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Barbara and Ernie – Prelude To… (1971) Day 11 of FV’s 12 Days of Xmas

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Barbara & Ernie – Prelude To… Original release 1971 Atlantic Reissue, 2013 Real Gone Music I almost headed off to bed without posting Day 11 of this 12 Days of Xmas thing.  It’s only the fifth day of the year and I’m already exhausted with stress.  Too tired and strapped for time to give this album a proper tip of the hat.  This record pushes all my buttons in all the right places.  It’s a shame that Barbara Massey was … Continue reading

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Grant Green – Alive! (1970) Day 10 of FV’s 12 Days of Xmas

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Grant Green – Alive! 2019 Blue Note 80 Series BST-84360 – Original Release 1970 Absolute barn-stormer of classic soul-jazz funk with a lineup that can’t be beat. Idris Muhammad is at his funkiest, but the other show-stealer is Ronnie Foster on the organ. Lean and mean stuff, if you dig this then you need to hear the Live at Club Mozambique from this same era, but which wasn’t issued until the 00’s. I= Continue reading

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Dollar Brand – Mannenburg Is Where It’s Happening (1974) Day 9 of FV’s 12 Days of Xmas

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  Dollar Brand  (Abdullah Ibrahim) Mannenberg ~ ‘Is Where It’s Happening’ EMI – CDSRK(WL) 786134, The Sun – CDSRK(WL) 786134 Format:CD, Album, Reissue Country:South Africa Genre:Jazz, Style:Cape Jazz I wasn’t planning on posting this record for the 12 Days of Christmas, insofar as there was ever a plan, which there wasn’t, but then who knew we would lose “The Arch”, Desmond Tutu (followed by an unnerving fire that destroyed the South African Parliament… the good news is they apparently saved … Continue reading

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Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers – The Witch Doctor (1967) (2021 BN Tone Poet) Day 8 of FV’s 12 Days of Xmas

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Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers – The Witch Doctor 2021 Blue Note Tone Poet | Original release 1967 This is a fantastic 1961 session (not issued until ’67) with Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, and Bobby Timmons, but man the drum solos are recorded horribly.  Seems really odd, seeing as it was the drummer’s group… Nice Tone Poet pressing though, in general.  One of my pandemic pleasures has been buying up lots of these Blue Note reissues of titles that … Continue reading

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Ronnie Lane & Slim Chance – Anymore For Anymore (1974) (2021 UMC) Day 7 of FV’s 12 Days of Xmas

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To me,  Ronnie Lane was the heart & soul of the Small Faces & Faces. And if you ever found yourself drawn to the evocative, pastoral-esque ballads on the Faces records, then you owe it to yourself to give this debut from Ronnie Lane & Slim Chance a listen.  The other day, after watching a film, I left Netflix on autoplay and it picked an awful-looking romantic comedy staring Jimmy O. Yang which I proceeded to tune out while washing … Continue reading

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Pharoah Sanders, Floating Points & The London Symphony Orchestra – Promises (2021) Day 6 of FV 12 Days of Xmas

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Pharoah Sanders, Floating Points & The London Symphony Orchestra – Promises (2021, Luaka Bop)   Since I mentioned this on Day 5, it seems only natural and right that Day 6 should be this wonderful record from Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders and The LSO.  I’m not going to say much of anything about it; I know there were many reviews of this album and I am sure many of them are also wonderful.  The album was conceived and recorded during … Continue reading