Michael Fitzgerald

Correct. Mike

I would have to dig to confirm, but I believe the Transition albums were produced by Tom Wilson. When I say "fit in" - I do not believe that these records were ever intended to be issued by Columbia, were supposed to fulfill a Columbia contract, were abandoned by Columbia, or anything like that. I *do* wonder about the Columbia Rita Reys album which has one side accompanied by the Jazz Messengers. But with regard to Transition, what I am unsure of is how can the facts of the matter (these existing simultaneously recorded sessions) be seen with regard to what Silver has said about Columbia contracts. Hank Mobley was recording as a leader for Prestige (7/20/56) a few days after he did the final session for Silver's Blue, and then for Savoy (7/23/56) a few days after that. So, if there ever was any Mobley contract with Columbia, no one was interested in enforcing it even during the period when Blakey was continuing to record for Columbia (last session 2/22/57). Remember, FWIW, the Pacific Jazz record (1/14/57) specifically notes that the Jazz Messengers were recorded courtesy of Columbia Records. We see no such thing on any Prestige, Savoy, Transition issues. (And the courtesy was extended so that Chet Baker could record with strings for Columbia). Mike

Yes, "The Solo Sessions" issued as 2 separate CDs. Some of the post-Riverside issues are now titled "Loose Blues" and "On Green Dolphin Street". Mike

In terms of listing the information, the labels aren't ever going to do it right. And even if one does, there's no way that ALL of them will follow suit. Even Mosaic sets require unnecessary searching in about three places to get the basic information - title, comoser, timing, issue name, issue number. And in many cases you still won't be able to learn the track sequence for the original (and various other) issues. So why not investigate a system that does it better? http://www.jazzdiscography.com/Temp/mingussample1.htm http://www.jazzdiscography.com/Temp/mingussample2.htm How much stuff has already been entered comprehensively in this system? http://www.jazzdiscography.com/Temp/boxedsets.htm Not to mention all the complete artist discographies you know and love from the website. Mike

I can't think of any flaws on this one. It's the best album Abercrombie ever made, in my opinion. Wish there were more like it. A piece like Lungs (and to a lesser degree, Red And Orange) has the Mahavishnu energy but leans more towards jazz, not so much of the involved composition and Indian stuff. I consider this one to be an extension of the Tony Williams Lifetime in terms of the evolution of the organ trio. Compared to MO, there's more listening, more interplay, less crash and bash and battling. I'm sure the trio compared to quintet has something to do with this, but it's also about DeJohnette as opposed to Cobham. I also love to hear Jan Hammer on organ instead of Rhodes. The acoustic duets also have that kinship with the Mahavishnu pieces like Lotus on Irish Streams, for example. It's kind of amazing that this is on ECM but it was a New York session and fairly early on. I guess there was some overdubbing of synthesizer parts, but it's still got a very live feel. For those who haven't checked out the other renditions of the tunes on this album, I encourage doing this: Jan Hammer: Red And Orange (Oh Yeah?, Nemperor) Elvin Jones: Lungs (Merry-Go-Round, Blue Note) Oregon: Timeless (Friends, Vanguard) Ralph Towner: Timeless (Solo Concert, ECM) Gerry Niewood: Timeless (Timepiece, Horizon) Ralph Towner: Ralph's Piano Waltz (Solo Concert, ECM) Gerry Niewood: Ralph's Piano Waltz (Timepiece, Horizon) Abercrombie has also revisited RPW on some of his things. Can't think of other recordings of the duet pieces. Perhaps there aren't any. BTW, for flaws, you'd have to go to the reunion album (Night). Mike

But where do the Transition sessions led by Byrd and Watkins fit into this? If the dates are correct, May 7, 1956 was the date of the Beacon Hill session with Byrd and Watkins. (I've already inquired here about the fact that this same date is listed for the Elmo Hope session with Byrd and Coltrane.) The Jazz Messengers recorded a session for Columbia on May 4, 1956 and the final one, which finished off the Rita Reys album (could this be involved in any Columbia contract?), was on June 25, 1956. The Transition sessions go as far back as December 2, 1955 (Byrd - with the entire Messengers quintet plus Joe Gordon) and as late as December 8, 1956 (Watkins - with Byrd and Mobley). Mike

