Michael Fitzgerald

I'm all in favor of getting the tunes correct. I own probably a dozen fake books, including all the illegal Real Books. Then I've got dozens more books of other kinds (Broadway vocal scores, transcriptions, full scores, etc.). Then there are all the transcriptions of tunes that I've done myself. Hey, I'm into repertoire - anyone who is will have a similar archive. Certainly there are tunes that have been left out of this new legal Real Book that will be missed - at this point, it's a matter of xeroxing those few out of your existing illegal Real Book and making an "addendum" of your own. What needs to be considered is what the point of a fake book is. If you are using it as your "charts" for your working band - well, you're lazy. A working band should have its own special arrangements. If you're dragging it to live jam sessions - well, people are probably going to look down on you for not having those tunes learned. My opinion is that a fake book is cool at informal home jam sessions with your friends, and as a starting point - STARTING POINT - for learning tunes. Once you've gotten serious enough about a tune to perform it live, you better not be playing it out of the fake book. And I don't mean that about the memorization aspect, because that doesn't matter so much to me, it's really about what you're doing to the tune - how you are personalizing it. If you've got a hip arrangement on a tune, I don't care if you and the band have music stands up there. But if you've got five copies of the Real Book on stage, that's sad. Come on - write some charts or pay somebody to write them for you. Intros, interludes, harmony lines, shout choruses, codas, etc. Even key changes and alternate chords for different choruses. Make it interesting! I'll have to look at this one and I may end up getting it. If only to replace the old Real Book as a source for a lot of tunes. I have a database of sources for tunes and I'd love to eliminate the old Real Book from that. Mike

For those who aren't aware, Darian Sahanaja is the leader of an amazing band called Wondermints. They have four or five CDs out and have been incorporated into the touring band for Brian Wilson. BW actually guests on two tracks of their most recent album (2002). If you don't know their stuff, check it out. Personally, I think Wondermints is dealing with the rock/pop musical legacy created by people like BW better than Wilson himself. They're writing new tunes that are great, while the old fogies are rehashing their past glories and the new stuff is pretty much crap. I feel the same about David Crosby - his CPR (Crosby Pevar Raymond) band is doing great stuff while CSN is embarrassing. Mike

The TV show's title was Look Up And Live. The episode title was The Deliquent, The Hipster, And The Square. It was a Sunday religious program. Pretty decent discographical info as well as some QuickTime movies here at Alan Saul's site: http://adale.org/Discographies/Booker.html Mike

Not claiming that stereo for this is guaranteed, but as the bit that I quoted says, early stereo recordings weren't really doing stereo right - so even if a stereo LP issue came out, it might not have been all that great a mix. So when CD time comes around, mono might be better. As I recall, this was done for the first Donald Byrd Blue Note record. The Mosaic set used mono, even though a stereo LP exists. Mike

