SUNDAY DROP - SPIN # 121 FROM THE R'NR WITH RYLO RECORD COLLECTION
I was listening to our son talk about music, while we were laying in bed yesterday morning. It was cold and blustery outside and we were all trying to keep warm and ease into the morning. He started talking about Jazz music and trumpets, drums, piano playing before I even told him what this weekend's spin was going to be. I asked him how he knew that we were going to play some Jazz music and he told me that he had a dream about it. That's right, we are putting Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers fantastic album, 'The Freedom Rider' on the turntable today. Its an album full of classic hard bop era tunes that never gets old.
This release is not the original pressing from the 60's unfortunately, but a re-press by Vinyl Me, Please. From what I've heard and read by other listeners, this pressing is as good or possibly better than the original released copy. If you are able to find yourself a copy online, buy it while you can because it can be very difficult to come by. They don't have any more copies available from their online store and not many people are parting with their copies because it is so rare. Yesterday we travelled as a family down to Goulburn in NSW. The weather was nice and cold and we wanted to test out our snow jackets. The gale force winds were strong and the windchill showed the kids the coldest weather that they've experienced in their lives to date. I'll come back to our trip later but for now lets get stuck into some Jazz.
I've now placed 'The Freedom Rider' on our turntable and turned the Marshall Woburn II speaker up to an acceptable volume. The kids are playing in the front room, while the sunshine is coming in through the windows and get to experience the artistry of Lee Morgan (trumpet), Wayne Shorter (tenor sax), Bobby Timmons (piano), Jymie Merritt (bass) and of course Art Blakey (drums). This is the second album we have spun by the band and another favourite of mine. Is it their best? That is entirely up to you as the listener. I like the title track drum solo the most but the other compositions by Shorter and Morgan are expertly crafted. Throughout the opening songs you can hear the 'effort' noises and groans by the members of The Jazz Messengers, as they execute their task. If you'd like to go back in time and read our Sunday Spin #32, click here - Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - 'The Big Beat'.
Whenever I listen to a Jazz album there are a couple of things that I look for. The pressing clarity at higher volumes and the evenness amongst the instruments being heard. Sometimes you can purchase an album and the bass might be muddled or lost withing the recording and mastering process. It is easy to get lost within the five songs across this album. 'TELL IT LIKE IT IS', 'THE FREEDOM RIDER', 'EL TORO', 'PETTY LARCENY' and 'BLUE LACE'. As you listen, it almost has the feeling that these artists are creating or improvising on the spot. It feels relaxed and allows the listener to feel at ease throughout. I loved the quote by Blakey, talking about the drum kit - "A drum. It's not just an instrument to keep time with....a drummer should get inside his drums". On this album, Blakey is a man who has so much passion for what he does, that it's infectious to other younger artists. You can go down a rabbit hole if you try and add every Jazz album to your collection. It can become quite daunting because you do feel as though you are missing out. I've had to check myself a couple of times from purchasing Jazz albums. Some rare ones have been re-pressed lately and I've had to stop searching. It's always when you aren't buying records that you end up finding the ones you want.
I didn't get a chance to mention yet what happened last Sunday night. I was sitting on the lounge with Night Kat Kiz and getting ready to watch a comedy movie with her when we heard our 5 year old son crying. I walked in there and asked him what was the matter and he said, "I need to build a rocket ship to get you your balloons back". He was absolutely beside himself and heartbroken, but slightly asleep. Last month we had some balloons get away from us and float into the sky and he has remembered that. I told him that we will build a rocket ship and maybe with all the wind around that we will find them again. I dropped him off at PEAK holiday care on Monday and went quickly to the party section of Big W. They helped me out with two balloons for free and I was able to have them ready for when the kids came home. You should have seen his face. Absolutely priceless. We told the kids that I drove home and noticed the balloons caught in a tree. I was able to retrieve them before blowing away again. I'd love to build anything with these kids one day, but for this week we didn't need to build a rocket ship.
The weather today has been a little nicer than yesterday. The winds aren't as strong and we aren't suffering from brown outs or loss of power like last night. While down in Goulburn, Night Kat Kiz and I made sure to get the kids something functional that they could use. The only stipulation was that it also had to have the Big Merino on it somewhere. We managed to find some replacement cups for their hot chocolates and they enjoyed playing with them on the way home. We didn't get to go out to Oberon this time and it will have to be another trip for that detour. The rain was a bit annoying because it meant that the kids couldn't get out as much and play.
This morning we listened to a few different Jazz tunes through the kitchen speaker and the kids danced around to 'Watermelon Man' and a few other Jazz fusion songs. We had some egg wraps before enjoying the day. It's been nice to slow down this afternoon and catch our breaths. Our son won a prize at his PEAK school holiday even last Friday and chose a foam green plane. Because we still have those two balloons, we came up with a game in the hallway. We had to pass the plane down the hallway without hitting the balloons or the string attached. They had the best time and so did I. Hopefully everyone managed to get through the global outage without too much disruption this weekend too. Next weekend is our little girls 3rd birthday and she wants a snowman themed party. It was originally a unicorn and pony party, but she seems to change her mind each day. I've had some nice moments with her this week. Reading stories to her at bedtime and bopping along to songs in the kitchen. School holidays are almost over and I think we've packed in quite a bit over the last two weeks.
If you enjoyed listening to 'The Freedom Rider' as you soaked up some sunshine today, make sure that you take a deep breath in. Relax your mind and be grateful for the good things in your life. The things that you can control and the moments that you hold onto. I think that I mentioned previously that Jazz music helps focus my mind and I realised that when I was studying during High School. Sometimes focus can help you find perspective of what is important. Keep doing things that make you happy and don't waste any time on negative shit. Night Kat Kiz will have left over Laksa tonight. We managed to have a relaxing homemade dinner last night (during the power troubles) and sometimes you need that after long driving days.
Rylo
Until our next Spin.....
Comments