david weiss

I meant to go to this but somehow spaced doing other things..... Turns out to have been a huge mistake..... Don't know all the details but ran into one person who saw the concert and said Rollins again played trio with Christian McBride and Roy Haynes and then was joined by.......... Ornette Coleman They said it was killing. That's about as historic as you can get these days I think

Phil Woods weighs in..... http://www.philwoods...ead.php?t=43098 To whom it may concern, I was absolutely thrilled when I was named a 2007 NEA Jazz Master. Just to be considered with musicians like Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk and Dave Brubeck was beyond my wildest dreams as a young musician coming up through the ranks. But to quote an old standard "The Thrill Is Gone.” I can understand your reluctance to award the NEA Jazz Masters award posthumously; what I can't understand is your naming a whole family as Jazz Masters. It makes no sense musically and as good as the Marsalis family may be, in my mind they are not the equals of the aforementioned giants. I think you have set a ridiculous precedent. What I find most disturbing is the new Marsalis Family CD (the release date is Aug 24 - ads are already running in the jazz magazines) with the profits going to the “Ellis Marsalis Center for Music.” This smacks of exploiting the NEA to maximize profit. I’m sure it is a worthy cause but find it troublesome. I have been the recipient of NEA largesse when they underwrote our production of my Children’s Suite in New Orleans earlier this year but this was a one-time event that was largely ignored in The Big Easy. As a matter of fact I used a good portion of my $25,000 honorarium to record a CD and DVD as well as present the Suite at our annual Celebration of the Arts (COTA) Jazz Festival. So as a matter of protest I will not be attending any further NEA Jazz Master events. You have tarnished the value of what was once considered one of America’s greatest symbols of achievement in jazz. Phil Woods

I want the mouthpiece....

What do you guys think of the Francisco Rodriguez situation? Kicks his girlfriend father's ass in the locker room and gets suspended a mere two games for his actions. Turns out he injured his thumb in the assault and is now out for the season so now the Mets want to void his contract. The guy is probably an asshole but the hypocrisy of the Mets organization is a bit much to swallow.

For that matter, how many of the artists actually were paid commission on their sales. Didn't Blue Note, Prestige, etc., just pay double scale to the session leader with no commission? Blue Note does pay it's artists royalties once they are in the black. Some time ago (within the last 20 years or so), Blue Note wiped the slate clean for all it's artists from the original label so they all started from a zero balance from that point on (very good news for the fusion artists from the '70s). I can't say this for 100% certainty but my source for this information is pretty reliable (and in a position to know)

As far as I know, the artwork is in the public domain as well. Why wouldn't it be? Do those PD laws cover everything equally? Or do the recordings themselves and the art itself fall under different laws? This is a very good question.... I'll have to inquire. Most labels don't bother to chase these guys down because it is too much trouble and too expensive to sue these guys in European courts. One point that was made to me a while ago (though they still didn't pursue it) is that it is not 50 years from when it was recorded but when it was issued so alternate takes that were first issued when they came out on CD and then picked up by these bootleggers were clearly breaking copyright law with this. As I said before, they didn't even bother to try to prosecute this glaring infraction. When I recorded for Fresh Sound, I had the it might be legal but it's still wrong conversation many times.......

I love this record. It crackles with that New York energy. It has the vibe of walking into a club when the band is on and the room is alive. Dizzy's solo on the blues that opens the record is to me, I don't know, something like one of the top hundred trumpet solos ever.

My favorite are the first two sextet records on About Time, Just the Facts and Pass the Bucket and When Was That. My favorite Air records are Open Air Suite and 80 Below in '82 Henry and I live in the same neighborhood and favor the same Italian cafe. Me for the gelato and Henry for the cappuccino. They have tables outside in the Summer and we sit out there for hours on occasion. My favorite subject reminiscing about hearing the Sextet pretty much from it's inception when I was in High School and just getting into jazz. Joseph Bowie was the first trombonist in the band and I saw him many times with the group. They played all sorts of places I can't remember now, many lofts and clubs that are now defunct. Fortunately for me, Henry remembers a few of them. I haven't heard the new CD yet but I'm looking forward to it.

He's done Fat Cat a few times before I believe. He's great, well worth checking out.

I'll be there doing this... • 7:10-8:10 pm - Charisma: "A Lee Morgan Tribute" It's with Billy Harper, Bennie Maupin, Eddie Henderson, George Cables, Dwayne Burno and Victor Lewis. I'm looking forward to hearing Henry Threadgill the next day.....

