Ok, so just in case you have been wondering where the alphabetical LP listening project is, here’s a quick update:  on hold.  I made it to the Ron Carter section, and 3 LPs in, the turntable exploded.  That’s right.  Too much brilliant low end for the poor thing.  So it’s in the shop.  But I haven’t stopped listening to music, not by a long shot.  I ran right over to the CD collection and grabbed a bunch of CDs from the “A” section.  Even though I have only listened to a few in that section, I have also listened to a bunch of new things.  To review:

• Abby and Norm Group – Volume I: The Book of Norman – I have known Norman Zocher since the mid-1990s.  He is an incredible guitar player and composer, which – as this CD so very clearly shows – tons of breadth.  Also in this band are Brooke Sofferman (fantastic drummer; friend since 1995), Bevan Manson (pianist, former teacher of mine), and the great George Garzone (tenor saxophone, also a former teacher).  Oh, wait, also the “Abby” part of the group, Abigail Aronson.  Speaking of Abby…
• Abby and Norm Group – Melodic Miner’s Daughter – This would be the Volume 2: The Book of Abby portion of the series, if it were not for the fact that they came up with the world’s most tongue-in-cheek/nerdy album title ever.  This title is a mash-up of Coal Miner’s Daughter and the very hip scale, melodic minor.  Abby’s playing on both CD’s is fantastic.  I always liked her bass playing, in part because she does a great job of laying down the foundation, but also because of her overtly lyrical approach to her bass lines.  That style of bass playing is not so incredibly common among the total-jazz-immersion bass players; we need the Rock and Roll music to make the bass line a little more…uh…lyrical.  Really nice CDs.
• John Abercrombie – Timeless – Man, oh man, I love this CD.  I know, I know, it must be so boring to read those words from me after months and months of writing that, but this CD is just fantastic.  It’s a trio record with Jan Hammer at the peak of his fusion powers and Jack DeJohnette at the end of his own fusion explorations in the band Compost (or at least, around the end of that time).  “Lungs” is so cool!  “Ralph’s Piano Waltz” was in the repertoire of the band that I toured Europe with the first few times.  Gotta get that tune back into my life…
• John Abercrombie – Gateway – Some of my favorite Dave Holland, and Jack DeJohnette is amazing as always.  Great writing on this CD, too, especially “Back-Woods Song” and “May Dance.”
• John Abercrombie – Abercrombie, Johnson, Erskine – This CD was one of the first Abercrombie CDs I ever purchased, and it made a very strong impression upon me.  I thought that the patience of “Alice in Wonderland” was unmatched, and the curiosity found in their solos on “Stella By Starlight” and “Beautiful Love” was inspiring, to say the least.  Plus, it was recorded at Nightstage, in Cambridge.  The club isn’t there anymore, but when I found the old building, with the sign still up, only a few blocks from where I used to live, well, it was a cute little moment for me.  Oh, and this recording is my 2nd favorite one of Mark Johnson; the first being a Paul Motian CD called Bill Evans, on the JMT label.
• Stan Getz – Stan Getz & J.J. Johnson at the Opera House – So swinging.  J.J. Johnson sounds amazing on this CD.  The medium tempo “My Funny Valentine” takes are really excellent.
• Stan Getz – Stan Getz and the Oscar Peterson Trio – Have I said the word “swinging” yet?  And Ray Brown is an absolute monster on this CD.
• Sonny Clark – Sonny’s Crib – Incredible.  The two versions of “With a Song in My Heart” and “Speak Low” are a delight to listen to and compare.  Coltrane, Donald Byrd, Curtis Fuller, Paul Chambers, Art Taylor.
• Horace Silver – Doin’ the Thing/Live at the Village Gate – This is probably the first Horace Silver record I ever heard.  My dad had this one, The Jody  Grind, and Song for My Father.  They were probably original Blue Notes, not reissues.  Anyway, we listened to those records a lot at my house when I was a kid.  Doin’ the Thing is a delight; not quite as shredding as the other two I mention, but still amazing.  I need to get ahold of a chart on “Filthy McNasty”…

So that brings us up to date.  Not sure where to go next – continue with CDs or wait for the turntable to come back?  Or just listen to music, regardless of its placement in the alphabet…?

Best, R.