Michael Fitzgerald

Well, if everyone think that and nobody pledges money, then they won't make it, will they? It's all comes down to those who step forward. As a special appeal to those who are egomaniacs, you can get your name read over the air for $125. Mike

What timing! Look for a complete discography of Andrew Hill put together by Ronald Lyles and myself - should appear on my website by this Sunday. It will include the Mosaic Select details as well as everything else Hill-acious, going back to 1954. Mike

I refer you to my past comments on why we also don't need a forum for avant garde music. Mike

Unfortunately, book publishers (esp. pricey discography folks) can't justify the small sales (which are due to the high price which are due to the small sales....) - so it's "CDROM or nothing at all", as the old song goes. And actually, this will be really nice - better than his books because there will be label scans and things like that. Mike

No Internet, but the extraordinary Chris Sheridan is at work on a complete bio-discography (like his Basie, Monk, Adderley books). It will be CD-ROM only, I believe. That will be the one to have. Mike

The bass saxophone can actually be seen on the left side of the photo. Mike

You like that? How about a 2-fer CD of that *and* Volume 1 - which is easily just as good. Deep Passion - GRP/Impulse - out of print now, I believe. Mike

Not accurate about the Beatles connection. On that, the attack of the piano (in fact, three pianos) is obviously there. What they did was boost the level as the sound died down, to make it last "forever". But it's hardly a "spectral, disembodied sound" created by divorcing the characteristic attack of a percussive instrument from its sustain portion. Mike

The compromise is happening. Sports gets their time. Now, sometimes things get pre-empted by special programming. That's apparently what happened with the Bach festival. It was planned, scheduled, approved, etc. Lots of things got pre-empted by it (it was what, a week long?). The article referenced here was going much farther than "let us have our occasional sports broadcasts". Mike

Schaap is a separate issue. This is a guy who will give the time 3 times in five minutes. But leaving him aside, there are so many benefits to the station. Driving to work this morning I heard in sequence: Wes Montgomery: Missile Blues; Charles Mingus: The Shoes Of The Fisherman's Wife; Ralph Burns: Introspection. All played (by Schaap, in fact) prior to Bird Flight. You will NOT hear that stuff elsewhere on the dial. At 8:20, I listened to the opening 8 bars of Ko-Ko and switched to CD. Been there, done that. Mike

Folks, the University does not fully fund the station - it's paid for mostly by non-student contributors - i.e., you and me (providing that "you" are not a Columbia student.........). Next, weigh the benefits of having ANOTHER amateur college station (there are plenty on the dial coming from colleges in NY and NJ) or - having a world-renowned station that is doing what NO other station - college, public, commercial - is doing. There are plenty of students who are working on the station. And plenty of them love jazz, new music, classical, whatever - all the wide variety that WKCR is known for. But not all of the students not have the level of commitment needed to keep a 24-hour station going at the level we have come to expect. The "veterans" have that professionalism. My God - they're complaining about Ted Panken? This guy is probably the BEST interviewer I have ever heard. The WKCR staff put on the Henry Grimes Festival in May 2003 (over 100 hours straight) - they welcomed him to the station and made him feel special, loved, and respected at a time when just about NO ONE was doing anything for him. Would WBGO? Oh please. WNYC? Nope - they're mostly talk now anyway. Anyone else in NYC? No chance. They serve a vital purpose to the New York musical community, not just to the Columbia University community. And as I pointed out earlier, their influence is not limited to just their broadcast range. WKCR has made history. Let them continue to do this. In the time before 1970 they were nothing. Just another college station. That's what they want to go back to? Side note: Amazingly some of the best pop music is on another "college" station - WFUV, Fordham University. They have all the great FM rock & roll DJs of the past who won't work in commercial radio because that's been all playlisted to death. Mike (I'm not saying they're perfect - but they're doing stuff that NO ONE else is.)

