Just thinking about my old Dad: his excitement when 'Twisted' was reissued in about 1971.  His trips to Birmingham, London and eventually NYC and New Orleans in search of his music.  The packages from Japan or Pete Russell's that would turn up on our back doorstep and which I would bring in after coming home from school.  The  fuss he made over his hi-fi. 
Round the corner, in a similarly gloomy little house, some guy who worked probably at the railway had a massive opera collection.

Yuca: Great track Congalegre, Sandalia Dela is my favourite, partial to a bit of Flora Purim. First heard her around 1980 on George Dukes Brazilian Love Affair album, she sings on the my favourite track Brazilian Sugar.
All the tracks on Blue Bossa 1 bar Carmen McCrae  are on a Summer Jazz compilation I have on my phone.

I'll be happy to recommend a book, some comps and a few documentaries on YT. But right now I have to hit the mean streets of Puebla, Mexico.

Many thanks, Yuca.  Your recommendations are usually sound so I've invested a few quid in a compilation.

I'm sure it will.  After those depressing early years of musical tribalism (something Elms talks about that I can relate to) I keep an open mind about music.  I also ordered a replacement copy of 'Sketches Of Spain', which I remember listening to (alternating with Harold Melvin) over and over during that melancholy, exciting spring and summer of 2012 when an infatuation overwhelmed me entirely.

I was quite tribal about music in my early mod days, refusing to listen to any soul or jazz from after 67. Becoming a DJ to a young audience soon cured me of such afflictions. I even ended up listening to a lot of rap music for a number of years.

I've even met a couple of pioneers of the movement. (Separately and very briefly: Kool Herc and Bambaataa. This was before the latter was exposed as a paedo.)

Last edited by Yuca (2021-10-28 12:13:03)

Just as a matter of interest, I've read the books by authors like Paul Oliver (more years ago than I care to remember), but does anyone know of a couple of good books charting the progression of black music from its pre-recording studio/recorded in the field beginnings to, say, the best days of Stax/Motown/Atlantic/Philly etc.?  It probably sounds like a lot to ask in a single volume, but I'd be grateful for any info.

Leroi Jones "Black Music", a great book. Ivy connection (?) in the form of a chapter devoted to a review of Don Pullen/Milton Graves "Live At Yale University" 1966.

Here's an interesting passage from another chapter:

'Does anyone really think it's weird that all these English "Pop" groups are making loads of loot? It's pretty simple, actually. They take the style (energy construct, general form, etc) of black blues, country or city, and combine it with the visual image of white American non conformity, i.e. the beatnik, and score very heavily. Plus the fact that these English boys are literally "hipper" than their white counterparts in the U.S., hipper because as it is readily seen, they have actually made a contemporary form, unlike most white U.S. "folk singers", who are content to imitate "ancient" blues forms and older singers, arriving at a kind of popular song (at its most hideous in groups like Peter, Paul, and Mary, etc) which has little to do with black reality, which would have been its strength anyway---that reference to a deeper emotional experience. As one young poet said, "at least the Rolling Stones come on like English crooks."

I say this as one way to get into another thing: namely, that even the avant-garde American music suffers when it moves too far from the blues experience. All the young players now should make sure they are listening to the Supremes, Dionne Warwick, Martha and the Vandellas, the Impressions, Mary Wells, James Brown, Major Lance, Marvin Gaye, Four Tops, Bobby Bland, etc, just to see where contemporary blues is; all the really nasty ideas are right there, and these young players are still connected with that reality, whether they understand why or not. Otherwise, jazz, no matter the intellectual bias, moved too far away from its most meaningful sources and resources and becomes, little by little, just the music of another emerging middle class.'

My story won‘t be different from most of your stories. Got into blues and soul also via Stones, Them, Animals etc.

Today I listen to nothing but the classical music channel, WDR3. They got a good jazz program, too, each Saturday from one to three o‘clock.

Last edited by Hard Bop Hank (2021-10-31 01:51:02)

Just listening to some Latin jazz.  Tito Puente.  Reminds me of something but can't think what.  Undeniably lovely sound.

Glad to hear it. The TP track on that comp is Caravan so it probably reminds you of one or more of the myriad versions of that tune. I think the original was by Duke Ellington, and was written by one of his band members, Juan Tizol. Who happened to be Puerto Rican, hence the tune is technically perfect for playing in a more authentic Latin jazz arrangement.

It was even done in ska in the 1960s (Skaravan).

Re. Baataan: he's another one with no Latin blood who made a big contribution to Latin music. Ordinary Guy by him is another 70s classic (although more on the soul side). There's a very well made documentary about boogaloo in 1960s NY that used to be available free to view online. Maybe it still is. I Like it Like That is the title and in it Baataan talks about his early days, going from criminal gang member to band leader. Recommended.