Thanks for the reccs, Tuomas - never heard those Flying Dutchman records of Leon Thomas'. Will track 'em down!
― tylerw, Wednesday, 28 October 2009 17:13 (fourteen years ago) link
In the liners for the new Coltrane box set, Bob Weinstock disses Thiele and Impulse for stealing all of his artists after he made them big. From what I've read, though, Impulse paid their artists waaaay better than Prestige.
― tylerw, Wednesday, 28 October 2009 17:17 (fourteen years ago) link
The first two (Spirits Known and Unknown and The Leon Thomas Album) are especially worth hearing if you like Thomas's collabs with Sanders, as they're quite close to that sound. Sanders even plays on SKaU. The third and fourth albums (Blues and the Soulful Truth and Full Circle) are probably closer to soul than jazz, but they're still pretty great - especially BatST, which IMO is one of the finest sould albums ever made.
(x-post)
― Tuomas, Wednesday, 28 October 2009 17:19 (fourteen years ago) link
literally dying for him to come play in the uk. last shows were in 2008 and i was totally un-sanders-revelated back then.
― Jamie_ATP, Friday, 2 April 2010 09:09 (fourteen years ago) link
he's notoriously patchy/indifferent live these days, sadly - obv dude is pretty old now, v. hard to sustain that kinda blowing intensity. in the uk he was adopted by the acid jazz crowd, thanks mainly to some of his more funky 70s/80s tunes, and he generally plays the jazz cafe in london w/ frankly mediocre backing groups that are not well-versed in free/fire music. i guess what im saying is, just don't expect the jazz composers orchestra if you go see him
― Ward Fowler, Friday, 2 April 2010 09:41 (fourteen years ago) link
Anyone have any idea who 'For Big George' from 'Shukuru' is about?
― textbook blows on the head (dowd), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 03:41 (thirteen years ago) link
Could be Big George Brock, who settled in St Louis, where the song's co-writer Leon Thomas was born. If I could figure out a better way to put that, I wouldn't, because I'm writing from my phone.
― bamcquern, Tuesday, 29 March 2011 04:21 (thirteen years ago) link
Cool, that makes sense, thanks.
― textbook blows on the head (dowd), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 08:07 (thirteen years ago) link
This is awesome - Louis Armstrong (w/Leon Thomas) sings "The Creator Has A Master Plan", with arrangement by Oliver Nelson:http://destination-out.com/?p=474― EZ Snappin, Wednesday, October 28, 2009 4:44 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark
http://destination-out.com/?p=474
― EZ Snappin, Wednesday, October 28, 2009 4:44 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark
― bernard snowy, Tuesday, 29 March 2011 11:31 (thirteen years ago) link
(if not, that is ok, I will just keep ~vibin'~ to Karma)
― bernard snowy, Tuesday, 29 March 2011 11:34 (thirteen years ago) link
Here you go!
― La descente infernale (Le Bateau Ivre), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 12:26 (thirteen years ago) link
I have it on my home comp, I can upload it once I get home. IMO it's not as awesome as it sounds on paper, though it's not bad or anything. I'd recommend checking out Leon Thomas's solo version of "The Creator has a Master Plan" that appears on his debut album... That one is awesome, and you can hear all the verse lyrics that were printed to the album sleeve of Karma but didn't appear on the Pharoah version. The rest of the album is great too, and Pharoah plays on it.
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 29 March 2011 12:31 (thirteen years ago) link
Well, I guess I don't have to upload it, then.
dang, i've slept on Shukuru. i used to see it all the damn time, but passed because of the year. title track is beautiful. rest is good?
― jaxon, Tuesday, 29 March 2011 19:09 (thirteen years ago) link
was just reading about how pharoah doesn't like this album because the engineer didn't put his sax higher in the mix! which seems weird.
― tylerw, Tuesday, 29 March 2011 19:22 (thirteen years ago) link
(i mean, his sax sounds pretty loud on it, doesn't it?)
― tylerw, Tuesday, 29 March 2011 19:30 (thirteen years ago) link
It's maybe more restrained than most of his stuff, but that has nothing to do with volume. 'For Big George' sounds oddly...Scottish. Lovely piece.
― textbook blows on the head (dowd), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 19:38 (thirteen years ago) link
has it been mentioned that tauhid >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> karma?
― uberweiss, Tuesday, 29 March 2011 19:43 (thirteen years ago) link
ha, mayyyybe. but i might say jewels of thought is better than both of those!
― tylerw, Tuesday, 29 March 2011 19:44 (thirteen years ago) link
That Armstrong cover of "Creator" is cool but also kinda sad.
― The Louvin Spoonful (WmC), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 19:48 (thirteen years ago) link
Karma might not be "the best" by some sort of technical standards, but emotionally, for me, it's the best. Always always always inspires me. Mother nature seems to love us.
― Ralpharina (La Lechera), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 19:51 (thirteen years ago) link
Saw a large Armstrong bio in a charity shop today, but then noticed it was auf deutsch. :(
― textbook blows on the head (dowd), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 19:51 (thirteen years ago) link
feel like "Karma: Classic or Dud?" might come down to where you stand on "Colors"
(I used to think it was kinda cheesy... like, the first two times I heard it. then I realized it was fucking awesome. because it is.)
― bernard snowy, Tuesday, 29 March 2011 21:02 (thirteen years ago) link
I haven't listened to Jewels in a while; I remember "Hum-Allah-Hum" but am blanking on what "Sun In Aquarius" sounds like
― bernard snowy, Tuesday, 29 March 2011 21:03 (thirteen years ago) link
I love Live At The East almost as much as I love Karma.
