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Whom do you think did the best linner notes?


Hardbopjazz

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If you can find them, check out David A. Himmelstein's over-the-top notes for Booker Ervin's "Setting the Pace" with Dexter Gordon (Prestige). They're a three-act play. I particularly like the reference to Dexter as "the only man in the world who can walk in a sitting position."

Dan Morgensterns' notes are usually like having a infinitely knowledgable best friend at your elbow. BTW, a big collection of the best of Dan's writing will be published in the fall.

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If you can find them, check out David A. Himmelstein's over-the-top notes for Booker Ervin's "Setting the Pace" with Dexter Gordon (Prestige).

Oh my God, yes!

Almost ALL the Prestige sides released during the Don Schlitten years had liner notes that qualified for the Hall of Fame in my opinion. Morgenstern was a frequent contributor, especially on the "historical" sides, and to this day I rue the day I loaned my Prestige issue of Dizzy's Salle Pleyel big band concert to an unworthy accquaintance. Never did get the album back, but phrases from those liner notes still resonate in my mind as "true' observations on the music. To me, that's effective writing.

VERY much looking forward to Mr. Morgenstern's book, as well as Mr. Kart's. I loves me some good jazz books!

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If you can find them, check out David A. Himmelstein's over-the-top notes for Booker Ervin's "Setting the Pace" with Dexter Gordon (Prestige). They're a three-act play. I particularly like the reference to Dexter as "the only man in the world who can walk in a sitting position."

Available in "Setting the Tempo, Fifty Years of Great Jazz Liner Notes" ed. Tom Piazza.

OOP and I'm not a big fan of Piazza's take on Jazz, but if you want sleevenotes...

Simon Weil

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Mark Gardner. Very informative well-written liner notes for Xanadu (yesterday) and Steeplechase (yesterday and today) among others.

Gardner was also in Schlitten's stable of Prestige liner writers. Perhaps a bit conservative musically for me to fully enjoy his work (the Prestige reissue notes seem to invariably get into handwringing about what the protagonists are into "now" and stuff like that), but a good writer who could fill up an entire back cover of an album and not leave you feeling cheated for reading it.

I like Benny Green's Pablo notes too. The guy is a veritable gusher of gush, and he does like his verbiage, but he strikes me as totally sincere and not a little musically astute.

You know who was a trip? Mort Goode, who wrote an ongoing series of blurbs called THE INNER SLEEVE, found on, naturally, the inner sleeves of Columbia LPs in the early 70s. Short sentences. Concise. Master of economy. An event in the making. Every time. Just like that. :g

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I like Benny Green's Pablo notes too. The guy is a veritable gusher of gush, and he does like his verbiage, but he strikes me as totally sincere and not a little musically astute.

Don´t know much about the gush or Bush thing ;) but I did enjoy his liner notes for the Art Tatum Complete Group Masterpieces!

Dan Morgenstern is another favorite of mine. I find his comments on some Storyville releases very helpful!

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My vote for Dan Morganstern, too, as a fellow Rutgers person.

Brad Mehldau can be amusing, but I think he quickly gets in over his head with the philosophizing. Foucault would have whipped his ass for some of the stuff Mehldau has written about him!

Anybody read the notes from Sex Mob's latest?

--eric

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