JohnT

PM sent on the Art Blakey Moanin'

Many years ago I saw the duo of Jim Hall and Ron Carter at the Detroit Institute of the Arts. Great Jazz + Great Art = One of the best concerts I ever saw. RIP Jim Hall

RIP When I was about 22 years old, I met Marian McPartland after one of her shows. I told her I was an aspiring bass player. She was very encouraging and asked for my address saying she wanted to send me a little something. A few weeks later one of her LP's arrived in the mail for me with a very thoughtful note. Still is one of my prized possessions. What a great musician and beautiful human being!! Thanks Marian for all the music inspiration throughout the years!!

I saw one of the last shows by the Rivbea orchestra with Sam. One of the greatest musical experiences of my life! IIRC, bassist Doug Mathews was the de facto leader of the group. I believe he along with several members of the band are teachers at the Univ. of Central Florida near Orlando. Haven't heard if the band is still going but I'd love to see them keep it going in honor of Sam. I'm clear on the other side of the State but would love to go see them again playing Sam's music!

I sent another PM regarding the Keith Jarrett - The Impulse! Years 1973-74 $35

PM sent on the Keith Jarrett - Mysteries: The Impulse! Years $35

According to what I've read, Duke Ellington used bassists Billy Taylor and Jimmy Blanton together for a short period of time until Billy Taylor no longer wanted to be "outplayed" by the new addition of Blanton in the band.

RIP. I saw him as the opening act for George Harrison in 1974. What a great concert!! Really opened my ears to other cultures music!!

I just received a notice that mine was shipped. Received a call last week from Scott at Mosaic stating that they were waiting for an additional shipment and would receive them this week. What great customer service from Mosaic -- never had anybody call me to let me know the status of an order from any other company!! Also, good to hear they might have sold out their initial run -- looks like this is will be a good sale for Mosaic.

Scott LaFaro's bass:

Saw Donald Harrison at the Detroit Jazz festival this year. He introduced his nephew who came out and played. I kept saying to myself, I've seen this trumpet player before and finally realized it was Christian Scott right before Mr. Harrison stated his name. First time I found out it was his nephew. Scott is a really fine player!!

Ordered both! Thanks!!

The NS Design EUB would be a great instrument for someone who wanted to make the transition from the bass guitar to Upright bass in that it has dots on the fingerboard where the frets would be (although having learned on the regular Upright bass if I look at the dots it really throws me!). @Jazzbo: Wow! What a great collection of basses!! That Wishbass made me drool!!! I know what you mean, I used to have many more electric basses but now (besides my two uprights and the EUB) I'm down to a recent model American Standard Fender Jazz Bass (I sold my early '80's Jazz bass many years ago which I still kick myself for selling!), a '73 Fender Precision Bass and an '86 Westone Spectum XL electric bass which I keep as a fretless (it came with an extra bolt on fretted neck). It's a really cool bass!! http://www.westone.info/spectrumlxbass.html I don't play electric bass too often anymore but they're fun to play when I do!

Yeah, an EUB, a contrabass violin (aka upright bass, double bass, doghouse, bass fiddle, etc.) and a Fender Jazz will pretty much have you covered (I have all 3). ...but if I played Tuba too (I actually wish I did), I'd really have all the basses covered!! @Jazzbo: I got my EUB for around $1,000 so you might be able to find something affordable when and if you ever want to get one.

While I own 2 standard upright basses and several electric basses, I spend about 50% of my playing now using an NS Design Electric Upright Bass(EUB). http://thinkns.com/instruments/nxt_bass.php. I was a little hesitant at first but found that most of my fellow musicians really like the sound. It can really cut through, especially with loud ensembles (it' always seems like a battle playing Upright Bass with a large ensemble like a Big Band)and it is great if you play outside or on a small bandstand. IMHO, it's amazing how close the sound comes to an upright bass and it's so easy to carry (my back now thanks me too!) Another plus (to me) is that I'm currently one of the few guys regularly playing one in my area so I kind of stand out uniquely (for better or worse) from the rest of the crowd. However, there are some band leaders who only want you to play the traditional Upright Bass and I'm cool with that too because, overall, you can't beat the sound of the traditional Upright Bass. But I've made a lot of converts in accepting the EUB!

Unfortunately she was greatly under-recorded, but Bess Bonnier was an excellent Detroit pianist!! http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords=bess+bonnier+

A lot of people don't know that Don Was (real name Don Fagenson) was a great jazz bassist in the early '70's playing with pianist Lenore Paxton's group in and around the City of Detroit. Long before I knew who Jaco was, in the early '70's, to me, Don was our local "Jaco" (he even played a Fender Jazz bass and an Acoustic 360 amp and I don't think he knew who Jaco was at that time either but I could be wrong). He was a little older than me and I went to him to ask if he'd give me lessons but he turned me on to a great classical bass teacher who taught me to read, etc. for which I'm greatly indebted. My cousin, Kevin Tschirhart, played percussion with the original version of Was Not Was. Don did a lot of studio work at United Sound in Detroit and then went on to produce bigger names and the rest is history.

You forgot the "real" 5th Beatle: George Martin

After listening to a very old scratchy LP of the Joe Daly, I can't wait to hear what it will sound like on a multiple CD issue. This trio is killin' and the bass playing is fantastic!! I like the box set idea at around $45-50.00 -- I will definitely buy it. I'm not sure I'm the one to ask, though, as I bought 2 copies of the Hemphill and the Dixon releases -- one for home and one for car/work! My favorite reissues of the last years!! Keep up the great work JLH!!!

The Stan Kenton Orchestra In Concert (Hindsight HCD 612) is a good one and includes some excellent Scott LaFaro on bass too.

I was very fortunate to see him with the RivBea Orchestra just this past October in DeLand, Florida. He seemed very frail and he didn't play a lot but he still pulled off some great solos when he did play. The band was really great and it was definitely the live band highlight for me this past year. RIP Sam --Thanks for all the great music!!!

RIP Paul Motian. Hope you're having a great reunion with Bill Evans and Scott LaFaro!!

Before his passing in, which I think was in 2010, Jack Brokensha was playing quite a bit down here in the Tampa Bay area (he lived in Sarasota). The last time I saw him we talked at length about the Detroit jazz scene and I think he got a kick out of a story I told him of sneaking into a club at about 16 (the drinking age at that time was 18 IIRC) to see him with bassist Fred Housey. Boy, I remember that Fred Housey made a big impression on me at the time. I'm pretty sure that Bess wasn't with him on that gig but I saw her and Jack together a couple of times. Wow, those were the days!!

When I was about 18 years old in the early '70's and living in Detroit, a young pianist friend and I went to see Bess Bonnier in concert for the first time. After the concert we went up to her to tell her how much we enjoyed her playing. Before I could tell her that I was an aspiring bassist, she reached out and took my hand and then asked me if I was a string player because she had felt the callouses on the tips of my fingers. I remember being pretty impressed with that but was more impressed with her graciousness, her inspiring words to keep playing and practicing and her many other words of wisdom. She really inspired me that day and every time I saw her after that. What a wonderful person and musician. She definitely left her mark on many of us from Detroit.