Bass Your Car & Truck

1. Pathfinder Boom

2. East Coast Boom

3. Slamin' Bronco Bass

4. Caddy Zoom Boom

5. My Chevy Booms

6. West Coast Boom

7. Hip Hop Blazer Boom

8. Import Boom

9. Trucks That Go Boom

10. Flat Bed Bass

11. Texas Boom

12. Miami Bass

13. My el Camino Got Bass

Tracks:

Blue Bells Of Scotland
Intermezzo-Forever
We Won't Go Home Until Morning
Stay In Your Own Back Yard
Parisian Melodies
Prince Of Pilsen: Message Of The Violet
Little Nell
Stabat Mater: Cujus Animam
My Old Kentucky Home
The Patriot-Polka
Stabat Mater: Inflammatus
Love's Enchantment
The Holy City
One Sweetly Solemn Thought
Nancy Brown: Congo Love Song
Non E Ver
Love Thoughts Waltz
The Low Back'd Car
Navajo
Sergeant Brue: Dearie
Aida: Celeste Aida
Come Down From The Big Fig Tree
Oh, Dry Those Tears
Pagliacci Selection
Love Me And The World Is Mine
Polka Fantastic

Customer Reviews:

Important Historical Recordings: the First Great Trombonist!.......2004-09-17

This CD is a compilation of only a very few of the literally thousands of recordings Arthur Pryor made as a trombonist during a span of about 20 years. Since they date to the earliest days of recording technology--all of the works here are from 1901-1911--the sound quality is terrible compared to our modern recordings. Although all sorts of manipulations were used to improve the sound, including the combining of two different copies of the same recording, there is still a significant amount of hiss, crackle, and pop--it's more like a bowl of Rice Crispies than a newly recorded CD. If you can think of it like listening to an old Victorola it has a certain amount of charm, but surely some listeners will be immediately put off by the distortion, which admittedly lessens in the later works. Add to this the logistical problems of recording at the turn of the last century--only a limited amount of players could gather around the equipment--and it becomes clear that we aren't really hearing what an audience member at the time would have heard during a live performance of Sousa's Band. In fact, the band comes off quite poorly here--in The Blue Bells of Scotland they can barely keep up with Arthur Pryor, and their ensemble playing is poor in many places to an extent that's hardly credible for what was widely believed to be the best band in the world.

But of course one doesn't buy a CD like this to hear the accompaniment, or to listen to the sound quality. The only reason is to hear Arthur Pryor, surely the first great trombone soloist, in what is a wonderful piece of turn-of-the-century Americana. Pryor was the son of a bandmaster and learned to play all sorts of instruments (violin, cornet, alto horn, string bass, and valve trombone!) at an early age and was given his first slide trombone some time after his 11th birthday. He became a trombone virtuoso in the face of overwhelming difficulties--not only did a kick from a mule result in partial paralysis of his face, but also the trombone he'd been given was damaged and could only use the first two positions. In overcoming these seeming adversities through an astonishing work ethic he developed many of the features which made his performance so special: his characteristic constant shimmery vibrato created by "waving" his jaw; and an amazing embouchure (lip muscle strength) which allowed him to play every chromatic pitch using only those two positions (normal trombone technique employs 7!). Pryor revolutionized trombone technique and set a new standard, not only at home in America, but also abroad during his many European tours with the Sousa band and his own ensemble. One of his trombones, covered in engraving and with the characteristic unusually small bore he favored, can still be seen on display at the Interlochen School of the Arts outside of Traverse City, Michigan.

Featured on the CD are 26 Pryor performances, a few with piano, 10 with the Sousa Band, and 12 with Pryor's own ensembles. The music ranges from Italian opera arias (Verdi's Celeste Aida) to American popular songs of the day (Foster's My Old Kentucky Home) and contains a good portion of Pryor's own compositions and arrangements. Among my favorites are Pryor's The Patriot-Polka and Polka Fantastic, both clever pieces with amazing trombone performances. A real oddity is We Won't Go Home Until Morning (known to me as The Bear Went Over the Mountain) "played in four octaves"--it's exactly what it says it is. After a short piano introduction, Pryor plays the melody unaccompanied and unadorned in a high octave, then an octave lower, another octave lower, and finally in pedal tones. The whole thing has a real carny atmosphere, as if P. T. Barnum were hiding just around the corner. Van Alstyne's Navajo also captures this air of a time long gone, when Americans were wide-eyed and innocent and the world was never far from a Saturday afternoon near the bandstand.

Of special note are the unusually thorough notes in the programme booklet. Daniel E. Frizane supplies terrific biographical notes, from which I gleaned much of the information above; articles about the recordings and the Arthur Pryor performances are supplied, as well as an engineer's note describing the equipment and techniques used to restore the recordings. It's clearly a labor of love from all concerned.

a great find.......2002-11-10

If you're a trombonist, you've heard of that crazy song, Blue Bells of Scotland, and you may have noticed the name of the composer, Arthur Pryor. You may not know that he was a trombonist himself(!) and played in the John Philip Sousa band for many years, and then had his own band afterwards. Pryor was a famous name in the trombone world, and he wrote many pieces featuring a solo trombone; most of them are featured here.

If you want to buy this album to hear fantastic trombone playing so fast it'll blow your socks off or so pretty in a ballad you fall right to sleep, this is not the album for you. It is a recording produced from an OLD master (you may recall the Sousa band was at the turn of the 20th century), and with trombone playing that is not the style thought of as 'pretty' by today's ear. If this describes you, look for some of these same songs (blue bells, thoughts of love, fantasic polka), recorded by some of today's trombone virtuosos - Christian Lindberg, Mark Lawrence, Joe Alessi, etc. to find a more modern sound.

