A Band Called O

The British group the Parlour Band sounded slightly like a much more mainstream, less art-rock-inclined Yes on their sole LP, 1972's little-known Is a Friend. Several members later played in A Band Called O, also sometimes referred to as O Band. Parlour Band's only LP is progressive rock-tinged mainstream early-'70s British album-oriented rock, competent but no more than that. Both keyboard and guitar parts take a strong role, and there's a bit of the multiple tempo changes and classical-tinged organ burble of bands like Yes in songs like "Forgotten Dreams." Some other songs steer well clear of art rock, though, "Pretty Haired Girl" coming across like prototypical early-'70s mellow California harmony rock. Even when it doesn't sound as Californian, though, the album's a pretty laid-back affair and, though it's agreeable, it's lacking in both power and first-rate songs.

Born Kitty Jean Bilbrew in 1923, White grew up in a musical family, her mother and father being vaudevillian performers. White was a well-trained vocalist with perfect pitch. She was also a good music reader, which allowed her to find studio work. After recording a couple of albums for EmArcy, White even appeared in a number of movies during the early 1950s, including King Creole (with Elvis Presley), Last Train from Gun Hill and The Old Man and the Sea.

Die Hamburger Jazzszene ihre Vielfalt und Lebendigkeit bringen so manchen Musikliebhaber zum Schwärmen. Nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg fanden sich in der Stadt an der Elbe hunderte spielhungriger Bands zusammen, für die bald auch unzählige Auftrittsorte entstanden. Der Cotton Club oder Dennis Swing Club wer kennt sie nicht? Für die Fans des Hamburger Jazz und alle, die mehr darüber erfahren möchten, entstand diese umfangreiche Kollektion. In Wort, Bild und Ton wird der Werdegang einer einmaligen Szene lebendig: von der Zeit, als die Hafenstadt in Trümmern lag, bis hin zum Sound von heute. Sie halten ein Set in Händen, das aus 18 CDs und einem 300 Seiten starken Buch besteht.

Lawrence D. "Butch" Morris - Testament: A Conduction Collection (1995) {10CD Set, New World Records 80478-2 rec 1988-1993}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 2.81 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 1.43 Gb
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© 1988-93, 2005 New World Records | New World 80478-2
Jazz / Structured Improvisation / Avant-Garde / Experimental Ensemble

The ceaselessly innovative and searching composer and Butch Morris died yesterday in New York. He had been under treatment of cancer for several years. Morris was 65. He developed an approach to big band music that he called conduction. It made demands on musicians by insisting on intensive, intuitive listening, reaction and interaction. The effort involved adjustment to Morris’s highly personalized methods of conducting while simultaneously composing and arranging through a system of cues and hand motions.