medjuck

Sincere condolences. Your mother sounds like a remarkable woman and you were obviously close to her.

I wish there was a way to tell him how much I enjoy his work and his focus on jazz as a symbol of freedom. Obviously that's what a lot of his writing is about. There's no contact info on the site and he deserves his privacy. Well, with honors from Havel, etc. he doesn't need me to tell him, it just would be nice if I could. I can forward a note to him if you pm it to me.

Happy B'day Allen!

I saw Josef in Toronto in the fall. He used to make trips to The Czech Republic where he is a cultural hero, but he's feeling his age and his wife Zdena says he's kept too busy by his many fans there. When he first was able to return to his native country they used to put on jazz concerts for him. If you liked The Bass Saxophone (and I'm proud to say the English translation is dedicated to me-- though you have to turn to the story itself to see the dedication as it's not in the front of the book) I'd recommend the novel The Swell Season and the short story Eine Kleine Jazzmusik which can be found in a couple of collections of short stories about jazz.

I'm a big Fred Neil fan also. There's a great song on the Elektra album called IIRC "And a Little Bit of Rain." Apparently one of Dylan's first jobs in NY was playing harmonica for Fred Neil.

42

Many years ago there was an interview with Hakim in Coda in which he talks about the Koko session. I used to run into AJ when she worked at Dutton's Books in North Hollywood. I was once buying a book of jazz photographs and she said there was a picture of her dad in it. After she she told me it was Joe Albany I said "You mean 'The Legendary Joe Albany'". I'd seen him called that so often (and there was a record with that title ) I'd started to think it was his full name. IIRC Later I she worked in a nearby coffee house.

What Label is The Complete Standard Transcriptions? (I have one version but I hear there is one sonically better.)

But dan anyone answer the question: What do these concerts sound like? Musically that is. And sonically too, I guess.

Oh no! I posted about what a wonderful time I had dancing when he was playing the N.O. Jazz and Heritage Festival last yera.

Hey I think I was at that concert. Is there other Sackville material on this label?

In Toronto about 40 years ago I saw Rollins give her first concert after a return from Europe and he quoted "Back in Your Own Back Yard". (Actually I can't remember if that was the tune-- it might have been some other song about being back home.)

HAPPY B'DAY AND MANY MORE!!!!!

I just got an e-mail from Laurie Pepper (I expect many others on this board did too). It contained a link to to a Youtube video: What I found most interesting is that this seems to me to be one of the few available examples of Art beginning to fall under the influence of Coltrane. And if I'm wrong it's still a great track.

I made several suggestions to them many years ago and some of them came to be-- but after the fact they all seem obvious. Hey, maybe they can make a deal with Concord and put out some of the obvious things they don't seem to want to do anymore. (Eg the Complete Shelly Mann at that Blackhawk.)

Saw Betty Levette at a small venue (used to be a church) in Toronto on Friday night. She was great.

My wife has taken up playing electric guitar and is now more obsessed with music than I am. Buys almost as many cds as me and wants to go to more concerts than I do. We have enough overlap in taste that it's all ok.

There have been DVD releases of both the Monterey and Woodstock films that have added a lot of extra footage. And Pennebaker shot enough songs by Otis Redding and Jimi Hendrix to release DVDs for each of them. (Don't recall whether they're complete sets.)

they've done Birth of the Cool and Miles Ahead by now (didn't check the other labels, but JazzTrack and that other one with identical layout but different name are the most likely candidates for such "straight" reissues, it seems - it's them that did "Ellington Indigos" and "A Drum Is a Woman", too, as well as some others - here's what CDUniverse carries these days). The 2 Ellingtons aren't actually "straight re-issues". A Drum is a Woman has never been released as a cd by Sony in the US and the Jazztrack edition includes one extra cut that was never on the original Lp. The "Indigos" is titled "The Complete Ellington Indigos" and as someone else on this board said, Sony should have done it themselves.

Happy B'day and many more!!!

I remember seeing Mary Lou Williams there. Didn't know she'd done a recording.

What solo tracks?

Would you elaborate on that last sentence.

It's always seemed to me that Smith's influence on Bird had more to do with tone than anything else. Maybe there's a bit of bop in the beginning of the 2nd chorus but generally seems to me to be a very good blues solo.

That "Unlucky Blues" (aka "Unlucky Woman") from the MCA Blues Box Vol. 2 set is available elsewhere relatively easily, e.g. on the MCA V.A. LP "THe Swinging Small Bands 2" (Jazz Heritage series Vol. 45) and on "Sounds of Harlem Vol. 2" (HEP CD 1066). So no shortage of listening opportunities ... The iTunes store lists "Unlucky Woman" on 2 different collections "The Sounds of Harlem" under Pete Brown's name and on "Helen Humes: Today I Sing the Blues".