RogerF

I went ot see a play there once around that time...'Zigger Zagger' - about football.

Neil Ardley's New Jazz Orchestra - Camden '70 Live at The Jeanetta Cochrane Theatre, London WC1 - Tuesday 26th May 1970 - Dusk Fire Records, Dusk CD105 This amazing piece of jazz archaeology turned up out of the blue and totally unexpectedly. Needless to say, as a Dusk Fire Records product, the quality and attention to detail (sleevenotes by NJO member and Observer jazz critic, Dave Gelly, and some rare photographs) this is a release not to be ignored for any Brit jazz fans. The NJO roll call here includes some of the key players of the time including Harry Beckett, Henry Lowther, Mike Gibbs, Nigel Carter, Derek Wadsworth and some guy called Jon Hiseman on drums who just happened to bring along the members of his rock band Colosseum who were playing at the gig that night and thought they would 'sit in'. So basically we have the NJO + Colosseum or Colosseum plus the NJO. Either way it's spectacular. Also, you get a lot of brilliant stuff here including George Russell's 'Stratusfunk', Mike Gibbs' 'Tanglewood' (for some reason the '63 is dropped here), Neil Ardley's 'Shades of Blue' and Jack Bruce's 'Rope Ladder to the Moon' with barely audible vocals by Clem Clemson. Then there's pretty much all the contents of the NJO's (still unreissued!) 'Le Dejeuner Sur L'Herbe' and a great joke end track 'National Anthem & Tango'. I would anyone interested in either jazz rock or British jazz generally would have to buy this one. Can't really be called a reissue because it's never been issued before, but what a find! Yet another fine example to vindicate the use of the epithet 'golden age' when referring to late sixties, early seventies British jazz. One notable absence is Ian Carr on trumpet, but he was busy at the time adding yet more gold to the age with his new band Nucleus. A very fine album indeed.

The first ever public performance of the original scores of Windmill Tilter, a morsel or two from Alec’s Spanish Accents recording and new ‘hispanically’ influence music specially written by John Dankworth and/or Ken Gibson. It is hoped that Kenny Wheeler will be present to enjoy the occasion. This is happening on Sunday 29 June at Ronnie's. Could this be a pre-launch of the long-awaited reissue? Even if it isn't it is still going to be a historic performance http://www.ronniescotts.co.uk/performances...kworth-quartet/

Danny Moss died in Perth, Western Australia, on May 28 aged 80. He was born in Britain on August 15, 1927, and was a very much admired tenor saxophonist who was renowned throughout the world. In the early 1960s Meldoy Maker jazz polls he was pipped from being voted top tenor sax player in Britain by the formidable Tubby Hayes. But since Tubby Hayes is widely regarded as the best tenor player the UK has ever produced, to come second in this category at that time is no mean feat in itself. In his 60 plus years as a professional jazz musician he played and recorded with some of the UK’s biggest names in jazz such as Ted Heath, Humphrey Lyttelton and Sir John Dankworth (with whom he recorded 'The Zodiac Variations' and more recently they recorded another album, ‘About 42 Years Later’). He married singer Jeannie Lambe and they eventually emigrated to Australia in the late 1980s. However, he remained a busy professional musician and toured Europe sporadically. He was made an MBE in 1990. I was fortunate enough to meet him a few years ago when he played at a jazz club near where I live, and I found him a charming and modest person and his playing was truly sublime. RIP Danny.

I see that 'Helen Twelvetrees' has been reissued in the latest tranche of MPS reissues. I am not familiar with this one but it's at the top of my must purchase list as it features alongside Mariano, Jack Bruce, John Marshall, Jan Hammer et al. Sounds, on paper at least, like an absolute corker. Anyone heard this album?

yes Brotherhood was reissued a while back. The Cuneiform BoB latest, live in Germany ('Eclipse at Dawn) is excellent too. Recorded 1971.

Check out the Fledg'ling Records link here to see the full details of this long-overdue reissue from Chris McGregor 'Very Urgent' due out on 14 April. http://www.thebeesknees.com/?p=209#more-209 As I remember it is really quite free but I don't remember it that well. I think I bought it and then got rid of it along with Oliv (SME) because I didn't understand what was going on then - I was not quite into jazz then, this being around 1969/1970. I shall definitely be buying it on CD this time though!

Sounds fantastic - do you live in a recording studio perchance? I'm sure a lot of people, me included, will be very grateful to you for this.

