What are you listening to and WHY might anyone be interested? (Vol. XIII)

Now Playing.......

Traffic - The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys

Streaming from the NAS.........   Revisiting days of my lost youth......

Nick Lowe. Labour Of Lust. On original vinyl from 1979.  Recent s/h buy, first listen.

Now Playing.....

Elton John - Madman Across The Water

Streaming from NAS.........   Something else from the early 70's.....flashback to a Garrard Turntable, Pioneer 747 Receiver, a Teac Reel to Reel Tape with a pair of JBL 88's speakers.....

Jefferson Airplane. Surrealistic Pillow(1967). On vinyl, 1969 stereo pressing. Great music in it's time.

Janis Joplin. Pearl. On original vinyl from 1971. Way back when I had this on 8-track and didn't give it many listens. Today I appreciate what a gem of an album it was.

Now Playing......

Paul Motian, Bill Frisell, and Joe Lovano - I Have The Room Above Her

Paul Motian (drums), Bill Frisell (guitar) and Joe Lovano (saxophones)

Arrived in the mail this afternoon, ripped to the NAS and now streaming......

I listened to this album a couple of times in the past couple of weeks on TIDAL, just loved it and made the purchase and now taking it out on its in-house debut spin!

A "Background" note regarding the album found on the ECM website here:

“Paul Motian, Bill Frisell and Joe Lovano have celebrated solo careers, but when they unite a special magic occurs, a marvel of group empathy” – The New Yorker
 
"I Have The Room Above Her" marks the return of Paul Motian to ECM, the label that first provided a context for his compositions and his musical directions. The great American-Armenian drummer, now in his 74th year, is currently at a creative peak, and his trio, launched in 1984 with the ECM album "It Should Have Happened A Long Time Ago", has never sounded better. Motian, of course, has continued to be an important contributor to ECM recordings over the years -- see for instance his recent work with Marilyn Crispell and with Paul Bley - but hasn't recorded as a leader for the label in almost 20 years. His anthology in ECM’s Rarum series, however, released at the beginning of 2004, served as a powerful reminder of just how original his musical concept remains. As a drummer, improviser, composer of intensely lyrical melodies, and musical thinker, Paul Motian is a unique figure, and a musician of vast and varied experience.
 
As a young man, he played with Thelonious Monk, whose idiosyncratic sense of swing (and stubborn independence from all prevailing trends) was to be a lifelong influence. Motian played with Coleman Hawkins, with Lennie Tristano, with Sonny Rollins, even, fleetingly, with John Coltrane. As a member of the Bill Evans trio with Scott La Faro, he changed the course of modern jazz, then changed it again by bringing new impulses to the freer, more abstract music of Paul Bley. When he met ECM producer Manfred Eicher, he was the drummer with Keith Jarrett's trio with Charlie Haden, soon to become, with the addition of Dewey Redman, Jarrett’s great “American Quartet” , another unit of seminal importance in the development of creative music. Encouraged by Eicher to write his own pieces, Motian drew upon both his jazz history and his Armenian/Turkish roots, developing a unique body of material subsequently delineated on albums including "Conception Vessel" (the first album issued under his name), "Tribute", "Dance", "Le Voyage”, "Psalm" and more.

.......more found at the ECM Website

ewemon posted:

seakayaker posted:

Now Playing.......

Guy Clark - Songs and Stories

Guy Clark - (vocals, guitar), Bryn Davies (upright bass), Shawn Camp (guitar, mandolin, vocals), Verlon Thompson (guitar, vocals), and Kenny Malone (percussion)

Streaming from TIDAL.......     I have listened to a couple of Guy Clark albums over the past week and enjoy his voice and his music. This is a fun album so far, good songs with some good stories along the way. The exploration of Guy's catalogue continues........

If you like Guy then if you haven't heard it try this album above. IMhO his first and best album.

Old No 1. was the first Guy Clark album I played a few days back and then listened to his 'My Favorite Picture Of You" a couple of days ago and I am enjoying his music, one hell of a songwriter.......   

It was a mention from you in the past week or so regarding Guy that had me do a search and finding Old No.1, a great recommendation!

The Beatles. The Beatles (1968). On the original Capitol Records CD from 1987. The more I listen to the original CDs releases the more I prefer them to the 2009 re-masters. Listening tonight by HPs, the bass lines are lighter, tighter and "pluckier". As well, the drums strikes are more taut and sharp. All leads to better PRaT and a crisper sonic.

seakayaker posted:

ewemon posted:

seakayaker posted:

Now Playing.......

Guy Clark - Songs and Stories

Guy Clark - (vocals, guitar), Bryn Davies (upright bass), Shawn Camp (guitar, mandolin, vocals), Verlon Thompson (guitar, vocals), and Kenny Malone (percussion)

Streaming from TIDAL.......     I have listened to a couple of Guy Clark albums over the past week and enjoy his voice and his music. This is a fun album so far, good songs with some good stories along the way. The exploration of Guy's catalogue continues........

If you like Guy then if you haven't heard it try this album above. IMhO his first and best album.

Old No 1. was the first Guy Clark album I played a few days back and then listened to his 'My Favorite Picture Of You" a couple of days ago and I am enjoying his music, one hell of a songwriter.......   

It was a mention from you in the past week or so regarding Guy that had me do a search and finding Old No.1, a great recommendation!

Next up for you should be if you haven't heard them Townes Van Zandt, Steve Young and Tom Russell (start at the Rose of San Jouquin and work your way forward). Southern song writing at it's finest

Serkin/Adolph & Hermann Busch: Brahms Piano Trio No.2 - '51 rec.

