Chuck Nessa

Been trying for a few hours. How 'bout you?

Didn't vote 'cause of my obvious "conflict". If he had been listed, I might have voted for George Mitchell (for historical reasons).

1. The listings on the EMI issue are in error. No extra music available. Notice they list 3 Proverbes as well, but there are only 2. 2. The Universal Sound disc does predate the current EMI disc but an earlier French EMI disc in the "Jazztime" series was the first cd version. All 3 of these dubbed "Sophie" from vinyl. 3. I assume EMI has lost the tapes. Now to confuse things further, Lester Bowie told me they recorded "a bunch more Proverbes" which were not issued. I mentioned this to Michael Cuscuna years ago and he said a search turned up no surviving tapes.

Well, as they say, you can't polish a curd. So is this the famous curd in the punk bowel?

Whay jazz artists? Do you mean whey jazz artists? They are kinda' cheezy. What do you mean?

It might be the only copy in Chattanooga! If that's the way it's spelled.

Interesting about the editing issue on the current cd. I don't have the Columbia 10" issue, but will check my 12" Columbia (CL 848) against my French cd (COL 469409 2) to see if they match.

Y'ain't gettin' the confirmation from me. I think they just arrived at the point where they had to "reprint" some boxes, did quantity/price calculations and decided the wisest path was a new format for reprintings. They'd have had a firestorm of complaints if they abandoned the metal spines before the series was finished.

The first 3 Contemporary lps are all I own by Kessel. Remember liking all of them but have not played any of them in a while.

Seven Steps is indeed metal.

If you can't find a "real" copy of Little Jazz, it's available as a download from Verve on iTunes.

If you want "classic" sides and can deal with (good) '30s/40s sound, get the GRP/Decca cd called After You've Gone. The Hawk/Roy cd mentioned is a great one too. Too bad my favorites from Verve (the first 2 discs on the Mosaic set) are not available as single discs. The Verve compilation called Little Jazz is a decent anthology of the '50s stuff. Once you get hooked you will need to seek the big band sides with Henderson, Krupa and Shaw. Roy was a favorite.

A fella's gotta eat. B-)

My "best guess" is the goods will be delivered here in a couple of weeks. It will take some more time to get them to distributors and then to stores.

Very unlikely. Not even sure the family would read it.

In the mid '60s I had contact with Rollins via a third party and suggested a project. I wanted to do a trio session with Wilbur Ware and Blakey (or Pete LaRoca). Sonny's response (related back to me) was discomfort in recording situations. I responded with "no time limits (within reason - meaning I'd ignore union 3 hour rules)" and offered the (new at the time) clip mike on the horn. He never responded (as far as I know).

S'pose you didn't get feedback 'cause nobody knows details. Since it is called "Master Takes" it seems unlikely there are unissued items. No reason to believe Mosaic is involved in this package. A bit of discographical research will reveal the records at their disposal. Why not look up the content of the "complete" Verve set and start subtracting?

One difference is Uptown made a financial agreement with Lorraine Gillespie for the Town Hall concert. She received an advance and (since she has now died) her heirs will stand to get royalties. The European companies will not be bound by this agreement.

So why would a French distributor have a business relationship with Uptown if budget versions of the same material will be available shortly?

I believe in music. I love GREAT music. I really like music with aspirations toward greatness. Always like a "near miss". All sorts of popular, nostalgic and "warm" crap intrudes and dilutes the stuff along the way. Some "popular music" is "good music" and some might be "great music" but most is just high quality pop music. Nothing wrong with that. I believe Stevie is high quality pop music for a decade. Nothing to sneeze at if you lived through that decade.

considering Stevie's age when he wrote, arranged, played every instrument on and produced those albums and it becomes even more staggering. I can't even begin to imagine such talent. Are you Jazz Kat?

We live in very different worlds.

Just based upon just those 4 albums it wouldn't be 'over the friggin' top'. But factor in Songs In the Key of Life, Hotter Than July, songs of utter originality and beauty for artists like Minnie Riperton, Ramsey Lewis, Smokey Robinson, Syreeta, Michael Jackson, Roberta Flack and despite all the cheesy abominations of late I still think Stevie is up there with the greatest musical talents of all time. Easy... B-) Guess i been in the wrong place.