Caught both shows on the final night. Amazing. They can do everything on the record and pull it off live. It is incredible to see how much switching is going on. There were times when someone would grab a different instrument and play just one phrase, then put it down and pick up something else. It's like Broadway pit-type switching. The other interesting thing is how little the band relies on section playing. At many points only two members of a section will be playing. And the woodwinds were never alto, alto, tenor, tenor, baritone. Scott Robinson played a ton of bass clarinet. For the first tune, it was flute, clarinet, tenor, tenor, bass clarinet. For the entire tune. Here's the band: Tim Ries - soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, flute, alto flute, clarinet Charles Pillow - soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, flute, alto flute, clarinet, oboe, English horn Rich Perry - tenor saxophone, flute Donny McCaslin - tenor saxophone, clarinet, flute, soprano saxophone Scott Robinson - baritone saxophone, bass clarinet, clarinet, contrabass clarinet, alto flute Tony Kadleck, Greg Gisbert, Laurie Frink, Ingrid Jensen - trumpets and flugelhorns Keith O'Quinn, Rock Ciccarone, Larry Farrell - trombones George Flynn - bass trombone Ben Monder - guitar Frank Kimbrough - piano Jay Anderson - bass Clarence Penn - drums Gonzalo Grau - cajon (set 2, no. 3 only) Gary Versace - accordion Luciana Souza - vocals Maria Schneider - conductor First set: Three Romances: 1. Choro Dançado 2. Pas De Deux 3. Dança Illusória Sky Blue Hang Gliding Second set: El Viento Concert In The Garden Bulería, Soleá Y Rumba Sea Of Tranquility Green Piece Green Piece had a great solo section where first Tim Ries, then Ingrid Jensen played free - sometimes spacey, sometimes hard swinging. Sky Blue is a new piece, not on any record yet. The rest of the repertoire kept fairly close to the record, but things like Donny McCaslin's solo on Bulería, Soleá Y Rumba were, of course, significantly different. In that particular case it was interesting to hear how he took the accelerando figure that the brass play later at the climax of that section and put it into his solo earlier so it foreshadowed what was coming up, a great example of compositional thinking during a solo. Greg Gisbert is a monster. He plays lead on a lot of the stuff, but also solos - his playing on El Viento was intense, and Clarence Penn heated things up there and elsewhere. Rock Ciccarone had a nice solo on that before Gisbert. And Ben Monder took the first solo, starting from almost nothing. On Green Piece, Luciana Souza sang with the band, doubling one of the woodwind parts. It made a nice addition to the chart. On some of the other things Gary Versace added accordion where there hadn't been any before. Sea Of Tranquility is a feature for Scott Robinson on baritone, which was great to hear since he has no solos on the material from the new album. Hearing McCaslin play the solo on Hang Gliding instead of Rick Margitza was good, although Margitza really figured out a way to build things in a structured manner, saving that one super high altissimo note for a particular point. McCaslin's solo wasn't as focused. That's one time where a new soloist played on a tune. Most everything else featured the player from the recorded version. Frank Kimbrough had a nice interlude between the second and third movements of Three Romances, very different from the recorded version. That last movement live is incredible. It builds and builds and you think they've reached the peak and then it comes down a little and then builds some more. There are just so many colors in the band and the live feel was more intense than the record. The sound was mostly very good and everything could be heard pretty much in balance. This is the exact personnel from the record, no subs, and they really know how to work together. This band must be seen. Do not pass up the next opportunity. Mike P.S. - got to say something about Maria, who has developed a wonderful style of conducting - jazz conducting - very little is borrowed from the classical approach. She has a whole system with hands, fingers, arms. And then when she's not conducting, she is sitting or kneeling, listening with total focus - which is very refreshing from most musicians who seem to tune out when they're not actively performing. And of course, she is the m.c. too with humorous stories, moving dedications, and gracious thanks to the musicians, the club, and the audience. BTW, the house was packed both sets. A little flyer on the tables explained about the new ArtistShare system and the mariaschneider.com website. CDs and books were being sold at the bar - also, the rare live CD (Days Of Wine And Roses) will eventually be sold on the website, she said.

Ah, but there's more: Geraldine Bey married bassist Eddie de Haas and their children are both musicians: Darius and Aisha. http://www.dariusdehaas.com/biopagepersonal.htm Then there's the cousins, including Ronnell Bey, who I heard sing in Newark maybe 12 years ago. Mike

I have been investigating this and I believe the LP label and the CD listing are correct. Forget the liner notes - Gitler was looking at a wrong listing to get the titles he used. Had he looked at the LP label he would have used the correct titles. His comment that "Sample's 'Jazz,' an odd title for such an atmospheric piece, is a sunny afternoon seascape with Roker's cymbals supplying the waves as it builds in intensity. Hutcherson's vibes set the early mood and Land has an oboe interlude in the later section." This description is perfect for something titled "Procession". The truth is, the tune "Jazz" sounds exactly like JAZZ - (these are the notes to "Procession") - "a piquant, tartly attractive theme by Hutcherson [really Sample], is a straight-ahead promenade - neo-bop with special modifications." Jim says "Jazz" is on a Jazz Crusaders album and is a "straight-ahead" piece - well, there's no fucking way that anyone could describe the tune on San Francisco with the oboe solo as "straight-ahead". I just checked the Crusaders album on amazon.com and listened to the melody. This is the tune that is track #3 on the San Francisco CD. I rest my case. The LP label listing above matches how the CD plays. Everybody fix the liner notes (and the LP cover). That's where the errors are. Mike

Pretty sure it's Juiced (as in drunk) spelled to match Roost (as in Royal Roost nightclub). Mike

Yes - my friend Jeff Sultanof prepared all this music for publication in a book (Miles Davis Birth Of The Cool: scores from the original parts) that came out several years ago. Joost At The Roost was arranged for the Claude Thornhill band, also later for the Mulligan Concert Jazz Band. The CJB recorded it for Verve but it was never released. In 1995, the nonet version was found in the boxes of music that Miles Davis had put in storage in Philadelphia. It was access to this trove that allowed for the book to be published. Instead of dealing with transcriptions (as all the records like Rebirth of the Cool and the Montreux concert did), now there are accurate scores that come from the sheets of music that were used at the recording sessions and live gigs. Unfortunately, one more nonet piece by John Lewis (S'Il Vous Plait) could not be reconstructed because there weren't enough parts surviving. Mike

The Miles Ahead story is a bit more complicated. It is all detailed in the boxed set. The original CD was rechanneled stereo, but it was the "wrong" takes. The second CD had the "right" takes but was mono. Yes, I bought both and still have them. And then I bought the box. Mike

