medjuck

Me too. But do you think he has the rest of the photos right excluding those of Wille Smith?

I would suspect that transcribing podcasts is not be done by humans.

It was a club booking: The Zanzibar, 1945.

Duke was pissed when Louis Jordan was billed above him. But he did show up.

Looks like Jazzfest without the great Big Easy bands.

I had that box set and gave it to my son who, unlike me still had a turntable. Good liner notes as I remember. Koko and Jack the Bear?

I mentioned in a earlier post that I'd heard an interview with him where he talked about being influenced by Charles Brown, but in fact it may have been Cole. Everyone was influenced by the King Cole Trio including Charles Brown.

I'm surprised no one's mentioned Sara Vaughn in Hi-Fi where she's backed by -- amongst others-- Miles Davis and Budd Johnson. There's also some early sides with Freddie Webster in Tadd Dameron's band.

If it is Apogee, I remember that I thought it was an electric piano. Someone responded that the Steely Dan guys who produced it liked dry mixes.

The cut is called Need to be Loved and is credited to all 3 as composer. The bass player is Essiet Okun Essiet. I got it because I'm a fan of Mac (BTW I really like his Ellington cd) and was surprised to see him with Blakey and Newman.

I've looked at this photo so often I think I could name a large percentage if the photo was enlarged, but even at this size it's interesting how many people jump out because of their distinctive physiognomy or clothing: Art Farmer, Dizzy, Monk, Sonny Greer, Prez, Sonny Rollins, Marion McPartland, Mary Lou Willams, Oscar Pettiford, Gerry Mulligan, Oscar Pettiford, Pee We Russell, Coleman Hawkins and Rex Stewart (because of his body shape-- and of course he's got his horn).

Last week I went to the local art museum for what was advertised as "An Evening of West Coast Jazz". which described as follows: "The work of acclaimed Los Angeles-based artist Janna Ireland, currently on view at SBMA and MCASB, includes her photographic interpretation of the architecture of Paul R. Williams, the renowned 20th-century Black architect who designed many of Southern California’s iconic buildings. A gifted designer across genres, Williams transformed the face of Los Angeles, including the Beverly Hills Hotel’s Polo Lounge, the Ambassador Hotel’s Coconut Grove, and the cool jazz corridors of Central Avenue. In a nod to those favored night spots and the music of the jazz greats, Ben Allison, Steve Cardenas, and Ted Nash perform against a backdrop of images of Williams’ mid-century Los Angeles world and photographs from Ireland’s Regarding Paul R. Williams." I wasn't that familiar with the musicians (I had Ted Nash confused with his uncle) but it took place in a small theater/lecture hall with very good sound and I'm interested in both West Coast Jazz and West Coast architecture. When we entered there was one architectural photo projected on the stage's back wall. The trio appeared and began playing Jimmy Giuffre's "The Train and the River". Made sense as they were a trio of sax, bass and guitar and Giuffre was a mainstay of West Coast Jazz. I was relieved that the photos weren't being changed during the music and was trying to guess what they'd play next; Gerry Mulligan maybe. Well the same photo never changed and Ted Nash announced that they were going to play something by the great unknown composer: Herbie Nichols. They then played 3 Nichols numbers introducing each with a bit more about Nichol's biography. They followed that with Carla Bley's "Lawns". (They also suggested that she was fairly unknown.), then ended the concert with a very nice piece by Jim Hall. Apparently the trio albums dedicated to each of them. I guess the West Coast might claim Carla Bley in that she was with Paul at the Hillcrest when they met Ornette Coleman, and that Jim Hall did spend time here and recorded for Pacific Jazz but Herbie Nichols? However, despite the bait and switch (maybe because of it) this was a great concert. And I especially liked that it was presented with no amplification except for the amp of the guitar.

You can go a little crazy searching for the best possible sound for the recordings. I have the RCA Box but because I hear some distortion on Jack the Bear and Koko, I've gried to find other transfers. I now discover that I have four other sets that have much of the best sides from this era. My favorite is from France, the Dreyfus cd entitled "Koko". Dreyfus did an additional cd called "Take the A Train" which has 21 cuts from 1938 to 1950. I also have a 2cd set from Avid, "Highlights of the Great 1940-1942 Band". They claim to use "Advanced Transfer Technology" but add a riders saying the quality of the sound depends on which studio (Chicago is best, LA worst) was used and you need to compare it to other reissues to understand why they advertise "remarkable sound". Another Avid cd "Jack the Bear" containing recordings from '27-'45 claims to be in "3 Dimensional Sound" which produces a stereo effect". Finally there's Robert Parker's "Jazz Classics in Surround Sound. Duke Ellington the Great Bands of the 1940s". I haven't listened to these in years but I hope to do some comparisons this week and will report back . (I'm not really an audiophile and have 81 year old ears. )

As I often argue about movies: the greatest year for culture was whenever you were 18.

If they are indeed out of print this is a good idea.