Ran to my favorite local record store in hopes of finding some ’70s George Duke records. Instead of George Duke records (out of stock), I bought the following:
Sergio Mendes and Brasil ’77 – Love Music – A pretty cool, very commercial record. Bonnie Boden is on it, and with Mendes, she was helpful to Stevie Wonder on the Portuguese verse of “Bird of Beauty,” one of Stevie’s greatest tunes. Sebastian Neto sounds awesome on this, and the writing is a textbook of clarity in commercial 1970s writing practices. Totally worth it.
Sergio Mendes – Magic Lady – This is a later record with the Tower of Power Horns, Michael Sembello and Nathan Watts (both from Stevie Wonder’s band). A super commercial effort that is super fun to listen to if you like that 1979 international disco sensation style. But man, incredible writing and playing, in that style. Glad to have heard this one. My favorite tune on this is “You Get Your Love From Me,” which seems like Prog Love Boat.
Syreeta Wright – Syreeta – Bill Preston is on this, plus a monster list of great session cats. The writing isn’t my favorite, but the re-imaginings of “Blame it on the Sun” and “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)” are both totally worth it.
In the middle of listening to these records, which takes me a long time, Aretha Franklin passed away. So, I went to a local store and bought quite a few Aretha records. Honestly, I bought Amazing Grace a few different times on a few different “platforms,” but anyway some of these records, and the Aretha records in particular were purchased after the Mendes, et al records.
Amazing Grace – So, this is one of those records that makes me wish that I grew up in a different religious tradition. She makes me believe in things I have long since stopped believing in. And Chuck Rainey! He’s amazing on this record.
Stevie Wonder – Music of My Mind – This is a vinyl re-issue, but sounds incredible anyway. Like, way better than the CD I have had for decades, and a million times better than any streaming service. More on this in my Stevie Wonder book (yes!).
Aretha Franklin – Let Me In Your Life – Being the Stevie fan that I am, it’s embarrassing that I didn’t know this record. Oh, and being the Jerry Jemmot and Chuck Rainey and “Pretty” Purdie fan…and the fact that I love Aretha “Live at the Fillmore West”…embarrassing. This album is, when it is at it’s best, amazing. At it’s worst, great. Very typical song choices of the time, but played amazing.
Stevie Wonder – Eivets Rednow – An instrumental album recorded while his voice was changing, or such is the lore. He plays great harmonica throughout the record, with two tracks on (not Wurly?) keyboard. Mostly, he comes across as an amazing interpreter of melody, and not so much a jazz improviser on this record. Arrangements are text book common practice for big band and string writing during the time. Happy to have found it on LP!.
Stevie Wonder – “My Eyes Don’t Cry” – This is the 12″ version of the release, with three remixes.
Luther Vandross – The Night I Fell in Love – I bought this for the “Creepin'” track, but man, what a band and what great music! It’s Luther-being-Luther, so it’s slow and romantic with 1980s digital instruments, but really super awesome. “Creepin'” is definitely worth it.
Sergio Mendes – The Great Arrival – This is a classic commercial “jazz” record with obviously super heavy cats playing great music flawlessly. Few chances are taken (although Clare Fisher’s “Carnaval” has a bunch of tough stuff built in), but that’s ok because the playing is fantastic anyway.
Aretha Franklin – Aretha – This is the 1980 Arista record. It’s…cool. Amazing cats on this record, and some really great writing. The tunes I had the most fun listening to were both covers, “Can’t Turn You Loose” by Otis Redding, and “What a Fool Believes” by Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins. Both are great, as is the rest of the record, but it’s not essential. This record is more a matter of documenting normal writing and playing in 1980 than anything that pushes boundaries or innovates. Killer, though, but not essential. Thunder Thumbs sounds pretty epic on this record, though. And this one note on the jacket is pretty cute: “Many thanks to…the guys in Toto. You are too, too, much.”
Dave McKenna – The Key Man – Honestly, I had never heard McKenna until this record (knowingly), and probably was too immature to appreciate his playing when a) he was still alive, and b) I could have heard him in any of the places that he played in Boston back in the day. Truly incredible piano playing, sort of post-Art Tatum, but a little less full-on-all-the-time, and he never misses. Even the scratch in this record seemed correct.
Dave McKenna – Tribute to Hogey Carmichael – This being the second McKenna record that I have ever heard, I’m still blown away, but getting a better sense of his language. Yes, he can rush the tempo, so that makes him human. And there is this descending (#9, b9, b13) thing he does on altered chords, pretty much every time, and that makes him human, too. He’s amazing, for sure, but it’s nice to hear that he’s not invincible, or something.
