Customer Reviews

Impending Bloom

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Glen Moore (best known from his days with Oregon) and Nancy King deliver an exceptionally eccentric and downright fun LP's worth of bass and vocals. This disk and their earlier album, "Potato Radio" are honestly like nothing you've ever heard before, and still I've yet to play it for anyone who hasn't been entranced by it.

If you like jazz vocals and great bass playing, you need this in your collection. Thanks to the Oregon fan who turned me on to it by way of Glen Moore. A truly eclectic and uniquely aloof, beautifully alienated, organically stark and laid-back yet superbly melodic and playful jazz album that seems to have been conceived with enough thought and a level of attention to detail and nuance that would have impressed even Igor Stravinsky. An incredible number of variables are balanced and understated to perfection, all within a pared-down, almost minimalist instrumentation. And what steel strength there is behind these intrumentations! But then who would expect less than steel strength from an artist of the stature of Glen Moore of Oregon. And where has Nancy King been hiding all these years with all that talent and mind-blowing vocal virtuosity? But then maybe she was looking for the perfect complement to her style which is precisely, synergistically and 100% this hooking up with Glen Moore. This album is not going away, ever, despite all the marketing push that it did not receive, despite Norah Jones and Diana Krall having proven that the market for jazz vocal albums is still huge and crosses over to almost everyone. Great art created with such care and rooted so deep in the human soul never does, it only awaits inevitable, open-mouthed, flabbergasted, awed discovery. But the question is: having been lucky enough to stumble on this page and read this, will you take the chance and discover it now or will your grandkids discover it 50 years from now?

I spent a long time trying to find this album when I first heard "Mountain Greenery" on KPCC (back when they still programmed jazz). Most of the album is little more than Nancy King on vocals and Glen Moore on double bass. It's an astonishing combination and makes for one of the most exciting albums ever. I've heard 2 of the 3 follow-up albums and each fails to measure up to the excitement of this album (or King & Moore's live performances), but they all, ESPECIALLY this one, are worth trying to get a hold of.

I'd heard "Alligator Dancing" on the radio in Florida. This cut is actually on their "Potato Radio" CD, but it induced me to buy this one. As another reviewer says, you've never heard anything like it...

First, Glen Moore makes the double bass sing with voices you've never heard before - ominous, low, growling tones suddenly leap to extremely high, keening tones. Downright scary.

Then, the unusual, "graceless" voice of his singer. It has a strange accent: hard Rs like a midwesterner coupled with a shapeless use of vowels. But keep lisening. Eventually you get a special serenity from it...

Anyway, I'd like to know what they're doing now. They made some very special music, and, on this album, they sang a sing I sang at my mother's funeral.

I can never thank them enough for enabling my gift to my mother.

This fun album deserves a place in your collection. If you can find it, buy it. Keep checking back here for a used copy and grab it when you can!