Music Monday: Some Sax and Some Big Band

I’ve not had a chance to listen to as much music as I would like lately first because of some travel and then because of a head cold that sort of put me off my game.

That said, I did play a few albums lately that I want to return to for some more serious listening soon. So I’ll share them here with you.

First, I was interested to see that a new JD Allen album had come out last month. He’s a tenor saxophone player and I’m not sure that I have a clear sense of his style, but I liked his album Americana (2016) and its follow up Americana Vol. 2 (2022). So I was interested in his album This.

On This he plays with London based electronic musicians (as well as a more conventional drummer) which produce an ambient foundation for his tenor (and which stretches my listening system to its limits suggesting that some of the tones are under 20 hz!).

I’ve also been listening to some mid-1960s big band for some reason. In particular, I’ve been enjoying the Kenny Clarke-Fancy Boland Big Band’s two 1960s albums: Now Hear Our Meanin’ (1964) and Sax No End (1967). Weirdly, there isn’t much of their stuff on the YouTubes to share, but here’s the title track from their 1964 album:

Finally, I’ve been listening to David S. Ware’s trio Apogee’s Birth of a Being (1977): 

I’m sure I’ll have more to share in the next few weeks as I settle back into my routine. Plus, I usually have a marathon listening session on Thanksgiving as I smoke the turkey. 

Thanks for reading these posts, though, and letting me feel like I’m sharing my music (and helping me avoid feeling like I’m that guy at the party who somehow takes of the stereo and drives all the sensible people out of the room).