Sunday Music Muse Day - Duke Ellington, Stanley Clarke Band,Ochion Jwell Quartet, and Bill Frisell

Here's my Sunday Music Muse Day, delayed 24 hours by football games and Downton Abby. My first selection is one should have posted last week to commemorate my late father's  birthday,  Duke Ellington Piano in the Foreground, with, my father, Sam Woodyard on drums.  I almost passed on buying this CD, since I already had a copy, but checking  the song list I saw it was a remastered collection with 7 bonus tracks.  That made it well worth buying.  I really enjoy the small group setting of Dukes. Plus, the cover is a favorite of mine, because Sam is on it.

Next, is the Stanley Clark Band which find the Jazz Fusion pioneer fronting a band of young talented players, including the popular pianist, Hiromi.  Stanley playing sound as fresh and daring as the early outings with Return to Forever, and his solo efforts.

My next selection is one of those leaps of faith.  Ochion Jewell Quartet, Volk, is group and CD I knew nothing of, but two cuts features the Lionel Loueke, a guitarist I recently started following,  So, I picked up the CD, and I can say I enjoyed. It's a very contemporary sound, with a leaning toward avant garde, but still accessible.  I'll keep my eye out for other releases from this group.

My last selection is head scratcher. Richter 858, Music by Bill Frisell, is a very abstract, experimental, project by the amazingly adventurous guitarist Bill Frisell with a string trio. The music is explorations inspired by the 8 abstract paintings by artist Gerhard Richter.   I admired the effort, but I don't know if can warm up to this CD.  Maybe someone into new modern Classical music that borders on avant garde will find this more interesting than I did.  That said I still will pick up a Bill Frisell CD, just because it's always a surprise.

That's week post.  Hopefully I'll get back on the track on next Sunday.  Enjoy.

Sunday Music Muse Day - Pat Metheny - The Orchestrion Project, Stanley Clark and Bobby McFerrin - Medicine Music

Here's this week's Sunday Muse Day selections, purchased at my local record shop, Record Archives.  First up is Pat Metheny The Orchestrion Project.  I first came across this as a DVD of the film Pat made of his performing solo with this vast array of mechanical instruments.  It reminded me those Animusic videos, but much more enjoyable.  Pat Metheny's musicial journey continues to amaze me.  Check out the youtube video below, you won't be disappointed. 

My second purchase was, in some ways to correct a buying mistake I made on my last trip to record shop.  I passed on buying the Stanley Clarke CD and regretted it.  Happily it was still there.  This is Stanley Clarke's first solo effort, while he was still with Return to Forever.  I forgot it featured Jan Hammer, on keyboards, and Tony Williams, on drums.  Bill Connors, was the first Return to Forever guitarist. (I featured him in my last week's post).  This is a favorite Fusion Album of mine, but I can't hear the tune Lopsy Lu without thinking of Jimi Hendrix' Third Stone from the Sun.  I have several of Stanley Clarke solo albums in my collection, I'll have to pull them out again for a listen.

My third purchase was Bobby McFerrin's Medicine Music CD.  My wife had this on cassette and I remember blasting it in the minivan driving from the airport years ago.  It's great music to greet  a Sunday with it's sense of warm and humanity.  A true favorite, in a category  by itself.   There are so many good cuts on this CD, you just have enjoy them all.  Enjoy