Matt – Charlie Ventura & His All Stars – “If I Had You” – Matt posed this as a “can you guess who it is?”. I couldn’t, very few Baritone players from the 30’s & 40’s stick out, or receive features, I knew this wasn’t Carney and it felt too early for the next wave of famous baritones (aside from a couple of early R&B/Free jazz flourishes in the solo section). I did guess a person who Baritone is not their primary instrument and was in the Ventura, Flip Phillips department but I knew neither of their styles well enough to catch it. He was from Philly and I found a wide range of historical data of his influence in the region.
John – Django Reinhardt – Improvisation # 1, Paris 27.04.1937 – John suggests that we probably haven’t heard Django in this context and he is right, I certainly haven’t. I place a premium on hearing great artists outside of their typical terrain and this counts. To me you need to hear their famous recordings, their critical “best” recordings, then different aspects of their career (or the best in each aspect of their career, like Miles or Bowie) and live, then find the interesting collaborations, guest appearances, programmed works and unusual settings. If you scope out all of those outlets then you have a good understanding of a career.
Travis – Joy on Fire – “Red Wave” – Great bass sounds, John sites Morphine and it has some similarities. Also the saxophonist is hot, she is on Alto which often has a shrillness I dislike in Rock settings. She is a little shrill, but her tone often sounds electronically created and I dig. Overall high energy excitement.
Brian – Baaba Maal – “Yela” – I like how he is answering all my questions immediately. I was like, is this African? It sounds a little dance hall ish? Then is that Baaba Maal in that boat? This definitely is the African Dancehall Reggae exponent, but Baaba changes up the vibe a lot when he enters the groove. Fun & Summery.
Dan – Altin Gun – “Dere Geliyor” – Just picked this album up, thinking it was an older Turkish Funk group. I’m not sure either supposition is correct, it’s definitely new with fun synth sounds. I dig all the sonics on this song, well recorded, spacious, Chris Isaak guitar tone, personal synth work, cool voice.
Travis – Guerdie – “Walk On the Wild Side “(1980s) – Weird extra from Travis, no expo needed. Except why Travis didn’t show the video.
Dan – The Bulgarian Voices Angelite – “Wave” – Something to fill out the night that I had been listening to. Spooks John a bit, but I’m into the broken rhythms that occur in this improvised voices piece. It shifts and flows, and really doesn’t sound anything like the rest of the album which is a mix of Angelite and Huun Huur Tu. Highly recommended.
Found Sounds 