Michael Fitzgerald

OK! Has the second album ever made it to CD in any part of the universe? Mike

Thanks! Of course, the Riverside book also perpetuates the "Homing Grits" typo from Jepsen, also copied by Bruyninckx and Lord. No mention of who Cici is (or the cause of the delight) in the liner notes? Mike

Hoping that the OJC CD of the first album gives recording date - anyone got? Also - can someone settle the title of the fifth track - BMI database says "GIGI S DELIGHT" but every place I see references for the album says "CiCi's Delight" - is there any annotation in the liner notes about the name? Next, my LP copy of the second album (Young Ideas) gives no recording date - anyone got? For those keeping track: contrary to discographies, both these albums were recorded in NYC at Plaza Sound Studios, NOT in Washington, DC. And no, those aren't "Homing Grits" on the first LP, but "Hominy Grits". I will also welcome as many details as are known about the third (unissued) date that reportedly includes Joe Chambers. Mike

Actually, he gave Horace decoy tapes because he knew Horace hated the session and would never bother listening to them. Mike

I'm not saying that he *shouldn't* have a say in the matter, I'm wondering *why* - considering the labels' history of mistreating artists and ignoring their wishes. Mike

What about the singers who don't like "People" - or Streisand in general? Mike

Hosea

One would think if you wave enough money under someone's nose, all kinds of "cautious" attitudes would change. But I still don't understand why he's got any pull whatsoever in the matter - the label paid the bill, they own the tapes and the copyright on the recording, right? Mike

Yeah, I'm special. Don't know why I couldn't figure out how to do it when I started that "Lee Morgan" thread and had difficulty uploading a .pdf image. Ah well - it all worked out in the end. Mike

What are you talking about? Mike

You *can't* delete a topic, I think. I tried recently and it wouldn't let me. You can delete your posts, but not if it's the starting one. Mike

It's all about name recognition. Rock fans hear ONE name and it's Miles Davis. If they hear two, it's him and Coltrane. Not even necessarily hearing their music, just hearing the name dropped: "Yeah, I listened to a lot of jazz, you know, Miles, Coltrane...." No rock star ever said: "Yeah, I listened to a lot of jazz, you know, Lunceford, Erskine Hawkins....." As for electric Miles, Bitches Brew was indeed pushed and promoted alongside rock. At the time (1970-71), Miles was huge - featured in Rolling Stone, playing double bills with Laura Nyro, Blood Sweat & Tears, Steve Miller, Neil Young. That was the peak of his cross-marketing. Now, you're right - it's quite rare to hear that music. But the "damage" was already done. His name was established in those areas. Mike

Yes, "The Inner Sleeve" was an excellent marketing tool, in my opinion. But perhaps it's chicken-and-egg here - fans were more open-minded so they could do that (cross-marketing); they did the cross-marketing and fans became more open-minded..... As for Bob Dylan, that's amusing. Here's what he said about jazz in 1966: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I don't think jazz has ever appealed to the younger generation. Anyway, I don't really know who this younger generation is. I don't think they could get into a jazz club anyway. But jazz is hard to follow; I mean you actually have to like jazz to follow it: and my motto is, never follow anything. I don't know what the motto of the younger generation is, but I would think they'd have to follow their parents. I mean, what would some parent say to his kid if the kid came home with a glass eye, a Charlie Mingus record and a pocketful of feathers? He'd say, "Who are you following?" And the poor kid would have to stand there with water in his shoes, a bow tie on his ear and soot pouring out of his belly button and say, "Jazz, Father, I've been following jazz." And his father would probably say, "Get a broom and clean up all that soot before you go to sleep." Then the kid's mother would tell her friends, "Oh yes, our little Donald, he's part of the younger generation, you know." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I wonder if a pan from Dylan goes as far as an endorsement from him? Mike

Pharoah has a standard thing that he does, usually at the end of tunes, where he plays rapid descending scales - just closing all the holes in succession, then moves them through the harmonic series, all while circular breathing. It's a cool effect, sounding like an echoplex - but he overdoes it. I listened to three or four 1980s Pharoah records yesterday and it kept popping up. One example that comes to mind is the a cappella performance of "The Bird Song" from "Welcome To Love" on Timeless. That's a very clear demonstration of his various techniques - altissimo, flutter-tonguing, multiphonics, and it's a beautiful melody played exquisitely. The circular breathing thing is right at the very end. Mike

