(Vocal Jazz) [CD] Frank Minion - The Soft Land Of Make Believe (1960) - 2013, FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Features the latest remastering. Includes a Japanese description and lyrics.

Frank Minion's one and only recording is a fascinating window into the world of a jazz performer. Quite cynical and sarcastic toward the jaundiced American view of the jazz life, Minion minces no words in stating his case, his reasons why, and his conclusions as to the home country of the music so thoroughly dismissing the music he loves. As this project was done back in the late '50s and early '60s, it reflects a syndrome that unfortunately still exists 50 years later. The CD reissue begins with a five-part suite based on the talking points and songs reflecting the vagaries and perceptions of a fictional big city neighborhood, which just as easily could be the reality of renaissance Harlem, references to Atlanta, or perhaps his native Baltimore. The second half features familiar standards with Minion's original lyrics or vocal lines adapted and extended with Minion's further remarks. "Introduction to Black Opium Street" has nine total sub-segments centered on the tough life of a jazzman, social issues, relations with women, and inferences to drug use. It is not all that dissimilar to the famous Charles Mingus poetry piece "Scenes in the City." The title track is a speak-out on squares, "Knowbody Knows" says that J.C. Heard and Billie Holiday know what others don't, "Bongo Blues" adopts a pseudo-Latin stance on a cautionary tale of playing the "skins" for cigarettes and pork & beans, while "Things Ain't Like They Used to Went" is an over the top wigged-out shout very similar to Babs Gonzales. The remainder of the songs are spoken or sung ballads as Minion is bummed out about a "brother" in "Salaam My Child," plays the sad clown in "Laughing Boy," and espouses hip bluesy jargon of the day in "Later." Roland Alexander's tenor sax and especially flute playing, and the emerging pianist Tommy Flanagan, stand out. Three cuts with the Bill Evans trio that worked with Miles Davis show Minion's ability to stretch familiar themes, and comprise his most vibrant work. His clever melding of "All Blues" and "Flamenco Sketches" is a love plea, including the self-deprecating phrase "Hey flamenco, I bet you think I am stinko." "'Round Midnight" expresses the same romantic sentiment as the original with a slightly added-on lyric, while "So What" is a completely different line, incorporating a theme of reaching out for help. The remaining two tracks, originals of Minion, have his voice in a distant thin echo. "Watermelon" is a Latin-ish shoutin' blues, while the statement "You I Love" precludes 36 lines of pleading calypso-fired rhythms in different keys, accented by an occasional Mickey & Sylvia "Love Is Strange" rock & roll phrase from guitarist Kenny Burrell. A time capsule of male post-vocalese jazz, and a tone parallel to Babs Gonzales without the histrionics or comedic rapport, Minion's lone statement is a very good one, and all should be glad it is finally available again.

Exact Audio Copy V1.0 beta 3 from 29. August 2011
EAC extraction logfile from 18. July 2014, 12:42
Frank Minion / The Soft Land of Make Believe
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Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out          : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks   : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations       : Yes
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Gap handling                                : Appended to previous track
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TOC of the extracted CD
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        1  |  0:00.00 |  1:34.41 |         0    |     7090
        2  |  1:34.41 |  3:32.10 |      7091    |    23000
        3  |  5:06.51 |  1:25.50 |     23001    |    29425
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        8  | 16:02.60 |  3:27.45 |     72210    |    87779
        9  | 19:30.30 |  1:41.66 |     87780    |    95420
       10  | 21:12.21 |  4:21.58 |     95421    |   115053
       11  | 25:34.04 |  5:35.20 |    115054    |   140198
       12  | 31:09.24 |  4:24.15 |    140199    |   160013
       13  | 35:33.39 |  2:53.67 |    160014    |   173055
       14  | 38:27.31 |  3:34.47 |    173056    |   189152
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Track  7
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Track  9
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Track 11
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Track 12
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Track 13
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All tracks accurately ripped
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==== Log checksum 65B473BC2FF52A2B725936D0D9629C371F4DBE26000EFE0D0AD5B1CE389A8E27 ====

REM GENRE Jazz
REM DATE 1960
REM DISCID C509DA0E
REM COMMENT "ExactAudioCopy v1.0b3"
PERFORMER "Frank Minion"
TITLE "The Soft Land Of Make Believe"
FILE "01 - The Soft Land Of Make Believe.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 01 AUDIO
    TITLE "The Soft Land Of Make Believe"
    PERFORMER "Frank Minion"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "02 - Knowbody Knows.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 02 AUDIO
    TITLE "Knowbody Knows"
    PERFORMER "Frank Minion"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "03 - Autobiography Of A Musician.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 03 AUDIO
    TITLE "Autobiography Of A Musician"
    PERFORMER "Frank Minion"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "04 - Bongo Blues.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 04 AUDIO
    TITLE "Bongo Blues"
    PERFORMER "Frank Minion"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "05 - Oddville, U.S.A.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 05 AUDIO
    TITLE "Oddville, U.S.A"
    PERFORMER "Frank Minion"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "06 - Things Ain't Like They Used To Went.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 06 AUDIO
    TITLE "Things Ain't Like They Used To Went"
    PERFORMER "Frank Minion"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "07 - Salaam My Child.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 07 AUDIO
    TITLE "Salaam My Child"
    PERFORMER "Frank Minion"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "08 - Laughing Boy.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 08 AUDIO
    TITLE "Laughing Boy"
    PERFORMER "Frank Minion"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "09 - Later.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 09 AUDIO
    TITLE "Later"
    PERFORMER "Frank Minion"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "10 - Flamenco Sketches.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 10 AUDIO
    TITLE "Flamenco Sketches"
    PERFORMER "Frank Minion"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "11 - Round Midnight.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 11 AUDIO
    TITLE "Round Midnight"
    PERFORMER "Frank Minion"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "12 - So What.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 12 AUDIO
    TITLE "So What"
    PERFORMER "Frank Minion"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "13 - Watermelon.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 13 AUDIO
    TITLE "Watermelon"
    PERFORMER "Frank Minion"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "14 - You I Love.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 14 AUDIO
    TITLE "You I Love"
    PERFORMER "Frank Minion"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00