I would imagine it being close to 500. Almost every musician who has come up in the last 20 years who plays in that style hopes to have Mulgrew on their CD. As a producer, I've certainly had to make that call a few times.....

I think the ownership of almost all of the masters have reverted back to the individual artists so at this point it's on the artist to see about reissuing their work. I know that Charles has licensed his albums out to various labels over the past few years and I assume if there are inquiries about some of the other titles he passes them on to the artists so they can deal with it themselves. I'm still waiting for Paperman as well though I have copy of the new master that I thought would have been released a few years ago. It has bonus tracks, 2 versions of Neal Hefti's Repetition.

Are you sure about that? I'm pretty sure.....

I got to North Texas a couple of years after he retired but his presence was still felt everyone. He was an institution there and greatly respected.

This one hurts.... I got to work with Abbey on her CD Over The Years. I was to write out charts of her tunes for the band. I went over her house almost everyday for a few weeks and she would play her tunes on the piano (she had a great piano style, minimalist voicings but of a clarity that really worked) and I would tape them and then go home and transcribe them and bring them back and go over them with her. We worked a few hours a day and then we would sit and talk for hours as she had a few cognacs. She was one of the most amazing people I have ever met. In addition to be the great singer/musician/composer she was, she was also a great artist. Her artwork was on display around the apartment. She also made amazing dolls. Again quite a person. The record date went well and that was that. I didn't know what to do next. We spent a lot of time together working on the music for the album and seemed to have a good rapport but when it was over, what was I to do, call her up and invite for a drink or dinner? Music relationships can be strange that way, once the work is finished, that's usually it. I never did anything, ran into her a couple of times at various functions. She was always nice and gracious. She was a wonderful person and this is a huge loss

I just heard Edgar Bateman passed away. I never met him or played with him but heard about him often from Philadelphia guys and they always told me what a great drummer he was and that he was still on top of his game, way on top of his game. Quite the unsung musician.....

Sorry to say but it seems he passed away last night

If you've paid, it been shipped, either Thursday or today. Enjoy Thanks

How many people would feel ripped off if a live Lee Morgan set was released and the bass was nowhere to be heard? How many people would snap such a release up if it showed up on that Andorran "Rare Live Recordings" label? I can understand the financial implication of releasing certain tapes being a huge hindrance but aside from massive over-saturation of the tape, I don't really see why audio quality should be that much of an impediment. You've exposed an interesting paradox Dan.... The legitimate labels that want to put these sort of things out correctly and rightly compensate everyone involved are very concerned about sound quality. Part of the reason is with this sort of investment, they want to put out a quality product that will appeal to a larger fan base that includes people who have concerns about sound quality. The bootleggers don't have these concerns so putting out a tape with no audible bass that is worthwhile musically and historically to them is not an issue.

Those are some mouth watering gigs for sure. I almost fell off my chair when I read those on Ellery's site years ago. I talked to Joel Dorn numerous times when he was going through the tapes as I was involved in the release of the Freddie Hubbard material. I definitely asked about some of the ones mentioned above and about certain artists in general and don't recall all his answers now. One big issue was clearances. If it involved big names like Hancock, Shorter, Tyner or Rollins then it was going to be too cost prohibitive for him to release. I was particularly intrigued with May 23, 1965: Herbie Hancock, Sam Rivers, Ron Carter, Tony Williams July 7, 1965: Roy Haynes, Wayner Shorter, Albert Dailey, Larry Ridley May 15, 1966: Freddie Hubbard, Hank Mobley, Ronnie Matthews, Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones Dec. 4, 1966: Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard, Ron Carter, Jack DeJohnette Especially the Shorter/Haynes thing but again this one would have been too cost prohibitive to release. There were also sound quality issues. Some were recorded much better then others. I remember asking about a Lee Morgan one and being told there was no bass audible on the recording. The rights reverted back to whomever licensed them to Dorn years ago. Someone else could license them and see what is there but the best ones are going to be costly to release. I have a program similar to Ellery's that I just acquired but this is a later one that lists concerts up to 12/15/74 There is nothing as jaw dropping as what is mentioned above but there is some interesting stuff. The Coltrane concert in question is still listed. Other stuff of interest Max Roach with Charles Tolliver and Odean Pope Art Blakey with Curtis Fuller back in the band with Woody Shaw 6/1/69 Lee Morgan with Billy Higgins subbing for Freddie Waits 1/24/71 Art Blakey with three tenor players Ramon Morris, Buddy Terry and Denny Marouse? 4/9/72 Art Blakey with Dizzy Reece 1/21/73 Elvin Jones with Hank Jones and Azar Lawrence and Steve Grossman 4/1/73 Thanks for the details. I get that there's a distinction between what may exist and what's releasable when you factor in payment cost for artists and sound quality issues. But I gather at this point that not even any unauthorized bootleg cassettes of any of the particularly mouth-watering gigs listed above have ever surfaced, correct? Not to my knowledge..... There doesn't seem to be any logic to what gets out in the world and what doesn't even if it is from the same venue. The engineer could like a particular performance and make a copy of it and take it home, play it for his friends and they want copies etc etc. is one scenario I'm familiar with but I'm sure there are many possibilities. Another potential holy grail for me is a tour that took place in Japan in 1964 featuring Freddie Hubbard, Kenny Dorham, Jackie McLean, Benny Golson, Cedar Walton, Reggie Workman and Roy Haynes. A Japanese photographer gave me his book last time I was in Japan that had photos from these concerts and he told me they were recorded (he didn't have copies though). I would like to hear that one.