Don't think so - I just did a little A-B on these and the Portrait of Wes take is faster than either of the other two in the boxed set and they all have different guitar solos. More for the Fantasy orphan CD, I guess. Mike

I know there are some serious Wes freaks here, so please help out if you've already sorted through this. My LP copy of "Portrait of Wes" has a tune titled "Movin' Along" (6:16). I *know* that this was a mistitling and the Riverside boxed set calls the tune "Blues Riff" - BUT the two versions listed in the boxed set as "Blues Riff" are tk 7 - alt. (4:13) and tk 8 - alt. (8:10). So - where is Blues Riff master take (6:16)??? Does it only exist on the Portrait of Wes album? Mike

Now that's just stupid - you want to compare distressed U.S. citizens who have suffered a natural disaster with enemy terrorists? You want the National Guard to just shoot first and ask questions later? Mike

And hey, in a group along with James Spaulding and Pete LaRoca it's not so bad to be the weakest link....... Mike

Just throwing this out - I wonder whether the instantaneous coverage we receive via TV, radio, Internet has changed our expectations of how fast things should move. A truck still moves at the same speed. We can get the news of the situation faster, but can we accomplish things with as much speed? Were this 50 years ago, how much would we as the public know about what was going on? Would the public sentiment be one more of sympathy than of outrage? Mike

OK, I'll gladly revise to "why does he compose such fluff - when he does compose it" I guess I am just having flashbacks to some really dreadful shows where some of the "compositions" were so rudimentary and boring it was almost painful. Remember, it got so bad that I *skipped free Rollins*. Knowing the melody is one thing, and very important - but beating one over the head with it is another. What *I* particularly appreciate is what Leonard Bernstein addresses here in his Young People's Concert on "What Is Symphonic Music?": "Now all music isn't symphonic, of course; but all music does develop in some way or another, even little folk songs, or a simple rock'n'roll tune. But these little songs develop mainly by repeating, by repetition. That's the easiest, most babyish way to develop anything - by just saying it over and over again. It's like an argument; if you're a real brainy type, you'll develop your argument with variations and with changes." Rollins at his best gets away from strict repetition and into more sophisticated development. Mike

But Sonny Rollins isn't one of us "mere mortals" - the standard line is that he refuses to give a just "acceptable" performance. He gives us what he's got that moment, be it transcendent or trash. So, I don't think it's appropriate to consider him as equivalent to the rest of us (who do give "acceptable" performances). And, if he's not considering the head as a necessary evil, why then does he "compose" such fluff - absolute rubbish with pretty much no substance? From what I've heard at live shows, he's incredibly eager to dispense with the "melody," such as it is. Mike

Haven't heard this particular show, but the "return to the melody" thing that I've heard Sonny do in other performances gets really tired. He has devices that he uses to "tread water" while he gathers himself for another improvisational onslaught - he's admitted that the circular breathing held note is one of them - and I think this is another, at least at times in the ways I've heard him use it. Mike

"Taping all the concerts" is standard operating procedure for MANY artists. I'm shocked to learn that Rollins isn't one of them - of course he should be doing this. This suggestion has been made time and again from the 1970s on. And ever since the introduction of DAT it's not just been a pipe dream, it's a viable option, and probably only as expensive as buying blanks and a deck for the sound guy to use. BTW, I learned that the free Damrosch Park, NYC concert by Rollins that I stupidly skipped (August 8, 1998) - has been preserved via audience tape. This was the show that Dan Morgenstern raved about to me a few days later as being one of Sonny's best. So there's a chance that sometime I will be able to hear for myself. And *please* deliver us from major label "projects" of the kind that FD describes. Though I wouldn't mind hearing a complete version of the piece for Rollins and symphony that is given to us in bits on the Saxophone Colossus film. Mike

I'm kind of surprised that Evans hated it, considering how much he used it during the 1970s. But if he didn't like it, why then? At Columbia, I understand, but when he moved to Fantasy I would have thought he'd have had the clout to avoid doing what he didn't like. Evans is horrible at Rhodes. There's a prime example of someone whose albums could have been vastly improved by sticking with acoustic piano. Perhaps he felt an obligation to experiment, to try it for a time, at least. Mike

