STAN KENTON (ABO#423)

STAN KENTON

ARTISTRY IN RHYTHM

(1940-1960)

An off-the-wall choice today. I had it at hand, and decided that it didn't cost anyone to share it. To enjoy this collection, you'll have to have some appreciation of postwar Big Band music or Exotica.
As you begin to explore Jazz, you'll see Stan Kenton's name mentioned often. He is a controversial figure, recognized as a flawed genius by many. This baistoiphe covers roughly 1940-1960. Dates are hard to determine, as most pre-Sixties jazz albums are compiled from 78s and 10" EPs and released on budget labels with no annotation. Be forewarned that this baistophe bounces around stylistically. It opens with a big band sound, but the next tune could be the theme of a '60s action show. Another would be a fitting score for the denouement of a James Bond film; where they confront the villain in his hollow volcano. You may recognize snippets of cartoon music; both Raymond Scott and Carl Stalling borrowed ideas from The Kenton Orchestra. The collection wasn't originally constructed for public consumption, so I won't feel badly if you take cuts from both CDs to make one that suits you.
Kenton's 'Innovations in Modern Music Orchestra' was known less for their music than their sound. While everyone else had a dance band, he had an orchestra. If he were to start today, he would definitely be into heavy metal. He liked everything big and dramatic with unusual time signatures. His progressive musical ideas emphasized power and had more to do with 20th Century orchestral music than jazz. Today, it just sounds like swing music and it's hard to judge how radical some of Kenton's ideas were. It's like a 15 year old trying to figure out what was so different about Nirvana.
He had hired top-flight musicians and vocalists but this was not enough to win the respect of jazz aficionados. The music often veered off into ponderous and overly commercial territory. But he depended on his chart hits to finance his more experimental works. By the mid-Fifties, he was drifting toward more conventional big band arrangements. By 1960, jazz was becoming irrelevant, and Kenton, having been irrelevant to jazz, was just a musician on the margins of popular music. His best musicians had moved on, and he filled their positions with young and inexpensive talent. He tried to reinvent the band by emphasizing a big brass section, but it mostly sounded the same except for more horns.

-BURNS-

WEATHER REPORT (ABO#415)

WEATHER REPORT

DAYLIGHT AT SUNRISE

(1971-1986)

Weather Report was my first attempt to introduce myself into the world of Jazz and I was very lucky to start with their 1976 album Black Market whose eponymous title remains my favourite WR track.

At their beginnings, Weather Report really sounded like Miles Davis' Bitches Brew. Surprise when you know that Joe Zawinul (keyb) and Wayne Shorter (sax) learned a lot with the master. Until their 1973 Sweetnighter album, this filiation is quite an evidence.

Weather Report found their musical identity with their 1974 album Mysterious Traveller and much more with their 1975 Tale Spinnin'. To their fusion sound was added an african sound. That brought the band to another direction and, to me, the highest point of their carreer was Black Market. After that and especially after their excellent live album 8.30, everything became much more flat even if this african color kept featuring in the Weather Report sound. The 80s are not as good as the decade before but no one can argue that Weather Report's albums in the 80s were at least very good. Weather Report never becam an infamous Smooth Jazz band and that 's a good thing.

Here will you find every period of the band from the beginning to the end in a chronological order. No albums have been voluntarily forgotten but the golden years (1972-1978) is the best represented.

You may notice that another huge album like "I Sing The Body Electric" is under represented because 2 of its best (to me) tracks were chosen from other live albums like Live In Tokyo or Live & Unreleased.

Enjoy this compilation like I enjoy this band.

My Weather Report TOP3 :

1. Black Market (1976)

2. I Sing The Body Electric (1972)

3. Tale Spinning (1975)

My Weather Report TOP3 live albums :

1. Live & Unreleased (1973-1983/2002)

2. Live In Tokyo (1972)

3. 8.30 (1979)

wait if it's temporary unavailable

LAURA NYRO (ABO#406)

LAURA NYRO

1967-1995

This will be a very short. Why ? let me tell you...

Several months ago, we recieved in our mailbox this Laura Nyro compilation to be posted in this blog. First of all, many apologies to the autor of this selection, the old mails had been deleted for long so that I completely don't know who the hell is the guy (or the lady) who done that. If you are that one, just say it, I simply thank you for that choice.