I may be prejudiced because I know it from the Smithsonian set "Dizzy Gillespie: The Development of an American Artist, 1940-1946", but that sounds like Gillespie to me. The Smithsonian set has the discographical stamp of approval from Dan Morgenstern. Mike

Here's some little bits from a Columbia Records memo: "We must find every way possible to expose people to this music. GP-26 has the chart feel. It's today's music - just like Santana." and "How do we expose this GP? Underground and jazz stations, radio buys, underground newspaper ads, college newspaper ads, giveaway samples to key buyers and clerks to spread word of mouth exposure. We have a monster on our hands if we do all of the numbers we know to expose, promote, merchandise and SELL this potential *SMASH*. I want everyone in the region to give this GP "your best shot". I want feedback. Tell us what you are doing to chart this one. This is not a jazz album - it's Santana, Blood Sweat & Tears, etc. GET THE MESSAGE. Sell it like you sold Blood Sweat & Tears and Santana. Promote it the same. Let's cook!" So - how many jazz artists EVER got that kind of promotion? Mike BTW, GP-26 is "Bitches Brew"

I own this on the 1987 Eastwind CDs (tan and maroon). The sound is just "OK". Particularly it's fine when you are listening only to them, but when you compare these CDs with other issued live recordings of the Blakey band around the same time, it become apparent that these are the worst. Cymbals suffer especially. For example, the Paris (3/16/61) has so much more depth. The Lausanne (12/8/60) is kind of shrill, but still considerably better than Tokyo (1/2/61). There is so much audience noise on the Japanese recording - I wonder whether there was a difference in miking. Perhaps the others involve a soundboard and the Tokyo one is more distant microphones closer to the audience. Still, the performances are wonderful and since this stuff is usually so cheap, it's not something one needs to avoid. Like I said, once you get accustomed to the sound it's just fine. Plus, after "A Night in Tunisia" (10:48) is an unlisted performance of "The Theme," (and not a quickie, a nice long one - until 14:11) then you get nearly two minutes of the long drawn-out thanks from the rest of the band - "arigato..........sayonara!" "domo......arigato" ".....arigato" (until 16:00). It's kind of amusing. The uncredited announcer is singer Bill Henderson, I'm almost positive. Mike

Here's something I wrote on the subject a while back in response to someone who wasn't a fan of singers and who was interested in singers who worked with great instrumentalists. ------------------ Sometimes, when you start learning jazz it's more than a full-time job to check out the instrumentalists (and rightly so), but later you get to come back and dig the singers. For me, at least, they have been a major inspiration. If you dig them from the start, so much the better. My personal favorites are Shirley Horn and Abbey Lincoln. Check my discographies to see the sort of master musicians they work with (Stan Getz, Hank Jones, Charlie Haden, Kenny Barron, Buck Hill, Gary Bartz, Joe Henderson, Elvin Jones, Pat Metheny, Cedar Walton, Toots Thielemans, etc.). Kevin Mahogany has at least 2 recent issues on Enja with people like Kevin & Robin Eubanks, Mike Mossman, Arthur Blythe, Marvin Smith, etc. Very good for a transitional instrumental/vocal thing. I would also recommend Billie Holiday. Maybe start with some of the Verve stuff. Others might call this heresy and push the early Vocalions and Brunswicks (CBS of the 1930's with Teddy Wilson and Lester Young - they're great, too), but sometimes the Verve stuff sits better with non-vocalist people. Nothing wrong with Ben Webster, Harry Edison, Barney Kessel, etc. I own and love it all, anyway. Some (like me) dig Sarah Vaughan, others not. She certainly was a great, very musically hip singer. I sometimes find Ella Fitzgerald to be a little too perfect and not "intimate" enough. But I like her nonethless. Dinah Washington might grate on your nerves, but the EmArcy record with Clifford Brown, Clark Terry and Maynard Ferguson is amazing. Betty Carter, more often than not, is not my cup of tea, though I have several albums and have seen her live. She always works with great musicians. Carmen McRae has some fantastic things out. I especially like some of her later things including the Monk album (with Rouse, Clifford Jordan, George Mraz, etc.) which is apparently hard to find these days. She also did a tribute to Sarah Vaughan with the Shirley Horn trio accompanying. Did I mention that Shirley is one of the greatest piano players in jazz? She scares me she's so good. Oh, and the Tony Bennett/Bill Evans album is perhaps the single greatest vocal jazz album ever. Really. Listen to it, don't imagine it. It's not at all schmaltzy or anything like that. It's perfect. Oh, and the Coltrane/Johnny Hartman one too. I could go on and on. Here's a list of fairly straight-ahead jazz vocal masterpieces: Tony Bennett/Bill Evans [Fantasy] Shirley Horn: You Won't Forget Me [Verve] Abbey Lincoln: You Gotta Pay The Band [Verve] w/Stan Getz Carmen McRae: Sings Monk [RCA] Billie Holiday: Songs For Distingue Lovers [Verve] Dinah Washington: Dinah Jams [EmArcy] Sarah Vaughan: In The Land Of Hi-Fi [Capitol] w/Cannonball Adderley Betty Carter: The Audience With Betty Carter [betCar] Kevin Mahogany: Songs And Moments [Enja] John Coltrane/Johnny Hartman [impulse] Annie Ross/Gerry Mulligan [Pacific Jazz] Chris Connor/Maynard Ferguson [Roulette] Carol Sloane: The Songs Carmen Sang [Concord] w/Phil Woods Chet Baker: Sings [Pacific Jazz] Ella Fitzgerald: Ella In Berlin [Verve] and two of my favorite newer albums: Claire Martin: Old Boyfriends [Honest] Janis Siegel/Fred Hersch: Slow, Hot Wind [Varese Sarabande] Feel free to request details or further info. ------------------------------------------------- As for the discussion on the Woody Herman Mosaic or something like that, it's a matter of intent - the great thing about the Herman band was NOT the vocalists. So a lot of people want to buy the set to hear the amazing instrumentals and the vocal tracks are "in the way". Mike Mike