The breasts need to be bigger if they want this thing to sell.... Maybe they have different sizes....

Up... One last time with the final additions. Everyone with things on hold, we can settle up and they will get shipped Thursday or Friday Thanks

Phew! Billy Harper smokes - but he doesn't smoke never has, he told me. I got put in a seat at the bar and, after a minute, someone addressed the guy sitting next to me as Mr Harper. So I said "Are you Billy Harper?" "Yes." @Sorry I didn't recognise you; I don't get out much." He thought that was funny. Eddie Henderson seemed to be having trouble with his lip and also to be fighting a cold. Nevertheless, he made effective music - not flashy, but effective. Azar Lawrence impressed me, too. I've never heard him play before. Looks like I made a mistake not listening before. Billy Hart drove the band like mad. He was heroic and Cecil McBee only slightly less so. My only regret is that the band is slightly too big for everyone to get solos. But it does enable rather interesting voicings to be written - George Cables seems to be responsible mainly. And I've made a HUGE mistake in not keeping up with Mr Harper after his recordings with Lee Morgan and Charles Earland. He was fire and had me jumping up and down on the stool, nearly falling off at one point. Oh, what an exciting player! Damn good gig. MG Actually I wrote all the arrangements. I think everyone gets to solo each sets. The horns and piano all get a bunch of solos each set and the bass and drums usually at least one..... Phew! Billy Harper smokes - but he doesn't smoke never has, he told me. I got put in a seat at the bar and, after a minute, someone addressed the guy sitting next to me as Mr Harper. So I said "Are you Billy Harper?" "Yes." @Sorry I didn't recognise you; I don't get out much." He thought that was funny. Eddie Henderson seemed to be having trouble with his lip and also to be fighting a cold. Nevertheless, he made effective music - not flashy, but effective. Azar Lawrence impressed me, too. I've never heard him play before. Looks like I made a mistake not listening before. Billy Hart drove the band like mad. He was heroic and Cecil McBee only slightly less so. My only regret is that the band is slightly too big for everyone to get solos. But it does enable rather interesting voicings to be written - George Cables seems to be responsible mainly. And I've made a HUGE mistake in not keeping up with Mr Harper after his recordings with Lee Morgan and Charles Earland. He was fire and had me jumping up and down on the stool, nearly falling off at one point. Oh, what an exciting player! Damn good gig. MG Azar Lawrence (who played with McCoy Tyner in the '70s) has recently re-emerged and released a couple of excellent albums--Prayer for My Ancestors (a really good one) and Speak the Word. A third release is imminent. Billy Harper's most recent (fine) recording is Blueprints of Jazz. Thanks Ken. I had a quick word with Azar afterwards and apologised for having ignored him for forty years, although I was well aware of his Prestige recordings. He said to get onto his website, which I shall do, once I get home. I got the impression he's selling his own stuff. Good. A further gloss on the gig - David Weiss didn't get through to me at all. We've discussed showbiz and jazz in a number of threads here. Weiss struck me as the most un-showbiz jazz musician I've ever come across. I don't expect jazzmen to come on in short spangly skirts and kick their legs up But I do expect open body language that tells me they're glad to be there playing their music, which I feel shouldn't be hard for a jazzman 99% of the time. I also expect a bit of eye contact with the audience - not necessarily with me; Harper was standing sideways on to me; Cables was hidden behind the corner of the stage, except his hands, but they were eloquent anyway - even though it is probably hard to pick out individuals in a dark room when the stage is lit. For the whole set, David Weiss held his trummpet close to his body, pointed at the floor, and looking at the floor. That kind of tight, locked into himself body language, not interested in whether he was getting through, put me right off. It didn't matter what he was playing, I wasn't listening. MG Azar actually records for a newish label called Furthermore Records. Besides a great upcoming CD from Azar, they also recorded Eddie Henderson; a quartet record with John Scofield that sounds great. The guy running the label has great taste. As for the other comments, I don't know what to say. It's interesting what people read into things. We recorded a CD right after these gigs that will be out in the Fall in Europe and next year in the US. I think it came out great and one can listen to it (and hopefully enjoy it) without being distracted by one's lack of stage presence.