And why I thank someone I don't even know the name to have sent us a Laura Nyro comp' ? Simply because before that, I had just no idea at all of who she was and what she sounded like. I've just read her article on wikipedia (see the german one, it is well documented !) and a piano-playing lady who is (was, sorry) influenced both in pop, jazz and other sweet stuff like that. To that description, I would say that she is the main inspiration for artists such as Fiona Apple, Nora Jones or Regina Spektor... I may be wrong but not far I guess.

Just to say to you that I haven't listened to it yet but I'm quite sure I'll like it as she is also known for having written songs for bands like Blood, Sweat & Tears or the 5th Dimension...

Hope you'll like it too.

wait if it's temporary unavailable

DONALD BYRD (ABO #390)

DONALD BYRD
UNFINISHED BIZNESS (1958-1976)

Donald Byrd's story parallels the decline of Jazz in America and the changes that transpired in an attempt to remain relevant.
Trumpeter Donald Byrd was 15 years old when he cut his first record as a sessionman for the Robert Barnes Sextet. He didn't record again until eight years later, when in 1955, he guested on a Kenny Clarke recording. The first album under his own name appeared just two months later on Transition Records. That was followed by several years of journeyman work for future jazz stars such as Hank Mobley, Jackie McLean and Horace Silver as well as a stint in the Jazz Messegers.
He debuted on Blue Note Records in 1958, and his recordings range from Bop in 1958 to Post-Bop in 1963, to Fusion in 1970. In Byrd's case, it progressed into a jazz/soul/funk hybrid that helped to form the roots of Acid-Jazz. 1972's 'Black Byrd' was the result; the biggest seller in Blue Note history, reaching number two on the R&B albums chart. He assembled and produced a group called the Blackbyrds in 1974, although he didn't play with them. They had two Top 20 singles and are best known for the song "Walking In Rhythm". He has recorded sporadically since then; AllMusic shows nine albums between 1977 and 2006.
This collection covers the twenty four albums recorded during the Blue Note years from 1958 until 1976. I've also included the album Groovin' For Nat; recorded for Black Saint. I just liked it a lot. (Burns)

RIYL:
Freddie Hubbard, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock

ETTA JAMES (ABO #387)

ETTA JAMES
BURNER'S CHOICE

Few R&B singers have endured tragic travails on the monumental level that Etta James has and remain on earth to talk about it. The lady's no shrinking violet; her autobiography, Rage to Survive, describes her past (including numerous drug addictions) in sordid detail.
But her personal problems have seldom affected her singing. James has hung in there from the age of R&B and doo wop in the mid-'50s through soul's late-'60s heyday and right up into the '90s and 2000s (where her 1994 disc Mystery Lady paid loving jazz-based tribute to one of her idols, Billie Holiday). Etta James' voice has deepened over the years, coarsened more than a little, but still conveys remarkable passion and pain.
In concert, Etta James is a sassy, no-holds-barred performer whose suggestive stage antics sometimes border on the obscene. She's paid her dues many times over as an R&B and soul pioneer; long may she continue to shock the uninitiated.

RIYL:
Mavis Staples, Ernestine Anderson, Bessie Smith, Dinah Washington

GIL SCOTT-HERON (ABO #384)

GIL SCOTT-HERON
WILL NOT BE TELEVISED

Gil Scott-Heron (born April 1, 1949) is an American poet, musician, and author known primarily for his late 1970s and early 1980s work as a spoken word performer and his collaborative soul works with musician Brian Jackson. His collaborative efforts with Jackson featured a musical fusion of jazz, blues and soul music, as well as lyrical content concerning social and political issues of the time, delivered in both rapping and melismatic vocal styles by Scott-Heron. The music of these albums, most notably Pieces of a Man and Winter in America in the early 1970s, influenced and helped engender later African-American music genres such as hip hop and neo soul. Scott-Heron's recording work is often associated with black militant activism and has received much critical acclaim for one of his most well-known compositions "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised". On his influence, Allmusic wrote "Scott-Heron's unique proto-rap style influenced a generation of hip-hop artists".

My GIL SCOTT-HERON Top Three
1 - Pieces of a Man (1971)
2 - Winter in America (1974)
3 - It's Your World (1976)

My GIL SCOTT-HERON Bottom Three
1 - Moving Target (1982)
2 - 1980 (1980)
3 - Real Eyes (1980)

RIYL:
The Last Poets, Sly & the Family Stone, The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy

GURU'S JAZZMATAZZ (ABO #383)

FEEL THE MUSIC by
GURU'S JAZZMATAZZ

Ex-Gangstarr's Guru died not so long ago. While I'm not that fond of the work of his original band, I find his Jazzmatazz series to be quite appealing. Indeed, it was a bold move to mix real jazz with hip-hop when the first volume was released and since the album was of good quality, it pleased be then and still does now. Sure the sequels haven't all been of that caliber but, on every one of them, I found enough quality to decide that project was worth compiling for Baistophe's Black Month.
So, here's a tribute to Guru with what I consider the finest of the Jazzmatazz Series. Enjoy.