OK - I got it. From the Cadence review (by Peter Leitch, no less) in the April 1984 issue. The quintet version starts it. For those keeping track: Title: From The 70's Artist: Bill Evans Format: LP 12" Label: Fantasy Cat. Num.: F-9630 Rel. Year: 1983 07:27 05/27/1976 Nobody Else But Me 06:41 11/01/1973 Up With The Lark 04:56 11/01/1973 Quiet Now 05:03 05/11/1977 Nobody Else But Me 03:46 05/11/1977 Orson's Theme 06:51 11/01/1973 Gloria's Step 07:14 01/11/1974 Elsa Bill Evans (ldr), Harold Land (ts), Kenny Burrell (g), Bill Evans (p), Ray Brown, Eddie Gomez (b), Philly Joe Jones, Marty Morell, Eliot Zigmund (d) ================================================ Title: From The 70's Artist: Bill Evans Format: CD Label: Original Jazz Classics Cat. Num.: OJCCD-1069-2 05:17 11/07/1974 tk 3 Gone With The Wind 07:07 11/07/1974 tk 6 Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo 03:29 11/07/1974 tk 9 The Nature Of Things 04:54 11/07/1974 tk 4 Show-Type Tune 05:14 11/07/1974 tk 3 Are You All The Things 06:41 11/01/1973 Up With The Lark 04:56 11/01/1973 Quiet Now 06:51 11/01/1973 Gloria's Step 07:14 01/11/1974 Elsa Bill Evans (ldr), Bill Evans (p), Eddie Gomez (b), Marty Morell (d) Mike

Unfortunately, that looks to me to be a fake track sequence - it's chronological. I am inclined to believe the ebay one - doubtful that Fantasy would put the same tune back to back. Mike

OK - *almost* there. I just need to know *which* Nobody Else is which. Is the trio first or the quintet? BTW, that Evans page is a bit out of date - it catches the added Crosscurrents material, but apparently the From The 70's CD came out after the page (dated 1998) because it's unaware of that CD. Getting close - thanks! Mike P.S. - what's the opposite of a "hardcover album" - a paperback album?

OK, that's the CD version - great! Well, not great too, because it proves that #1-5 are yet more Fantasy items NOT in the Fantasy "Complete" set. Are those comments by you or from the issue? Because it's odd to say that anything is "from the sessions for Eloquence" since Eloquence was another leftovers album issued after Evans's death. I understand the rationale because the other take of Gone With The Wind did come out on Eloquence. But really, #1 is from the sessions for Intuition. No matter. Could I get the LP version now from someone? Because I'm pretty sure it's quite different, with the two versions of "Nobody Else But Me". Mike

Further investigation into this Fantasy boxed set shows that there are things missing, issued on OJC CDs - three alternative takes from the Crosscurrents set to start with. Now, I have a question about the LP "From The 70's" - which was an odds & ends set with stuff that got used as bonus tracks on CDs. Could someone supply tracklist and dates? The CD issue of "From the 70's" - does it have different stuff? I see items listed that appear to be alternative takes from other sessions - and THIS stuff doesn't seem to be included in the "Complete" boxed set either! If someone can assist in straightening this out, I'd appreciate it. Mike

But my point is that there is music that uses electric instruments that would not all of a sudden be palatable to you if the electric piano were replaced by an acoustic piano. For example, there's a live show of Miles Davis where Chick Corea's electric piano is broken and he plays the Bitches Brew repertoire on acoustic piano. I doubt that it would suddenly be fine for you. Because it's more than just the instrument that makes that music quite different from earlier Miles Davis. Of course, there *are* sessions where instant replacement would be an improvement. The Art Blakey sessions on Prestige, for example. Mike

I suspect an availabilty/price consideration. Hohner was from Germany and probably easier and cheaper to get in UK at that time. More compact than a Rhodes too. Mike

What is the first track on side one of the Evans/Bennett Fantasy LP (F-9489). All sources I have checked say it's Young And Foolish. Can someone with original LP confirm? But if so, why does the Fantasy boxed set trade places with this tune and My Foolish Heart? Everything else matches the LP sequence. Odd. Maybe even Foolish. Mike

That is my thought as well. Mike