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Sad indeed.

Tonight: Alexandra Grimal « Rewild », with Susana Santos Silva, Fred Frith, Marc Ducret and Gerry Hemingway

Sorry to hear this as well. His Miles Davis bio was the first one I ever read, and I was especially grateful for his book on Dick Twardzik. Appreciation also to Mark Miller, who has done stellar jazz history work himself, for posting the news.

The consideration of specific tracks is certainly a good place to start. To me "Rock n Roll" signifies the time when a saxophone was the dominant solo instrument. I don't mean that guitar wasn't equally at home but if you are talking early rock n roll tunes its got to be a tenor sax in there. When guitar not only became predominant, but overbearing and frankly, sometimes musically masturbatory, that's when it became "rock".

He certainly did some work. RIP

Yep

Sad news.

Sorry to hear of his passing. R.I.P.

Listening now. Really excellent

Very sorry to hear of Jack's passing. Our friendship bonded via our fascination with the life of Richard Twardzik. Jim

Got this from the Toronto Duke Ellington Society: I’m very sorry to report the passing of my friend and fellow author Jack Chambers earlier this week, in Toronto, at the age of 86. Jack was a professor in the department of linguistics at the University of Toronto for many years — indeed, its head from 1986 to 1990 — and completed several respected books and countless articles in that field. His “parallel vocation,” as he described writing about jazz, drew similar approbation — Milestones: The Music and Times of Miles Davis (1998), Bouncin' With Bartok: The Incomplete Works of Richard Twardzik (2008), A Tone Parallel to Duke Ellington: The Man in the Music (2025) and the forthcoming Ellington the Composer: Caught in the Act. His CV for linguistics and jazz together runs to no fewer than 41 pages. Jack was the senior member of a group of journalists, academics and musicians in Toronto who shared an interest in writing about jazz and who would meet every now and then for dinner, drinks and, of course, disputation. Jack brought to our gatherings the same quiet, knowing authority that characterized his writing. As news of his death circulated privately last night, he was lauded by one of our number as “a rare and generous spirit.” I can only concur. Posted by Mark Miller

Melissa Aldana - Filin (Blue Note)

Thanks!

Hopefully this will https://rienakajima.bandcamp.com/album/1-may-2018 Title is 1 May 2018, under Nakajima's name, on Bandcamp

Which is that? The link doesn't work for me for some reason.

Yes, Sakata was pretty extraordinary. I'd not seen him before and had few preconceptions. This wasn't the fire breathing Sakata but a far more considered approach. A beautiful tone on both sax and clarinet, especially clarinet. Duo with what I think was some kind of no contact mic set up creating a percussive undertow. Then a trio with Rie Nakajima's small percussion and a poet reciting, in Japanese. Sakata also sang/ intoned and played bells. All quite spellbinding It was very reminiscent of this very good album https://rienakajima.bandcamp.com/album/1-may-2018

Was it good? I was weighing it up and plumped for the Vortex trip mainly because I so rarely go there now. You tipped me off to Arbenz I think, a year or so ago. Thank you for that. Half to hear that Sakata was good!

Enjoy that, I like Arbenz and used to buy everything Osby released. I nearly booked for it but decided on Sakata at Oto as this week's trip out. I wasn't disappointed.

See? The Stones as a whole are definitely OUT by the usual European definition within the R'n'R subculture (even if certain tracks - as with the Beatles' oeuvre - would fit into R'n'R, stylistically speaking). Haley, Lewis and Berry are IN. But they cover only SOME aspects of the ENTIRE spectrum of R'n'R. To varying degrees. And that "driving around getting teenage kicks" that you mentioned about the "Rocket 88" lyrics is ONE aspect that would rate this recording as "early" R'n'R. Whereas the recordings by Wynonie Harris (that often rock even harder) might not qualify that easily because THEIR lyrics - about boozing and the pimp making love to the preacher's wife in the kitchen - address a rather different audience. His "adult R'n'R" or "adult R&B" recordings therefore lack the "teenage/youth audience" angle that sets R'n'R apart as the first specific style of music geared specifically to the YOUNG'UNS. Not to what the elders would condescendingly allow their kids to listen to in the pre-1954 days. (Not that WHITE parents in 50s US of A - or parents in the UK or Germany, for that matter - would have been enthusiastic about their kids listening to Wynonie Harris, but I think you get what I mean. ) OTOH others (like me, incidentally ) may find the strictly adult lyrics no hindrance to R'n'R status if the music has the right vibe. So it all depends on what importance you place onto what aspect of the individual recordings. Not a question that can or will ever be settled.

Dead people are safe.