RIYL :
US3, Digable Planets, Dream Warriors

ME'SHELL NGEDEOCELLO (ABO #382)

ME'SHELL NDEGEOCELLO
IN TRANSIT

For those who only know her most famous singles, Me'Shell Ngedéocello may appear as a relatively common r'n'b artist. That is a huge mistake and a dire misunderstanding of this one of a kind artist. Me'Shell has so many faces she may very well be a mirrorball-image of what quality modern black music should sound like. On top of the soul/hip-hop thingy, which she does pretty damn well, this lady has proven to be a versatile and curious composer that can handle rock, folk, jazz just as well as she does with soul and hip-hop. Of course, not all of her eight albums are of the same quality but every one of them has moments of grace that can seldom be found with any other artist in today's black music scene. In that, one can easily compare her to Nina Simone whom also could touch about every musical genre she wanted and make it her own. I bet you Me'Shell will have a long and productive career and will continue to amaze and surprise us. This 2 hours compilation tries to be an introduction to her unique world. Enjoy.

My ME'SHELL NDEGEOCELLO Top 3
1 - Bitter (1999)
2 - The World Made Me the Man of My Dreams (2007)
3 - Peace Beyond Passion (1996)

RIYL:
Erykah Badu, Nina Simone, Joan Armatrading

CLAUDE NOUGARO (ABO#377)

CLAUDE NOUGARO

LE JONGLEUR DE MOTS

(1958-2004)

Surprisingly, Claude Nougaro has always kept a quite background seat in the french chanson history. He is though one of its very best singer and auteur. Popularised for having added words on familiar Jazz classics, he however has always loved the work on the word. Nougaro was THE french poet of chanson. And when I say poet, I shall put it also in big letters. The lyrics are so clever and the work done on the musicality of his centenses are something no one made better before and after. His long carreer deserved (at least) a double set and I'm proud that Claude now belongs to Baistophe's long list. Thanks to DIOD for this great selection of non-hits.

BUMCELLO (ABO#373)

BUMCELLO

... WAS A FRIEND ...

(1999-2009)

Bumcello is a duet. Bum is on the percussions and Cello ... on the cello. Their music could have sounded like jazz but they decided something different. They often have been playing with other bands or artists like Les Fabulous Troubadours (whose "duo" can be heard on their BAISTOPHE ABO#279), with Taraf de Haidouk (idem on their BAISTOPHE ABO#091) or even Mathieu Chedid. That brings some kind of sound that can be assimilated like a remix where it isn't.

Live, Bumcello become an improvisationing band and their songs can last more than 10 minutes. In the contrary, in the studio, the songs are more constructed and are very short. Bumcello can explore so many musical identity with their only two instruments (+ guest musicians or electronic equipments).

This collection is a bit focused on their experimental works where you can also find some pop, soul, rnb, trip hop, dub songs in it. But I think this experimental work is what is more interesting in that band.

My Bumcello TOP :

1. Nude For Love (2002)

2. Get Me (2003)

3. Bumcello (1999)

4. Lychee Queen (2008)

5. Animal Sophistiqué (2005)

6. Booty Time (2001)

DIXIE DREGS (ABO#371)

DIXIE DREGS

THE UNPREDICTABLE PROCESS

(OR HOW TO CREATE A MONSTER)

(1975-2000)

Dixie Dregs is a bit of everything. If it is over all a Fusion band mixing both Jazz and Rock styles, it also sounds like many other types of music. You'll find some Progressive Hard Rock à la Kansas played with a velocity that can remind us John McLaughlin or Al Dimeola. Their Dixie roots also allowed them to play country style.

The line-up was very unstable and at the exception of Steve Morse, no one played on every albums. The adventure stopped in 1982 while Morse founded his own band before joining Deep Purple. The band reunited though for a tour in 1992 and then recorded 3 more albums including 2 live ones.

My Dixie Dregs Top 3 :

1. What If (1978)

2. The Great Spectacular (1975/1994)

3. The Night Of The Living Dregs (1978)

My Dixie Dregs Bottom 3 :

1. Industry Standard (1982)

2. Full Circle (1994)

3. Unsung Heroes (1980)