DAVEO Performing a James Taylor groove Titled - "TOO POPPED TOO POOP" (Sarah Maree)

When did you start collecting records?
I started ‘collecting’ in high-school, 1986, but I started shopping for records when I was 7. My father used to take me out once a month or so to hit up some record stores. Like most kids, I wanted to be like him, so I would buy records but I was into disco and pop. He was into deep heavy rock (Electric Prunes, Blue Cheer, Black Sabbath) so whenever I would play my stuff, he would exit stage left.

In high school I started actually getting a collection together. I probably had 800 or so records back then. Anything from Acid House to Metal. In the mid 90’s I only was buying CD’s. Finally in the late 90’s I realized that CD’s were a waste and started upgrading all my CD’s to vinyl. Never regretted that move.

Can you tell us a little about the albums you selected for the mix and why you chose them?
I chose a wide range of music but the common thread are jazz musicians that had spiritual ties. In the 60’s and 70’s you had a lot of small independent labels (Saturn, Nimbus, Black Jazz, Strata East, Tribe, etc) that put out amazing work. Ideas were everywhere and people were exploring new territories. There were a lot of musicians also deep into religion and they made jazz music based off of their relationship with God. John Coltrane pretty much launched this movement, being an extremely spiritual person. I can’t quite explain it, but the music has a different feeling and sound. This mix takes a journey into what people now call “Spiritual Jazz.”


For some people Jazz can be hard to understand or appreciate, what is it that resonates with you?
The first time I “heard” jazz was when I was in college and a friend dropped Herbie Hancock “Headhunters” at my house one night. It really resonated with me, especially the track Chameleon! When the transition in the middle of the song happens you just get all warm and a light turned on in my brain. I was playing house music out at the time and they would sample jazz a lot, so I knew your basic jazz and soul hooks. The next lp I bought was Coltrane’s “Interstellar Space” and that did not resonate with me at all. After that was Dolphy’s “Out to Lunch” and that was a little better. I kept trying different ‘classics’ until I got to Coltrane’s”Love Supreme” and then things clicked a little more. I think the more you listen to jazz, your ear sharpens and you can hear more things. Doors start to open, you can start to hear emotions, personalities, ideas and conversations with the band members. Raw feelings. The best jazz to me is music that is caught up in a struggle of emotions.

Do you see any connections between typography and jazz?
If you look at anything from the constructivist workings, avant garde typography, down to the Reid Miles covers, or even Niklaus Troxler posters… you can see how words and jazz mix. There is a rhythm in how people speak and can relate to music as well. So if you take how people talk, you can express that visually with the letters. Or even capture the mood or emotion of the players, much like Reid Miles did. I don’t think he captured the music, but more the feeling and personalities of the players. There are a lot of new books coming out about album cover art, so I think that is a testimony that music does inspire design.

What are your thoughts on the downloadable music culture and its
effect on album cover design?
Where do you begin? The music industry does not care about making good music. When they changed from vinyl to tapes to CD’s, they fully knew it was not as dynamic but very portable. Ever since then, they have pushed a more disposable format. Nothing can replace the size, feel and emotion that you can get from a beautiful lp cover. To be honest, I don’t even care what most albums look like anymore if it is digital. They could have any image because I can’t see the cover unless I choose to look at it or add it in iTunes. With an album, you have to look at it. You have to put money and effort into making an LP. It is just the perfect size and shape to get enough detail and do a dynamic layout.


Every collector has that prized find. What record is that for you?
I have found some nice stuff. These are not the most rare but finding a white label of Skull Snaps, Tom Scott’s “Honeysuckle Breeze” was nice. My favorite stuff to find is private-press jazz and boogie. To answer your question, my prized lp is Oriental Jazz by Lloyd Miller. It is one of those lp’s that just resonates with me.

