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Threads you will miss...


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There were some cool threads on 'that other board' that I fear we may never see again. The three I'll miss:

1. 'Who almost played trumpet on Evolution instead of Lee Morgan?'. This one I started, and made it into a guessing game. The suspense was great. I think BFrank got it in the end. I won't post the answer here, just in case someone on this board never saw the thread. There was a thread a couple of months ago related to the 'Fireside chat with GM3' where this came up again.

2. 'Who is the organist on Grant Green's Iron City'. Yes, the label says Patton, but the rumor (started by Ben Dixon who was also on it) was that it was really Larry Young, and many of us seemed to lean in that direction (some were firm, others more open to either possibility). The most poignant part was that we almost got the answer from Big John himself - I sent him a tape of it, but he passed a few days after I sent it. I really enjoyed the discussions trying to prove that it was Larry from our B3-er friends, including our gracious host - I really learned a lot about the instrument I once loathed but now love (thanks to you for that, LY).

3. The most personal one - 'Birth Of A Future Blue Note star?', when my son Matthew was born 3/7/00 (I printed a back-up of this two days ago, fortunately). It's amazing to see how he's changed in three years, although the odds of him joining the Blue Note stable have severely diminshed, since he often says 'daddy, turn off the jazz'. Wait - he doesn't want to play jazz - Blue Note will snap him up in a minute, and Arif Mardin will produce his debut! I can smell the multiple grammies already!

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I'll miss the blues recommendations thread. I think I even started that one, but I'm not positive of that. Hans, Chuck and several others went to a lot of effort to come up with and list 100s of blues recommendations, being sure to cover every corner of the genre. I saved Hans' massive list to my harddrive, and I bought most of the ones Chuck recommended, but sadly the rest is lost. There was a lot of valuable information in that thread.

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BTW, I never saw the "who almost played trumpet on Evolution" thread, so I'll take a stab at it. It obviously isn't one of the usual suspects, otherwise it would have been a short thread. With that in mind, I guess Ornette Coleman.

Edited by J Larsen
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I guess I'll finally fess up to this one. It WAS Larry Young on Iron City. Big John told me himself. He never understood how his name ended up on that record. I never wanted to spill the beans, and neither did Big John....just in case a stray royalty check came in. The way he saw it, Larry was dead and he was still around to cash a check if it came. Never did.... Anyway, after I had met John and had known him a while....I was listening to Iron City and started laughing...because I knew it wasn't John. I called him up and said..."That's not you on Iron City is it, it's Larry Young." "Yeah, that's not me! That's Larry. Can't people HEAR Larry's style from mine!" He said people always asked him about that.

So now you know...the rest of the story. ;)

Edited by Soul Stream
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Soul Stream,

I hope you know that I didn't bring this up just to get you to 'fess up! I kept the PM that you sent me when John passed away. I was continuing to act like 'I'm pretty sure it's Larry because it sounds like Larry'. After all, that's what Ben Dixon had told me in September 2001.

It's funny how you say that people would ask John this question 'all the time'. How many people on this planet would know what the hell we were talking about?

But what will I do if I ever get around to writing the Larry Young bio I've been threatening to do? I'll just say that Dixon told me, I guess :)

Now whose this Lawrence Olds that plays on that Thornel Schwartz LP :)

Daniel,

That's great news! (Thanks for your PM also). I had a lot of fun with that thread.

J. Larsen,

It's not Ornette, although what an idea! I'll give you the same hint I gave the others: the musician in question is still alive. Also, a new hint: the person's name just recently surfaced on the BN board. it's not a name that comes up too often.

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It's not Ornette, although what an idea!  I'll give you the same hint I gave the others: the musician in question is still alive.  Also, a new hint: the person's name just recently surfaced on the BN board.  it's not a name that comes up too often.

I guess that thread started way before I came to BNBB, so I'm new to the game:

Still alive? Phew! Marcus Belgrave? Bobby Bradford? Dupree Bolton? It's too bad I can't browse the BNBB for trumpeters any more .. :g:excited::rolleyes:

Edited by mikeweil
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A thread I miss right now is the one discussing the MJQ and John Lewis' and Milt Jackson's contributions, hassles and so on. Someone posted a nice list of four tracks with John Lewis soloing in different contexts to exemplify his status as a jazz soloist, among them "The Sextet of the Orchestra USA plays Kurt Weill" on RCA. Now that I've got me a copy on ebay and have it spinnin' I'd sure like to look up that thread and find out about the track he mentioned and all the other recommendations. Anybody saved this one?

It's a shame all this is supposedly gone forever. They should let a voluntary team of ex-BNBBers go through it all and eliminate the crap and burn the rest on CD (here's a new Mosaic!) ... :(

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I really dug that collective effort on the ongoing sci-fi story starring Aric.

I kept trying to move it toward dark violent avenues and then the next guy would bring it back to the light, though. ;)

Too bad, there were some real good writing and plot twists, I wish someone kept it.

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"Hmm" I thought, while attempting to break into the BN vaults and retrieve the "Aric Effron Collective Sci-Fi Tome". That guy who used to like The Three Sounds, what was his handle? Gene Harris Fanatic or something or 'nother. Yeah, that's it. He was the one who really had gotten a chuckle out of this thread.

Just then, as I had broken the code to get into that vault (turns out it was "1574", the issue number of Peckin' Time), a flash of light and a flume of smoke dazed me. There before me was an apparition, the ghost of Warne Marsh!

Then he started to speak...

