Have recently listened to Art Blakey and the African Drum Ensemble "African Beat" from 1962:



It is an interesting mix of American jazz musicians and African musicians.  I like it, but feel like at times the two types of music do not fully come together.  It does tempt me to explore some recordings of African music from that same time period.  

One recording I am looking at is "Drums of Passion" from 1960 (I think someone noted this recording on the "What's Spinning?" thread - I think it might have been BicycleJoe Lo-Fi).  But that is for another day!

Listening to Bill Doggett, "All His Hits," a 1977 compilation of selected instrumental recordings from the 1950's and 1960's:



Looking at Wikipedia, Doggett started as a jazz player, but these hits sound to me like he shifted more towards blues-based instrumentals that are danceable.  It includes "Honky Tonk," his biggest hit, and one I can remember hearing on the radio in the 1960's - I think it is a song that many people have heard.  Honky Tonk (and it sounds like he is on other songs on this album) features Billy Butler on guitar.  It also has some soulful saxophone work (like "Honky Tonk" and "Slow Walk" played by Clifford Scott).

Jonathan Blake "The Eleventh Hour" cd



Johnathan Blake - drums
Jaleel Shaw - alto sax
Mark Turner - tenor sax
Ben Street - bass
Kevin Hays - piano, Fender Rhodes
Tom Harrell - trumpet, flugelhorn
Grégoire Maret - harmonica Robert Glasper - piano, Fender Rhodes  
Tim Warfield - tenor sax

Duke Ellington "Volume 6, 1929" Masters of Jazz/Media 7 cd



Whenever I stay away from Ellington's work in the 'twenties I'm AMAZED when I return.

Jazz at the pawnshop is an amazing record! Good Choice!!!!

My last spin was "Everything is going to be OK" by Go Go Penguin.

Hi, Dana.  I was struck by your comment "I'll admit I struggle with both jazz and classical as a listening choice I just figure I'm not smart enough to get it . . .".    I guess this post is a rambling "response" to that (it is not meant as an uninvited suggestion on how you listen to music!).

Like many born in the late 1950s, the music I heard the most growing up was rock music, and a lot of that was blues-based, and I have never felt a need to "study" this music - it just seems to make sense to me because it was just part of the environment I grew up in.  For example the 1970 self-titled album "Leon Russell."



When I starting to listen to jazz, I usually only liked a very limited percentage of the songs I listened to.  The songs I liked were enough to keep me exploring (why explore if you don't like any of it!), and over time I began to appreciate more of it - I don't think that reflects intelligence or study.  Instead, for me it is just exposure to more music in the genre.  I generally move slowly through the music by following favorite musicians or sub-genres that slowly expanded my exposure.  

In writing this, I went back to the first recording I bought with sax player Sonny Stitt - Sonny Stitt, Bud Powell, J.J. Johnson on Prestige (with a very strange cover!):



When I first heard this, I liked the introductions, but then got lost in the middle of each song until the melody of the introduction got repeated at the end.  I liked enough of it to keep looking for other recordings by him.  Revisiting this recording tonight for the first time in many years, it seems to make sense now, I think just because I have heard more.  Glad I revisited it!

Thanks guys!  Due to your encouragement I put on Oliver Nelson which is probably my favorite traditional "jazziest" album.  Being born in the mid 50's I  know where you are coming from regarding music choice and its' roots. I'm trying to step outside my traditional background preferences and look for music created in the last 25 years.  So when I find something exceptional like the Bela Fleck, Zakir Hussain album I'm just reminded of after a lifetime of listening I still know so little about the subject.


The Blues and the Abstract Truth
Oliver Nelson
Recording Date February 23, 1961
Engineer:  Rudy Van Gelder



A little classical just to let ya know I'm trying


Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue; An American in Paris
Leonard Bernstein
Rereleased: 2006

I used to watch Wilson with the Fabulous Thunderbirds in Austin in clubs in the 'eighties. Some good times!

I keep coming back to this album by the great, late Kelly Joe Phelps. I was raised in the church his lyrics about his struggles with faith like "Why do I chose to suffer, when I can live with God?" smack me dead center.  On top of that his amazing guitar playing makes this one of my all time all time.


Brother Sinner & the Whale
Kelly Joe Phelps
Released: 2012
Engineer, Mastering, Mixing, Producer: Steve Dawson

Hello, Lon and Donnie.

I also saw the Thunderbirds a couple of times in the 80's, while Jimmie Vaughan was on guitar and the band was a four piece.  I think Austin clubs would be the best place to have seen them!  That band has had a lot of personnel changes, and many talented people have played with them.
 
Jimmie Vaughan was great, helping make a full sound in a small band setting.  He was also scary good at playing behind a harmonica player, keeping the rhythm going while adding tasty fills (for example, “Pocket Rocket,” “Low Down Woman,” “Last Call for Alcohol”, and “You’re Humbuggin’ Me”).  

On an obscure note, the Jimmie Vaughan version of the T-Birds is also credited with “additional music” for the movie “Tex” from 1982 – film is fine, but my favorite part was an instrumental blues shuffle playing during a drug deal scene in the movie, which was classic T-Birds.   For early T-Bird "junkies," this is a YouTube link to the scene (with dialog, so you don't just get the music - probably only worth looking at if you are a fan of the early T-Birds - seems like you can find almost anything on YouTube):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEtKRHxENtc

I am still partial to the first Fabulous Thunderbirds album “Girls Go Wild” from 1979:

Lon, I'm sure there were many talented players rotating through Antone's in the 1980s.  I don't know much about Angela Strehli except seeing her a few times on Austin City Limits.  

I have some recordings of Lou Ann Barton, and all of them include Jimmie Vaughan on guitar.  That includes Lou Ann Barton, "Read My Lips" from 1989 on the Antone's Records label:  



I think a lot of people now are aware of her from Jimmy Vaughan's "More Blues, Ballads, and Favorites" CD, which are "featuring Lou Ann Barton:"



By the way, while I know that Austin had a very strong blues scene in the 1980s, I wonder if it also had a strong jazz scene.

This is a guilty pleasure album.  It's just so fun to listen to

Powerful People
Gino Vannelli
Released: 1974
Engineer: Larry Forkner

Maybe the best movie soundtrack of all time (sorry Grosse Point Blank).  This album makes my stereo sound way better than it should.

One from the Heart
Tom Waits / Crystal Gayle
Recording Date
October, 1980 - September, 1981

Chuck Findley Trumpet
Jack Sheldon Trumpet
Teddy Edwards Sax (Tenor)
Gene Cipriano Sax (Tenor)
Ronnie Barron Organ
Gray Frederickson Producer

Wild Garden
Josefine Cronholm
Recording Date: September, 2001
Engineer, Mixing: Tim Harris

Not much lately…having too much fun in the sun and getting totally exhausted at times!