Do you have any other record digging stories you can share with us?
I have been in more than a couple odd situations where I felt like I could have been abducted extremely easily. The classic one was where we are in Ohio and are calling record stores. This guy answers and said he closed his shop but is willing to let us peek around for a bit of what stock he has. We drive up to the address and we are in a bad side of town. When we park I am thinking my car is going to get stolen. I see these guys walking down the street and tell my friend to watch out as he is opening the door and he practically hits these guys with my car door. They murmur something to him and we see this guy opening these big wooden panels on a shop. When we walk in, there are records all over the place and nothing is priced. We sort through it all and found some nice Blue Notes. When we are done, he says yeah your car is still there (he was watching it) want to see more records? So we say yep. We go around this bulletproof glass barrier into another room that looks like a bomb went off in it. Records were everywhere, we were walking on records to get to the main part of the room. We spent a good hour or two there, pulling some nice jazz and Soul. So when we are done, he says there are some lps in the basement. Well we go downstairs and the air is thicker than I have ever breathed. Damp as anything with a mold and mildew stench. My friend and I have our arm over our mouth so we can breathe and the owner doesn’t go down. It’s basically something straight out of Pulp Fiction and the word “gimp” comes in my head immediately.

So we are down there and there is one green bulb on and you can barely see. We said we had enough and he said well there is another basement down from here with more records. We reluctantly say okay and we go
down further and I can’t even breathe and my friend murmers lets get the hell out of here’ and he goes upstairs. I did see a audiofile Herbie Hancock “Maiden Voyage” so I run over and grab it and go upstairs. I was really thinking NOBODY would have found us if something happened, being probably 30 or more feet underground. The only reason I went down is because the owner was a really nice guy.

So he said he had yet another warehouse with some as well so we go there too and had crates and of crates of jazz. I was just spent so really didn’t look as sharp as I should have. It was just a great time but took up a half of a day. I think I got 70 something records there. Checking out closed warehouses full of lps are ALMOST always a treat.

Reid miles/ Blue Note is often mentioned when the subject of cover
art is brought up. What other jazz labels do you feel we’re/are
consistently producing solid cover art?
ECM is probably my favorite overall from front-to-back cover. I used to see them all the time for 50 cents and passed on them until I thought that I should just buy them all for the covers. Well, I started really getting into the releases that came out before 1980 and started collecting them. I have their first hundred-and-something releases (ECM1001-ECM1120) or something. Blue Note is essential, Strata-East, Tribe, Impulse is okay (their spine is the best ever though). Factory Records and 4AD is pretty amazing but not jazz.

Avishai Cohen - Aurora (making-of)

I think it's a big mistake to not have Gulliana or Barsh on this album. I've followed Avishai's music since I started to find a love of jazz music, I saw them get better and better up to Continuo. Now it's all downhill. This ISN'T bad, but it's not got the same buzz about it. Contrary to what is said in this video I think Maestro is a very cold player emotionally even though his technique is very fluid.

James Mason - Rhythm of life

James Mason "Rhythm of life" Strange how things work, almost 25 yrs later, the minimalist approach to jazz and funk/soul as defined by the "acid jazz / new grooves" designation suddenly propels James Mason into the "visionary' category- he was doing these things back in the late 70's, as were Roy Ayers, Norman Connors, Lonnie Liston Smith, etc etc...... ( "these things" being Vamps and so -called "killer grooves" that take presidence over fully realized compositions. Sampling seems to me a major issue, it seems with many new fans for the evolution of this style ...) NO SAMPLES HERE, just some like minded musicians puttin down a heavy vibe and playing "off of" one another, "interacting" instead of "interactive", if ya catch mah drift......... JM proved a tough groover, adept at electric keyboards, funky guitar comping, and a "lead guitar" style very much in the 70's jazz/fusion mode. A crack band, featuring the impeccable drums of Michael Walden, and the etherial vocals of Clarice Taylor, (with some guest spots by Philip Woo *piano* and Justo Almario's saxwork)--the session percolates with some firey grooves which meet with some nice modal progressions/ chord voicings that sound far more soulful than much of the sampled fare, you "FEEL" the musics pour from the musicians , pure magic! "Sweet Power..." I believe is a dancehall hit now, and "Good Thing" , "Slick City", the lovely contemplative lyrics of "Dreams", I cant mention now each selection, but the cd runs track to track with pulsations& gesticulations , although the grooves can get a bit frantic on a few cuts.(the 70's were a hectic decade, hehehehe!) Some of the tunes just "die out" at the end as if not the final take,"unfinished" as i said before is the impression i have. ---- but HEY, cant have everything, can you? What has become of James Mason, I think I will take a look , meanwhile , take a "look/listen" to this cd. Cheers Jimbo

Prince Lasha & Sonny Simmons - Firebirds

"Firebirds" is essential modern jazz. This album should be mentioned in the same breath as modern jazz classics like Andrew Hill's "Point of Departure," Bobby Hutcherson's "Dialogue," and Eric Dolphy's "Out to Lunch." Prince Lasha and Sonny Simmons have appeared together on record before -- Jimmy Garrison/Elvin Jones' "Illumination," and Eric Dolphy's "Conversations" and "Iron Man" -- and they are one of the dynamic duos of the 60s avant-garde. Any fan of the outward thinking jazz of the 60s will be remiss at not buying this album sooner.
Altoists Sonny Simmons and Prince Lasha are not household names, even in the world of 60s avant-garde jazz. But Firebirds is without a doubt one of the classics of the genre, forgotten and ignored because it wasn't recorded for Blue Note or Impulse.

