MisterD
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A jazz trio/quartet without piano, guitar or anyone else laying down chords is one of the more challenging jazz formats. Although famously successful with the Mulligan quartet in 1953, and with Sonny Rollins following 1957’s ‘Way out West’ album, it is still a less common line-up.
The Pacific Jazz Quartet comprises:
Sasha Dobson - vocals, Rob Sudduth - tenor sax, Neal Miner - bass, Dred Scott – drums
I chose ‘Softly as in a morning sunrise’ from their Myspace page http://www.myspace.com/pacificjazzquartet , mainly because it highlights the melodic interaction of the bass and drums.
For more on the bass player see http://www.myspace.com/nealminer
I particularly like his version of ‘Smoke gets in your eyes’. Last year he joined Jane Monheit’s band, but check out his web site for his other recordings (http://www.nealminer.com)
The Pacific Jazz Quartet does have a pianist, but they have him playing the drums -which may be why it sounds so good. Dred Scott is a man of many talents, as can be seen and heard on his web site http://www.dredscott.com and (for me less appealing) on
http://www.myspace.com/dred666r
Rob Sudduth played on the Norah Jones “Not too late “ CD, and but you can listen to his Sinatra tribute on http://www.robsudduth.com/live/ and a couple of songs on see http://www.myspace.com/robsudduth
That leaves us with Sasha Dobson in the Pacific Jazz Quartet, who as vocalist has the challenge of finding space within such a strong line up. In ‘Softly as in a morning sunrise’ she blends well with the tenor sax lines.
Some of the tracks from her 2006 ‘Modern Romance’ album can be heard on http://www.myspace.com/sashadobson , and streamed on http://www.secretsunrecordings.com/sashadobson/index.html
As a comparison, listen to Sonny Rollins versions of ‘Softly as in a morning sunrise’ on "A Night at the Village Vanguard" with Elvin Jones, and Wilbur Ware from November 1957
Ella Thompson
is a young singer working in the Melbourne area. I've enjoyed all the tracks on her MySpace page http://www.myspace.com/ellathompson) but currently my favourite is the "Two Sides" track.
The band consisted of Ella Thompson: vocals; Dion Hirini: guitar; Nat Bartsch: kbds, Luke Hodgson: bass; Jason Heerah: drums/percussion.
Currently Ella seems to be working with the Single Malt Special (see http://www.myspace.com/thesinglemaltspecial)
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MOG 1
A cautionary word from The Message (Ecclesiastes Chap. 1) :
Everything's boring, utterly boring -no one can find any meaning in it.
Boring to the eye, boring to the ear.
What was will be again, what happened will happen again.
There's nothing new on this earth.
Year after year it's the same old thing.
Does someone call out, "Hey, this is new"?
Don't get excited—it's the same old story.
Nobody remembers what happened yesterday.
And the things that will happen tomorrow?
Nobody'll remember them either
Never the less, I do enjoy random listening on MySpace and following the musician’s Friend Space links. A musical mystery tour that sometimes leads to gold, but my overall impression is that there are lots of great singers/musicians out there waiting to be discovered – but too few great songwriters to make them memorable.
The purpose behind my writings will be to share some of the MySpace artists who for a while stir me out of a state of ennui.
“You don’t know what love is “ is not the White Stripes ditty, but a Gene de Paul/Don Raye composition from 1941.
The Billie Holiday version from the Lady in Satin sessions is a bit too stark for me, and prefer Karin Allyson’s version on her “Ballads” album which mirrors the tunes on Coltrane’s “Ballads”
Duo Oceano
(http://www.myspace.com/duooceano and http://www.duo-oceano.com )
They are a French duo consisting of Ludwig Gorhan on saxophone and Thomas Naïm on guitar.
Their web site is a bit out of date, and gives the impression they are jobbing musicians who can be hired for cocktail parties. Duo Oceano seems to be a side project, as both Gorhan and Naïm appear to be involved a lot of other groups . Mainly music with a taste of Brazil and Morocco…..maybe more later.
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Hey MisterD! Love the performance of Duo Oceano. Reminds me of the pairings of Paul Desmond and Jim Hall or Stan Getz and Laurindo Almeida. The last fellow shows my age but my big wish is that the record companies would release a few of his mid sixties recordings. But thank for the fresh air coming from this pair. Really meditative! Yours truly, musikfriend
HI Musikfriend, I agree about the Stan Getz- Laurindo Almeida comparison, when they played together around 1963. On YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-9OrHd6QdM) there is a clip of Laurindo playing with the MJQ. The announcer seems familiar (Steve Race from the BBC quiz My Music?)
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MOG Meter
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yes, she sounds nice over that music.