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I know you'd kept it to yourself all this time Bertrand. I guess I feel a little more comfortable spilling the beans over here. I always felt the BNBB was maybe not the best place to discuss that since Big John was on Blue Note, ect. Plus, more people (exposure) over there. And it seems to me that this subject came up right around the time of John's death, so I was probably a little more wary about saying anything.

I don't know how many people had really asked Big John about that. But he definately was kind of...I don't know...a little angry that people couldn't recognize his style. Angry isn't really the right word, but you get what I mean. To him, your own style was EVERYTHING. I guess he was a little pissed people would think he would toss his style and start playing like Larry Young. Something that just wasn't part of his "being" as a musician.

Anyway, Iron City is a great record. :D

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Oooh, oooh, Mr. Kottah -- I know! At least, I think I remember the answer to the Evolution question ... :)

I think the fellow who would translate Aric-speak was Joe Christmas. He had the side-splittingly hilarious "Aric & Matt Talk To Lou Donaldson" thread and the sternum-crackingly funny thread about telling his children there was no Santa Claus.

Wish Joe was here ... I think Naval activities have him quite busy.

Or maybe he is here ... ? :ph34r:

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That Ron McMaster post in full, from September 5, 1999:

"My association with the Blue Note label has been one of many years, of which I am very proud. My association with Michael Cuscuna has developed into a great working relationship and a great learning experience.

"I am frankly shocked and amazed at the statements being made on "McMaster Masters". It is hard to take on all of the issues that seem to be causing some of the authors to dislike the mastering work I have done. Let me start by saying that the early digital transfers of master tapes dubbed to 1610 and later 1630 format was the beginning of putting the Blue Note catalog into the digital format. It was not a matter of putting my sonic signature on the old masters but rather to do only a few sonic adjustments and present the original sound of the old masters as they were intended. The process and the digital equipment have changed very much since those early days of the first digital transfers. Today however, I still work with the same approach, keeping to the original sound of the master as it was intended.Let's set a few things straight, I do not hard pan the stereo spread on the original masters. I reduce it about 40%. I do not use digital noise reduction as a rule.Only in extreme cases and never without the permission of Michael Cuscuna. All masters are loaded into the Sonic Solutions after they are EQ'd and blended.There is no digital EQ or limiting ever done to them.I record them in 24 bit resolution and SBM2 for the output dither. The Sonic Solutions is merely a digital workstation from which we can assemble and edit the music program while staying in 24 bit. In addition, Sonic Solutions is not at all like Dolby noise reduction, and it does not color the audio program with processing and shaping techniques. We use the best converters available to assure pure audio signal conversion from analog to digital.For the LP purists on the Mosaic and Blue Note releases we take the masters and go straight to lacquer, never entering the digital domain.I would like to say that when you compare masters it is only fair to use songs that have been done at the same time and period of technology. To compare some of my old digital transfers with the new RVG releases is like comparing apples and oranges.We can't please everyone, but I hope that you will believe me when I tell you we want to deliver the best possible Blue Note CD.As Blue Note customers and fans you deserve the best possible product. Not every tape is perfect, not every CD without its flaws. However, we never take the attitude "oh, it's good enough". I for one appreciate your comments and hope to continue to deliver the best quality music possible. Remember too that this is a team effort, and the producer must approve all of the mastering. Many times when there is a major flaw and we cannot find a correct version then Michael Cuscuna will put a producers note on the jacket and try to keep the customers informed of the problems on the master. This by no way a cop out statement, it is merely to reflect the whole of the workings of all of these wonderful recordings. The implications of some of the authors are that I just carelessly master theoriginal songs and then the label just puts out the product. Not caring at all about the customer or the sound of the music.That couldn't be farther from the truth. Blue Note is and always has been a very intelligent and customer based label, they care about the consumer and they care about the music.

"Regards,Ron McMaster"

Not that the original source can be verified now, but still: http://www.bluenote.com/bulletinboard/ubb-...ic&f=3&t=000255

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I think the fellow who would translate Aric-speak was Joe Christmas. He had the side-splittingly hilarious "Aric & Matt Talk To Lou Donaldson" thread

Joe's version of Aric's Lou Donaldson conversation was funny, but it was someone else who later made a habit of translating Aric speak - not that funny, and got on my nerves a bit frankly - the bloke was obsessed about getting rid of Aric, I think, and just became a bore.

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I hereby announce The Highlights from the BNBB Treasure Trove Series!

Once a week the following month, starting today, I will post a facsimile of a classic Blue Note thread in this very forum, or in case a thread was later revived and went on forever, the original part. The threads are from the collection that came of my sadly unfinished project of backing up the whole BNBB.

I was first thinking of the 'McMaster Masters' thread, but since Ron's post has already been quoted, I'll think up something else.

Stay tuned!

Edited by Daniel A
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Thanks, Daniel, I look forward to reading history! ;)

David, I stand corrected. Nonetheless, I will say that Joe C. oughta be writing for TV or the movies. He could do a helluva lot better than what's out there now ... if I read of one more reality-TV piece of crap, I'm gonna ... hmm, I thought there was a smilie for "hurl" ... guess not. How 'bout it, B3-er? We need a good "blowing chunks" smilie.

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Wasn't it the poster called MilesDavis who translated Aric's cryptic submissions? He did a pretty good job, if I remember.

One of MY favorite threads was the one in early 2001 (I think) where someone was taking various photos of some posters and placing them in album covers via Photoshop. I seem to recall a few that made me howl!! Anyone remember that thread?

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