Nina Simone - Forbidden Fruit

God bless Ella and Sarah, I do so love 'em. But as the  years progressed I often found myself reaching more and more for Nina. Her almost hard-boiled approach to the songs sends shivers down my spine.

Recorded in 1960 - the label included no musician credits. We have geeks for that nowadays. Welcome geeks mind you.. I meant no disrespect. I love the archivists and compilers. Really I do...


Anyway I give you ..

Nina Simone 

forbidden fruit

1. Rags and Old Iron

2. No Good Man

3. Gin House Blues

4. I'll Look Around

5. I Love To Love

6. Work Song

7. Where Can I Go Without You

8. Just Say I Love Him

9. Memphis In June

10. Forbidden Fruit

CP 419

Black Orpheus - OST

I picked this little baby up on my last excursion. Pretty happy about it too. Not all that hard to lay your hands on but who wouldn't want to own a decent copy on vinyl?

So in this post, the music is almost secondary. I just wanted to say how cool it is to still hold in your hands records, actual records that were responsible for starting whole new trends.In this case a record older than I am. Yeah, the music is great as well. It wouldn't have caught on of it wasn't. And yeah, the samba thing quickly veered out of hand, but I'm holding a piece of history.

Unfortunately all I can offer you is to hear what an original slab of vinyl, in mono sounds like. Dig it, cats.

The Original Soundtrack from the Film

Black Orpheus

1. Generique

2. Felicidade

3. Frevo

4. O Nosso Amor

5. O Nosso Amor (tamborine and accordian)

6. Mahna De Carnaval 

7. Scene de Lever do Soleil

8. Mahna De Carnaval

9. Scenes de la Macumba

10. O Nosso Amor

11.Mahna De Carnaval

12. Samba du Orfeu

13. Batterie de Capella

Produced by Sacha Gordine

Music Score by A. C. Jobin and Luis Bonfa

MGF 27520

Henry Threadgill - easily slip into another world

Threadgill is one of those guys I haven't been able to grasp completely. He has recorded a lot of stuff that still leaves me...puzzled. But when he is on, he smokes!

This record is a real barnburner for me. It touches all the bases which could actually come off sounding contrived but in this case never does. The funk of the opening track lures you in as you wend you way through touches of big band, NOLA brass, post bop, and some damn fine ensemble playing. Even a vocal tune thrown in the mix.

The lp is dedicated to Muhal Richard Abrams. The final line of purple prose on the back cover sums it up nicely. And what is purple prose if not a little over the top? "Decoding; 'Easily Slip Into Another World" is an instant classic and it's out to get you."

easily slip into another world

1. I Can't Wait Till I Get Home
2. Black Hands Bejewelled
3. Spotted Dick Is Pudding
4. My Rock
5. Hall
6. Award The Squadtett

Henry Threadgill - alto, tenor saxes, clarinet and arrangements
Rasul Siddik - trumpet
Frank Lacy - trombone, french horn, flugelhorn
Diedre Murray - cello
Fred Hopkins - bass
Pheeroan Aklaff, Reggie Nicholson - drums
Aisha Putli - vocals

recorded 9/20/ 87 NYC


Novus 3025 - I-N

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

One

Two

Three

Thunderball - Jazz All-stars

To cheese or not to cheese... I used to have scads of these type records. Dudes who could actually play some decent jazz but being on the west coast they could find decent bucks in the film studios...who could blame em?

But, but this isn't from some soundtrack. This is some goofy studio set up. Yeah its kinda cool, but really, the harpsichord was just a bad idea.

The real back story on this lp is that it was nabbed by one of my very best friends that visited several years ago. That trip cost him plenty. He had to leave his cache of lps behind while I dubbed them onto disc for him. This one slipped through the cracks and was only discovered during the recent move.

What I really needed was something to lead up to post 200.
This is post 199.

Thunderball and Other Secret Agent Themes
The Jazz All-Stars

1. Thunderball
2. From Russia With Love
3. The Spy Who Came In From The Cold
4. Win, Lose Or Spy
5. UnderCover Agent Theme
6. I Spy
7. Iprcress File Theme
8. The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
9. The Saboteur
10. Majorca Express

Secret Agents 001 J.J. Johnson
002 Mundell Lowe / 003 Ernie Royal
004 Milt Hinton / 005 Joe Newman
006 Bobby Crowe / 007 Johnny Knapp
008 Sy Saltzberg / 009 Larry Charles

..and while I have heard of most of these folks, I don't recognize them all. But I don't think they are using pseudonyms, but what the hell do I know? All I know is some dude named Johnny Knapp got to smooze chicks with that "007" moniker for a very short time. Right place, right time.



DLP - 206

Cole Porter Swings Easy In Stereo

This was too cool to just leave on the Cole Porter blog.

This is actually one of the cooler things I have nailed down. A reel-to reel tape that professes to be "Produced by Soundcraft and Directed by Larry Clinton exclusively for use as a promotional bonus - NOT FOR SALE"

While not necessarily a huge fan of the assembled musicians, several have done some interesting stuff over the years. Thrown together here though they form a tight little unit. The music and performance is exactly why I like to champion pre bop jazz sometimes. To borrow a phrase I heard recently, it swings like a gate. Even though I have never heard the names of the pianist or the clarinetist outside if these sessions, they manage to hold their own with the journeymen.

This session was assembled as part of a special series Soundcraft Magnetic Tape was releasing to showboat their product. And in wonderful new stereo as well.

Cole Porter Swings Easy In Stereo

1. What Is This Thing Called Love?
2. It's Delovely
3. Begin The Beguine
4. It's All Right With Me
5. I Love Paris
6. My Heart Belongs To Daddy
7. Night And Day
8. Just One Of Those Things

Bob Haggart - bass
Cozy Cole - drums
Charlie Shavers - trumpet
Sam Taylor - tenor sax
Buddy Weed - piano
Sol Yaged - clarinet
Barry Galbraith - guitar
Urbie Green - trombone

From what I can tell this was recorded in 1957 or 58
Soundcraft - no matrix number assigned.

Teddy Wilson Trio - Mr. Gershwin

Sometimes I get so wrapped up in new jazz that I forget just how much fun it can be. I think it is the no frills approach that gets me.

Here's a straight ahead recording of Gershwin tunes. Yup, heard a million of em. Good thing they hold up.

Particularly when played as well as these.

Teddy Wilson Trio
Mr. Gershwin

1. Liza (All The Clouds'll Roll Away)
2. Nice Work If You Can Get It
3. Oh, Lady Be Good
4. Somebody Loves Me
5. But Not For Me
6. I Got Rhythm
7. The Man I Love
8. Bess, You Is My Woman Now
9. Embraceable You
10. Our Love Is Here To Stay
11. I Got A Crush On You
12. Summertime
13. Our Love Is Here To Stay*
14. But Not For Me*
15. Liza...*

Teddy Wilson - piano
Arvell Shaw - bass
Bert Dahlander - drums

recorded 1.19.59

*alt. takes

Columbia CL 1318

some time off

As you may have noticed, I took a little time off. Well I still need a little more. I am in the process of moving my mess from one residence to another. As soon as I am situated I will be back with the usual nonsense.

Thank everyone who as taken the time to check out this humble little blog and a great big thanks to everyone who has taken the time to comment.

In the mean time, keep checking out the wonderful sites listed in the sidebar.

Keep swingin', y'all!

The groovy painting is by Orville Bulman, crdit where credit is due.