Ted O'Reilly

Sad news. While Lucky has been silent for years, his music will live on in recordings. And: his horns continue to be played--Toronto musician Pat La Barbera owns and plays Lucky's tenor and soprano saxes. I've been trying to get him to make a record of LT's fine compositions, using LT's horns...

Off topic, but any chance of reissuing this one? I've only heard Ellefson from a Sackville album (I forget the title, it was a quartet with a guitar I think)--would be interested to hear more. ← In order to not hijack this as a KW thread, "Time To Wait" by Art Ellefson Sextet (Jazz Modus Music JMM-2) has Kenny Wheeler on it, and trombonist Ian McDougall, a third Canadian who was in Britain in the 50s/60s, and all in Johnny Dankworth's band at the same time. The producer/guitarist is Art's son, Lee. The Sackville release you speak of ("As If To Say" SKCD2-2030) has Lee, bassist Russell Botten and Buff Allen on drums. Ellefson pere et fils with bassist Chris Nelson are on "Interwoven" (Boathouse BHR CD-009. As to the Unisson LP with Ellefson and Flanagan, there is nothing to be added to it in order to pump it up to the length most folks want on CDs, so I don't think I'd ever put it out again, but one never knows, do one?

As long as we define "support" loosely -- sometimes what the soloist needs is a good kick in the ass. Guy ← Yup, that's true enough, Guy. Maybe it's not always 'good kick in the ass', but 'inspiration by example' the comper can offer.

Let's remember what comping is for....to support the soloist. No soloist was ever more demanding than Ruby Braff, and for me, his best piano accompanist was Ellis Larkins--the same man who made Ella sound so great on the early '50s Decca Gershwin stuff. No guitarist ever pleased Ruby more (on Sackville SK2CD-5005) than Ed Bickert who has also supplied perfect accompaniment to Paul Desmond, Rosemary Clooney, Rob McConnell, Humphrey Lyttelton, Buddy Tate and dozens of others, too. For all his soloing abilities, he is also the best accompanist I've heard in 50 years of jazz listening, bar none.

I produced/recorded the "Justin Time" Kenny Wheeler/Sonny Greenwich Live At The Montreal Bistro release noted earlier. (JUST 114-2). It comes from two different years' performances at the club, with Joe LaBarbera on the 1993 session and Barry Elmes playing drums on the 1997. As you can imagine, there's probably about three hours of unreleased music. It's an excellent Sonny Greenwich album (and you know we need more of that), and KW sounds great, but he's not heard on two of the six tracks. (The label decided what would be issued, not me). A sympathetic piano player is all Wheeler needs, I think, and John Taylor is probably the best for him. See if you can find Moon on a small Italian label, Egea SCA 086. Also on Justin Time, there's Touche with KW and Paul Bley, together and singly. Interesting stuff from both guys. And someone mentioned Art Ellefson a few messages back. He's fine and still playing, living in British Columbia. I did a nice record--yes, an LP (yet to appear on CD)--with Art and Tommy Flanagan for my Unisson label back in 1985. It must be among Tommy's rarest records--I doubt we sold a thousand copies, as no one had really heard of Art...

S. I. Hayakawa took Dianetics apart some 54 years ago, but still Mr. Cruise fell into it. Maybe he doesn't read Hayakawa. http://www.lisamcpherson.org/hayakawa.htm Here's a Wikipedia bio: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S._I._Hayakawa And, Sam was a jazz fan--I recall he wrote liner notes for a Don Ewell record once.

Of course, now that I think of it, Ager wrote the music, and Jack Yellin wrote the words... Was Yellin thinking of Shana, I wonder? I often think it's okay to write songs for your children, but not not your spouse. Things change in adult life...I wonder how Alice (MacLeod) Coltrane felt when "Naima" was played. I also wonder to how many women Duke intimated "Sophisticated Lady" was written. Smaarrtt.....

That's a pretty good song to dedicate to 'an unloved child', Alan. (And isn't "Shana" yiddish, or Hebrew, for "Beautiful"? Musta bin some kinda affection there...)

Sorry, but I'm a couple of steps behind you all on this.... Are these "Jazz in Paris box sets" repackagings of what was out singly 5 or so years ago (at budget prices)? I got a few individually, then got a slip-covered set ('Jazz In Paris' on Gitanes) of CDs 1-76 (skipping #8). I kind of lost track after that, and how far they got along (77-???) escaped me. The booklets with each disc have pretty good info which seems to be duplicated on that German site. (No doubt there are some goofs: there always are). (At the time, I was told #8 was a Chet Baker disc that should not have been in the series, so they pulled it, leaving all the others with their original series number alongside the individual catalogue number).

