WELCOME, FRIENDS. Growing up, I was the excited, obsessive type. I had some old friends of my grandparents who noticed me looking at a museum program for the King Tut exhibit in New York in 1976. I think I was 6 or 7. They gave it to me, and I looked at the pictures and tried so hard to read the words. I marked up and beat the hell out of that glossy book, taking it with me everywhere. Soon I had to know everything I could about Ancient Egypt. And I started begging my folks to take me to the library and, absurdly enough, asking them why they wouldn’t buy me some priceless piece of antiquity—what the hell did I know? The digging, the immersion into a subject was so much fun. The curiosity came naturally, as did the obsessiveness. Some obsessions I ended up growing out of, or losing some interest in. But a few things have stuck. If you follow me on twitter, you know I’ll be talking about most of those here, and then some more for good measure.
Vocalese is the art of singing a song constructed of lyrics set to the pitches of a previously-improvised instrumental solo in jazz. That such a thing as vocalese exists is, itself, a marvel of human creativity. When executed well–by its originators and master practitioners in the early, hep days of its development in the mid 1950s–it captures several very different facets of genius. https://davereaboi.com/moodys-mood-for-love-1952-how-to-listen-to-vocalese/
In 1978, Art Pepper was beginning a fruitful relationship with the Galaxy label, and they very smartly paired him with some of the best players of that or any era. Art Pepper Today is probably the most cohesive record he ever made. The backing band was spectacular: Stanley Cowell (piano), Cecil McBee (bass) and Roy Haynes (drums). Either just before or after the recordings with Pepper, the trio recorded a classic album of their own, released as Equipoise. https://davereaboi.com/art-pepper-stanley-cowell-on-galaxy-1978/
Nana Caymmi’s self-titled album from 1975 features Milton Nascimento’s falsetto vocals on the opening track and is a gorgeous slice of 70s Brazilian pop music or MBP (Música popular brasileira). Very carefully crafted and exquisitely produced, this album is one of the hidden gems and cult classics of the era. Track 3 is one of the keepers, but really the whole record is fantastic. https://open.spotify.com/album/5WvlgyVCh2ftTYblfYuxoG?si=YFakYn5dQTmFVwRoR42fsQ
