gmonahan

Ok, I'm sort of embarrassed to say I had never heard of this very fine trombonist. I was in my study where I keep my vinyl, closed my eyes, and my fingers lighted on, of all things, a Pete Fountain LP, "Standing Room Only." I think I must have found it in an old cut-out bin years ago and bought it because Charlie Teagarden was on it. Anyway, on the turntable it went, and suddenly, this trombone solo came on, and I thought, what the hell? Is JACK TEAGARDEN on this record?? So I looked. Nope--made after Big T had died. It was Bob Havens, who apparently spent most of his career playing with Lawrence Welk. I looked him up and found a couple of cds. I don't think I've ever heard anybody so influenced by Teagarden. Anyway, I'm listening to this one right now, and there is some very fine trombone playing on it! Apparently, Bob Havens is still with us--90 years old and retired!

Yeah, radio broadcasts are the Achylles heel for anybody who wants to be a completist on artists who were active from the 30s to the early 50s. I have over 25 cds worth of Sinatra singing on the radio and an additional 30-cd set of him in speaking roles, and I'm sure there are more. gregmo

In honor of his 96th:

Apparently so, a group of musicians showed up to serenade him on for his 90th birthday in Quincy. Here's the report on a local news channel. gregmo

Agreed! Saw it in the theatre and just watched it again last night. I do love Guy Ritchie's British gangster movies! Hugh Grant is especially good in this one! gregmo

Playing this one as disc 7 of Wes's Complete Riverside Recordings box. Loved those great box sets from the wonderful period before Concord ruined it.

As I read through this it occurs to me there are different definitions for "completist." For me, it means having one copy of every track ever issued by an artist in some format. Thus one could have a track on LP or disc or cassette or MP3 but not necessarily duplicated in every format. But I have a friend who is what I call a "radical completist" for Elvis Presley. Not only does he have every track, but he has every LP and cd, even duplicates (including original vinyl pressings of all those 60s movies soundtracks). Given that many of us have duplicate versions of any number of recordings in the eternal search for the best version, are there any "radical" completists here?! I mean, I have all of Sinatra's Reprise recordings on cd, but I don't have all the LPs!! gregmo

I have the Bixology series which makes me pretty close on Bix. And like Jim says, JSP has done a nice job on Fats and Django. And over a fair number of years, I think I'm pretty close on Sinatra. And Ella. And Teagarden. And even Frank Rosolino. But Ellington? Nah, and I have more by him than any other artist! gregmo

I'll let someone with far better ears than mine make that comparison! gregmo

I was lucky enough to get this one quite a while back. I think this Japanese cd reissue was available for about five minutes.

I've been listening to the cd, and it sounds good to me--typical live recording--but Ella is really on fire in much of it. gregmo

Closed my eyes, and my finger landed on this one, an odd little bit of West Coast jazz:

What an amazing pitcher he was. Intense and fast as lightning. There's a nice eulogy/analysis of him here by Steven Goldman. gregmo

You're right. Jim was just being...Jim! Ella's 1960 version became so famous and successful, that, as Jim puts it, she remembered to forget the words from then on. gregmo

Disc 1

That was the more famous 1960 concert. gregmo

If we're going back into the 20s, it would be nice to have a complete Ellington set of Sony-owned material. That old 2-cd set has lousy sound. gregmo

Disc 2

According to Vincent Pelote's liners for the GRP Decca Jazz issue of the Andy Kirk cd "Mary's Idea," the soloists on the title track recorded December 1938 are Ted Donnelly (twice), trombone; Clarence Trice, trumpet; Williams, piano; and John Harrington, reeds. gregmo

Disc One

Listening to the Porgy and Bess disc from this foundational set

Playing myself through this one. Mosaic did a nice job with the Roulette label for a while: