Michael Fitzgerald

Is this Wingate WG 012 you have? If not, you've got new information that I'd love to know about. Same Hank Marr as far as I know. I would have thought that the Federal issues were the originals and the King LPs combined them. Were the Federal singles duplicated by King singles? I Can't Go On is supposedly on King LP 829 "Latest Teentime Dance Steps". Mike

Trying to keep info together in one place: Names & Numbers #5 (September 1986) has two pages discussing Crown 5009. There are some date discrepancies with Jack Woker's list from rmb, also some proposed soloists. N&N #1 (April 1985) has info on Maxwell Davis and Crown. I have also found Q & A on Crown stuff in Jazz Journal International: July 1983, April 1984, and January & March & June 1991. There are probably others too. Mike

Well, I recommend contacting Campbell - my info is from here: http://hubcap.clemson.edu/~campber/earthlies.html The wait might be long - I don't know. Mike And I will readily agree that the website works just fine as a shopping guide - but that's not the only purpose of a discography, probably not even the primary intended purpose.

Igpe Atinle orkswe ustje inefe, oreme ose ifwe ouye ainge omese eedspe. Ikeme

Please note that the discography on that site is problematic - it is the result of collaborative efforts from about 10-15 years ago (I was part of the workforce). Subsequently in 1994, Robert Campbell (a major original contributor) published The Earthly Recordings Of Sun Ra and the online version stopped evolving as it had, much to the distress of the other numerous contributors. In 2003, Campbell's book received a second, much improved and expanded edition (with the additional help of Chris Trent). The original book was 247 pages, the second edition is 847 pages. There is a third edition in the works. What is on the website has been slightly updated since 1993 - which is *twelve* years now - but unfortunately it's not the best available information. Campbell and Trent (understandably) reserve new discoveries for the published books, and other contributors won't bother to update online what is already out-of-date. Mike

Yes - the Jaspar/Renaud set includes the album of all Gigi Gryce stuff done while Gryce was in Paris in 1953. If you like Getz/Raney, you'll probably like this stuff. Gryce also plays baritone (no solos) on one of the Renaud/Cohn sessions from NYC 1954. Mike

Ego - that's an interesting choice over Emergency (and Turn It Over), the Blue Notes (and the later Blue Notes), the Holdsworth stuff, etc.? I do like it, but it seems not so representative. But maybe no TW album is really representative. I finally picked up a copy of The Old Bum's Rush - haven't gotten around to listening yet. Mike

If I recall correctly, a version of "Ready For Freddie" was available through one of the record clubs LONG after it went out of print as a Connoisseur. Some things now have been re-reissued (as RVG series) so the Connoisseur issues aren't as important as they were originally. What was nice was that the Connoisseurs started out as never-reissued first time on US CD (I think this changed with Sonny's Crib, which still corrected the original CD issue) so it was exciting to be able to get all those sessions on CD. And then there was the wristwatch. Mike

They do not play together. Tyner is only on two tracks (Above The Rainbow & Tomara). Henderson is on two different tracks (Windows & Black Narcissus). Only the Henderson tracks from this album are included in the Joe Henderson Milestone Years boxed set. Mike

No - see: http://www.anthonymontgomery.com/wes_m.htm Mike

Dannie Richmond began as a saxophonist, not a trumpeter, I believe. Mike

That live promo LP on ECM has been bootlegged, one I know is "Blue Asphalt" on Jazz Door. My assumption is that PM didn't want it out as a "regular" album. Mike

Vanguard Jazz Orchestra Village Vanguard, NYC Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - first set Dick Oatts, Billy Drewes (as, ss) Ralph Lalama, Rich Perry (ts) Gary Smulyan (bar) Frank Greene, Joe Magnarelli, Nick Marchione, Scott Wendholt (t) Luis Bonilla, Jason Jackson, John Mosca (tb) Douglas Purviance (btb) Jim McNeely (p) Dennis Irwin (b) John Riley (d) guest Slide Hampton (tb, arr, con) on c. d. e. a. Rhoda Map (Thad Jones) b. Mr. Fone Bone (Bob Mintzer) c. Inspiration Suite: Tadd (Slide Hampton) d. Inspiration Suite: Gil (Slide Hampton) e. The Way (Slide Hampton) f. My Centennial (Thad Jones) Mike

