The Supper Table

Roberta Flack's "First Time I Ever Saw Your Face" was a ubiquitous part of my childhood.  One of those songs that played so constantly, in so many random places, that it had become part of the background, like muzak.  I had stopped hearing it, I'm not sure if I had ever listened to it.  And then I did.  It's so much better than I ever realized.  The entire album is a collection of beautiful and subtle work.  Roberta's voice is wielded like an instrument, both brass and string, woven into the fabric of the music instead of rising above it.  Ron Carter's bass work is amazing, huge and spacious.  His work on "I Told Jesus' along with the strings and horns make the traditional number timeless. Roberta Flack First Take Side 1 Compared to What Angelitos Negros Our Ages or Our Hearts I Told Jesus

The first radio show I had in college was a jazz show. At the time I really knew nothing about the music, just a few names. Every week I would pull records for a few hours, mostly based on familiar names and album covers, and then I would spend a few hours listening to tracks. As my knowledge and the show evolved, Charles Mingus' Better Git it in Your Soul became my opening song, my theme song in a sense. It feels like church gospel, on your feet hands clapping, head dipping to the beat. This song was my door way to Mingus' work, and through him to people like Eric Dolphy and Booker Ervin. It is because of a growing love of Mingus that I sought out Money Jungle, and took a deeper look at the life and work of Duke Ellington. It all started with the first track in this entry. Charles Mingus Ah Um side 1 1 Better Git It In Your Soul 2 Goodbye Porkpie Hat 3 Boogie Step Shuffle 4 Self-Portrait In Three Colors 5 Open Letter to Duke