{"id":13479,"date":"2024-03-24T15:17:03","date_gmt":"2024-03-24T15:17:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/?p=13479"},"modified":"2024-03-24T17:37:21","modified_gmt":"2024-03-24T17:37:21","slug":"books-media-music-art-etc-uncompromising-expression-blue-note-2022-my-mothers-eyes-sonny-stitt-1963","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/?p=13479","title":{"rendered":"BOOKS\/MEDiA\/MUSiC\/ART (etc!): Uncompromising Expression, Blue Note, 2022, & My Mother\u2019s Eyes, Sonny Stitt, 1963"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Just arrived!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Oh yes! This just arrived, \u2018pon our return home, from a pleasant walk along the river Nene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well packaged, thank goodness\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Damage to the packaging, not the book\u2026phew!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Cling wrapped, and pristine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
It\u2019s a big fat book!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Attractive design on the spine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The books a big 400 page affair. Lavishly illustrated. It\u2019s a stunner!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A Groove Hut label reissue.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This also arrived today. I got it as much if not if not more for Charles Kynard\u2019s contribution. That said, I do love Stitt, who\u2019s a very fiery player. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Stitt, top left. Kynard, bottom right.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This was originally released on Pacific Jazz. Who would soon thereafter also put out Kynard\u2019s debut recording as a leader. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m looking forward to getting more by Chuck! I should have a section of Jap\u2019 reissues from his Mainstream period arriving fairly soon. Including Your Mama Don\u2019t Dance<\/em>, which is the album that introduced me to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Groove Hut\u2026 grrr\u2019oovy!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This is the second Groove Hut release I\u2019ve recently acquired. The other being a two-fer of Jack McDuff recordings, featuring Grant Green. Another instance of me buying as much for the \u2018also starring\u2019 role as the headline name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I may have to investigate more of their catalogue? But let\u2019s get back to Uncompromising Expression<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Jimmy Smith, looking as cool as ever.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There are loads of beautiful spreads in this book. Which has clearly been put together as a labour of love by folk who dig the original Blue Note vibes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Woah!!!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From simple black and white images with colour tints, to images such as those above and below, which celebrate the richness of these iconic designs in their multiplicity, variety, and aesthetic homogeneity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Soooo good!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Breathtaking. These montages could easily be a dictionary definition of the expression an embarrassment of riches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
From the early days\u2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I can see that this meaty tome covers the whole story, from way back when, up to the present. It\u2019s fab seeing the story told visually. And I hope that it\u2019ll be as much fun reading the texts?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Rudy Van Gelder. What a legend!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And if like me you love to nerd out on the whole thing – not just the music itself, but the history, the guys behind the scenes – this looks like a good place to go. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Elvin looking mighty fly in brown corduroys!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s fantastic to see so many pictures that weren\u2019t used in finished product. They just add to whole magic and mystique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Whether black & white or colour, the aesthetic eye is always pleased.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s quite astonishing that any creative enterprise could be both so fecund, and yet so focussed. There seems to have been an animating spirit at work, that gives everything a wonderful cohesion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
This is great. Which shot shall we use?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Spreads such as those above and below almost let you feel part of the process. You can imagine the scenarios, and the desire to set up and capture imagery that will make a good visual analogue or counterpoint to the music. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
There\u2019s a kind of magic at work.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To me the whole Blue Note thang has a kind of alchemical magic, which somehow touches every aspect of every part of the process. And I\u2019m doing so it does what great art is somehow all about, transforming the everyday and mundane, via whatever language it might be – music, photography, typography, design – into something sublime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Music history as literary archaeology.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And so it is that, in the end, the fabulous music at the heart of it all kind of sanctifies everything that facilitates it, or radiates out from it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have a number of books, some almost purely visual, some more textual, about both Blue Note specifically, and jazz records more generally. But this one looks to me, on first perusal, to be particularly fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, it\u2019s clearly time to rack up the records (or CDs in my case), and listen to loads of Blue Note recordings, whilst reading or just gaping in wide eyed admiration at this gorgeous book.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oh yes! This just arrived, \u2018pon our return home, from a pleasant walk along the river Nene. Well packaged, thank goodness\u2026 The books a big 400 page affair. Lavishly illustrated. It\u2019s a stunner! This also arrived today. I got it as much if not if not more for Charles Kynard\u2019s contribution. That said, I do … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “BOOKS\/MEDiA\/MUSiC\/ART (etc!): Uncompromising Expression, Blue Note, 2022, & My Mother\u2019s Eyes, Sonny Stitt, 1963”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paGwUa-3vp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13479"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13479"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13499,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13479\/revisions\/13499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}