The one bona-fide superstar on Firebirds is vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, whose playing here is terrific and especially loopy. Drummer Charles Moffett (best known for his work with Ornette Coleman's trio) is like a percussive trampoline and Buster Williams rounds out the group with his strong basslines.

But Simmons and Lasha are the ones who steal the show; their playing is melodic and joyous, alternating solos with animated dialogues. The music reminds me a little of Ornette's Golden Circle trio, but the playing is generally more "inside" and the vibes give it an Out-to-Lunchish flavor. "Psalms of Solomon" is especially amazing -- Moffett sets up a percolating groove with Lasha on flute and Simmons on English horn, but over 11 minutes it gets increasingly frantic and intense. "The Island Song" is very catchy, and on "Prelude to Bird" the two leaders pay tribute to Mr. Parker. The wild title track lives up to its name and may scare some hard bop fans, though it's quite tame compared to what Coltrane and Cecil Taylor were doing at the time.

Beyond the details of the music itself, these guys are unashamedly speaking their piece, succeeding marvelously. You won't hear any bs from Lasha and Simmons- these are two guys that speak through their horns, subsequently going far beyond the music. There is a deeper abstract truth in their artistic sensibility, (not to mention tons of soul.)

Dig the below poem by Sonny Simmons, Traveler.

"TRAVELER"

Nomadic WAS he, wandering
pour that secret place
moving and rowing
with a heart full of the miseries
of life. feeling that music
within moi. Never stop ---
reaching into the le unknown
realm of many unseen --
mysteries Le vast unfathomable
distance of Eternity.

Firebirds is highly recommended for any fan of freebop and the more melodic side of avant-garde jazz. It's also a lot of fun to listen to.

And since it's a limited edition, you'll be kicking yourself if you don't get it.

"Use Me" by Esther Phillips

AT LAST THIS AWSOME RELEASE IS LONG OVERDUE BUT FINALLY HERE IT IS...NOMINATED FOR A GRAMMY MISS ESTHER HITS STRAIGHT AT THE HEART AND NEVER MISSES.
Support members are Burnard Purdie, Ron Cater, Maceo Parker, G Benson etc... includes song "Use me".

THE FINAL CUT GEORGIA ROSE SAYS IT ALL.....REST IN PEACE A TRUE DIVA......

Get Out of my Way - Cal Tjader

If you are looking for some true Latin Jazz roots music, than look no further. This is no doubt a classic in the field of Latin Jazz , bringing together two of the most talented pioneers and prolific players of their era. Featuring the fiery Eddie Palmiera on piano and Cal Tjader on vibes, this disc is a knockout. The two leaders play in unison as one voice on this set of Latin rhythms, one leading the other into a series of improvisational dancing grooves. On this disc you get all the original material with Rudy Van Gelder doing the engineering plus many songs not featured on the original recording from 1966. The disc can go from soft, slow, lush vibraphone led melodies and switch to quick , uptempo, percussion syncopated beats that sizzle. The percussion work is smoking and results in some bouncy music. Some highlights include Eddie Palmieri leading on "Unidos," setting the high standard for the fellow band members to match which eventually they do. Palmieri's banging on the white keys gives way to Tjaders vibes smoother than a baton pass by a Gold Medal winning Olympic athelete. Like a race relay team, each band member hands off the lead flawlessly resulting in a classic song and a winner. Like many jazz bands from the sixties that wanted a piece of the pop market this disc features a familiar melody in the song, "On a Clear Day." Recorded by many different artists during that decade(check out Billy Pauls version) this song sounds out of place on the disc, although it was "Latinized " on this version. The pairing of Palmieri and Tjader works best on songs like "Picadillo, " "El Sonido Nuevo" and "Los Jibaros. " This disc has a Cuban feel to it and is most evident on songs like "Los Jibaros" where the Afro rhythms make you want to move. Or take the very traditional Cuban sounding "Guijira en Azul" where the Cuban folk rhythms dominate and make you want to dance even if you're sitting. In terms of a historical snapshot it shows the early influence of Latin jazz on future generations of musicians. This is a beautiful collection of music for anyone that likes Latin Jazz. Recommended for Latin Jazz fans.

