Tom Storer

Thanks for the tip on Luis Bonilla, Larry. Checking out samples on his website, and those records sound real good. Quite a rhythm section on "I Talking Now!": Arturo O'Farrill, Andy McKee, and John Riley.

He's been playing in Taylor Ho Bynum's group, right alongside some ironic white people! Learn more about him here. And wasn't it he who just had a well-received large ensemble record sometime in the past year or so? Or was that another tuba/bass-trombone specialist?

Does it? Who do you see as present-day practitioners of hard bop who are dominant?

Saw "The Cookers" last night, a collective featuring Billy Harper on tenor, Craig Handy on alto and flute, David Weiss and Eddie Henderson on trumpet, George Cables on piano, Cecil McBee on bass, and Billy Hart on drums. This was at the New Morning in Paris. No false claims in the group title, they cooked. There was one problem that marred the concert somewhat, which was that it was uncomfortably loud. There were probably about 150 people in a club that seats 300 when it's jam-packed to the rafters, and given their energy, if they had played completely unamplified one would have heard the music perfectly clearly. Instead the blaring amplification made it hard to hear the organic unity of the rhythm section. This is not the first time this has happened to me at the New Morning. In addition, one could see from the musicians' gestures to the soundboard that their onstage monitors were not high enough. But the music itself was great. Solid and satisfying four-horn arrangements of original tunes, particularly by Harper, McBee and Cables, committed and energetic solos by all. Henderson in particular stood out for me for his imaginative soloing, and the others were no slouches. David Weiss, who served as the MC, had some fierce and crackling choruses. But I'm above all delighted to have caught the rhythm section of Cables, McBee, and Hart. They were flying. Monsters, all of them. A great night.

Thanks for the link, Michael, this sounds great as ever!

Meanwhile, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra continues, and it is fantastic. They have a new double CD, "Forever Lasting - Live in Tokyo," that is high on my list.

Saw the Mark Turner Quartet at the Duc des Lombards in Paris. Superb concert. With Turner were Avishai Cohen, trumpet; Joe Martin, bass; and Marcus Gilmore, drums. This quartet is a regular thing but Turner apparently has no recording contract at present, so it risks going undocumented. Boo! (New Yorkers, they'll be at the Village Vanguard Feb. 14-19.)

And Scott LaFaro, for that matter.

I also ordered "No Maps on My Taps." It arrived a few days ago and I just watched it last night. Jim, you're right, it's fantastic. I'm going to see if "About Tap" is available...

not even toobluth? No, that's too bluth for me.

In the interest of preserving my hearing, I use no mobile music device.

I think what the big media companies are upset about is having their stuff looted, not whether or not it is done for profit. The fact that the MegaUpload people were apparently getting rich off it just makes it seem all the more villainous. They can hardly claim to be idealistic data-liberators.

Wynton was great (see post #2382 above). No surprises, but a warm, swinging set in a cozy little room. It was broadcast live on the radio and someone uploaded it immediately to Dime, for interested torrenters.

I'm going to see Wynton Marsalis on Sunday night. If he were playing in a festival or at a big concert hall with his usual group or the LCJO I wouldn't usually bother; I often feel he tries too hard to be sure to stay in character and is unlikely to surprise me. I've seen him often enough over the years, but it has been a while. But this, announced just yesterday, is a surprise visit to a small club, the Duc des Lombards here in Paris, with the trio of pianist Hervé Sellin, which includes Jeff Boudreaux, a New Orleans-born drummer who is based in Paris. So it'll basically be Wynton jamming with a good local trio. These are the circumstances I think are great for Wynton. He'll be able to just play in a cozy, relaxed and informal setting. The club probably doesn't seat more than forty people in front of the stage, with more seats in an adjacent room and upstairs (CCTV monitors let those people watch the musicians). I saw it when it was first announced, on Facebook, and got tickets for my wife and son and myself. My son is not a great jazz fan but does enjoy live shows when they're demonstrative enough (he loves Roy Haynes concerts, and really dug the Bad Plus); I'm sure he'll love seeing Wynton, who is such a ham. I'll let you know how it goes.

Olu Dara's original Okra Orchestra in the 80's had a front line of Dara, Threadgill and Craig Harris, with Jean-Paul Bourelly on guitar (I think), can't remember the bassist, and Coster Massamba on drums. That was a beautiful band. Later he made it a louder, funkier band with more musicians, and that was also great. Neither version recorded, and I've never even seen any audience recordings torrented. A shame.

Nothing wrong with this: But I can see preferring something like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hCoFKJWTls

Here's an exceptional performance by Tony Bennett:

In the either/or/both jazz+pop category, let's not forget Nat King Cole! <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/bCln5vLI_zw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Hmmm... the embed from YouTube doesn't seem to have worked. No idea why. Try here.

I have a friend, last name Cooke, who named his son Sam. Not Samuel, just Sam.

His daughter has been running the shop for a while, and she does a fine job, arguably better than her father! She hosts readings and is passionately involved with the publishing world, seeming to know everyone and be on top of all the latest developments. So the place is in good hands. Good for George Whitman to have produced a chip off the old block.

The "Max Roach without the chops" refers to an earlier recording, 1956 if I recall correctly. When he says, of the Vanguard recordings, that the best parts are the parts Motian leaves out, I think he meant this: some criticize Motian for a lack of chops, but that relative lack of chops (and lack of concern for chops) is of a piece with his creative spontaneity. I thought he meant that "the parts he leaves out" are the automatic, learned licks that come with "chops"... he leaves out the predictability that comes with standard good technique. In other words, a relative lack of chops is not always good but not necessarily always bad either, and in Motian's case his art is served by a certain technical naiveté.

Thanks!

When sound quality does bother me, it's rarely the hiss or murk of older material--I can sort of squint by ear, if you see what I mean, and that's fine. It's more often sound that is bright and in-your-face but lacking warmth and atmosphere. This I often find in major-label releases. I recall being put off by CDs by Michael Brecker and Charlie Haden because of that. The only flaw was a lack of flaws, and it just sounded unnatural. I remember once, decades ago, I was visiting a young friend who had gotten a great job and was making lots of money for the first time. He had bought a very expensive stereo system and was delighted with it. He put on Pink Floyd and listened, mesmerized, as the bells went from one speaker to the next. Later I put on a tape I had made of some Charlie Parker recordings. He looked puzzled. "Is that a big band?" "No, you idiot, it's a quintet. That means there are five of them." "Really? It sounds so bad, how can you tell?"

I don't know the later three (although I must have heard some of that stuff performed live in the 80's), but "Native Dancer" is a GREAT album. I wore out the original vinyl, replaced it on CD, and still play it and enjoy it -- my God -- thirty-seven years later. Beauty and the Beast Ponta de Areia

Tonight, at the New Morning in Paris, the Steve Swallow Quintet, with Carla Bley, Steve Cardenas, Chris Cheek, Jorge Rossi.