That Old Black Magic - ASHLEY ALEXANDER BIG BAND

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AndrewMeronek
Posts: 1487
Joined: Mar 30, 2018

by AndrewMeronek »

Who knows anything about this recording and/or band? Ran across this trying to find a recording of this Mantooth chart. I wasn't sure if it had actually been done, and viola! Featuring (to my ears, I'm not sure) the featured solo part on a superbone?

<YOUTUBE id="6Sip3Zh2ykU">[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Sip3Zh2ykU</YOUTUBE>
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JohnL
Posts: 2529
Joined: Mar 23, 2018

by JohnL »

Ashley Alexander certainly regularly played a Superbone. It's been said that he was the player who most effectively exploited the instrument's valves+slide capability.
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Sniffynose
Posts: 96
Joined: Sep 29, 2020

by Sniffynose »

Great post!

First thing that always comes to mind when I hear this song is this

Blue Devils 1988

Scroll to 2:21 minutes in

<YOUTUBE id="dqLGC9CvKUo">https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=dqLGC9CvKUo</YOUTUBE>
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JohnL
Posts: 2529
Joined: Mar 23, 2018

by JohnL »

To add more...

Ashley Alexander was on the faculty at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, California (near Los Angeles) from 1975 until his death (at the age of 52) in 1988; before that, he was jazz studies director at the University of Northern Iowa.

As I recall, he was very active as a clinician (he was teaching at a summer camp in Canada when he died) and a lot of people passed through his programs at UNI and Mr. SAC. I'm sure there are people here on the forum who knew him personally.
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AndrewMeronek
Posts: 1487
Joined: Mar 30, 2018

by AndrewMeronek »

[quote="Sniffynose"]First thing that always comes to mind when I hear this song is this

Blue Devils 1988[/quote]

Cool bootleg! I never did drum corps, too hard.
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AndrewMeronek
Posts: 1487
Joined: Mar 30, 2018

by AndrewMeronek »

LPs of this apparently aren't worthless if one presumes EBay reflects some semblence of the current market.

Was this never released on CD in the States? Seems like CDs are available in the U.K.

<YOUTUBE id="3OaezVnpuNA">[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OaezVnpuNA</YOUTUBE>
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boneapart
Posts: 85
Joined: Aug 13, 2018

by boneapart »

[quote="AndrewMeronek"]LPs of this apparently aren't worthless if one presumes EBay reflects some semblence of the current market.

Was this never released on CD in the States? Seems like CDs are available in the U.K.

<YOUTUBE id="3OaezVnpuNA">[media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OaezVnpuNA</YOUTUBE>[/quote]

I have it on CD, DAP 34002-2 (1995) "Made in Texas, U.S.A." Most of Frank Mantooth's arrangement are available as well.
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tbdana
Posts: 1928
Joined: Apr 08, 2023

by tbdana »

I was recently turned onto this Alexander/Mantooth chart on "Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most" when I had to (or, actualy, got to) sight read this on a gig I was subbing on. I like it, and even my spouse likes this tune, and she's not a big band fan.

<YOUTUBE id="P583bgVTkz4">https://youtu.be/P583bgVTkz4?si=qh54rdH8VaoMw4bO</YOUTUBE>
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timbales
Posts: 3
Joined: Oct 19, 2023

by timbales »

I love this album. Superb playing, wonderful arrangements, and recorded really well. Deserves a listen. You may be surprised.

I'm on the Ashley Alexander trail to see what kind of left hand brace he has on his Holton Superbone.

I have a Mendini clone of a SuperBone

that actually sounds okay and the intonation is okay as well. Except, it is really heavy. Really heavy for my 71 year old left hand.

So I'm having Dana Hofer in Des Plaines Illinois (Chicago near O'Hare) Mount a NeoTech strap/handle on the valve body area. He is a good designer. More about that later.

Re Ashley Alexander's Holton. He also has two counter weights on the back end, and a slide "stabilizer" mounted to the slide and the third valve area.

Thanks

I will report back <EMOJI seq="1f60e" tseq="1f60e">😎</EMOJI>

Tim Bales

timbales.net
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boneapart
Posts: 85
Joined: Aug 13, 2018

by boneapart »

Ashley Alexander and Frank Mantooth were a great team. Sadly, they both perished in their mid 50s.