I'm always a bit fascinated and confused by thinking such as this. So the Society wanted the recordings only for their "private archives?" What does that mean exactly - and how's that any different from me bootlegging a concert if I don't intend to share or sell it? The "historian/archivist" side of me wishes that we could all just ignore copyright/royalty concerns and just release historical stuff like this for all to enjoy, but obviously that's not fair to the performers... though they did presumably get paid for these gigs in many cases 40+ years ago. I guess I just don't understand the point of a Jazz Society recording performances but having no intention of doing anything with them. I've played a lot of gigs for festivals, performing arts society's and jazz society's and the contracts often state they they would like to record the concert for archival purposes and clearly state it is for that use only and that any other use would have to be negotiated with the artist. I don't have a problem with that as long as the artist has some say. If someone wanted to release such a recording it would have to meet with my approval artistically and sound quality wise and of course a fee would have to be negotiated so the band could be compensated. When Dorn had the tapes, he paid the artists and I assume Verve did and I'm sure Prestige did as well. Fresh Sound...well...... The Left Bank people shouldn't have licensed the material to someone who wouldn't pay the artist for it's release. That is problematic..... Back to the archival recordings.....you do have a right to tell them no, don't record us and this will insure it won't be an issue later on. One time when I was doing a gig with Freddie Hubbard, we did a concert at a performing arts center and they wanted to record it for archival purposes. Freddie wasn't in good shape. It was his last gig before he had surgery for a pinched nerve in his neck and he could barely walk so I thought it was going to be a rough night so I told them they couldn't record it. Freddie came out and had some sort of flashback and played great, the best I had heard him in years and except for maybe one or two gigs this would have been the best document of Freddie playing with the group we could have ever gotten. After the show, I asked the promoter if he didn't listen to me and taped it any way as I would really love a copy. Even if he did record it, there was no way he could say yes......

Those are some mouth watering gigs for sure. I almost fell off my chair when I read those on Ellery's site years ago. I talked to Joel Dorn numerous times when he was going through the tapes as I was involved in the release of the Freddie Hubbard material. I definitely asked about some of the ones mentioned above and about certain artists in general and don't recall all his answers now. One big issue was clearances. If it involved big names like Hancock, Shorter, Tyner or Rollins then it was going to be too cost prohibitive for him to release. I was particularly intrigued with May 23, 1965: Herbie Hancock, Sam Rivers, Ron Carter, Tony Williams July 7, 1965: Roy Haynes, Wayner Shorter, Albert Dailey, Larry Ridley May 15, 1966: Freddie Hubbard, Hank Mobley, Ronnie Matthews, Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones Dec. 4, 1966: Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard, Ron Carter, Jack DeJohnette Especially the Shorter/Haynes thing but again this one would have been too cost prohibitive to release. There were also sound quality issues. Some were recorded much better then others. I remember asking about a Lee Morgan one and being told there was no bass audible on the recording. The rights reverted back to whomever licensed them to Dorn years ago. Someone else could license them and see what is there but the best ones are going to be costly to release. I have a program similar to Ellery's that I just acquired but this is a later one that lists concerts up to 12/15/74 There is nothing as jaw dropping as what is mentioned above but there is some interesting stuff. The Coltrane concert in question is still listed. Other stuff of interest Max Roach with Charles Tolliver and Odean Pope Art Blakey with Curtis Fuller back in the band with Woody Shaw 6/1/69 Lee Morgan with Billy Higgins subbing for Freddie Waits 1/24/71 Art Blakey with three tenor players Ramon Morris, Buddy Terry and Denny Marouse? 4/9/72 Art Blakey with Dizzy Reece 1/21/73 Elvin Jones with Hank Jones and Azar Lawrence and Steve Grossman 4/1/73