Paul McCartney – Egypt Station – Newest McCartney record, and yes, I bought it. This record has some really interesting moments – truncated/elided phrases, fun production ideas (why have an electric guitar solo when you can have a Ney solo (or something similar?), and of course, McCartney melodies and delicious harmonies. A nice record, some really engaging moments, two throw away tracks (to make it feel like a concept record), one overblown/disconnected tune, and one totally horrible song. But honestly, I have listened to this thing about 10 times. I like it.
Greg Hopkins – Okavango – Mostly a “shout out” to my Berklee colleague who is one of the most amazing musicians I have ever known. His writing is unbelievable – filled with clarity and color – and his playing is ridiculous. Killer musicians on this record, too, including Bill Pierce and Joe Hunt.
Bob Pilkington – Fusion Nouveau/Lords of Time – Another gift from a colleague, and another doozy. Killer band and amazing writing. Like a prog jazz record, sort of. Super interesting.
Janice Ian – Stars – I love the title track, and can even attribute the purchase of this record to a single note – the one she sings on the word “last” as in “last light of the sun.” But then, any record with both Richard Davis and George Duvivier on it must be amazing, right?
Aretha Franklin – Jump To It – Produced by Luther Vandross with a super healthy dose of Marcus Miller, this is the definition of killer ’80s music. Stevie Wonder recently said that “Aretha takes a song and doesn’t give it back,” and that is definitely the case for “It’s Your Thing,” and for “Just My Daydream.”
Aretha Franklin – Hey Now Hey – Just after Amazing Grace, so you know it’s super funky. Jerry Jemmott! And, now Bernstein’s song “Somewhere” is no longer his…
Denny Zeitlin – Live at the Trident – Charlie Haden and Jerry Granelli. Killing. And yes, for those of us who were certain that the mixed meter innovations of the ’90s were “original,” “At Sixes and Sevens” is in 13. So there.
George Duke – Don’t Let Go – Ok, so that’s some funk. I went through a ’70s George Duke phase over the summer and am currently in pursuit of Duke on vinyl. This is the first record that I managed to find; they are pretty rare, as it turns out. Ok, so there’s this track, “Dukey Stick” and it is…not my thing. Yes, it’s funky, but it borrows so much from the Parliament universe that it is tough for me to accept on its own merits. And yes, many people turn to that track as the identifying funk of his career. But honestly, it’s not that happening, and the double entendre is not that hip. I mean, it has the word “dukey” in it. But ignoring this track, the rest is super cool and has much of what I love about Duke’s music. Luscious, rich changes with delicious harmonies (especially in the background vocals), played and sung by seriously talented cats. I love Josie James on “The Way I Feel” and Napoleon Murphy Brock is still, as aways, a total stand-out for me.
Stanley Cowell – Equipoise – DO I really need this record? Probably. I love Stanley Cowell’s writing and playing, and it has Cecil McBee and Roy Haynes. Should be enough said with that. But there is also a McBee original on this, “Lady Blue,” and it exemplifies a style that I really love, which is a free interpretation of form. They are totally playing on changes, but the melodic line or arc matters more during the improvisation than whether or not the pitches perfectly match the chord. And, because of when this was recorded, a “free” approach to changes is more prevalent than some overarching concept(s), such as so clearly a part of today’s playing. On the other hand, it is a Galaxy record from the 1970s, so the sound of the record is not that awesome. Still, totally worth it.
Gary Burton/Steve Swallow – Hotel Hello – Ok, so I bought this a lifetime ago because of the tunes in the Real Book, and I was very disappointed. It moves very slowly, it builds over time, the motivic development is super clear, chromaticism is prepared and resolved, and so on and so forth. My teenage ears were bored. But my middle aged ears are not; especially now that I’m teaching this stuff. Amazing record, but be in it for the details.
Keith Emerson – With the Nice – No. Ok, this is a 2-fer that reissues Elegy and Five Bridges, and there is a good amount of daring on these records. The orchestra writing is interesting, but sort of predictable. Reminds me of Bruckner for some reason. Anyway, that’s it. No.
Andrae Crouch and Disciples – Live at Carnegie Hall – Yes. Totally. Funky, aspirational, joyous, welcoming, heartfelt, genuine, stunning, astonishing. And killer bass playing by Bill Thedford. Yes.
Aretha Franklin – One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism – Another killer gospel record from the Queen. Mavis Staples!