Rd 1 BlueNote

B is marvelous, the discovery of the cup so far. What a band! And those insistent vibes beneath the whole thing are wonderfully unsettling. And for good measure, I'm unfamiliar with the artist (though I obviously know the sidemen). Must investigate more of GM3.

A is all Breakbeat, and a very good example of why Blue Note had that 90s renaissance. But it's up against a classic, and doesn't go anywhere near as many interesting places.

Tough and I've got some sympathy with John's comments. I am aware that it's easy to go for the feel good groove track that perhaps makes less demands on the listener. That said, A had a tremendous vitality which is hard to deny. I thought B began in a really intriguing way with the ensemble playing, it lost me a bit with some of the soloing which wasn't as captivating as I'd hoped for. Interesting track which was new to me, but I'm not entirely convinced by it.

A

A

Blue Note is normally just on the safe side of jazz for me, and basically I'd expect the big hitters to turn up and win the tie each time, so it's good to see some lesser lights in round 1. A's more some kind of lounge-funk thing, which is miles away from my ballpark. Just feels like a generic jam, I'm not feeling it at all.

Graham Moncur is a bit of a pick from the more experimental end of the Blue Note roster. The drummer is almost teetering on the brink of bebop ad free-jazz, you can't quite tell if he's going to keep time or just hit shit pseudo-randomly, it's as if he's aware of the other half of the rhythm section, but is only on nodding terms with it. 9 minutes is a bit long for a cup tie, but the soloing is always interesting, and as Hatz says, those vibes underpin the whole thing, keep the energy and atmosphere going.

B

B. I’m not as into organ jazz as I once was

a much closer to R&B than I would expect from Blue Note - not that I know anything about it. The number sounds like it might have com off an early Chicago album, although the playign was a cut above. It was all right, quite cheery really.

b is more the sort of thing I was dreading. Quite a stellar line-up - the leader is the only one I hadn't heard of, although it took a few seconds for the penny to drop about Anthony Williams. And while there are some lovely passages - particularly from the alto - there's also a few bits that I find less than pleasing

I don't really know what to say: neither of them is something I would ever have played anticipating pleasure, but they both held my interest, admittedly at a low level, for their entire length. One was a smooth listen, the other had peaks and troughs. I'm inclined to vote for A, because it's nowhere near deserving of the kicking it's getting, but the good parts of the curate's egg that is B did actually reach inside a bit. Then again, voting for B could seem to be a pretentious bid for hip credibility, because I know fuck all about jazz, really.

Oh, bugger it, A