2 and 3 are in the works. Mike

Slide's a busy guy - he's playing tomorrow night with the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra at NYC's Village Vanguard (where else?). Mike

Benny likes talking about Tadd and Bull Moose. As I recall, he says that time was when he really learned how to write, by studying Tadd's scores. Mike

I suggest preparing by reading the published interviews with Golson - Cadence had a great 3 part one (vol. 22, nos. 8-10). I can find more if necessary. Golson very often tells the same stories (offstage in interviews as well as onstage in introductions). He is charming, well-spoken and quite engaging. What actually might work is trying to find follow-up questions to his standard responses. What I might want to ask (for myself) would be things like: What was the relationship with Art Blakey like *after* the 1950s - when Golson did the reunion gigs. Or with Art Farmer and Curtis Fuller during The Jazztet reunion. Were those things just going over the same old ground or was there something new for him? Or I'm always looking for the tiniest bit of information on the most obscure things - like when he joined the Messengers who was in the band and where did they play before BG got the band cleaned up and accepted again (they had been "banned" from the big clubs for being unreliable). Do get the interview taped and report back! Mike

Oh, James Taylor - easy one. This is one of my least favorite PMG records. It's rather bland - The Bat and Barcarolle and Au Lait particularly. They just seem to keep on going without saying much. Eighteen is a rocker, Offramp is an Ornettish thing, and Are You Going With Me is kind of the centerpiece with the introduction of the Synclavier stuff. James is the most typical PMG thing on the record, a nice tune, but kind of out of place by this time. A billion times better in my estimation, is the stuff from this tour, issued on Travels. It integrates the Synclavier into the group sound, there's a balance with the old and new sound of the group and you get more prominent Nana. Mike

Yes, Allen - Sonny *is* playing the game. I am reminded of the film Saxophone Colossus. At one point the holy trinity of Giddins, Gitler, and Davis talk about St. Rollins and the point is made, "now that he and Lucille are producing the records themsevles, the records *are* getting better" - as if the producers (does this specifically mean Orrin Keepnews?) had been the culprits. But the self-produced records weren't any better, were they? The only one I really went for was "G-Man" because of that film. And I can't imagine that Milestone is going to argue with Sonny Rollins at this point - what he puts out is the result of his decisions. Milestone isn't a major label like Sony or BMG. Mike

There is a book in the works that will deal with the history of jazz in Europe. It is being written by numerous authorities. This was reported to me by Francesco Martinelli when he gave a presentation on European jazz 1970-2000 a few months ago. Don't know about the language(s). Mike

Not Debut, Fantasy - LaPorta had several albums for them in 1956-57. Mike

Man, Billy Mitchell is just a punk with none of the charisma of Phil or Grant. And hey, what about Sam and Peggy or Jamie? Yes, EastEnders hits in 2 hours here. Mike

Chip Stern has put together a website - still under construction - the current centerpieces are LONG interviews with Elvin Jones and Eddie Kramer and a big piece on Johnny Smith. There are more things planned and I think this website will be a great contribution. http://www.chipstern.com/chip_sound.htm Mike

Oh man, this is just the North Indian stuff. You need to get vol. 4, the South Indian version - Vina Beat. Mike

I got the new album last week and have listened a few times. I like it better than what I remember from the live show. I think it's notable that this record contains passages that are the most "plain jazz" of anything ever put out by the PMG. In the past, it seems such things were reserved for Metheny solo albums. One of these passages has an incredible guitar solo that seems to be just a little faster, just a little cleaner, just a little more together than what's gone before. Still would be nice to have some track points. Mike