Jazz for aficionados

alexatpos, thanks for these important (to me) links.  I didn't know about the video-only Royal Hall concert.  Now I know Coryell preceded (and was replaced by) Al Di Meola in the trio that would soon record the legendary "Friday Night in San Francisco."  And why.

(BTW, it's interesting that the opening number from the Royal Hall show with Coryell is listed as "Intro - Entre Dos Aguas."  Most of us know that as "Mediterranean Sundance," the spectacular opening piece on the subsequent FNinSF recording.)

New to me: Coryell had a serious drug/alcohol addiction that became debilitating in '78 and culminated in successful rehab in late '81.  This is why he was replaced by DiMeola.

New to me: Paco de Lucia didn't read music.  I always assumed he did.  I should have known better, as usual.  Sounds like John and Larry learned a lot from Paco about flamenco, and Paco learned a lot about jazz from them.

Not new to me:  McLaughlin is the ultimate virtuoso.

Man, business is slow! Takeout only?


Birthday time!

One of my very favorite composer/orchestrators. Two very popular charts penned during his long association with Count Basie:

https://youtu.be/s0igE09HI1U

https://youtu.be/5_Mtgo9WOL0

A younger generation’s take on the same tunes:

https://youtu.be/UtNTFUxz0rQ

https://youtu.be/HOoby3jOEG0

Very successful in the film/tv world also:

https://youtu.be/XwIt58mdz6Y

And, of course:

https://youtu.be/vWUn6tzOAwU

@frogman

We all appreciate the spirit behind tribute recordings, but sometimes the better part of valor is leaving things alone.  Mintzer's "Cute" gets too frenetic given the bouncy flavor of the composition, and his "Lil' Darlin" feels unbearably slow and unengaging.

How is it that Basie's version of "Lil' Darlin" is so smooth and satisfying, whereas Mintzer's is a yawner?  I guess I'm officially old school.

Thanks for assembling and sharing these performances!

Keegiam, I completely agree with your reaction to the Mintzer recordings and I appreciate the reasonableness of your comments, especially those about “Lil’ Darlin“. You are relatively new to the thread, so allow me to explain in case it is not obvious.

Personally, I sometimes like to post certain clips to try and inspire reactions and commentary and not necessarily because I think the clips are particularly great. When I do think they are great it will be obvious. So, thanks for “biting”. BTW, given the subject of the thread (Hefti) it should be noted that while the Mintzer’s recordings are the same tunes they are not Hefti’s arrangements, they are Mintzer’s. That was the whole point of posting Mintzer; the different generational approaches to the same tunes. I do like Mintzer’s own compositions/arrangements in a modern bag, but that’s a different story.

Now, re your comment “unbearably slow and I engaging”. Basie recorded Hefti’s “Li’l Darlin” several times at many different tempos including some very slow versions. That chart became a staple of many working big bands’ repertoire and, for better or for worse, it became “a thing” to see just how slowly the band could play it without things falling apart. I posted this a while back. Same Hefti arrangement, almost as slow as Mintzer’s. Engaging? You bet. (Snooky Young kills me on this):

https://youtu.be/RlX0b-AJWz4

Slowest recorded “Li’l Darlin” I’ve heard. Engaging? Different vibe altogether.  Engaging in a typical Ray Charles funky way:

https://youtu.be/zHZnt8S6Xzc