mjzee

I got an email too, but the Herman is listed under "backordered items." I wonder if this means they've decided to proceed with it. Yup! Just checked the Mosaic site - it's now listed under Upcoming Releases. http://www.mosaicrecords.com/prodinfo.asp?number=267-MD-CD

These sessions are listed in the Cuscuna/Ruppli BN Discography. The "High Step" session is listed as April 20, 1956, and the JazzWest session is listed as March 1956.

I started there in fall 1973, and was head of the Jazz Project from 1974-75. Besides Rollins, we put on Oregon, Weather Report and (a free show) Jack DeJohnette/John Abercrombie. Funny that you mention the Sam Rivers show, which was in the fall of 1973. I was there that night, and after 2 hours of high-energy music, the concert ended suddenly when the Social Hall was evacuated because of the shooting. I saw Barry Altschul recently in Houston, backing Patty Waters, and asked him if he remembered that show. He didn't. I said "it was you and Dave Holland backing Sam Rivers." He thought back and said "Are you sure it wasn't Reggie Workman?" Do you remember who it was? And yes, Straight Country and Blues. They put on a lot of great folk festivals. But so did Cornell. It was a great time for music.

https://nypost.com/2018/08/16/that-time-aretha-franklin-swooped-in-and-saved-the-grammys/

I have to take credit here. I was head of the Harpur Jazz Project at SUNY Binghamton that year when we brought in Sonny. I signed the contracts, brought in the sound system, dealt with blowback from Lucille when we brought in a jazz-rock band from Ithaca to open the show. Tickets were $2!!! It made me very happy that you remember the show.

Tags!

Was just listening yesterday to "Harlem Boys" from "Don't Ask", and really enjoyed it (again). It was "of it's time" too (1979).

The LP had close to 30 minutes a side, so the CD has a chance of sounding better. If they used the LP masters, it'll probably sound the same.

Doesn't seem to me like a shakedown; it does seem a logical way to gauge whether the set will sell. Contrast this to what the Grateful Dead do: They announce a box set six months in advance, take orders and immediately charge the card. In effect, the advance orders pay the costs of producing the set. I wouldn't blame Mosaic for taking that approach, because it would be less money out of pocket for them.

Yes, the track I have is "Lazy Bird" from "Thundering Herd." It was on a Fantasy OJC sampler (part of a great series, btw): But I don't want to derail the thread. On Fantasy, looks like there were also King Cobra, Feelin' So Blue, Herd at Montreux, and Children of Lima. And has anyone mentioned Concord?

Don't know much about it, but there's also this:

Happy birthday!

Birks Works (without any apostrophe) makes sense. It's similar to saying "John Works," "Sam Plays," "Leroy Walks," "Leroy Walks Again!!" etc. I imagine Dave Usher saying "Work it on out, Birks!"

The format. It follows Myers's formula to the letter: talk to people involved with the song (could be writers, performers, producers, engineers, arrangers, cover artists); print their words verbatim but cleaned up as regards grammar, full sentences, and the like; placing those words in historical context (what was happening at the time); and discussing the effect the song had on history (personal history, pop history, etc.). Let's use one example: Myers's chapter on The Young Rascals' "Groovin'." It begins with Felix Cavaliere talking about his first serious girlfriend. Since, like most musicians, he worked Friday and Saturday nights, they only had Sundays together, and Groovin' was about their Sunday afternoons. He wrote the lyrics with Eddie Brigati. Cavaliere decided to use a baion rhythm, to give the song a Latin groove; he was exposed to Latin music when he led the house band at the Raleigh Hotel in the Catskills while he was a teen. They decided to leave out the drums; Dino Danelli played the conga with a stick under his arm, and at the bridge, he used the stick to strike a wood block, creating a ticking beat. Arif Mardin orchestrated a "Carmen Caballero-Style lounge-piano solo" for Cavaliere. They then wanted a Latin bass line overdubbed. Gene Cornish couldn't quite get it, so they called Chuck Rainey. By the time they got to the studio the next day, Rainey had already nailed it. Cavaliere added the sound of birds, inspired by the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine." Mardin suggested adding a harmonica. No one in the band played one, so the guy who swept the floors in the studio, Michael Weinstein, played it. Finally, Jerry Wexler hated the latin rhythm and wanted to add a drummer. Murray the K persuaded Wexler it was going to be a hit as is! As indeed it was. The book is full of little tidbits like that. Did you know David Fathead Newman and Clark Terry played on the Lovin' Spoonful's "Darling Be Home Soon"? The Four Tops' "Reach Out I'll Be There" was influenced by Bob Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone"? The Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" was 3:45 in length, and Phil Spector knew that was too long for AM radio, so he simply changed the time on the label to 3:05? Great, great book.

Aren't these covered on the two recent Ellington boxes from Sony Legacy?