It should be - it's taken from my LP ! But then again, I'm somewhat biased on this issue. Ah, yes I forgot you were I believe the one who informed Mr C of its stereo existence in the first place! I am really looking forward to this because like Tubbs' 100% Proof which the Record Collector article described as perhaps the best ever British big band album, which was also reissued on CD in mono, the 1st Collier album was reissued in mono and I think there is a big difference when you listen to these things in stereo. Certainly with the Tubbs you get a real blast from all areas in the ensemble sections. This naturally also applies to the elusive Windmill Tilter too. But then I'm something of a stereo fanatic.

Don't know about Windmill Tilter but do know that BGO will be releasing a stereo version of Graham Collier's Deep Dark Blue Circle which was one of the albums featured in the article. Am very keen to hear this because the mono version is excellent so I imagine the stereo will be superb.

That would be the Jazzprint one -CORRECTION!!! CORRECTION!!! CORRECTION!!! Not Jazzprint, mea culpa, but Hux ! Catalogue Number: HUX095 - only difference other than the lack of bonus tracks is that the cover is not the original version. Just picked up the Hux CD today of McNair's 'The Fence'. It has the Val Wilmer sleeve notes and the photos - straight reissue of the original B&C LP (although they didn't include the front cover envelope and red balloon from the LP ). An interesting fusion session with McMair on Varitone and a young Keith Tippett on (straight-ahead) piano. Well worth hearing (I'm always a sucker too for anything with Tony Carr on drums or percussion). Shame though that the sleeve notes don't cover the actual circumstances of the recording session - Val Wilmer does though provide a good potted history of McNair. I'm informed that the other 'Fence' CD issue has been withdrawn as a result of legal action from Hux. That one will be one of the shortest lived ever British jazz reissues. Incidentally, reading through this months' issue of Record Collector and the article on British Jazz vinyl pt. 2 there's mention that Kenny Wheeler's 'Windmill Tilter' will be reissued on CD this year. False dawn perhaps? - hopefully not. May be time to get the champagne out, Roger ! Thanks for this SW as I had completely forgot to by my copy - just rushed out to my local newsagent and picked this (March) issue up. Some amazing albums here. Still quite a few yet to be reissued. Excellent series.

this was the reply I received after I emailed them to voice my dismay... Dear Roger, Thank you for your support of theJazz over the past 15 months. We do understand how disappointed you must be because of the changes to our programmes that we announced today. We remain committed to supporting jazz music and the musicians who make it. From February 25, Classic FM will broadcast two hours of jazz music between midnight and 2am, seven days a week. This programme will be available on FM as well as DAB and will therefore reach a far wider audience. In addition, these programmes will be available to listen to any time of the day or night, up to seven days after broadcast via Classic FM’s listen again service. You can access this service online at www.classicfm.com/listenagain. We will also be adding a rolling jazz music stream to myclassicfm.com which will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The service allows users to ban and rate tracks, giving them control over what they hear. I very much hope you will continue to listen to our jazz programming using one of these three options. Thank you for taking the trouble to get in touch. Kindest regards, Darren Henley Managing Director theJazz naturally I will be setting my alarm clock for around midnight to catch those two precious hours but really I'm not laughing - this is a real loss

Really bad news, just in, is that theJazz, the UK's only digital jazz radio station is to close down. More here:- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7238444.stm

Does the Mahavishnu have the remastered/bonus cut versions of the first two albums? In general, does this set have the best versions of the albums, or just straight reissues? Felser, I don't know as I can't find any info on these. I might have to buy the things and find out the hard way. One thing I do know is they do not have the extensive sleevenotes or photos that appeared with the remastered IMF.

One just out is 'Sienna Red' by BBC Jazz Award rising star winner Simon Spillett. This tenor player is definitely developing his own distinctive voice and coupled with an excellent choice of ten tracks of which no less than five are composed by his hero, Tubby Hayes. The supporting cast on the album is first class with John Critchinson on piano, Andy Cleyndert on bass and Tubbs' former quartet member Spike Wells on drums. This is released on the Woodville Label (WVCD120)

I have just discovered Sony have released a new series of (so far) nine boxed sets of albums by Miles, Sonny, Monk, Duke, McLaughlin, Stanley Clarke, Weather Report and Mahavishnu Orch and George Benson (presumably pre-singing GB era). I have asked this question 'in another place' (*) but would be very interested to learn if any Big O-ers have purchased any of these. Each set retails at around $36 or £18 which seems ridiculously cheap and although most folks here would have most of the albums, maybe like me you don't have all and would prefer these CDs in slim digipak format? I am currently wavering between buying them all and maybe just buying one (Mahavishnu - the first five albums) to test the water. I think my next excursion would have to be Duke as it covers most of the albums he recorded that I don't have. But then there's Sonny, Monk...oh no...... _______________________________ (*)so please excuse the cross-posting