If, however, you want authentic period music, this is about as authentic as you can get. The trombone style is choppy when fast, and not as connected for slow tunes also, and the band accompaniment is the same way; that was the popular style of the time. It is nice to hear these pieces and realize how the composer intended them to be played (because he's the one playing them).

So, good for novelty purposes, bad for high quality recording of highest quality trombone playing

a fantastic example.......2002-07-17

Arthur pryor's trombone playing in this exellent assortment of pieces recorded in the late 1800's gives both beginner and expert players fastastic insight on how to improve their playing. Arthur pryor will undoubtedly go down as one of the world's greatest trombonists of all time....and to actually hear him play is an awesome experience.

Arthur Pryor Forever.......1999-12-17

I play trombone, and I have listened to this album, and I think it's wonderful. The sound is not very good, as it is a VERY VERY VERY old original recording, but it is an absolute must have for any trombonist. What can I say, I love it.

One of the greats.......1999-12-17

This is a must buy for any trombonist. I play trombone, and Arthur Pryor is, in my opinion, the all-time best trombone performer, and song writer that I have yet encountered. I have played the Blue Bells of Scotland, and it is wonderful.

Average customer rating:

Passable guitar pop

Writing The Broken Line
Million Time Winner
Manufacturer: Jerk Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Indie Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000227E9G
Release Date: 2003-07-03

Tracks:

Smiles in Between
The Broken Line
I'm Gone North
The New Routine
Drowning in the Shadows
7 Miles of Hard Road
Little Girl, Little Song
You with Me
Stars To Lie Beneath
You'll be Fine

Album Description

Album number three from Million Time Winner forges headlong into territory where the past albums feared to tread. Mixed by Plinky Giglio of 17th Ave Productions, this album sounds like a million bucks, bringing you some serious pop spank and sparkle in ten new tunes ranging from staight out rock to slower heartfelt numbers, to the fastest(and shortest) MTW song to date. Available July of 2003 for the unwashed masses!

Customer Reviews:

Passable guitar pop.......2004-06-21

The third album by Million Time Winner is "Writing The Broken Line," a collection of middle-level guitar pop-rock. Lots of broken hearts, brief basslines and capable guitar riffs litter the album, but nothing about it will make you remember it once it's over.

It kicks off with a fairly interesting pop-punk riff in the passable rocker "Smiles in Between," followed by the somewhat repetitive "Broken Line" and the more complex "I'm Gone North." There's a lapse into slower pop with "Guitar Paper Pen," a blast of monotoned desperation in "Drowning in the Shadows," and the highlight, the insidiously catchy "Little Girl Little Song."

There's nothing too wrong with "Writing the Broken Line" -- most of its problem is that it fails to be really good. The music is pretty typical guitar pop-rock, the lyrics are typical depressed-teen songs, and the vocals are those of a guy who is good but not great.

The lyrics are the biggest stumbling point of "Writing." They range from average to downright silly, like the entirely serious, "If I close my eyes/I would see your pretty smile/that'd be nice to see." And the final track may drive you crazy with the endless droning of "You'll be fine, you'll be fine, you'll be fine..."

Christian Andrews has a nice voice. Not great, but nice; he can carry the songs but don't expect vocal gymnastics. And the guitar riffs and basslines aren't great either, but they are good and catchy. They do, however, occasionally cross the line from good to great, coming up with some multilayered effects that are all too brief.

Tracks:

california
into every life...
apology
9-11-01
she
here i am
betrayed
rhe's song
waiting
oceans

Album Description

acoustic based alternative rock influenced by REM, counting crows, DMB and Radiohead.

Customer Reviews:

sounds good to me !.......2002-01-10

We went to dinner at a restaurant in Glens Falls, New York. Mike Grutka was the evening's entertainment, and it was then we were introduced to his music. We bought a copy of the CD after his first set (made him autograph it, too !) The songs are easily accessible at first listen, but continue to grow on you. The first cut, California, is the obvious "hit single release", but that would not be fair to the rest of the CD. California should have been buried bit deeper, a diamond to be uncovered after sifting through other stones of varying but undeniable value. The REM influence is there, but since I like REM that's no problem, and it's not an overstated thing, anyway. My favorites are Oceans, Apology, California, and Rhe's Song. The only cut i don't care for, at the risk of sounding unpatriotic, is 9-11-01. The song starts out nice, ends oddly, and just does not fit with the rest of the CD. It flat out does not belong in the set, and I wish Mr. Grutka had chosen another song. But I guess at the time it felt right. Heck, it may be right and history will call me a poor critic. Anyway, this is a good cd of primarily acoustic guitar music, with enough orchestration to enhance, and not overpower, what Grutka is doing. I thought it was worth paying for, and the rewards of listening to it support this, long after dinner is done. All in all a tasty treat for the ear. I hope a sophomore effort is planned. I'll buy that one, too.

Average customer rating:

Paint Me Fine And Free

Manufacturer: Jerk
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Alternative Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music

Rock | Alternative Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000069EV5
Release Date: 2002-06-11

Tracks:

Our Secrets
Feels Like
Motion Picture Game
October Leaves
I Been
Just Keep Telling Yourself

Album Description

Jerk Records is proud to announce the sophmore release of Million Time Winner for the summer of 2002. Recorded in 8 months time at Jerk on the Jersery Shore, this EP is loaded with indy power pop hooks.