Considering the vintage, this is a vivid sounding record. I remember when I first heard this tune, it sounded like an old man reminiscing his youth.

 A lot of bitter sweet emotion.

Always special...., saw three new albums from this series popping up on the 6th December, will of course get them as well

(2017)

Some dark ambient music from Cousin Silas, this is usually preferable listening in the dead of night but working very well this snowy morning through headphones. 

Rinaldo Alessandrini - Bach: Brandenburg concertos

Very nice performance of the Brandenburg concertos

Nordic Giants, Amplify Human Vibration, Tidal.

This is an album of modern era Philosophical spoken word set to a beautiful ambient sound scape. A brilliant observation of the Human condition. 

Normally I get a bit scared of Christian Rock. But this is pretty good...

Nils Lofgren - Face the music

Meller, Golyzniak, Duda, Breaking Habits.

I pretty much like anything Duda is involved with and this is a good collaboration with some talented Polish musicians.

Listening to it on Tidal. Will definitely buy it.....

Letting RP make the choices this morning...

Slim68 posted:

Nordic Giants, Amplify Human Vibration, Tidal.

This is an album of modern era Philosophical spoken word set to a beautiful ambient sound scape. A brilliant observation of the Human condition. 

 

Thanks for the heads up Simon.

Another fine ECM album....

Narciso Yepes - Bach: Works for lute

Now Playing.......

Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, and Paul Motian - At The Deer Head Inn

Keith Jarrett (piano), Gary Peacock (bass), and Paul Motian (drums)

Streaming from NAS.......  Something very fine and soothing on this dark & cold Friday morning.........

Review from the ECM Record website: 

Recorded September 16, 1992 at the Deer Head Inn
Engineer: Kent Heckman
Produced by Bill Goodwin

By the fall of 1992, Keith Jarrett had already spent 30 years as a notable jazz performer. What better way to celebrate than to return to this record’s eponymous venue in his birthplace of Allentown, Pennsylvania for a once-in-a-lifetime gig? Switching out his usual go-to, Jack DeJohnette, for Paul Motian (no stranger to Jarrett, with whom he’d worked in the 70s), the trio works wonders with the new colors the latter provides. Peacock and Jarrett are both verbose players who manage never to step on each other’s toes. With Motian backing them, they take longer pauses for reflection, listening to the wind as it blows through their leaves. His presence and panache are as palpable as the prevalence of alliterations in this sentence, bringing an irresistible brushed beat to the squint-eyed groove of Jaki Byard’s “Chandra.” That hook keeps us sharp to improvisatory angle and inspires some youthful banter from Peacock, who feeds off those drums like Christmas. Motian excels further in the balance of fire and ice that bubble throughout “You And The Night And The Music.” The band also dips into Miles Davis-era waters with glowing renditions of “Solar” and “Bye Bye Blackbird.” Atop quilted commentaries from the man at the kit, Jarrett’s unpacking of these timeless melodies is the cherry on the sundae. Sweet toppings also abound in the laid-back “Basin Street Blues,” in which, with closed eyes and an open heart, Peacock finds the perfect resolution for Jarrett’s uncontainable fire. All three musicians up the ante in “You Don’t Know What Love Is.” Jarrett negotiates its changes like breathing while Peacock and Motian speak in vocabularies just beyond the radar of feasibility. Before we know it, we’re caught up in a joyous surge and relaxation. By ending with “It’s Easy To Remember,” the trio saves its finest translucent china for last.

Tubis trio - The Truth

From allaboutjazz.com:

A title such as The Truth may seem like some kind of commentary or bold statement in what's strangely referred to as the post-truth era, though Maciej Tubis and his cohorts thankfully don't bring any such weighty baggage to their first studio date (following two live releases with slightly different lineups). "In the end, you need to play on your own. You need to tell the truth and the genre called jazz suddenly eludes you. We don't want to deceive anyone—or ourselves ..." the pianist muses in his brief thoughtful liner notes. "The stories that really tug at the heartstrings are the true, fact-based ones, even if they are simple." It's an interesting insight, and this band's inviting performances indeed find that kind of simplicity with a disarming honesty. 

That's not to say that the Tubis Trio lacks sophistication or smarts. It means that their music is simple without being simplistic, managing to sound pleasantly straightforward even when things get tricky. Bandmates Paweł Puszczało and Przemysław Pacan exhibit just the same affability in maintaining the grooves—though Tubis provides the compositions, the group's rapport is just as vital in making the experience as warm and catchy as it is. The chemistry sparks the right kind of positive energy among them, much like a friend you can't help liking because he's always smiling and pleasant to be around. 

Tubis may show the genre-blending appeal of clear influences such as Keith Jarrett or Brad Mehldau, but he's just as clearly able to move past them to convey his own truth. The occasional winding 5/4 sections of "Peloponnese" or "Tokyo" flow as naturally as any standard-time beat, while the disc makes room for steady-bouncing hooks like "2.31PM" and the thoughtful serenity of "It's a Beautiful Winter Out There" at the same time. Puszczało's smooth double bass adds lovely shadings in his couple solo spots, while the leader's flights on the keys stay clever without any overt flash. For his part, Pacan displays a busy sense of rhythm that crosses into trance and back without becoming static. It's a mix that keeps an upbeat feel through all different modes. Besides offering plenty of detail under the surface, The Truth can just as easily serve as jazz for people who don't normally like jazz: a charming and genuinely buoyant listen for just about any taste.