I disagree with Kevin's assumption and offer this: According to the Umphred Goldmine book, "While many, if not most, of the studios recording jazz in the '50s began using two tracks as far back as 1956-57, most of them did so only for the increased latitude it allowed in mixing down to mono. When stereo became a viable commercial medium toward the end of the decade, many companies returned to the original multi-track tapes and mixed them for stereo release. Thus hundreds of titles, recorded only with mono in mind, were issued to the new stereo enthusiasts. Many of these contain the most rudimentary form of stereo, with little or noe of the stereophonic imaging that makes the enjoyment of stereo essential to most listeners. For that matter alone, aside from having the *original* mix, most jazz collectors prefer the mono over the stereo, even when the stereo is the rarer of the two." To discographies such as Lord, Bruyninckx, and Raben, the mono versions and stereo versions of the Dave Brubeck Angel Eyes album are equivalent. Which we now learn is *incorrect*. Marty - would you mind doing some listening to the other tracks? My copy is the stereo "360 Sound" issue of CS 9148. Is it just that one track or are there more differences? There are a number of examples of this. The Umphred book points out this case: "When Capitol decided to issue June Christy's Something Cool in stereo in 1960, they whisked together the singer and a band back into the studios and recorded the entire album from scratch. And, while almost all collectors prefer the performance of the original, it nonetheless functions as an entirely 'new' album for Christy collectors." Ellington Indigos and JJ Johnson & Stan Getz At The Opera House are other cases where the mono and stereo albums differed. The main reason this isn't widely known, I think, is because people rarely go through the process that Marty describes. They buy the record and if indeed they are careful listeners, they still only get one version ingrained in their memory. They don't have the other version to compare - why buy two? This is how alternative takes were discovered among 78 rpm collectors. It was all just chance - then eventually people learned about matrix numbers and other clues. The two versions of Coltrane's Ascension, too. Of course, to a discographer, this is fascinating stuff and I would definitely want to document more discoveries like the Brubeck Angel Eyes situation. Mike

I have a few. I don't really collect anything. I just accumulate. Mike

When did fake stereo become part of the record labels' weaponry? Not as early as 1957, right? The Summer 1959 Sam Goody Jazz 'n Pops catalog includes Eurasia, Newport (and Reunion on Fantasy) as their entire Brubeck stereo section. Brubeck in Europe is included in the stereo new releases section. The Disney album is in the mono section. Does this last bit mean anything? Perhaps not - they might have just overlooked the stereo issue. The Neal Umphred Goldmine book lists all Brubeck Columbia records as S for stereo and not E for Electronically Rechanneled for Stereo. The Tim Neely Goldmine book uses an R for Rechanneled. Still all Brubeck on Columbia is just S in there. Mike

Thanks for the heads up. Dancing The Gigi is a known, but otherwise unrecorded tune. Norman Mapp's tune Blues In Bloom was recorded for the "Rat Race Blues" album - however, this may well be a different performance. The Nola demo disc that we documented in the book had some material that was later re-recorded and some stuff that wasn't. This disc sounds like a similar thing. "Gigi Records" is interesting because that's something that was mentioned in a couple of sources but we never found any documentation that it was a reality. I guess this is still not a reality since it wasn't issued, but it's getting closer. Whoever ends up with this - I would just like to hear it. I don't need to own all the artifacts, but it would add to my knowledge of the subject. If my assumption about the current high bidder is correct, perhaps someone here could put in a good word for me. Mike

Just remember that Lester Young had this to say: "I played drums from the time I was ten to about thirteen. Quit them because I got tired of packing them up. I'd take a look at the girls after the show, and before I'd get the drums packed, they'd all be gone." Now, just how much is that camaraderie worth? Mike

Because his membership in the Teamsters union won't allow that. Mike

I am a fan of NOT having everyone solo on everything. As a pianist, I play enough already behind everyone else (and enjoy making them sound better). If there's three horns in a sextet, I don't need to get a solo every tune. I feel the same for bass and drums. Now, to make up for that, it's nice to have the occasional feature - maybe a trio tune, or a feature tune that is based around the drummer or bassist. Seems like that was much more common 40 or 50 years ago. The string of solos (with no interludes, backgrounds, etc.) is OK in a jam session but if it's a working band, come on - do some rehearsing and think about variety. Mike

Hey man, IS, not WAS - http://www.nova.edu/novasingers/Hal_Schaefer.htm Mike

Don't think that was part of the Jazz Workshop series. The Levitt was much later (1964-65). The others were all 1955-56. You might be getting confused because there was the Bluebird CD The Arrangers that had the Carisi and McKusick Jazz Workshop stuff along with Levitt material. Mike

