Turkish Women at the Bath...

His name is really Pete Sims. He left jazz to be a lawyer. He's a damned fine drummer. He recorded two amazing records: Basra, this album before he left the business in 1968. He called on some of the best cutting edge musicians at the time - John Gilmore, Chick Corea, Joe Henderson, Steve Kuhn, Steve Swallow, and Walter Booker. This album was originally released on the Douglas label. LaRoca is joined by Gilmore, Corea and Booker on this recording. The program plays out like this:

1. Turkish Women at the Bath

2. Dancing Girls

3. Love Planet

4. Marjoun

5. Bliss

6. Sin Street

7. And So I

Enjoy!

Sun Ra at the Village Vanguard...

It seemed "normal" enough (OK, a normal Sun Ra recording, what ever that means) when I first picked it up. His sextet playing live at the Village Vanguard; John Gilmore on bass and John Ore on drums and, of course, Sun Ra on synthesizer. So I read no further. So I put the disc in the player. So I started to listen... Huh? That sounds like a piano, not a synthesizer! And isn't that Monk's "Round Midnight"? So I look at the back cover of the CD a little more closely. No mention of a piano but they do interpret Monk's "Round Midnight" as well as Vernon Duke's "Autumn in New York" and the Gershwins' "S'Wonderful". Who de thunk it? Not me... Give it a listen... This recording is a lot like the game my daughter plays from time to time where "yes" means "no" and "no" means "yes". Only in this case "strange" means "normal" and "normal" means "strange" - if you know what I mean.

Enjoy!