I don't remember the Evans thing, but Paddy Sampson was certainly the man at CBC who would have done it. I was at the Smith/Ewell taping, and remember it well--just a 30 minute show. I think it was saved, but I'm not sure. I may still have a contact or two at the CBC who can find out for me. Meanwhile, Smith and Ewell made a record at that time, produced by a Toronto journalist named Patrick Scott. He made a thousand copies or so (Exclusive 501--never re-presssed). John Norris made it widely available on LP ("Grand Piano") for his Sackville label, using as cover photos shots taken at the TV taping. The good news is that it's now on CD, as part of a 2CD set of three similar piano LPs, all recorded in Toronto. "Grand Piano" Sackville SK2CD-5011 Willie 'The Lion' Smith and Don Ewell (1967--Grand Piano) Claude Hopkins (1972--Soliloquy) Sir Charles Thompson (1984--Portrait of a Piano) If you have any trouble finding it, you can send a fax to Sackville at 416.465.9093 as Norris is happy to sell by mail. In fact, he's just about to send out a new mail-order catalog of things, so use that same phone number and ask him to send one out...he has lots of interesting stuff. (He's a bit of a Luddite, though: NO eMail or website).

Didn't Wynton Marsalis make a cylinder recording at the Edison Museum (?) a few years back? I seem to remember it being dropped onto one of his yearly-dozens of CDs. I didn't understand the purpose of that, either.

Jay Thomas! That's the name I couldn't come up with--thanks, Peter. Don Thompson is a pretty good drummer, though I've not heard him on 'drumes' Don used to play trumpet, he told me, loving Clifford Brown; and a good trombone playing friend (Dave McMurdo) once traded trombone lessons for arranging lessons with Don, and after three or four sessions Thompson could play at a professional level. He's just an amazing musical talent---

If it's not unfair, many/most reed players can play all the reeds comfortably, but pick one horn as a specialty. I really think it's not at all remarkable therefore to note someone plays tenor and soprano. (And probably both especially well). Remarkable should be reserved for someone like Scott Robinson, whose name hasn't popped up yet--he really plays 'em ALL, and WELL. You should check him out for his range and understanding of the whole music, too. He plays all genres, committedly, and still sounds like himself. He's way under-recoginized. The Australian James Morrison (mentioned earlier) once made a big band record on which he played every part but guitar, bass and drums. That was because he had Herb Ellis, Ray Brown and Jeff Hamilton. (Morrison could probably have played those instruments, too. Oh, yeah--he wrote all the charts). I have recordings of Benny Carter on trumpet, trombone, clarinet, alto, tenor, and piano. I hear he wrote pretty good, too.

Doug Ramsey has a new blog, and started on June 15 with a mention of Ratliff's pre-review at Rifftides: http://www.artsjournal.com/rifftides/

Ah, well, if you want to get past nerds/tones/dichotomies/etc. there always music, and Ed Bickert. I found a nice appreciation of him today at

Chris, to my knowledge money, money, money was/is a problem, and sometimes the technology itself, when it came to videotape. With a one-hour roll costing in the hundreds of dollars back in the '60s/'70s, I know the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation--the public national network) very often would be told by the accountants to re-use the archived tape, thereby erasing a bit of culture. This was two-inch reel-to-reel videotape, remember, not a convenient cassette, and unless you had a machine worth several hundred thousand dollars, it couldn't be watched or saved. Interestingly, in the days before tape, kinescopes were made: a 16mm film camera was set up in front of an on-line TV monitor, and the (live) show was recorded that way. The resultant film couldn't be reused, so it was saved, and the show was saved. Ditto, obviously, for programmes done directly to film. Even when the accountants have demanded film-dumping to save shelf space the shows have often been saved by fans who worked in the archive section. It should be noted that the material that was saved is now being valued as a money-making resource, but often copyright clearances and artists payments will hold up release. May I also say that sometimes stuff gets out of vaults (passed on by a friend in the archives--at PBS/CBC/BBC, wherever) and copy after copy gets out, thus destroying the already-small market for music other than Britney, et alia.

