Flying Fish and Rounders......

[LouieB]

I was browsing at Laurie's yesterday and since there was nothing compeling in the "recent arrival" bins of CDs or LPs I decided to check out the country and folks bins for stuff that may have been slipped in there when I was not looking.

 

Sure enough as I was looking through the country albums I found some Rounder and Flying Fish LPs which while not totally thrilling, at the price were more than worth the dough. I have always liked buying these two labels for their high quality material and nice packaging and these were about $3 each and I figure, why the heck not. Rounder out of Cambridge, Massachusetts and Flying Fish out of Chicago carried all kinds of cool material back in the day (the day being not so very long ago, but before LPs stopped being made regularly.) I already have many of both, with Rounder having done some nice reissues as well as new material and Flying Fish picking up contemporary (for the time) folk acts, many based in the midwest.

 

Yesterday yielded a few things that will probably sit on my shelf unlistened to for awhile, but many of us know how that is.

 

Buddy Spicher - Me and My Heros, the least exciting of the lot, with session fiddle player Spicher playing with other country session folks. It might turn out to be a good one. Flying Fish 1978

 

Martin, Bogan, and Armstrongs - That Old Gang of Mine, with the late Steve Goodman on most tracks and harmonica wizard Howard Levy on a couple others. Folk jazz that was popular in the 70s. Flying Fish 1978

 

Bob Brozman- Hello Central...Give me Doctor Jazz Brozman is an incredible slide, National Steel guitarist. George Winston (of Windham Hill fame) on some tracks. Rounder 1985.

 

Vassar Clements, John Hartford, Dave Holland - self titled Interesting grouping with old bluegrass colleagues Clements and Hartford paired up with Dave Holland who is better known as a jazz bass player. I nearly let this one go, but what the heck. Rounder 1984.

 

Not sure why I am writing about this, but it is a weekend and there is another thread on how people are supposed to like Sonic Youth. There is literally a ton of little known music out there that might just be interesting to people interested in alt.country, folk, jazz, blues, and various amalgamations of all of the above. Some days it might be good for some folks to step out of the indie rock ghetto they are in.

 

(Incidently standing on line at the Riviera for hours the name John Hartford came up, I have no idea why except that someone mentioned Leo Kotke,, and almost no one had ever heard of him. Hell alot of folks had never heard of Kotke either. This has been happening to me with Hartford ever since I signed up here many moons ago. Hartford is one of the great lost musicians of the latter half of the 20th century.)

 

LouieB

[mountain bed]

That Vassar, Hartford and Holland sounds really interesting. I'm mostly familiar with Holland from his work with Anthony Braxton and Chick. You'll have to let me know about that one sometime.

[LouieB]

That Vassar, Hartford and Holland sounds really interesting. I'm mostly familiar with Holland from his work with Anthony Braxton and Chick. You'll have to let me know about that one sometime.

Yea, I will throw it on the turntable sometime and let you know.

 

Holland's set with his own group at Chicago Jazz Fest three or four years back was just about the highlight of that year. He appears to be doing some of his best work as a group leader in the last decade. Strange how these first class sidemen are now stepping out as the shinning lights of the current jazz scene.

 

LouieB

[Darkhorse]

John Hartford = Godsend

anyone interested should start with Aeroplane

[jc4prez]

John Hartford = Godsend

anyone interested should start with Aeroplane

 

great great great record.