Sunday Music Muse Day - Anthony Willson, Patrica Barber

This Sunday Music Muse Day finds us enjoying a set of perfect fall weather days, slightly cool in the shade, warm in the sun.  When not outside enjoying the weather, I'm inside enjoying these two selections, slightly the beaten path for me.  First up is Anthony Wilson self-title debut album Anthony Wilson (1997) — featured a nine-piece “little big band” and received a Grammy nomination for Best Large Ensemble Jazz Recording. He is son of legendary jazz trumpeter and bandleader Gerald Wilson and it's obvious talent doesn't fall far from the family tree. This is a fully realize effort and worth checking out. (One odd note: It did play correctly on my old 1980's CD player, sound scratchy. But it play fine in my Playstation 3, it could have a manufacturing defect, but I'm blaming my old CD player)

My next selection id Patrica Barber Nightclub, which again, I not usually into vocal jazz as much as guitar-centric instrumental, but I like her laid back smokey jazz club style. She can be slightly pretentious, and cerebral in seductive way. This is exclusively a eclectic selection of jazz standards and movie themes. The several of her sideman caught by eye including Charlie Hunter on 8-string guitar, Marc Johnson on bass (made Bass Desires with John Scofield, Bill Frisell, Peter Erskine), and Adam Nussbaum on drums (noted sideman with John Scofield, and the late John Abercrombie groups) When I'm in the mood Patrica Barber can satisfy my desire for some off beat jazz vocal music. Also, worth a listen.

I hope our nice fall weather continues, but if not there are always good to enjoy.

Sunday Music Muse Day - Miles Davis, Tony Williams's Lifetime, John Scofield Band, and Patrica Barber.

Happy Sunday Music Muse Day.  This week features some favorite artists that I thought I have the albums of, but in fact, I didn't.  Case in point, Miles Davis Sketches of Spain, a re-issue CD of the classic LP with music arranged and conducted by Gil Evans.  I really thought I had the LP.   I know I heard the music.  I'm thinking I might have borrowed it from the Lincoln Center Music library years ago in NYC. Actually in reading the liner notes for the CD, I might have still bought this because it contains four tracks not on the original LP, plus it has a informative booklet with nice photos of the recording session.

Second, is another CD that I thought I had the LP but, I checked, and I don't.  Tony Williams Lifetime Emergency, a CD of the milestone 2 LP set, with John McLaughlin on guitar, and Larry Young on organ.  This is the group Tony left Miles to form, and interestingly John Mclaughlin  turned down Miles' offer to join his group to join Lifetime, instead.  Another interesting note was the that the original recording was consider by all as "badly botched" with "poor balance and rampant distortion".  Many felt that it add an "raw edge" to it.  This CD was re-mastered in an attempt to, as engineer Phil Schaap states, "getting the audio presented here up to its meager but acceptable level".   As it shows the birth of Jazz Fusion (for better or worse) the rawness offer authenticity.

Next is another favorite guitar of mine, John Scofield Band Uberjam.  There's not much I can say about this except that John is having a fun time playing fusion that mixes a lot of different influences in an interesting way.  Just by the cover art (Hessdesignworks.com) you can tell this is not a straight ahead jazz session.

Last is the jazz songwriter, pianist, and bandleader, Patrica Barber, Mythologies. According to allmusic.com, "in 2003 ...received a Guggenheim fellowship to create a song cycle based on Ovid's Metamorphoses.  ( Barber )has taken the heart of Ovid's text (he was a Roman poet doing his own intertextual take on Greek mythology) and created 11 pieces, each based on one character in his cycle. She's in turn written a different piece -- in style, linguistic content, and feel -- for each character she was drawn to" The site goes on to call this Barber's masterpeice. I enjoy her music, but she can be pretentious at time.  That said I  have several of her CDs and like her enough to try more.

I also, shuck in so Brazilian music this weekend to mark the start of the Rio Olympics.  But I cover those before.  Enjoy.

Sunday Music Muse Day - Bill Frisell, Pat Metheny, Freddie Hubbard and Patricia Barber.

I missed posting last week, due to family stuff, so I'm back with this week's Sunday Music Muse Day with four solid selections.  First up, a favorite guitarist of mine, Bill Frisell Big Sur, with another eclectic and adventurous outing.  Big Sur finds Bill playing with a drummer and a viola, cello, and violin  string trio.  The title comes from the music being written at Glen Deven Ranch in Big Sur, a legendary region in California Big who's relative isolation and natural beauty began to attract writers and artists, and performed at the 2012 Monterey Jazz Festival.

Next up is another, favorite, Pat Metheny The Way Up, which find Pat teamed with long time musical band mates Lyle Mays, on piano and keyboards, and Steve Rodby, on acoustic and electric bass.  The CD consist of one long 68 minute composition.  A very engrossing music.

Here's another Rudy Van Gelder Edition CD which he transferred and remastered a classic Blue Note album with 24-bit technology, Freddie Hubbard Hud-Tones. Again, a chance to fill my hole in my collection is a classic Blue Note reissue.  An interesting personal note, in a sort of a "six degrees of separation", when I was in Paris when my father was sick, I stayed at the home of the sister of the bassist Reggie Workman.  Small world.

Last but not least in a female pianist and singer Patricia Barber, the Cole Porter Mix CD.  I like to think of Patricia as my personal "Diana Krall" in that I like her rendering of standards and her own originals.

Until next week, enjoy.