― pc-ness pump (lpz), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 22:17 (thirteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwl55i6VDrk
― pc-ness pump (lpz), Tuesday, 29 March 2011 23:29 (thirteen years ago) link
Has he really not cut an album since 2003?
― WARS OF ARMAGEDDON (Karaoke Version) (Sparkle Motion), Wednesday, 30 March 2011 00:16 (thirteen years ago) link
no, i don't think so. any reasons why?
― by another name (amateurist), Monday, 15 August 2011 01:50 (twelve years ago) link
It's got soul, man. And some heavy metal sax.
― Tuomas, Monday, 15 August 2011 10:28 (twelve years ago) link
I listen to this every Thanksgiving during dinner. It's the best tradition!
― passion it person (La Lechera), Thursday, 22 November 2012 22:39 (eleven years ago) link
i can't believe izipho zam is still unavailable
― the late great, Thursday, 22 November 2012 22:50 (eleven years ago) link
listened to that earlier! it's all pharaoh all day here.
― passion it person (La Lechera), Thursday, 22 November 2012 22:56 (eleven years ago) link
last pharoah i listened to was live at the east -- so good! that is weird that izpho zam is out of print. that one rules too.
― tylerw, Friday, 23 November 2012 03:59 (eleven years ago) link
Prince of Peace from Izipho Zam has become one of our holiday season tunes over the years. Great album. Speaking of maddening OOP Sanders, why can't I find "Harvest Time" anywhere? I love that record.
― WARS OF ARMAGEDDON (Karaoke Version) (Sparkle Motion), Friday, 23 November 2012 17:16 (eleven years ago) link
Speaking of Izipho Zam, I have a Leon Thomas compilation that includes the version of "Prince of Peace" from Izipho Zam, and at least on that comp it has a very obvious and irritating sound glitch towards the beginning of song. I've never gotten Izipho Zam because of the high price you have to pay for it, but can you who own the album tell me whether this glitch is there too?
― Tuomas, Monday, 26 November 2012 12:26 (eleven years ago) link
High price on vinyl you mean? I got a CD of it for like £2 or something.
― Named locally as Tom D (Tom D.), Monday, 26 November 2012 12:30 (eleven years ago) link
No, these days I think you can actually get it cheaper on vinyl than on CD. AFAIK it was reissued on CD in Germany in the early 90s, and the only CD reissues after that have been in Japan, so even the cheapest used copy I could locate at Amazon is 24 quid.
― Tuomas, Monday, 26 November 2012 12:34 (eleven years ago) link
But can you tell me, does your CD copy have that glitch with "Prince of Peace"?
― Tuomas, Monday, 26 November 2012 12:35 (eleven years ago) link
I don't know, I'll have to look out my copy, don't know where it's from, they were almost giving it away in the shop I got it (4-5 years ago)
― Named locally as Tom D (Tom D.), Monday, 26 November 2012 12:35 (eleven years ago) link
Dunno when it was issued (1990s I think), but this Charly CD edition of Izipho Jam is extremely common in the UK, and (as Tom D) sells for peanuts. Don't remember hearing a digital glitch on it.
― Ward Fowler, Monday, 26 November 2012 12:43 (eleven years ago) link
sorry, this edition:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51SWIC3-WlL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
― Ward Fowler, Monday, 26 November 2012 12:44 (eleven years ago) link
Well, it might've been cheap once, but it doesn't look like it's anymore, at least not on the UK Amazon (though of course some UK record stores might still sell it for cheap):
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Izipho-Zam-Pharoah-Sanders/dp/B00000BICI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1353933990&sr=8-1
The glitch I'm talking about doesn't sound like a digital glitch to me, more like there's something wrong with the master tape. That's why I was wondering whether it exists on the original album as well.
― Tuomas, Monday, 26 November 2012 12:49 (eleven years ago) link
I don't have the album at hand, so I can't check it, but IIRC it sounds like some of the channels suddenly cut off, but you can still hear part of the sounds.
― Tuomas, Monday, 26 November 2012 12:56 (eleven years ago) link
Is there much Strata East on cd or reissue vinyl? Seems like all of my SE albums are vinyl rips I found on blogs awhile back.
― WARS OF ARMAGEDDON (Karaoke Version) (Sparkle Motion), Monday, 26 November 2012 17:00 (eleven years ago) link
Like his records but find his actual sax playing often very boring.
― drunk 'n' white's elements of style (Hurting 2), Monday, 26 November 2012 17:48 (eleven years ago) link
I think most of the Strata East/Tribe/Black Jazz stuff got reissued on vinyl 10 or so years ago.
― EVOO Morales (lpz), Monday, 26 November 2012 19:55 (eleven years ago) link
Lot of the Strate East stuff was reissued on CD by Charly back in the 90s: I have a couple of Charles Tolliver and Stanley Cowell CDs released then. Though it seems all of those reissues have been long out of print, judging by the prices they sell for now.
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 27 November 2012 09:56 (eleven years ago) link
Anyway, I'd still love to hear if anyone who has the Izipho Zam CD can confirm whether it has the glitch on "Prince of Peace" or not? I've considering buying the album despite the steep price, but if the flaw is there too I'm not sure if I want it, the glitch is so blatant it kinda ruins my listening experience.
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 27 November 2012 10:00 (eleven years ago) link
Gilles Peterson played a version of "The Creator ... " on his show last Sat.: shorter, with more vocals. Does anyone know where it's from? - he didn't say. It was part of his brief interview with Lonnie Liston Smith, about an hour in, iirc.
― bham, Tuesday, 27 November 2012 10:19 (eleven years ago) link
this, from the first Leon Thomas solo album?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipRZEHRx6ow
― Number None, Tuesday, 27 November 2012 10:23 (eleven years ago) link