What are you listening to?

[Vicki H BBBBBB]

James Morrisnon on the airways - matt Jodrell and lots of aussie people now at Singapore see you soon!

[Kenny]

Ahhh, welcome to Saturday. It's a lovely sunny day - or is as far as I can tell by looking out my window across the Yarra. I have chicken and sausage gumbo for dindins. I'm two lattes into the day, and figuring on a fourth about 4pm. And today, musically, is devoid of that namby pamby lacklustre rebop Australian music. No reason. Just sort of happened that way. Back to the cool ...

Gerry Mulligan and the CJB - At The Village Vanguard
Shorty Rogers And His Giants - Martians Come Back/Way Up There
Bill Holman - Big Band In A Jazz orbit
The Jim Knapp Orchestra - Secular Breathing

[dales]

showa 44
fbi
east side
art pepper(right now)
hans reichel
brad mehldau
charlie hunter
band of five names

[happy]

trane fest 05 - every so often I get into this thing that can only be answered by john coltrane

dial africa
afro blue impressions
blue train
coltrane

[Kenny]

Well, a discussion about Australian musical identity may be quite maddening, but it does wonders for dusting off many gems that haven't had a spin for a while.

Gai Bryant Quartet - Music
Paul Williamson Quartet - Mutations
Jex Saarelaht - Fridays, Late
Jill Townsend Big Band - Tales From The Sea. More groovin' BB stuff from the north-west, this time Vancouver.
The Jim Knapp Orchestra - Secular Breathing
Gloria Coleman Quartet - Soul Sisters

[bod]

'i don't know this world without don cherry' - new york jazz collective
i am enjoying this presently.
also getting a kick out of 'wait for spring' -chris bergson.

[Kenny]

Dizzy Gillespie/Charlie Parker - Town Hall, New York City, June 22, 1945. Holy shit!

[Vicki H BBB]

I havent heard any jazz since I got here, only 80s pop music and Joss Stone for some reason. Homesick

[V H B]

oh yeah I am in the Netherlands!

[Kenny]

Gary Burton - Next Generation.

Like his last one on Concord, this features teenage guitarist Julian Lage. But replacing the older crew from the previous album are Vadim (piano), Luques Curtis (bass) and James Williams (drums), who all looks as young and fresh-faced as the guitarist.

Like the earlier album, this has a bit of sameness from track to track. And it's very conventional and mainstream. But - bloody hell - much of it is simply, literally breathtakingly beautiful. Good tunes, too, some with the Spanish tinge that Burton favours.

And where last time it sounded like early Allman Brothers, this time 'round I'm getting a Grateful Dead vibe. Not that that's much of a recommendation for most folkses, I expect!

[Kenny]

Ahhh, winter at last - rain and mud and blood and tears and gas heaters radiating and a freezerfull of gumbo and good books to read but still a 12-hour shift on the sports desk to negotiate but at least there's only one arvo AFL game and then two tonight before knock off time and the after-work drinkies and another 12-hour shift in dreamland.

Joe Chindamo - A Brief History Of Standard Time
Duke Ellington - Masterpieces
Gai Bryant Quartet - Music
Jill Townsend BB - Tales From The Sea
Paul Williamson Quartet - Mutations

[Kenny]

Well, Hi There, Honey Bunchkins!

Dave Douglas - Mountain Passages. Weirdly beautiful stuff commissioned by an Italian festival that wanted "music which would be played between nine and twelve thousand feet". Great tuba.



Dizzy Gillespie/Charlie Parker - Town Hall, New York City, June 22, 1945. Simply incredible.

Sonny Boy Williamson - King Biscuit Time. Along with Roger Miller, the ultimate poet of popular culture (deliberately not mentioning the likes of Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Bwooce Stringbean etc etc)

Jill Townsend Big Band - Tales From The Sea. Soulful BB from Vancouver.

Bennie Weir - I Wanna Be Darth Bad Guy

[Kenny]

Rob Burke And A Cast Of Thousands - The Edge Of Today. Big thumbs up to Rob for pulling this together, especially considering the logistics. I'm only about halfway through, but it sounds like it hangs together real well as an album - and not just a succession of cameos. Haywood and Floyd are very cool, too.

Murphy's Law - Telling Tales

Scott Tinkler Quartet - Live

And I just made my first ever order from the official Grateful Dead site - a five-disc set that is basically the soundtrack to The Grateful Dead Movie Plus Other Stuff, for $35, and a couple of T-shirts to wear at Wangaratta.

[Kenny]

Oh happy day!

The Bill Holman Band - Live. Hmmmmm, uh, uh, ahhh, hmmmm - YES!

The Java Quartet - Deep Blue Sea. Funnily enough I pulled this lot's previous album out last week, having not played it for years; and didn't really warm to it. This is different - Mathew Ottignon on sax and great sound that gives bassist Michael Galeazzi a big, physically intense impact without losing any of the warmth and good vibes of the acoustic instrument. The drums sound great, too; in fact, everyone does. There's nothing else like this in Australia - or anywhere else AFAIK. It's got a sort of throb/heartbeat thing going on, which makes me think of the Necks, only much more composed. And like the Necks, it can sometimes seem like watching paint dry, except this time around there is a touch of hard bop-style frolic, a la Horace Silver or Joe Henderson, and some real intensity. In fact, track 5 - Be Still My Friend - really cooks, not a term I thought I'd ever apply to this band. Great stuff. Utterly beguiling and intriguing.

[Kenny]

Grateful Dead - Live/Dead. I don't actually own this renowned outing, but have simply borrowed it momentarily from a work pal. And he's not the only person in the office from whom I can borrow Dead albums. Weirdsville.

Turn on your lovelight, baby!