Friends is a damn near perfect album, easily one of the Beach Boys' greatest... not the least because of Dennis Wilson's compositional debuts... Money Jungle is way overrated... things just don't click... fine playing, fine players, of course.... and Duke's playing is truly sublime... but Max Roach just doesn't fit in... you really want to like it more, because, hell, it's Mingus... but it pales compared to Ellington's trio work the same year on Piano in the Foreground... Speaking of Mingus, the Bremen 1975 recording with the George Adams-Don Pullen lineup is a gift from overseas... there's not that much live stuff from this band, and Mingus and Dannie Richmond are at the top of their game...
Playlist 2021-05-31:
*Beach Boys: Friends
*Tim Berne's Snakeoil: The Deceptive 4 (Live) (disc 1)
*Blue Cheer: Outsideinside
*Burial: Tunes 2011-2019 (disc 2)
*Taylor Ho Bynum/John Hébert/Gerald Cleaver: Book of Three
*Daniel Carter/Matthew Shipp/William Parker/Gerald Cleaver: Welcome Adventure! Vol. 1
*Charlie Christian: The Genius of the Electric Guitar (disc 1)
*Elvis Costello: This Year's Model
*Elvis Costello and the Attractions: Armed Forces
*Duke Ellington: The Seattle Concert "Harlem Suite"
*Duke Ellington/Charles Mingus/Max Roach: Money Jungle
*Jimmy Giuffre 3: 1961 (disc 1)
*Globe Unity Orchestra: Pearls “Every Single One of Us Is a Pearl”
*Indigo Trio/Michel Edelin: The Ethiopian Princess Meets the Tantric Priest
*Joëlle Léandre/Nicole Mitchell/Dylan van der Schiff: Before After
*Led Zeppelin: Houses of the Holy
*Charles Mingus: Charles Mingus @ Bremen 1964 & 1975 (disc 3)
*Nicole Mitchell: Mandorla Awakening II: Emerging Worlds
*Muffins: Loveletter #2: The Ra Sessions
*Sam Rivers/Alexander von Schlippenbach: Tangens
*Sugar: Copper Blue
*Them Crooked Vultures: Them Crooked Vultures
*Carla Thomas: The Memphis Princess: Early Recordings 1960-1962
*Carla Thomas: Let Me Be Good to You (The Atlantic & Stax Recordings 1960-1968) (disc 4)
*Robert Turman: Chapter Eleven (disc 3)
*Weather Report: Mr. Gone
*XTC: English Settlement
*XTC: Skylarking (sides 1, 2)
*Neil Young: American Stars 'n' Bars
*John Zorn/Fred Frith: The Art of Memory
Just come across your lists - I reckon that Money Jungle, the title track, is absolutely stunning - a message from Duke about how 'out' he could be if he chose to be......I think he, Mingus and Max roach are really feeding off each other and collectively going to that special place. And I love that you are exploring the essence of the Dead which lives on with the solo piano renditions of their tunes by Holly Bowling - who, me being based in the UK, I have just booked to see in Iceland in June......
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, Chris. I definitely have mixed feelings about Money Jungle---I always return to it with high expectations, and then I am always disappointed. I will go back and listen particularly to the title track with your comment in mind. I don't know Holly Bowling, but the concept sounds intriguing.
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