Kathleen

The Chambers Brothers > In the Midnight HourComposed by...

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:57:00 -0500

The Chambers Brothers > In the Midnight Hour
Composed by Wilson Pickett & Steve Cropper

It’s really rare when a cover happily surprises. And grooves hard.

Chambers Brothers Week #3
Cover #54

The Chambers Brothers > Romeo and JulietComposed by Lester...

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:56:00 -0500

The Chambers Brothers > Romeo and Juliet
Composed by Lester Chambers

The quality of the original songwriting on this LP was as strong as the covers. Don’t know if they’re adapted gospel melodies or what, but they cut deeply.

Chambers Brothers Week #2
Ballad #43

The Chambers Brothers > Uptown Composed by Betty Mabry...

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:23:00 -0500

The Chambers Brothers > Uptown
Composed by Betty Mabry (Davis)

To most everyone they’re a one hit wonder. But I love this album.

Chambers Brothers Week #1

The Mahavishnu Orchestra > Vital Transformation Composed by...

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:41:18 -0400

The Mahavishnu Orchestra > Vital Transformation
Composed by John McLaughlin

I was kind of hoping I would like this more, given how much I liked it in the day, how I still get chills from McLaughlin in Tony WIlliams’ Lifetime and with Miles, and that I remember liking Jerry Goodman in The Flock. Who else used a violin in a hard rock fusion band?

Violin Week #4
Legends of Fusion #2
Legends of the Guitar #14

Joe Venuti & Earl Hines > C Jam Blues Composed by Duke...

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:09:40 -0400

Joe Venuti & Earl Hines > C Jam Blues
Composed by Duke Ellington

It was pretty clear to me in the last post that Hank had a hard time picking a favorite Joe Venuti track, so I figured I’d play the second one too. A classic in many ways.

Violin Week #4
Legends of the Violin #3
Legends of the Piano #11
Legends of Swing #5 & #6

Joe Venuti & Dave McKenna > At the Jazz Band...

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:18:00 -0400

Joe Venuti & Dave McKenna > At the Jazz Band Ball
Composed by Larry Shields & Nick LaRocca

Back in the day I spend some time around Chiaroscuro Records but was too self involved to realize the grandeur of the music going on around me. I’m making up for lost time which includes some bon bons by the great Joe Venuti. Being severely undereducated I asked Chiaroscuro owner/producer Hank O’Neal to suggest some tracks. This one caught my ear. From Hank:

“I’d take ‘C Jam [Blues]’ on the one with Earl [Hines] and ‘At the Jazz Band Ball’ on the McKenna. Both were remarkable dates for a lot of reasons. I just wish I’d had the opportunity to do more work with all of them, particularly Joe. I guess I was lucky to have gotten what I did.”

Violin Week #3
Legends of the Violin #3
Legends of the Piano #10
Legends of Swing #5

Stuff Smith > Blue Violin The box this came from was one of...

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 08:44:00 -0400

Stuff Smith > Blue Violin

The box this came from was one of the unique Mosaic Records; limited edition, out of print. Don’t fret, there’s plenty of other stuff.

Violin Week #2
Legends of the Violin #3

Molly Mason & Jay Ungar > The Lover’s Waltz...

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 10:55:00 -0400

Molly Mason & Jay Ungar > The Lover’s Waltz
Composed by Jay Ungar & Molly Mason

Truly, one of the most beautiful love songs I have ever heard. Molly and Jay are national treasures.

I’ve no idea what this week’s theme is going to be, but this song just cuts through so deeply, I needed to lead with it.

Update: OK, it was obvious to everyone but me.

Violin Week #1
Legends of the Violin #1 & #2
Ballad #42

Keith Jarrett > When I Fall In LoveComposed by Victor Young...

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 20:27:00 -0400

Keith Jarrett > When I Fall In Love
Composed by Victor Young & Edward Heyman

It’s no surprise to Keith fans that he’s a sentimentalist (no surprise to my closest listeners that I am either), so I was going to feature something from his tribute to Miles’ life. I chose one of his trio’s spontaneous interpretations of one of my favorite Miles tracks instead.

Fitting to end the week on a stan dard, given the decades he’s dedicated to them. This one is traditionally jazz than my the album from the beginning of the week, but, just as satisfying.

Keith Jarrett Week #5
Legends of the Piano #2
Ballad #41
Standards #9

Keith Jarrett > Life Between the Exit SignsComposed by Keith...

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 20:09:00 -0400

Keith Jarrett > Life Between the Exit Signs
Composed by Keith Jarrett

I’d never even heard of Keith Jarrett when my buddy David Reitman suggested we cop the name for my first midnight college radio show.

Keith Jarrett Week #4
Legends of the Piano #2

Keith Jarrett > Starbright Composed by Keith Jarrett The...

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 19:31:00 -0400

Keith Jarrett > Starbright
Composed by Keith Jarrett

The movement toward solo and duo jazz albums had already been gaining steam when Jarrett released his first (fully improvised) on ECM and began to join his influencers in the canon. It made him so famous that folks like me starting dismissing his unique approach to piano.

