Unpopular Music - June 24 2024

A program featuring some new discoveries, some rediscoveries, and some stuff I should have discovered decades ago.

I for some reason had poo-pooed the early-70's Charles Mingus big-band albums, mostly because the arrangements were farmed out to Sy Johnson, fearing the results would be like the kind of meh Monk's Dream from a few years earlier. After a kind of random introduction to both albums, my sincere apologies to Mr. Johnson.

A pit stop at a record store in Vermont led me to the Gil Mellé and Elmo Hope albums. Digging through my own boxes revealed a David Byrne soundtrack album I'd not really given full consideration. And more...

 

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And for the opener, as this program likes to remind you, just because it's played by an orchestra doesn't mean you can't turn it up!

See the playlist after the break...

artist	title	album	comments	label / date
Mikhail Pletnev; Russian National Orchestra	The Sleeping Beauty, op. 66: Act III: no. 28: Variation I (Désiré). Vivace - Prestissimo	Tchaikovsky - The Sleeping Beauty	composition by Pieter Tchaikovsky	Deutsche Grammophon 1997
Charles Mingus	Don’t Be Afraid, the Clown’s Afraid Too	Let My Children Hear Music	album credits aren't specific Lonnie Hillyer, Jimmy Nottingham, Joe Wilder, Snooky Young, trumpet; Jimmy Knepper, trombone; Julius Watkins, French horn; Charles McPherson, alto sax; Jerry Dodgion, Bobby Jones, Hal McKusick, James Moody, reeds; Charles McCracken, cello; Jaki Byard, John Foster, Roland Hanna, piano; Ron Carter, Richard Davis, Milt Hinton, bass; Charles Mingus, bass, composer, arranger; Dannie Richmond, drums; Teo Macero, conductor, alto sax; and others. Conducted by Teo Macero; Transcribed, arranged and orchestrated by Sy Johnson	Columbia Jazz Masterpieces 1971
Elmo Hope Quintet featuring Frank Foster	Zarou	Hope Meets Foster	Elmo Hope (p) Frank Foster (ts) Freeman Lee (trp) John Ore (b) Arthur Taylor (d)	Prestige 1955
Tilo Weber	Soul Redoubled	Tesserae	Tilo Weber (d, prc, vbs) Elias Stemeseder (hrp,, clst, syn) Petter Eldh (b, acst g) Anna-Lena Schnabel (as, flt) Bastian Duncker (ney)	We Jazz Records 2023
Misha Alperin	Second Game	Night	Suite vor violoncello, piano, percussion, marimba, and claviola in eight parts Mischa Alperin (p) Anja Lechner (vc) Hans-Kristian Kjos Sørensen (prc, voc)	ECM 1998
Van Dyke Parks	By The People	Song Cycle		Warner Bros. Records 1969
Partridge Andrews Barker	The Floating World	Monstrance	Barry Andrews (keys) Martyn Barker (d) Andy Partridge (g)	Ape House 2006
David Byrne	The Lodger	Lead Us Not Into Temptation	David Byrne (lap steel) Lisa Aferiat, Greg Lawson, Fiona Stephen (vln) Georgia Boyd (vla) Donald Gillan, Robert Irvine (vc)	Thrill Jockkey 2003
Antony and the Johnsons	Knockin' On Heaven's Door	Knockin' On Heaven's Door (single)	song by Bob Dylan	Secretly Canadian 2019
Warren Zevon	Accidentally Like a Martyr	Excitable Boy	Warren Zevon (voc,p) Waddy Wachtel (g) Leland Sklar (b) Russell Kunkel (d) Karla Bonoff, The Gentlemen Boys (Jackson Brown, Jorge Calderón, Kenny Edwards, John David Souther, Waddy Wachtel) (voc)	Asylum Records 1978
Elmo Hope Trio	Like Someone in Love	Elmo Hope Trio	Elmo Hope (p) Jimmy Bpnd (b) Frank Butler (d) song by James van Heusen and Jimmy Burke	Contemporary Records 1959
Gary Peacock and Bill Frisell	Home on the Range I and II	Just So Happens	Gary Peacock (b) Bill Frisell (g)	Postcards 1994
Gil Mellé Quartet	Dedicatory Piece To The Geophysical Year Of 1957	Primitive Modern / Quadrama	Gil Mellé (bs) Joe Cinderella (g) Billy Phillips (b) Ed Thigpen (d)	Prestige 1956
Charles Mingus	Strollin'	Charles Mingus and Friends in Concert	aka Nostalgia in Times Square Soloists - Honey Gordon, Lonnie Hillyer, Gene Ammons, Gerry Mulligan, Bobby Jones, Richie Perri, Eddie Bert, Lee Konitz, Howard Johnson arranged by Sy Johnson again, non-specific credits Jon Faddis, Lonnie Hillyer, Lloyd Michaels, Eddie Preston, trumpet; Eddie Bert, bass trombone; Richard Berg, Sharon Moe, French horn; Robert Stewart, tuba; Howard Johnson, tuba, bass sax; James Moody, flute; Lee Konitz, Charles McPherson, Richie Perri, alto sax; Gene Ammons, George Dorsey, tenor sax; Bobby Jones, tenor sax, clarinet; Gerry Mulligan, baritone sax; John Foster, Randy Weston, piano; Milt Hinton, bass; Charles Mingus, bass, arranger; Joe Chambers, drums; Honey Gordon, vocal; Sy Johnson, arranger; Teo Macero, arranger, conductor.	Columbia 1972
Deerhoof	Rainbow Silhouette of the Milky Rain	Milk Man	Chris Cohen, John Dieterich (g) Satomi Matsuzaki (b, voc) Greg Saunier (d, voc)	Joyful Noise Recordings 2004