I've enjoyed several of the Blue Note "blue" compilations, notably the "Blue N' Groovy," "Blue Breakbeats," and "So Blue, So Funky" sets, and as great as they are, they CAN be a little uneven. "Blue Funk," on the other hand, is so rhythmically engaging, so absolutely cohesive and refreshing that it never, EVER gets old. The choice of tunes here is phenomenal. Some of these grooves, such as the friendly old-school shuffle of "Say It Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud)" may be permanently etched into your DNA, and you'll be a better person for it. In the end, there is so much flawless music out there to be grooved to, that the eclectic listener has precious little time for anything but the cream, and the CREAM is what's delivered here. "Blue Funk" is the best of the best of the best. For me, there is no better single-disc, various artist collection of jazzy instrumental funk, period. What a great collection!

Who Dun It? - Blue Mitchell 2. Say It Loud (I'm Black And I'm Proud) - Lou Donaldson 3. Cissy Strut - Big John Patton 4. Ease Back - Grant Green 5. Hunk O' Funk - Jack McDuff 6. Tic Tac Toe - Candido 7. Down Home Funk - Richard "Groove" Holmes 8. Cantaloupe Woman - Grant Green 9. I Don't Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing (Open Up The Door I'll Get It Myself) - Grant Green 10. Don't Knock My Love - Ronnie Foster 11. If There's A Hell Below - Lou Donaldson 12. Bambu - Reuben Wilson 13. Family Affair - Bobby Hutcherson

BLUE NOTE RECORDS

"BLUE SERIES" & FUNK

I THINK THERE ARE 32 OR 33 TITLES TOTAL IN THE "BLUE SERIES".

I Have 26 OF THEM. PLUS, THE RARE PROMOTIONAL COMPILATION CD.

1. BLUE BREAK BEATS VOLUME 1

2. BLUE BREAK BEATS VOLUME 2

3. BLUE BREAK BEATS VOLUME 3 (PROMO STICKER ON FRONT OF BOOKLET, PROMO STAMP ON CD)

4. BLUE BREAK BEATS VOLUME 4

5. BLUE BRAZIL VOLUME 1

6. BLUE BRAZIL VOLUME 2

7. BLUE BRAZIL VOLUME 3

8. CAPITOL RARE VOLUME 1 (PROMO STAMP ON CD)

9. CAPITOL RARE VOLUME 2

10. AFRO BLUE VOLUME 1

11. AFRO BLUE VOLUME 2 (VG++)

12. BLUE N GROOVY VOLUME 1

13. BLUE N GROOVY VOL. 2/MOSTLY MODAL

14. SO BLUE SO FUNKY VOLUME 1

15. SO BLUE SO FUNKY VOLUME 2

16. BLUE BOSSA VOLUME 2 (VG CONDITION)

17. BLUE VALENTINES

18. BLUE BIG BANDS

19. LATINO BLUE

20. JUMP BLUE (COLUMBIA HOUSE)

21. BLUE BACHARACH

22. BLUE BOOGIE

23. MIDNIGHT BLUE

24. BLUE 45'S

25. RHAPSODY IN BLUE

26. BLUE MONK

27. THE BLUE SERIES SAMPLER

If you prefer your funk on the more jazzy tip, as opposed to a more "rock" or "pop" style, then this may be your new favorite compilation. "Blue Funk" is all about swirling b3 organ, greasy, TIGHT horn lines, shifting rhythmic funk patterns, flying bongos, tight, tight, TIGHT rhythm guitar, and the ALL-MIGHTY drum & bass GROOVE. Tightness really is key here, as it's the tightness that keeps things fresh and prevents the whole excursion from being weighed down by repetition and sloppiness, which is the downfall of some funk music. The funky format here also prevents too much decadent, ponderous soloing (while there is a place for such exploration, this is not it). The music on "Blue Funk" is about the beat, the forward-motion of the rhythm, and the sustained buoyancy of the groove. The groove here, by the way, achieves the enormous feat of being heavy and deep, as well as clean and crisp...simultaniously.