it's Shepp, its not always easy to take. One of my favorites.

1. Attica Blues

2. Invocation: Attica Blues
3. Steam, Part 1
4. Invocation to Mr. Parker
5. Steam, Part 2
6. Blues For Brother George Jackson
7. Invocation: Ballad For A Child
8. Ballad For A Child
9. Good Bye Sweet Pops
10. Quiet Dawn

Archie Shepp (ts, ss)
Henry Hull, Joshie Armstead, Albertine Robinson, Joe Lee Wilson, Waheeda Massey (voc)
Roy Burrowes, Michael Ridley, Charles McGhee (tp)
Clifford Thornton (cornett)
Charles Stephens, Kiane Zawadi, Charles Greenlee (tb)
Hakim Jami (euphonium)
Marion Brown (as, fl, perc)
Clarence White (as)
Billy Robinson, Roland Alexander (ts)
James Ware (bariton-sax)
Cal Massey (flugelhorn)
Leroy Jenkins, John Blake, L. Shankar (viol)
Ronald Lipscomb, Calo Scott (cello)
Walter Davis Jr., Dave Burrell (p)
Cornell Dupree (g)
Gerald Jemmott, Roland Wilson, Jimmy Garrison (b)
Beaver Harris (dr)
Ollie Anderson, Jumma Santos, Nene DeFense (perc)
William Kunstler, Bartholomew Gray (speech)
Romulus Franceschini (director)


Prestige AS-9222

Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Blacknuss

This is another one of those records that comes with a background story. I ran across this on a reissue label one day. After looking at it, I decided it wasn't something I was interested in. I mean all those pop songs...this has mistake written all over it.
Next stop and there it was again, beckoning me with a much cooler cover and on the original label. It made it to the buy pile but didn't make the cut before the register.

Enter record store number 3...a tiny joint way off the beaten path. A instrument joint with some records piled along the walls. Bet this shit is rarely picked over and yet here appears another freaking copy of Blacknuss. This time half the price of the last one and in far better shape. Who am I to buck kharma? This time the lp went home with me.

It may not be the most essential record I own, but I sure have a great time listening to it. The one disclaimer I have to make is that even though RRK pulls off a bangin solo on the bridge of Bread's Make It With You...that song is a bad choice by all standards.

Rahsaan Roland Kirk
Blacknuss

1. Ain't No Sunshine*
2. What's Goin' On/Mercy Mercy Me
3. I Love You Yes I Do
4. Take Me Girl, I'm Ready
5. My Girl
6. Which Way Is It Going
7. One Nation
8. Never Can Say Goodbye*
9. Old Rugged Cross
10. Make It With You
11. Blacknuss

RRK - flute, tenor sax, stritch, manzello, police whistle, gong and vocals
Billy Butler - guitar*
Sonelious Smith - piano*
Henry Pearson - bass*
Kahli Mhrdi - drums*
Richard Landrum - conga*
Joe Habad Texidor - percussion*
Charles McGhee - trumpet
Dick Griffin - trombone
Cornell Dupree, Keith Loving - guitars
Richard Tee - piano
Mickey Tucker - organ
Bill Salter - bass
Bernard Purdie - drums
Arthur Jenkins - conga, cabassa

produced by Joel Dorn
recorded 1972

Atlantic SD1601

Hoagy Carmichael - The Classics

So we are at 200. Hardly a milestone for some. But a monster for me. This is my turning point. It seems most of the stuff I own is now available. I've got maybe a handful of radio shows and very little else. So maybe I should just wind this thing down. Except I like being part of this little jazz blogger community. So maybe we just plug along with cool things we like and see where it goes.

Back to the subject at hand. A three lp boxset dedicated to one of the greatest songwriters ever. Hoagy's own vocals here are the highlight for me.
The great set spans from his earliest recordings to a Wynton Marsalis cover closer. While a clever lyricist, Hoagy more often than not worked as the melodicist in the company of his peers. I bought this set at a garage sale for $3. I didn't even try to barter. Chock full of some of the greatest evergreens ever composed. And then somewhere among all those covers, you get Ray singing Georgia On My Mind, a song that still stops me in my tracks to this day. For the record, my mom's 7' of Artie Shaw's Stardust is one of the records that pointed me towards jazz at a younger age than my friends.
There's not a lot I more I can say without breaking the thing down song by song...not my style. You'll know what you like and hopefully you will find some gems in here.

Originally released jointly by The Indiana Historical Society and The Smithsonian Collection of Recordings. Taken from my vinyl....

Hoagy Carmichael
The Classic Box Set

Disc One
1. Riverboat Shuffle - Frankie Trumbauer
2. Washboard Blues - Paul Whiteman
3. Stardust - Louis Armstrong
4. Lazy River - Louis Armstrong
5. Charlie Two-Step - The Boswell Sisters
6. New Orleans - Bennie Moten
7. Judy/Moon Country - Hoagy Carmichael
8. Rockin' Chair - Mills Brothers
9. Moonburn - Bing Crosby
10. Lazybones - Claude Hopkins
11. Ballad in Blue - Benny Goodman
12. Sing Me a Swing Song (And Let Me Dance) - Benny Goodman
13. Lyin' To Myself - Louis Armstrong
14. Jubilee - Louis Armstrong
15. Rockin' Chair - Mildred Bailey
16. Small Fry - Mildred Bailey
17. Two Sleepy People - Bob Hope and Shirley Ross
18. Kinda Lonesome - Maxine Sullivan
19. Old Man Harlem - Ethel Waters
20. Bread And Gravy - Ethel Waters
21. Blue Orchids - Glenn Miller

Disc Two
1. Ooh! What You Said - Bob Crosby
2. Can't Get Indiana Off My Mind - Kate Smith
3. Stardust - Artie Shaw
4. Georgia On My mind - Billie Holiday
5.The Lamplighter's Serenade - Frank Sinatra
6. Hong Kong Blues - HC
7. Lazy River - HC
8. The Old Music Master - HC
9. Don't Forget To Say No Baby! - HC
10. Stardust - HC
11. Ole Buttermilk Sky - HC
12. Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief - Betty Hutton
13. Ivy - Jo Stafford
14. The Monkey Song - HC
15. In The Cool, Cool, Cool Of The Evening - Bing Crosby and Jane Wyman
16. Stardust - Ella Fitzgerald
17. I Guess it Was You All Along - Ray Anthony
18. The Nearness Of You - Jo Stafford
19. Heart And Soul - Hank Jones
20. Memphis in June - Lucy Ann Polk
21. One Morning In May - Mel Torme
22. The Rhumba Jumps - Mel Torme



Disc 3
1. Skylark - Carmen McRae
2. Georgia On My Mind - Ray Charles
3. Serenade To Gabriel - HC
4. Stardust - Frank Sinatra
5. Baltimore Oriole - Sheila Jordan
6. Skylark - Bob Brookmeyer
7. How Little We Know - Susannah McCorkle
8. The Nearness Of You - Sarah Vaughn
9. Winter Moon - Art Pepper
10. I Walk With Music - Marlene VerPlank
11. Ole Man Moon - Marlene VerPlank
12. Come Easy, Go Easy Love - Dave McKenna
13. I Get Along Without You Very Well ( excepts sometimes) - Margaret Whiting

14. Stardust - Wynton Marsalis

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