I saw Jarrett play solo in Carnegie Hall last January, the first time since The Mercer Arts Center, New York, in 1971, when he was supporting this LP. His command and confidence was no different in the almost 40 year gap.

Keith Jarrett Week #3
Legends of the Piano #2

Jan Garbarek, Keith Jarrett, Palle Danielsson, Jon Christensen...

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 20:56:20 -0400

Jan Garbarek, Keith Jarrett, Palle Danielsson, Jon Christensen > The Windup
Composed by Keith Jarrett

Since the first time I saw Jarrett was when he was electronically doodling with Miles Davis, maybe it makes sense that some of my most memorable tracks aren’t strictly traditional.

Keith Jarrett Week #2
Legends of the Piano #2

Keith Jarrett > My Wild Irish Rose Composed by Chauncey...

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 20:23:00 -0400

Keith Jarrett > My Wild Irish Rose
Composed by Chauncey Olcott

Never in a hundred years (OK, maybe 40) would it have occurred to me that I’d build our first artist week around Keith Jarrett. Hank Jones, Cecil Taylor, maybe Herbie Hancock? Them, I might have predicted. But year after year I keep pulling Keith albums out.

Particularly this one. (In fact, I featured it a year ago.) Not jazz in any traditional sense (no soloing), but I can’t imagine anyone but a jazzman interpreting melodies this way.

To me, this song was just an international cliche until I couldn’t dislodge Keith’s version from my head. He nails the melody so deeply…

Keith Jarrett Week #1
Legends of the Piano #2
Ballad #40
Standards #8

Soulive > Solid I don’t love love this jam band, but...

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:13:21 -0400

Soulive > Solid

I don’t love love this jam band, but can’t this track out of my head (probably because a local radio host uses it as his theme). It fits our week well.

Postmodern Soul Jazz Week #6

Joey Baron > Wide LoadComposed by Joey Baron Mike really...

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 12:10:53 -0400

Joey Baron > Wide Load
Composed by Joey Baron

Mike really likes this track, so everyone at KLM does too!

Postmodern Soul Jazz Week #5

Bill Evans > Cool Eddie Composed by Bill Evans Bill Evans...

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 20:06:00 -0400

Bill Evans > Cool Eddie
Composed by Bill Evans

Bill Evans (he played with Miles, but not that Bill Evans) is seven years younger than me, so it makes sense that he’d want to mash up funk and jazz. And it might not quite have that ‘strangeness’ Mike defined, but it would be pretty hard to imagine anyone even a generation older (maybe Herbie) remixing the stuff this way.

Postmodern Soul Jazz Week #4

Joey Baron > What Composed by Joey Baron My friend...

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 08:41:00 -0400

Joey Baron > What
Composed by Joey Baron

My friend Mike’s into Joey Baron and has been trying to get me to listen for 10 years; this set with Arthur Blythe, Bill Frisell, and Ron Carter has finally hit me. And this postmodern soul tag has gotten under his skin. He writes:

“I like the concept. To me the soul part is a beat that makes you want to fuck; the jazz part is a sonic vocabulary hip enough to compensate for the missing singer; and the postmodern part is a willingness to tell a story that welcomes strangeness.”

Like he said.

Postmodern Soul Jazz Week #3

Dr. Lonnie Smith > Where It’s AtComposed by Michael...

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 17:24:40 -0400

Dr. Lonnie Smith > Where It’s At
Composed by Michael Simpson, John Robert King & Beck David Hansen

What really goes in this postmodern soul jazz category that I invented this afternoon? Well, my Pandora A Go Go channel picked this one.

Lonnie’s soul jazz 1G, but Beck really defines postmodern, so it’s cool with me.

Postmodern Soul Jazz Week #2
Legends of the Organ #5

John Scofield > A Go Go Composed by John...

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 11:22:00 -0400

John Scofield > A Go Go
Composed by John Scofield

Don’t ask me what “Postmodern Soul Jazz” is, other than a conceit for this week’s playlist. But it was the only thing that came to mind about these great tracks. It’s not nearly as populist as the originals, but certainly more popular than most of what passes for modern jazz. These artists grew up with the hangover of baby boomer mash-ups that put The Beatles, James Brown, The Singing Nun, and Cannonball Adderley on the same radio playlists.

Don’t ask what possessed me to buy this record. I don’t particularly like jazz guitar, I’d never consciously heard this guy, and I knew I wouldn’t care. But, such it was that day at Tower Records on the Sunset Strip. Then, I couldn’t stop playing it, and it was two years before I knew the rhythm section was the famed (though I’d never heard of them) Medeski Martin & Wood.

Postmodern Soul Jazz Week #1
Legends of the Guitar #13
Legends of the Jam Band #1
Legends of the Organ #3

Bobbie Gentry > Ode to Billie Joe Composed by Bobbie...

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 14:16:07 -0400

Bobbie Gentry > Ode to Billie Joe
Composed by Bobbie Gentry

It’s hard to convey just how big this record was, other than to say it not only prompted Lou to cover it, but also the unlikely likes of King Curtis, Ike Turner, and Buddy Rich!

What Was That? Week #7
Legends of Country #2
Ballad #40