Jazz for aficionados

Chazro, really liked the Brazilian Groove Band. Great chart; groovy and funky with a touch of that great "up" and traditionally Brazilian "Carnaval" vibe. I’m always a sucker for a great baritone sound and the drummer is killer with a great snare sound. Thanks for that.

We recently touched on the role of the producer re CTI records. Overly produced music which aspires to stay in the (wide) realm of "Jazz" is usually a drag. Somehow, eventhough the engineer and artists might be the same, some CTI recordings (not all) tend to sound overly produced, imo. However, when "production" becomes a complete vehicle for the expression of the music the results can be great in their way. I was listening to this earlier today and thought that Ghosthouse, guitar-phile that he is, might find the guitar player (Jon Herrington) on this interesting. Killer sound and very tasty solos with a Jeff Beck-like touch.  Definitely not jazz, and like it or not (I like it....sometimes....sometimes I almost hate it) the production values are amazing. In a whorehouse? Maybe:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6xk8x4bV8Mc

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-Td_kLBqDqE

Frogman - 
Love Steely Dan?  Love Jon Herrington.  Very familiar with the latest Fagen solo project.  Just listening to it the other day.  Not sure why one would ever be inclined to hate such as that (though it is not Fagen's strongest, I don't think).  Sure, it's not jazz (especially as Rok defines it) but much of the music by Fagen, Becker and the Dan is definitely informed by jazz. 

You might find this piece featuring Herrington interesting...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhboYQHDRI4&ab_channel=PremierGuitar

As a musician, I hope you will enjoy this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_p0uSTcv7t8&ab_channel=bulleto79

There are in fact a series of related videos featuring Fagen and Bernhardt discussing the SD album Aja.  

Closing thought....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eLEVZ_q9eU&ab_channel=SteelyDan-Topic

Jon Herrington, check, CTI, check!  CTI tried to make a comeback in the early 90's releasing an interesting group of recordings.  Unfortunately, the effort failed fairly quickly.  One of the 1st was Chroma - Music On The Edge - taken from a live 1990 performance in Japan featuring an all-star line-up.  The band was made more interesting by the fact that they went the ol'skool R&R route by opting for two lead gtrs, Mike Stern & Jon Herrington!  CTI had a certain style of over-produced product that became their 'signature' sound.  This sounds nothing like that!  But anyone who's listened to CTI also knows they released a number of killa Fusion recordings.  Fusion's always has had it's detractors, here and elsewhere but I'll always fly my F flag high!;)  Unfortunately, this particular cut doesn't feature the horn section, that was on fire that night, Randy Brecker (tpt) and the late, great Bob Berg (sax).  Oh yeah, this ain't yo daddy's Jazz, so if you give it a listen, don't forget to turn it up!!;)  

https://youtu.be/0Ba1PqlbcbI

I know this isn't the type of music usually discussed on this thread, it's cool to see the diversity of the genre manifesting itself every once in a while.  I'm sure yr regularly scheduled programming will be back in due course!;)

****Not sure why one would ever be inclined to hate****(Fagen)

Alex, I have been a fan of Steely Dan since college days forty (!) years ago and still have all their lp’s. I am more mixed about Fagen’s solo efforts which go even further into that slick, "urban-hip" sensibility and, as such, I have always had a love-hate relationship with his solo efforts. Notice I said that "sometimes" I hate "Sunken Condos" it is like my feeling about "The Nightfly". Sometimes I think that "The Nightfly" is a masterpiece. "Kamakiriad" leaves me absolutely cold. This is not the first time that I been asked why I feel this way and the best way I can describe why I feel this way is found in an article about an interview with Fagen that I saved a while back. The author does a fantastic job of putting into words Fagen’s personality and demeanor.

From the interview:

"When he speaks, he seems so contemptuous at his need to communicate to the outside world "

What he describes is precisely the feeling that some of his music projects for me in spite of its many excellent qualities. This is an interesting example of the subjective/objective dilemma. From an objective standpoint it is, within that genre, compositionally great, the production values are state of the art and the playing is fantastic and "perfect". Subjectively, I am not always in the mood for
its personality. Interesting reading for SD fans:

http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-arts-and-culture/music/114035/shanah-tova-from-donald-fagen

"Aja"’s title cut features the great Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone. In 1985 Shorter released "Atlantis",  what I think is, after Herbie Hancock’s "Headhunters", my favorite fusion recording. Very interesting compositions with a compositional depth not always found in the genre and great playing:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=z3qXILIfPuw

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uyhXnCN5Tic

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bYjfHviuOGM

My last post was directed at Ghosthouse; sorry, Alex.