A friend of my daughter used to work for a firm that did refurbishing for Samsung in Canada, and she could get stuff really cheaply. In the earliest days of DVD players when they went for $300, I bought for myself and friends 4 or 5 for under $100 (Canadian!) each, as well as a couple of VCRs, and two or three TVs. Never had trouble with any of them, all going strong. I was told in most cases the 'trouble' with the products was most often a loose AC cord or such, shaken out in shipping and returned by retailers. Technicians fixed it in a few minutes and it went out the door to be sold for under half price, with a limited warranty. Over the years I've found electronic equipment (especially since transistors came in) goes wrong in the first month or so, or lasts for decades. I've had good luck with most everything, coming to like the price, performance and reliability of Panasonic/Technics products from TVs to microwaves to wet-dry battery powered electric razors...

From a friend in Europe--- Former Ellington bassist James Bryant Woode, who began his professional career in 1946 with his own band died yesterday at his home in Lindenwold, NJ. Among his early musical associates were Nat Pierce, Flip Phillips and Zoot Sims, and he was also accompanist to Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan. In the early 50s Woode was a member of the house band at George Wein's Storyville Club in Boston, where he played with numerous visiting jazz stars. By 1955 his reputation was such that he was invited to join Duke Ellington, a job he held for five years. After leaving Ellington he settled in Europe (first in Sweden), later on becoming a member of the Clarke-Boland Big Band throughout most of its existence (1961-70). A solid section player, Woode continued drawing the respect of his fellow musicians till the near end. James Bryant Woode, born September 23, 1928 in Philadelphia, PA, died April 23, 2005 in Lindenwold, NJ.

I forgot to mention that in addition to Robert and Dennis, there is a third musician-brother, Brian. That Robert was a fine jazz-swing arranger/orchestrator 'way back is proven on some CDs compiled by my friend, broadcaster/journalist Glen Woodcock, featuring the Canadian Band of the Allied Expeditionary Force (the Canadian equivalent of the Miller AAF Band; George Melachrino led the British version). Farnon was the director and main orchestrator, and those who have heard the Canadian group almost universally agree that it was equal to Miller's, and swung a hell of a lot more. If anyone's interested in hearing that group, saved in airchecks of reasonable quality, I'll dig out an eMail address to Woodcock, who may still have a few copies around.

JIm R., and Dmitri, please pay attention: the orchestrator on the Phineas record is Dennis Farnon, Robert's brother.

From a Swiss friend, who knew Niels well--- Famed Danish jazz musician Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen dies COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) - Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, one of Denmark's best known jazz musicians, who performed with legends such as Miles Davis, Dexter Gordon and Dizzy Gillespie, has died at age 58. Ørsted Pedersen, the bass player widely known by his initials NHØP, died Tuesday in Copenhagen, leading jazz experts and Danish media said. The cause of death was a heart attack. His career as a bass player took off in 1962 when, at age 16, he played in Copenhagen's famed Montmartre jazz club, where American greats including Count Basie, Ben Webster, Dexter Gordon and pianist Bud Powell performed. However, his international breakthrough came in 1973, when he joined the Oscar Peterson trio produced by Norman Granz. "In reality, he was Denmark's best know musician regardless of the genre," said Cim Meyer, the editor of Jazz Special, a Danish music magazine. Meyer said Ørsted Pedersen was lucky to be a jazz musician in Denmark when famous U.S. musicians settled in the country believing they found refuge from racism, police harassment and musical obscurity in the United States. Ørsted Pedersen appeared on hundreds of records and played with Toots Thielemans, Chet Baker, Lee Konitz and Martial Solal, among others. Claus Vittus, a leading jazz expert with Denmark's public radio, dubbed Ørsted Pedersen "one of the world's greatest" jazz bassists. From 1964 to 1982, he was a member of the reputed Danish Radio's Big Band and also has performed with trumpeter Palle Mikkelborg and keyboard player Kenneth Knudsen, both Danes. He is survived by his wife, Solveig and their two daughters Anna and Marie.

Yes, these are the same items...

I hope it's a self-adhesive stamp. I'm not sure I want to have to lick his backside...

Wow, I never would have thought that a late-night musing would have elicited this much response. Thank you. There have been some exceptional remarks pro and con, and I now have a good idea why some use 'alternative IDs'. Further, I guess I'm a pretty naive 64 year-old: I never considered that stalking and threats would come from merely expressing a differing opinion. I never wished to suggest that using a 'handle' would mean that people wouldn't be honest in their opinion, but that using a real name might in fact lead one to be a little more rational and responsible in expressing it. It's one thing to remark "I, Ted O'Reilly think that (INSERT ARTIST NAME) is a musician who plays out of tune, and has no originality", and another to say "I ('handle') heard that ugly MF stole his horn from an out-of-work widowed pensioner, AND he smells bad! And don't you dare disagree with me!!!" Jazzbo's signature line is a good one...

Thanks for proving my point.