Just to say that in all seriousness, I love both this board on which I have been posting a lot longer than my avatar would suggest (I lost my original pw in an server outage a while back and had to start again) and AAJ. I would dearly love you guys who left AAJ recently to consider returning to it because your intelligent and perceptive and often humourous contributions are genuinely missed, by all, and I mean all. I don't think Mike R intended to start a brushwood fire and in fairness to him he has been involved in other matters lately which may have affected him. Please consider returning to the fold but even if you do return it doesn't mean we can't or won't want to continue posting on the Big O...lots of things to say and like TV, I watch more than one channel.

Well, thank you! You are greatly encouraged to post in other threads while you're here.. Have been looking at the Conference call thread on AAJ, clearly the heat is still on, mainly because folk there seem to like, or can't resist, pouring gasoline on the fire. I wish they would calm down because I would hate to lose the AAJ board even though I like the big O one too. There's even a photo of the great Sir Menzies Campbell trying to mediate in this current jazz debacle and pointing out where AAJ BB might be heading if it doesn't straighten itself out soon...

and at least four Windmill Tilters!!!

That would be the Jazzprint one -CORRECTION!!! CORRECTION!!! CORRECTION!!! Not Jazzprint, mea culpa, but Hux ! Catalogue Number: HUX095 - only difference other than the lack of bonus tracks is that the cover is not the original version.

I bought the one with the bonus tracks from his other (earlier, eponymously titled) album and not the Jazzprint(?) one but only because I found that one first. The label I had never heard of before and they didn't have a website. Can't remember the name.

Funnily enough I picked up a copy of this book in a secondhand book shop in Poole a couple of years ago. As you say full of interesting facts and anecdotes. On the subject of books and Oxfam (and I realise we are digressing off the thread) I picked up a review copy of the late Richard Cook's Jazz Encyclopaedia in my 'local' Oxfam (Marylebone High St) for half price. However, back to the subject and I can't believe that WT won't be re-issued soon (ever optimistic) as I was always pessimistic about the Harold McNairs and then lo and behold and out of the blue two versions of The Fence arrive at once! But as you say, Hum Dono is very overdue for re-issue. I think there is clearly some log jam in the mechanism between Universal licensing and the record companies who do the actual reissuing (eg Vocalion, etc). Sporadic doesn't even come close. However, when they do do some reissues, there are some real and unexpected stunners.

Sidewinder...how true! Michael Garrick's superb and rare 'Promises' was re-issued several years back in Japan and very nicely done too. So where is WT? I still think this will see the light of day at some point. It is worth climbing over broken glass in bare feet to hear (well maybe not glass, Lego maybe).

I would be really, really excited if this genuine 22 carat gold classic were finally reissued this year - as was promised for last year - Ken Wheeler and The John Dankworth Orchestra - 'Windmill Tilter'. This is probably the most important and best recording of any British jazz ensemble and has been shamefully overlooked for reissue for many years (first released in 1969 on the Fontana label). It boasts a galaxy of internationally renowned British jazz stars including John McLaughlin, Tony Coe, Mike Gibbs and Dave Holland, plus the whole score is written and performed by the fantastic Kenny Wheeler and underpinned by the John Dankworth Orchestra. More importantly, the music actually does live up to expectations. I do not accept the long trailed excuse that an acceptable master cannot be found as a reason for not reissuing this album because even a 'needle drop' (and there are enough pristine vinyl copies around) would make for the re-release of the year. If anyone who hasn't heard any of this album simply cannot wait there is a track 'The Cave Of Montesinos' on the excellent 4 CD boxed set retrospective by John Dankworth and Cleo Laine - 'I Hear Music: A Celebration Of The Life & Work Of Cleo Laine & John Dankworth'. Guys - let's do this one for 2008 please!

The bizarre thing about this one is no word about it straight out of the blue from a relatively unknown label for this particular type of jazz. A bit like the McNair reissue. Don't get me wrong I'm not complaining but if I hadn't been at loose end on Monday and wandering around HMV I'd have been none the wiser. Adds to my somewhat optimistic theory that, given time, everything from the elusive back catalogue of jazz will be reissued. Even 'Windmill Tilter'! Kenny again!