Odds and Ends 004

Not that this has anything to do with recent discussions, but.....

Several months ago, I made a flip remark here pertaining to Dave Brubeck's "authenticity". I deserved a more stern rebuke, but Tom Hull chimed in with a polite and informative appreciation of the man and his music.

I had DVR'd the Eastwood-produced In His Own Sweet Way last summer, but didn't get around to watching it until last week. It's a good overview of his life and work with some respectful comments from Clint, Bill Cosby, David Benoit, Keith Emerson, et. al., along with the rest of the Brubeck clan. There's a great scene at the end with he and Jay McShann doing a blues duet on piano. What a positive, enthusiastic guy he is; great wife, too. It's worth renting or else try to catch the documentary whenever  TCM  gets around to airing it again. Boy, I'd give anything to be half that vital if I make 90.

Perhaps he isn't one of the "titans", but I think Brubeck deserves enormous credit not only as a performer but as an educator and ambassador for exposing jazz to the masses with his college visits and non-stop touring. I also believe he was a world music pioneer utilizing themes culled from his various global treks on many LPs.

Having only a "greatest hits" knowledge of his music, I'm now collecting his better-rated individual records and digging them. Tom called him a "mensch" - I belatedly concur.

Every time I hear about Wreckless Eric I can't help thinking about his lady (hope they are still together-who knows these days)- the great Amy Rigby. If you aren't familiar with her music- jump, immediately. Xgau would certainly agree. It was his ratings of her albums that turned me on.

always open minded enough to give a band some second chance, i went through that Smiths box  this afternoon and it still is a problem for me to hear what's so great about that band(in our region anyway) .As a singer i think he has presence enough but most of the time those songs really don't work for me.

Could be his original melodic flow that" hangs" in there.Or is it just his voice ?

Milo, how on earth did you come across that Teen Dreams comp?

Oh, I talk to all sorts of music nuts. Few months ago I was chatting with an oldies expert and I complained that too many retrospective anthologies from the pre-Beatles years were burdened with numbers that were either too familiar or too hip for the average teen in those days. (Sure, you heard them on the soundtrack of a nostalgic movie* but what was more likely on the radio or played at home back in the day?) He recommended Teen Dreams as a non-hip collection put together by somebody with a complete sensibility and a sharp ear. And it was far from a mere crate-dig, too. And he was right.

I was kinda surprised I didn't have it already. But Sony didn't send me every reissue, that's for sure, and this one was a quickie -- like I say, there's not even any indication who put it together.

*This is not to deny the importance of the very best of them, American Graffiti, which gave a major boost to interest in oldies.