For A Song: Dogs Outside, by Todd Sickafoose Group
For A Song is a rambling diatribe reviewing music I've thrifted. Today's CD cost me $1.07.
Could I stop buying 'new' music...
For five minutes!?
I'll concede that this one wasn't from my stack of thrifted CDs, and since it came from the library used book store, may not qualify at all. Still, its 1999 recording date and paper CD case caught my eye and, with a sigh, I asked the cashier to make change for a tenner.
'Huh, it looks like this one's autographed,' I remarked idly while the cashier shuffled bills, and showed him the sharpie signature on the inside of the case. Strange thing for a library to let go of, or have, for that matter, but I tucked Dogs Outside into my jacket pocket and ambled into the library proper to find more music and books and things.
It's a jazz quintet album, very contemporary. The first two songs in the album come out strongly with several of the quintet's musicians improvising simultaneously, just occasionally unifying to a refrain. It's dissonant and loud as voices vie for attention (the saxophone screams particularly loudly), and oh-so-savory as it collapses together. It's not exactly easy listening, but it's not bad. It's a professional jazz quintet, and jazz doesn't owe it to be easy.
It's like marmite, I think to myself. This music is marmite. Occasionally overpowering, potentially offputting, phenomenal with a few key ingredients. Savoury, dusky, but not smooth.
If you want to really enjoy marmite, I recommend spreading it thinly on toasted bread in a sandwich with salami and swiss cheese, particularly if you apply heat so the oils all mingle together. Mmph, I love marmite.
Anecdote aside, I went snooping for context clues in the case, and was tickled at the relics of the early internet printed on the inside. The zot.net website URL didn't go anywhere, unfortunately, and I wasn't particularly hopeful that Mr. Sickafoose' old Earthlink email address would take. I turned instead to Wikipedia.
Todd Sickafoose is the bassist in the group, and arranged and produced the album. The Todd Sickafoose Group would later go on to make the Blood Orange album in 2006 before dissolving. He formed Todd Sickafoose's Tiny Resistors in 2008. He's performed with dozens of groups and musicians and is known for arranging and orches- hold on.
Todd Sickafoose helped arrange and orchestrate Hadestown!? The musical?! Produced the original 2010 album!?
And now I have his autograph. My ex can eat her heart out.
It's still not nearly my favorite jazz album; I'd much sooner reach for Chick Corea or Return to Forever. It's technically impressive for dedicated listening, and fills out background noise neatly when turned down low. I did send along a message on Todd's contact page on his modern, non-zot website asking how he looks back on this album 25 years later, we'll see if I get a response.
Hopefully another day I'll ask the internet where the rest of the quintet is nowadays, or what they've each produced, but for now, this is For A Song. The album isn't on Todd's bandcamp, nor Spotify, but looks like you can get an ear in on Youtube if you're lucky.
I was helping with weeding over at the folks, and it was nice enough we got the lawn screw and brought out the backyard manager to supervise us while we worked.