Bio-discographer extraordinaire Chris Sheridan is working on one, but not for online. I forget whether this or his Dizzy Gillespie one will be out first. Mike

I believe this is the entire output: Al Cohn (LPM 1161) Hal Schaefer (LPM 1199) Manny Albam (LPM 1211) Billy Byers (LPM 1269) Hal McKusick (LPM 1366) John Carisi (LPM 1371 - not issued) George Russell (LPM 1372) Mike

And there's a great film on the subject, titled "Jazz In Exile" too. Taped many years off PBS. Don't know if it's on VHS/DVD. Mike

I've got nothing against Bob Rusch, but I can document that he was absolutely ga-ga over Bruyninckx. In fact, Cadence was the U.S. distributor for Bruyninckx. Here's what he said in Cadence vol. 6 no. 5 (about 60 Years Of Recorded Jazz): "When this entire work is complete and the cross index added, there is little doubt that this will be THE monumental discographical work, pretty much encompassing everything that has gone before it." Bruyninckx was still in the ballgame when Lord/Rusch swooped in, claiming that no one was covering the entire history of jazz in one discography and that's why there was some kind of mandate from the people that they should do this - Bruyninckx certainly was - it was called 70 Years Of Recorded Jazz. Lord didn't have the faintest idea about what discography was - he admitted to not even owning a copy of Brian Rust's seminal Jazz Records 1897-1942 - he simply copied about 2/3 of his content from Bruyninckx (and had no idea that it might be a good idea to check, confirm, correct) - even the errors, even the footnotes, even the poor English. Now, Rusch/Cadence and many other journalists are absolutely ga-ga over Lord - I bet they say that to all the girls. After Steve Voce wrote a long rave review about the Lord CD-ROM (which Lord proudly shows on his website), I asked what he thought about the Bruyninckx CD-ROM. He admitted that he had never tried it and, in fact, was unaware of its existence. (!) Clearly, marketing hype has eclipsed all else. The sad reality is that more than a decade after Lord's first volumes, and now after published revisions (and several CD-ROM updates), there are STILL problems left unfixed. What is extremely disappointing is that the Lord CD-ROM is now WORSE than the Lord books because of the problem that I noted in this thread: http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php...naughty+sweetie and every time I use it, I find more problems. Of course, every discography will have errors and omissions, but the ease with which one can find them in Lord is mind-boggling. Honestly, it could be a party game: set the timer for 30 seconds, whoever finds the most errors (not duplicated by other players) wins. Mike

In the past I found that Bruyninckx did better for European musicians. I haven't done a thorough comparison. Certainly Lord has made some additions in the A-Bou letters. It is my belief that Lord *intends* to be IT - the whole thing. However, while he seems to have this lofty goal he seems to do nothing in terms of active discographical research to reach it. The fact that he didn't even bother to correct errors which were specifically singled out in published reviews of his discographies (in ARSC Journal, for one) makes him rather a laughing-stock, in my view. He's not out searching for the answers, looking for the missing data. He seems to just wait until someone else publishes a book, then he steals the information - and their errors (and he introduces not a few of his own in the process)! And I have no desire to help him by sending in the dozens of pages of corrections I have compiled. If he's too lazy to keep at the job, too lazy or inconsiderate to even proofread his own stuff, why should I do his work for free? Raben, on the other hand, continues to go above and beyond as a serious discographer. He's found that missing data, filling in little gaps here and there - and more. After reviewing the threads that Chuck listed, I will note that Ed Berger's review of the Lord CD-ROM (v. 3.3) that I mentioned has finally been published in the Annual Review of Jazz Studies which came out a few weeks ago. Mike

Jepsen is long out of print and out of date. I only keep it for historical purposes - to find out where the mistakes began. Jepsen did the actual research that Bruyninckx and Lord copied (and Raben, but he is official). Raben only goes from A to Gi at this point and will only ever be from 1942 to 1980. Only volume 8 is on CD-ROM. I strongly encourage supporting the project by purchasing this CD-ROM. There are plans to issue at least the earlier volumes on CD-ROM. Anything later seems to be contingent on sales of what's available now. Lord has killed a lot of the market with his quickly-produced but problem-filled books and now CD-ROMs. After spending a weekend with vol. 8 I am very happy with the massive quantity of new entries (that neither Lord nor Bruyninckx have) such as many Stan Getz broadcasts and private tapes, also corrections to long-standing errors that neither Lord nor Bruyninckx have fixed. Bruyninckx was the immediate source for most of Lord's information. Much of what's in Lord was taken *exactly* from the Bruyninckx books. At this point, Bruyninckx is WAY more up to date on certain letters (but still behind Raben for Fre-Gi in 1942-1980 in terms of new discoveries). Gotta run - more if there is interest. Mike