Late

The Jug-a-thon persists! Okay, currently listening to this. You are so RIGHT. These two albums are Jug in top form. This comp is highly recommended, for both newbies and jaded enthusiasts. But the CD cover art is horrible! The typographer should've been fired. Why make something new and sub-par when the original jackets could've been used? Bam. Two EXCELLENT Jug albums. Light a fire, pour the cognac.

Appetite whetted.

It goes down on "the list." Live Stitt from this period is high yield. Excellent with Chinese takeout. 🥡

Oh yes, I'm aware. I just think it's kind of funny that Mr. Feldman is a self-proclaimed detective. I'm certainly grateful for the work he's done (Bill Evans, Sonny Rollins, Jimmy Giuffre archival releases in particular), but something about calling himself a "detective"—if only he shot his promo videos in high contrast monochrome with a fedora and trench coat...then I'd be more convinced! 🙃 Yes! 👍

This one? I haven't heard this one. I need to! According to Discogs, it looks like it was only on compact disc once—2002, in Japan. Was there another reissue perhaps?

I'm interested—but a label called "Jazz Detective"? Ouch. We need the following labels first—"Jazz Receptionist," "Jazz Administrative Assistant," and "Jazz Registrar." Then I'd be more willing to make a purchase from "Jazz Detective."

Listening to this, played low, this morning. It's a really good album. Nothing out of the ordinary perhaps, but there's still an unusual quality to Marmarosa's playing. The album is well-recorded, which is a plus. And who the heck else has covered "April Played The Fiddle"??

Fingers crossed that, some day, sound recordings will be unearthed. The Jazz Detective needs to get on it. Love it. Thanks for sharing that image! 👍 I've been on an Ammons/Stitt binge lately.

I realize now I've listened to Volume 1 way more than Volume 2, almost to the extent that Vol. 2 feels new. "Baritone Blues" is a favorite track. Still, it's Vol. 1 that seems to have something extra.

Whoops—it clearly says Boston on the liners. I was still in my Gene Ammons Chicago mode. 🙃 Fans of the music? To me, Volume One in particular presents Stitt in one of his most non-auto pilot appearances. It's like he's taking pieces of the bop vocabulary and finding new ways to fit them together.

Listening to A Swedish-American Venture right now. This was a labor of love on Anna Barron's part, and the music is amazing. Sonics too. Though the disc spans from 1966 to 1984, there's a consistency to the programming. You also get 28 seconds of a Bill Barron interview—it's actually more of an introduction to his composition "A Swedish-American Venture," which is Track 3. It would've made Mingus smile. I'd say this package is essential for Bill Barron fans. Hard to believe that it's been on the market for over 20 years now.

Chicago, Boston, 1954 This one has to count as some of the very finest Stitt on record. Immaculate swing.

Bump for L. Kart. 👍

This one? The Jug-a-thon continues. I thought I'd be spinning more than one album today, but—no—I only spun this one...multiple times: Ammons' sound is untouchable. A molasses cookie. Three molasses cookies with a pot of black pekoe tea.

...meanwhile, into the early evening, the Jug-a-thon plays on. I love this album: Sometimes Prestige's reissue covers were better than the original. The opener on this album ("Tubby")—Brother Jack just kills with his comping. Rarely has organ comping generated so much heat. 🧨 Tubby

Deep Cuts Jug: Free Again The title track's tenor statement (not the oboe opening) reminds me of "Strange Fruit" for some reason. Ammons was (literally) free again, but had only two more years on the planet. Pure pathos in that tenor sound. Cue to 4:45 in the YouTube video.

The Jug-a-thon continues. A perfect album for Sunday brunch: An excellent collaboration between Eugene Stanley Ammons and Edward Hammond Boatner, recorded the day after this one: What are your favorite Ammons/Boatner collabs? 👍

Full album 👉👍👈

It was Eckstine, incidentally, who nicknamed Gene Ammons "Jug"—a shortened form of "Jughead." Eckstine had ordered straw hats for the band to wear during performance, but Ammons' hat didn't fit him. Now, I don't know if that story's apocryphal or not, but I've read it in more than one place. But maybe Eckstine just had a small head?

Only if you bring the LP with the Panthera tigris cover:

And now, as part of an ongoing Jug-a-thon: Jungle Strut

Piece To Keep Away Evil Spirits Bam. The more broadly I listen to Ammons, the more clearly I hear the Pres roots. Check out: Super 10 million, 71 thousand, 993 and you will have a better weekend.

I didn't know that I'd been living under a rock, but it must be true. I just realized I don't know this album: ... but maybe I've heard it before—was it originally on Argo with a different cover? (From Argo to Prestige?) At any rate, I don't have it in my collection. Listening on YouTube right now. Dig. 👋👋👋

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