Word: mellower
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...created the "cool" bop sound back in the late '40s, with its relaxed delivery and complex harmonies, also fashioned the first fusion in 1970 with his revolutionary Bitches Brew album. It retained jazz soloing but incorporated electric bass and guitar and a Rhodes electric piano. The result sounded mellow, upbeat and had a heavier rhythm than jazz, and it proved a phenomenal bestseller (600,000, compared with sales of 25,000-30,000 for a popular, mainstream jazz album...
Only six new essays are included in this collection of vintage Kerr, and they are very much of a mellow piece with her earlier work. A few things have changed. Her children have grown up, so she discusses the many ways in which they fail as visitors: "Your A-l house guest does not usually bring along his dirty laundry." She has more time on her hands, so she has been able to acquire and then kick an addiction to TV soap operas: "In my experience, the only thing you can quit cold turkey is cold turkey." She notes...
Cooder is assisted throughout by contributions of some exemplary sidemen, ranging from the alto sax of Harvey Pittel and the impeccable piano of Earl Hines to the mellow, foursquare harmonies of Bill Johnson, once lead singer of the Golden Gate Quartet, perhaps the greatest of all gospel groups. Cooder was going for what he calls "the power, the fleetness" of the old music. He got it fine. Listening to Jazz is a sensual, tonic experience in collective musical memory, a little like having a long closed door in your house blown open by a cool, gentle summer wind...
Maybe you had to be there to appreciate it. Same as with the 1960s. All these books and movies dribbling out now about that fine old decade are so heavy, they lack the old ring of verismo. But this bright and mellow spring Sunday just might turn out to be, well, different, you know, together. Milos Forman, the Czech-born director (One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest), trying to turn the Aquarian Age stage hit Hair into a movie, needs an authentic circa 1968 "bein" as backdrop for crucial scenes. Those affairs having gone the way of peace...
Meanwhile, if you're into some mellow and boring tunes, then Symphony Hall is the place to be in two weeks, where on the 23rd you can be lulled into blissful sleep by Gordon Lightfoot. If you stay in your seat, your REMing won't be disturbed by Art Garfunkel, a surefire sedative who'll be onstage a mere 48 hours later. That's if the roadies don't wake you between shows...