Thursday, April 19, 2007

Johnny Hodges- Passion Flower

















Wilted.

It's absolutely perfect. Anything less would make the definitive take of Billy Strayhorn's "Passion Flower" laughable. It's almost too much- too sensual, too languid, too intoxicating. Duke Ellington's piano and Jimmie Blanton's bass keep Hodges from falling off the edge on the 1940 small group session. Sadly, this essential collection is out-of-print and I can't find a reasonably priced domestic alternative.

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The album doesn't come out until May 22, but the pre-release frenzy for A Poet's Life has been raging for three weeks. Look at the passionate responses to this new video by Tim Armstrong. The reaction of self-proclaimed punks to the Rancid frontman's decision to work with pop tart Skye Sweetnam is amusing. Two additional new videos are here and here. I can see myself making A Poet's Life my personal soundtrack this summer. And if that happens, it's going to be a lot of fun.

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Kansas City Click: Kim Park is featured at Jardine's. This video accurately represents his style- he's sort of like a younger, open-minded version of Phil Woods.

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