Jazz for aficionados

O-10:

Both clips were very good. The Yellowjackets are a blast from the past. I have them on the LP, "Samuria Samba". That clip has an African tinge for sure.

Pat Metheny clip was good also. I also listened to this one so I could see the band playing. Done in Poland.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUAK02_o9cI

The girl is a Fox. The tune seemed unbalanced. It opened with the vocal stuff, then Metheny did his solo, and it ended. Should not the Vocals have come back to close it out?

The audience looked like a meeting of the communist central committee. The seating, the hall, and EVERYONE clapping. :)

But both were well done. I didn't think Metheny had it in him. I have his LPs of "80/81" and "First Circle".

The women were dressed, I guess the guys couldn't get to the cleaners in time to get their suits. :)

Thanks

Cheers

James Booker?

"Resurrection of the Bayou Maharajah" You gotta have it!!
Check out the clips on Amazon.

Cheers

Rok, I have 80/81 and Full Circle; didn't think too much of either one. We must have depended on the same reviewer. I noticed we have a lot of the same records that might as well be in the dumpster.

I knew a musical genius, who like James Booker was hooked just as bad; that's when no shows get to be a constant thing, and unreliability is not tolerated in the entertainment industry. "Why"? That was a question I never got an answer to. I heard his last live sets and although he'd found what he was striving for musically, it never got recorded. As good as Mr. Booker was, I don't think he quite discovered his "inner self"; that's the one I hear in between the lines. If only he had lived a little longer.

Enjoy the music.

I believe that a really good and worthy goal for any discerning music lover is to be able to truly understand the difference between not liking a particular artist's music and feeling that he "doesn't have it in him"; they are two very different things. It's a tricky thing: how does one acknowledge good artistry while at the same time not liking it? Pat Metheny is a brilliant musician. Clearly, his soft-toned and not-obviously-blues-based concept with its sound-pastiche vibe is not to everyone's liking, but the guy is amazing with his very subtle improvisational ideas and unique sound; even if he doesn't wear a suit :-)

I agree with the comments about James Booker. I knew of him and the fact that he had mentored players like Dr. John, but had not heard his recordings. Rok, thanks for the introduction and I am pretty much amazed by what I have heard so far; definitely someone to become more acquainted with.

The Yellow Jackets are still going strong and I recommend you give the band another shot. "Samurai Samba" is from an early iteration of the band. Personally, Marc Russo's alto sound with its relentless and almost hyper vibe drives me crazy. The band of the last several years has featured Bob Mintzer on reeds with a very welcome and much more sophisticated and insightful playing style; he is also a wonderful composer and arranger.

O-10, you ask a poignant question: "Why?". I suppose it's simply because musicians are people just like anyone else in any walk of life, with personal demons and different capacities to deal with them. Now, add genius to the mix. We would like to think that the type of insight that is a hallmark of genius would help them deal with those demons; but, ironically, it seems that the insight sometimes only serves to give a better look into the whatever torment they must be feeling and not necessarily help them find a way out.

Thanks for the clip Acman3; nice.