Airmen of Note - Better Than Ever 1983

 I grew up in Northern Virginia, and many July 4th days were spent at Wolf Trap Pavilion watching the Airmen of Note play.  It was my first exposure to "Big Band" style of music.  The musicians were very talented and under appreciated.  I have a collection of most of their works (difficult to get, but worth the time!).   This release is one of my favorites, and features Tim Eyermann on Sax in "A Certain Smile".  

I hope you enjoy these great recordings!!

Tracklist

A1	A Certain Smile Arranged By – MSgt Mike Crotty*Composed By – Wade Matthews (2)	6:40
A2	I'll Remember April Arranged By – MSgt Mike Crotty*Composed By – Raye*, DePaul*, Patricia JohnstonWritten By – Raye DePaul & John Stone	3:30
A3	I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart Arranged By – TSgt Dave Morgan*Composed By – Duke Ellington	3:05
A4	Brigitte Arranged By – SMSgt Gil Cray*Composed By – Freddie Hubbard	4:46
A5	Centri-Fusion Composed By, Arranged By – MSgt Mike Crotty*	5:43
B1	Loving Composed By, Arranged By – Dave Zollar*	7:40
B2	Skylark Arranged By – MSgt Mike Crotty*Composed By – Hoagy Carmichael	5:27
B3	Tune For Billy Arranged By – SMSgt Gil Cray*Composed By – SMSgt Rick Whitehead*	6:50
B4	It Mostly Be's That Way, Sigmund Floyd Composed By, Arranged By – Phil Wilson

Forgive the formatting

Gap Mangione - Gap Mangione!

Here's a release from 1976 that seems to be hard to find?  I purchased this near Mint LP n eBay and have archived the audio here.  Most notable is "Hill Where the Lord Hides" made famous by his brother. On many of the selections, I am not fond of the synthesizer settings used in the melody lines.  Perhaps indicative of the technology available to many at that time.  However the Bass lines played by Reubens Bassini keeps many tracks very interesting.

• Bass – Tony Levin
• Drums – Steve Gadd
• Keyboards – Gap Mangione
• Percussion – Ruebens Bassini*

Hope you enjoy! 

Tracklist

A1	Theme From Picnic	4:17
	"The Graduate" Medley
A2a	Scarborough Fair / Canticle	1:21
A2b	The Sound Of Silence	1:42
A2c	Mrs. Robinson	3:43
A3	Laughter In The Rain	4:26
A4	Little Lady' Little Man	1:29
B1	Hill Where The Lord Hides	5:45
B2	Legacy (Main Theme)	5:08
B3	I Won't Last A Day Without You	6:36

Gap Mangione - Sing Along Junk

So I have been archiving all of the Gap Mangione albums that were never released digitally (CD or otherwise) and will be mentioning some of these LP's.   This 1972 release on Mercury records is a collection of covers and original works.  The fidelity was above average on this recording, but not excellent.  This album may have the first release of "Diana in the Autumn Wind" which can be had on CD, but produced much later. 

Notable musicians here were Jon Faddis, Snooky Young and Clark Terry on horns, Gerry Niewood on sax.  Only a few songs feature these instruments.  Many of the songs have  a Bossa Nova feel to them.  Most notably "Theme from 'The Burglars'".  

Hope you enjoy! 

Tracklist

The End	2:27
Groupie (Superstar)	4:12
Pond With Swans	2:40
Ardis	2:25
Long Hair Soulful	4:37
Pina Colada	2:49
Theme From "The Burglars"	3:48
Sing Along Junk	4:04
You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You	3:07
It's Gonna Take Some Time	2:54
Diana In The Autumn Wind	2:59
Jason	2:32

Tim Eyermann Quartet - "With the Coast in Mind" 1974

In my effort to honor Tim Eyermann's musical accomplishments, I am trying to find all the recordings from that era that was never digitized or released on CD or even available for download.  There are several other works from Mr. Eyermann that are written about on this Blog.  

I found this LP in a used LP shop in Phoenix during business travel.  I had never knew about this one, because it is listed under Tim Eyermann Quartet (not East Coast Offering).  One listen and you can feel that this recording is fairly intimate.  I especially liked the attention to detail given to the recording methods on the back cover.  You never see this type of detail on today's contemporary recordings... Why is that?

As it mentions in the technical notes, the recording was mastered on the revered Ampex 354 (tube electronics recorder).  There are still recordings being made using the 354 for its clean subtle and warm sound. 

In "Cantaloupe Island" you can specially hear and feel the room acoustics and ambiance blending in the recording.  In "Malibu" there is a lengthy bass solo given at the beginning of the track.  Tim writes in the album notes that this effort was to be a blend of old and new jazz and rock idioms.
I hope you get a chance to listen to this album!

Credits:

Tracklist

1	Watch What Happens
2	Patterns
3	Cantaloupe Island
4	Malibu
5	Knowing When To Leave
6	Long Ago And Far Away

Credits

• Composed By – Herbie Hancock (tracks: 3), Jerome Kern (tracks: 6), Michel Legrand (tracks: 1), Oliver Nelson (tracks: 2), Tom Scott (tracks: 4, 5)
• Contrabass – Brent Mckesson
• Drums – Dave Palamar
• Guitar – Rick Whitehead
• Saxophone, Woodwind – Tim Eyermann