9/30/10

Sixpoint Pumpkin Brewster Ale- Brouweji Lane- Greenpoint, Brooklyn- 32 oz- Poured in to Pub Glass- 5.5% ABV- My second pumpkin beer comes from the Sixpoint Brewery in Brooklyn. Copper colored fairly clear. About a half a finger of head, ever so slightly orange in color. Not much retention or lacing. Hints of cinnamon and nutmeg in the aroma but not alot. No pumpkin that I smell. Medium bodied mouth feel with light to medium carbonation. The taste, disappointingly, does not have much pumpkin in it or any of the spices I get from the aroma. The taste kind of has a "bready" quality if that makes any sense. This is the second Sixpoint beer I have had in growler form and I was't a big fan of the other. I believe it was the Lager or Pilsener and it wasn't bad but it just didn't distinguish itself in any way. This seems to be the same case with this beer, its not bad, but doesn't really strike me as a very "pumpkiny" beer whci is what I was expecting.

On the turntable is Bill Holman's Great Big Band- Bill Holman- Recorded for Capitol Records presumably at their Los Angeles based studio in the late to 50's and early 60's but the record doesn't indicate either the location or the date. For me the world of records can be a challenging one when it comes to genres. For me, I honestly like a little bit of everything. Lately my focus has been country and 70’s rock n roll. But whatever I am looking for there is always something I find that I wasn’t looking for. As a result there some inconsistencies in my collection and it tends to jump from place to place. It also makes it kind of difficult to decide on what to listen to because I often have competing desires from one minute to the next. Luckily for records there are no real complications or consequences from choosing one style over another from one day to the next. I bring this up because tonight’s record is a brassy, big band affair from the 1950’s. Based on my previous choices it would probably be hard to assume I would enjoy this type of music, but I do. Records in this style were popular in the 1950’s up until about the mid 1960’s. Some are from long forgotten arrangers and some are by more well known like Paul Ruggolo. I bought this record for $2 on a whim but was not familiar with Mr. Holman's work. After reading up on him I learned that he made a name for himself as a member and arranger for Stan Kenton's Big Band. According to the liner notes written by Leonard Feather, in an easy to understand and humble manner, Holman played and wrote for other west coast players of the time (50's and 60's) including Gerry Mulligan, Shelly Manne, Shorty Rogers, etc. This album includes both originals and standards and is made up of a 17 piece band but the only players names I recognized were Conte Candoli on trumpet and Mel Lewis on drums. I am not a jazz scholar nor am I music major but I can tell you from experience that these “brass” records are great. Jimi Hendrix would often reference colors when speaking about music and I think these jazz based orchestra records really do have “color”. I can’t dissect or analyze these songs critically through musical notation but luckily you don't need to in order to hear the movement and color in the music. The arrangements, instrumentation and tones can be subtle or provide a surging momentum. An ebb and flow of rhythms engage the listener and make it an enjoyable listen. Some standout tracks form me are Shadrach with its bold opening, Stereoso which has a bluesy, plodding quality which wouldn't sound out of place in an old cartoon and The Gentleman Is A Dope with another great intro with a pulsing 007 Theme feel.