In your sentence, I would just replace "whatever we want" with "whatever They want". Mike

You guys actually believe the record industry is going to let the CD exist that far in the future? They're going to be leasing (not selling) the (incomplete) 8-CD Impulse set in a "CD reproduction" format the way they're selling the LP reproduction CDs now that don't have any bonus tracks even when we all know they exist. But the actual item will not exist since the conversion to downloading will make physical objects obsolete. You will get an on-screen picture of what the packaging looked like, though. Mike

Be careful what you wish for - those two have performed together (along with Jon Hendricks and Peter Eldridge) as the Four Brothers. Although some might say "the one brother and the three white guys" might be more accurate. Mike

The clarinet family (see album of the same name by Bluiett) consists of these modern instruments, high to low: sopranino soprano (regular clarinet) alto bass contralto contrabass They alternate between B-flat and E-flat keys. The naming is confusing since there are no tenor or baritone items as there are in the saxophone world. So, a bass saxophone is FOUR times the length of a soprano, where a bass clarinet is not even TWICE the size of an alto. The bass clarinet is relatively equivalent to the tenor saxophone (they can even share a reed). The instruments in other keys (A, C, G, D, A-flat), including the bassett horn (F) and the basset clarinet, and the unique octo-contralto and octo-contrabass are not really relevant. Without more information, I'm not sure what the instrument Pharoah Sanders has is, but I do know that he has recorded on a Spanish shawm-type instrument, built by Lorenzo Sancho of Segovia. This is a double-reed instrument, like the oboe. Mike

That's the guy's fantasy - Jarrett with Joshua Redman? He needs professional help. My prediction is that Jarrett will do some solo and trio work. Mike

Hmmm - what's going on with "The Journey Home" on that tape? On the record, that tune runs 10:33. Is it cut short or is that a full performance? Mike

There are recordings of Cannonball in the company of a number of other trumpters, from Freddie Hubbard or Miles Davis to Blue Mitchell, Donald Byrd, Louis Smith, Art Farmer, Kenny Dorham, Lee Morgan, Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie - man, it's hard to find an A-list player he *didn't* work with at one time or another. But for Cannonball's working band, Nat beats all of them. The chemistry is perfect. Someone like Lee Morgan or Freddie Hubbard is too similar to Cannon, too technical, too extravagant. Nat has limitations, but there's so much character, so much love. And there's the deference - one thing I hear in Cannon's quintets is that they sound different from most because of the prominence of the alto. Most of those trumpet players above would take the lead and keep the alto underneath - I hear the reverse with Cannonball and Nat. I don't know if the typical trumpet ego would let that happen. No way is Nat going to stand on his own, one-on-one, against any of the above - but as a group member with his brother - man, that is a team that is amazing. And look at the longevity - what saxophonist did any of the others work with for as long as Nat worked witih Cannon? If the blood didn't create a great team, the time and shared experience did. Mike