I prefer the work of his sister, Lena Cusina. Mike

Without WKCR there would not be *so* much music out there - for example, the reunion of the trio from "The Call" - Perry Robinson, Henry Grimes, Tom Price. Those particular guys have NOT played clubs or concerts, just live in the studio. There have been several albums by others issued from recordings made in the WKCR studios. Those are enjoyed by people outside of the FM broadcast range. And as mentioned, with the addition of the Internet feed, WKCR is NOT just a local radio station. A vote of support for WKCR is a vote for quality music - not just quality music in the NYC area. Mike

I can't even think of a present day TV host who would leave that alone in the right way. Everyone would feel the obligation to jump in with a comeback - but if you leave a comment like that out there, with silence and the appropriate raised eyebrow, it now becomes far funnier. Mike

Only at festivals really, it seems. Here's one for certain: French Lick, IN 8/2/59 - Shorter's first gig with the Messengers I have other instances where they played the same festival but a day apart. (Randall's Island 1961, Los Angeles Jazz Festival 1960) There are a number of times when they were playing in the same town. But I haven't done the Miles chronology with nearly as much detail as the Blakey. Mike

Yeah - that little baby of yours can PLAY the Hammond, but what about loading it up and gigging? (I can just see the graphics guys scrambling to take on this challenge) Mike

Well, the live repertoire was not all new originals, not by any stretch of the imagination. A couple of Victor Feldman pieces; Milestones, All Blues, and So What all at breakneck speed; then the old favorites: My Funny Valentine, Walkin', etc. Check the setlists from the Japan tour with Rivers, or the various live shows with Coleman. The repertoire was the least of the problems. It's the ensemble conception that was different. Shorter claims that he played along with the Miles records. I don't doubt this. Mike

Well, Emerson's compositions were far more sophisticated and his orchestral concept was vastly improved. So if those things matter, there are gems to be found. Unless you are only a fan of the so-called "psychedelic" aspect of The Nice (largely the first record). But if you appreciate Five Bridges, I would imagine you could get something out of Trilogy or Tarkus. And a great deal of Pictures is right in line with Karelia, Pathetique, America, etc. Mike

The 1968 Moanin' album is reportedly from Berlin (originally a radio broadcast) - Lord 5.0 gives date as November 6, but on that date Blakey was in Paris. According to Down Beat 10/31/68 p.10 the Berlin performance (at the Kongresshalle) was on November 8, 1968. Mike

That's a whole 'nother subject - how many have a Kenny Barron, how many have a Herb Pomeroy, how many have a David Baker, how many have a Bobby Bradford, etc. All those guys are one of a kind. In the end, there are things you can get on the road and things you can get on campus. But I don't know that there are any guarantees that you *will* get those things there. Mike

And he's another one who did the college thing too, at New England Conservatory. Mike

Don't see mention of the Arkestra yet - Craig Harris; Alex Blake; Stafford James; Vincent Chancey; Jaribu Shahid; Tani Tabbal come to mind. The Widespread Depression Orchestra had Randy & Jordan Sandke; Tad Shull; Michael Hashim; Mike LeDonne; Phil Flanigan. When Buck Clayton formed his Swing Band he borrowed several players from them. Scott Robinson was also in that band. -- Despite having two college degrees in music, Michael Philp Mossman touched just about all the bases - His earliest recordings are with big bands led by Braxton; Leo Smith; Roscoe Mitchell in 1978-79. Then big band work with Count Basie; Lionel Hampton; Machito; George Gruntz; Gil Evans; Toshiko Akiyoshi; Gene Harris & Philip Morris Superband; Bob Mintzer; Gerry Mulligan; Mario Bauza; Chico O'Farrill; Slide Hampton; Carnegie Hall Jazz Band; Mingus Big Band; etc. Not to mention all the small group gigs - Art Blakey; Horace Silver; Michel Camilo; and of course, OTB. I would say he's a prime example of someone who got all the experience he could get with the veterans, despite his starting only in the late 1970s. You can't get that now. Mike

There are plenty of "celebrity real names" sites that include some jazz people. I don't know of one that is for jazz exclusively. http://www.irregardless.net/realname/index.html Mike

Allen - Just a stab in the dark - I wonder if perhaps this was not Buddy's own band, but rather the 1950 Tommy Dorsey band. It's documented on records that Buddy was there the first two months of 1950 and Schildkraut was there in September 1950 - but maybe there were other periods when they overlapped? Mike

OK - which is the offensive part - White? Girls? (Blues?) Try - "Even females who are not of color sometimes find the need to express through song their feelings about the adversity that they encounter" Mike