Big Wheel

Something else that might be significant: "Cubano-Be, Cubano Bop," a track on the album recorded separately in Sweden, is listed explicitly as being "recorded live" in Sweden, while the other material simply says "Recorded in New York". (For the purposes of my show, it's a moot point--the Russell LP was playing on the air as I looked up this thread again.) The New York Times coverage of the Newport Jazz Festival lists the Russell orchestra as scheduled to play there on July 1, but it doesn't cover any of Russell's activities for the remainder of 1978. However, the Arts and Leisure Guide of the Times has a regular weekly section for "what's happening in the clubs". While it is covered every week in 1978 up through August 6, the Vanguard is not mentioned in the section between August 6 and November 19, when Abdullah Ibrahim is listed at the Vanguard. Was it possible the Vanguard's doors were closed during that time?

Oops, I read the Program Guide wrong--the Orgy will actually be interrupted at 1pm on May 5, but will pick up again that evening and finish up the morning of May 6. If the moderator's reading this, can he edit my subject line for me? Thanks!

I'm not sure what they're saying; to me the liners seem ambiguous. They do say that the one track recorded live in Sweden, "Cubano Be, Cubano Bop," was included "because Russell and co. frequently programmed it at the Vanguard." No mention of a studio in the liners, at all. One other piece of info that might be useful: Ricky Martinez plays electric piano and organ on the album. I don't know of any other Vanguard sessions that use either, though there are probably some sessions from the '70s that use Rhodes. Is the Vanguard an organ-friendly venue? Are there lots of stairs that make it difficult for a B3 player to get his instrument in there? August 16, 1978 was a Wednesday, which I guess isn't terribly helpful except in not ruling out the possibility of a live set, assuming Mel Lewis and the orchestra were still holding down Monday nights.

We're underway now. 104 hours! It's going to be nuts. I emailed Mike Ricci at All About Jazz about this, but if any regular posters over there want to mention it on their boards, that would be awesome.

Thanks Jim. Got an 11th hour question about the George Russell "New York Big Band" LP. The Vanguard website has it in their list, and Russell's own website says "live at the Village Vanguard." But the liners say that "what one hears in this album is a simulation of a typical set" at the Vanguard. Unfortunately, the library's copy of the Lord discography ends right before the volume with letter R, for some reason. Was this in fact recorded at the Vanguard? It doesn't really sound like a live LP (no audience noise), and I imagine it was quite a task to record a big band in there, although they of course did it with Thad and Mel--but I can't think off the top of my head of any other large groups that recorded there.

As I mentioned in the discography forum, for the last month I have been putting together a marathon of music recorded live at the Village Vanguard. It starts Thursday at 7am ET and will be continuing (with a few short interruptions) until May 6. I will post a full program if people want to check it out. For now, if you're interested, go to http://www.whrb.org/pg/MayJun2003.html or listen in by going to http://www.whrb.org and clicking "regular feed." Enjoy! Adam

Whatever happened to them? And are there any reliable sources for their albums?

Got a question about that Kenny Burrell Argo album. The station has "Man at Work," which is in this case a Cadet reissue of the original Argo LP, as well as a Jazz Time release from Spain or Portugal called "All Night Long" that seems to contain all the same material. But we also have this Chess 2LP reissue called "Recapitulation", Chess 2-ACMJ-408, which claims that it contains two tracks left off the original, "Tricotism" and "Afternoon in Paris". Can anyone verify that those two tracks are from the same live session?

Both are well worth the cash. I believe you can still get both of these directly from Chuck.

I'm guessing the sampler is this thing they sent my radio station called "33 1/3 Microgroove". 4 tracks from the upcoming Rare Grooves, 1 from the new Soulive, 1 Madlib, 1 old MMW track, 1 from the new Erik Truffaz, 1 from the recent DJ Smash, and 1 from Moran's Modernistic. IMO the Bartz is underwhelming.

Never mind, got them from EMusic--they appear to be: 1. Medley: Love Is Just Around The Corner / Canadian Sunset / Lullaby Of Birdland / Misty / Satin Doll 2. Blue Moon 3. I Can't Get Started 4. Blues for Old "N's" 5. Black Coffee/I Wish You Love

Thanks Mike! I have the Limelights. Which tracks are on the Xanadu session?

Is the material on the Xanadu issue "Earl Hines and Roy Eldridge at the Village Vanguard" identical to that on the two Limelight LPs "Grand Reunion", Limelight LM 82020 and LS 86028? Thanks! Adam

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2940355.stm Fire away. The possibilities for humor are endless.

I emailed them about that last summer and the email I got back (presumably from Michael?) was that they simply could not afford to charge any less, and that some online retailers "lose money" by doing so. Doesn't make much sense to me. I guess maybe they still have to deal with a distributor like anyone else, which appears pretty silly, but what do I know about the CD business?

For me the Wilkerson is not the kind of stuff I can sit down and listen closely to, picking out all the intracacies I haven't heard before. It's most pleasing if you're doing something else with it on, maybe having a barbecue or something...mmmm, think I may do just that if it ever stops snowing up here!

I for one am stunned that Prof. West was a Zappa fan. I knew he was into Curtis Mayfield and that stuff from his lectures on black music, but Zappa?

Ah, the magic of Google. I believe that restaurant is called Sofra, located at 341 Upper Street.

There is an excellent and inexpensive little Turkish/Greek restaurant in Islington, right near the Angel tube stop. If you're into that kind of food I can look up the name for you. They had this great special--a bottle of wine and a 3 course meal for under $20, if I remember.

It was something like "good thing she willed her body to Columbia University...now the scientists can find out how one person was so unswinging." Noj has it right. Whatever you think of the lady's playing (I think she swung well enough, though she was no Wynton Kelly), there's no need to spit on people's graves right after they pass.

What is a Purple Herman? I've never heard that term before.

I believe he is also the brother of one of the founders of a company that does the majority of radio promotion for Blue Note these days.

I have not heard much of her early work, but I really enjoyed her most recent on HighNote, "I Hear Music." Simply great songs sung well. IMO her voice is holding up pretty darn well.

It's funny--in my experience, there are quite a lot of saxophone players who tend to dismiss players like Getz or even Mobley out of hand when it comes to trying to shape their own sound. The norm these days seems to be to pursue the big sounds of a Rollins or Coltrane or Brecker. I had an obnoxious band director in high school who really discouraged kids from trying to sound like anything other than those thick-toned players.

As I mentioned on the old board just before it vanished into the ether, Eddie was the piano player at my bar mitzvah reception. I wish I had been more knowledgeable about jazz at that age. Saw him again in Miami at the aforementioned Van Dyke with the aforementioned Don Wilner over spring break a week and a half ago. He sounded wonderful, lines pouring out of him effortlessly. The only blemish was that there was a party of very loud drunk people sitting next to the stage who made it hard to hear sometimes and were also making some obnoxious requests (which Eddie and Don mostly graciously accepted--he does a hell of a boogie-woogie version of "St. Louis Blues!) Handling that kind of group must be a bit of a dilemma for a manager, since they made up about half the people in the small club and were spending quite a lot of cash on drinks.