Monthly Archives: January 2008

The Shadow Does It.

Sunday: January 27, 2008 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Jazz 3 Comments

Artist: Gary Bartz
Title: The Shadow Do
Label: Prestige
Year: 1975
Format: Vinyl LP (Original)

Front

Review
The Shadow Do…definitely my favorite LP by Baltimore’s own, Gary Bartz. Sad that this album gets very little recognition by most, however, I’m bringing it to the attention of my readers!!! This album is great for a number of reasons, (1) the Mizell Brothers produced the album, (2) one of my favorite groups sampled one of my favorite tracks on this album, (3) Bartz brought a style of his own to the sound of the saxophone, in my opinion, he steps away from what is known as traditional, playing out these abstract melodies from time to time during this LP, (4) a spacey feel is created here through his music, this is the music of dreams, (5) and last but not least, Bartz doesn’t write much with his lyrics, but he writes very WELL…creativity shines bright when listening to tracks like “Love Tones”, where Bartz explains his love for playing his sax.

I really hope you all enjoy the sound clips (provided below), this is kind of like one of those lost and forgotten albums that needs to be heard for sure! Enjoy.

Gentle Smiles

Love Tones

Winding Roads

Notable
Produced by the Mizell Brothers

Cover

Design
The art for this album cover is pretty nice! Simple…but nice. I love the thought bubble coming from Bartz, it really creates a sweet little juxtaposition against the grainy, sort of earth-toned washed out background. The art being enclosed within the black box was a Prestige Record Co. standard at the time, all artists during this period had the same typeface, and widely-kerned lock up. I guess to show some sort of uniform…anyway, another thing ya gotta love is the afro here, it’s maaaaaaaaaaaajor! LOL!

Cover

posted by: Darien of flwrpt

Boogiesco

Friday: January 18, 2008 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Boogie, Mix 20 Comments

Record Cover

Artist: Various
Title: Boogiesco
Mixed by: Flwrpt.
Year: 2008
Cover Art By: Darien Victor Birks

Trying something new in an attempt to bring another element into the site…

I present to you, my first EVER mix created and posted on the blog, Boogiesco. As you probably guessed, it’s a set compiled of boogie and disco music…some common, some not-so-common (tracklisting will be provided upon request). So relax your minds, and let your conscience be free…I hope you all enjoy!

DOWNLOAD

OR

Listen directly from the site:

—–
Tracklisting:

Bernard Wright – Master Rocker
Eddie Henderson – Prance On
Flakes-1 – Sugar Frosted Lover
Phreek – Weekend
Musique – Keep On Jumpin’
Convertion – Let’s Do It
Ronnie Laws – Young Child
Fingers – On My Way Back Home
Mandre – Solar Flight
Michael Wycoff – Looking Up To You
Dexter Wansel – The Sweetest Pain
Jack McDuff – Night Fantasies
Peter Brown – For Your Love
Chic – Sao Paolo
Black Ivory – Mainline
Roy Ayers – Running Away (Extended)
Logg – You’ve Got That Something
Willie Hutch – The Glow

Peace.

Posted by: Darien of flwrpt

Geared Up.

Tuesday: January 8, 2008 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Jazz Leave a comment

Artist: Johnny Hammond
Title: Gears
Label: Milestone
Year: 1975
Format: Vinyl LP (Original)

Front

Review
Another one of my favorite LP’s (I’m talkin’ Top 15), Johnny Hammond brings it again, with 1975′s Milestone release, Gears. This is one of the coolest albums that I’ve heard, from the way that the music is arranged, to the great musicians that contributed, every element comes together to make this a masterpiece.

The sound is very sophisticated, very calculated, and very well-executed. Johnny Hammond definitely cracks that whip! He teams up with the Sky High gang again, the Mizell Brothers, to bring Gears to the world. The greatness of this record is hard to put into words, but it’s on another level sound-wise, and nobody did a record in this specific style during the era…there were similar styles, but Johnny Hammond consistently added his own touch to any of his music…to make it ownable.

This album is pure greatness, check out the sound samples below to get a sense of the record…

Cover

Tell Me What To Do

Los Conquistadores Chocolates

Can’t We Smile?

Fantasy

Notable
Produced by the Mizell Brothers
Features Harvey Mason, Michael White, and Roger Glenn

Cover

Design
As great as the album is, the cover is rather boring and cliche’…and I totally dislike the font used for his name on the front cover…

BUT.

The tracking on the front cover type is nice, as it aligns horizontally to the box beneath it.
And the back cover image is pimp!

No further comments…

posted by: Darien of flwrpt

Brooklyn, Baby.

Saturday: January 5, 2008 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Jazz, Soul 1 Comment

Artist: Roy Ayers
Title: He’s Coming
Label: Polydor
Year: 1972
Format: Vinyl LP (Original Promo)

Front

Review
Before I start, I must let the viewers know that the FLWRPT represents Brooklyn.

One of Roy Ayers best LP’s for sure! A little more soulful than jazzy…but smooth as a whole. This album is a testament to the effect that moving to Brooklyn New York had on Roy Ayers as an artist, and as a man. We Live In Brooklyn Baby is one of the best hood representation tracks in the history of hood representation tracks…PERIOD. Native Brooklyn cats, Smif-n-Wessun would agree, check it out. And Ayers actually hails from Los Angeles, so paying tribute in such a way says a lot about the borough of Brooklyn.

Anyway, this album brings a lot to the table, funky drum breaks, killer bass lines, and soothing melodies. Not a typical Ubiquity LP, so expect something a tad different, but great nonetheless.

By the way, did I mention that the FLWRPT represents Brooklyn?…

Cover

Check out the sound…

We Live In Brooklyn Baby

Sweet Tears

Ain’t Got Time

Cover

Design
The monumental photo style is dynamic. The detail is not present in the faces, which is very intriguing, and Roy Ayers’ eye showing through is a really nice element that adds some weird depth the the composition.

I love the fading to black around the edges, creating a nice tension between the name and title of the LP, against the imagery.

I believe that designer Kenji Nakamura used a Herb Lubalin typeface, Elephant, for the cover typography…it’s bold enough that it works, but the serifs are a bit too thin to notice at a distance…that’s my only major criticism here.

Small detail, but on the back cover, notice the tension that the centered copy (track listing) rags create within the negative space of the subjects standing in the circle. Design is ALL about detail, and EVERY detail counts.

Peace.

posted by: Darien of flwrpt

More Anonymity.

Saturday: January 5, 2008 Posted: Darien Victor Birks Category: Boogie 3 Comments

Artist: Logg
Title: Self-Titled
Label: Salsoul
Year: 1981
Format: Vinyl LP (Original)

Front

Review
Logg, yet another alias for the great, King of Boogie, Leroy Burgess. This record is a project that Burgess was asked to work on after the classic boogie record, I Know You Will, was heard by producer Greg Carmichael. Logg was nothing more than a studio group made up of Leroy Burgess (formerly of the great soul group, Black Ivory), James Calloway, and Sonny Davenport. Studio groups are essentially a producers concept, so with that stated, one can understand why this was Logg’s one and only LP. As classic as the material on this record is, it still seemed to go under the radar during it’s release in 1981.

Burgess describes this Logg music as “Feel Good”. He claims to have discovered the formula for feel good music, and applies it to every track. Well I must say, it’s definitely working for me.

Classic record.

(You’ve Got) That Something

I Know You Will

Dancing Into The Stars

Cover

Design
Not a huge fan of the cover image.

But I really dig the “Logg” logo. It reminds me of the “Leggs” stocking company logo, which was designed by Herb Lubalin. This seems to be the same font.

The back cover imagery is awesome, THAT should have been on the front cover. Right?…

Cover

posted by: Darien of flwrpt

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