Michael Fitzgerald

Only caught a brief moment of tonight's episode - did I really see the lyric caption say "blowing my home" [instead of 'horn']? Maybe I was hallucinating. Regarding comparisons to Burns, I think the crucial difference is that this series is NOT the work of one person. I guess Burns's ego is much bigger than Scorsese's. Had Burns shared things and divided his 20 hours amongst 10 filmmakers, I think we as the evil jazzerati would have been much happier - even if we didn't like one episode, there would be the chance that the next would be more to our tastes. Alas, it was not to be. We got stuck with something that sacrificed historical accuracy (among other things) for the sake of overarching themes because the 20 hours needed a single storyline. Mike

Epic always was the second-class citizen in the Columbia confederacy. (Aretha Franklin was signed by Columbia, her sister Erma Franklin was signed by Epic.) Not really a budget label, though. Here's the pricing in 1959: $3.98 - Columbia CL, Epic LN, LG $4.98 - Columbia ML, OL, WL, Epic LC, LS, SC $5.98 - Columbia KL, CS, Epic BN $9.98 - Columbia SL (2 records), Language series Stereo cost more, but Columbia and Epic were on the same level, price-wise. It was more a prestige thing. Mike

Konitz plays only one solo on one track. It's a cameo, not so much a feature. What is a little curious is that the two solos (Konitz & Soloff) are both the *final* segments of the respective pieces. The song is over and then comes the solos, sort of like afterthoughts or instrumental reprises. Most times the solo is more integrated into the structure (a la those 1970s spots by Mike Brecker with James Taylor, Phil Woods with Billy Joel, or even 1983's Chet Baker on "Shipbuilding"). Just rewatched the A&E broadcast. Man, that band is sloppy. It's kind of a drag. I guess they're trying to be boisterous and energetic, but I miss the tightness and precision they used to exemplify. Also, while they are to be *seriously* commended for keeping a huge working repertoire (unlike just about every other live band that makes a limited setlist for a tour and sticks to it unwaveringly), the garage band sound makes everything sound the same. All the variety that was present on the studio recordings gets homogenized into a wash of noise. Backing vocals would add so much but even when they were being sung, they were kept so low in the mix it didn't make a difference. It's not just the A&E production. Although I haven't seen them live on this or the last tour, I have heard live recordings from the Cruel tour and the same sonic approach seemed to be used. Mike

No worries - North is nothing like Juliet Letters. Brodsky Quartet plays on one track, but it's "Still" which is probably the most pop-ish of all. As dark and cold as JL is, North is the opposite. sample Juliet Letters - "Eternity stinks, my darling. That's no joke; Don't waste your precious time pretending you're heartbroken " sample North - "I will be there; If the days bring torments and trials; To close the distances only measured in miles" Mike

Your question is a little ambiguous - Imperial Bedroom is 1982, there were 4 more Columbia albums - Punch the Clock, Goodbye Cruel World, Blood & Chocolate, and King of America. GCW and KoA have not seen Rhino reissue. Following those came the WB period - Spike, Mighty Like a Rose, The Juliet Letters, Brutal Youth, Kojak Variety, All This Useless Beauty. And the short album with Bill Frisell, Deep Dead Blue (not to be confused with the Frisell album The Sweetest Punch - a jazz version of Painted From Memory on which Costello guests on two tracks). I think of the WB things, I'd recommend All This Useless Beauty. And Spike - both those have 17 bonus tracks. And Mighty Like A Rose. Uh oh. I don't know if I'm the best person to pare things down - I have it all and have no regrets. After the WB stuff comes the Universal period - Painted From Memory, For The Stars (with Anne Sofie von Otter), When I Was Cruel, the odds & ends album Cruel Smile, and now North. Mike

Completely understand the concern about rebuying after the Rykodisc versions - but it's really worth your while - take "Get Happy" - the original LP had 20 tracks, the Rykodisc had 30, the Rhino has 50 (FIFTY). Unfortunately, there are some reissues where the Rhino does NOT include everything that was on the Rykodisc. On Punch The Clock, for example, EC decided to replace "inferior lo-fi" bonus live tracks with demo versions ("Everyday I Write the Book" and "The World and His Wife"). Unfortunately, this is a case where I owned only the LP but NOT the Rykodisc (so now I'll scour the used bins waiting for someone to unload a Rykodisc). There was no timing issue that would have prevented everything being included, since these reissues are 2-CD sets. (At regular 1-CD prices, btw - another incentive for re-purchasing). Mike

For the past 4 or 5 days I have listened to nothing but the new album (also watched the A&E live broadcast). I think it's good, but there are some things that are lacking and, when compared to something like Painted From Memory, which I consider the greatest pop album of the past 25 years, I think it's that Costello did everything himself "Composed, Arranged and Conducted by Elvis Costello" (although Steve Nieve gets a co-arranger note on one track). He isn't a great orchestrator. He's an amateur. Any number of college kids could do better. If he hired someone with the knowledge/experience/stature of Bacharach, he could have had a much better record. His musicians are outstanding but they are vastly under-used. There are as many as 10 horns on tracks and none have anything worthy to play. I've read mentions that this is his "jazz" album. I know EC doesn't think that and it's definitely not the case. There are elements from and references to jazz (instrumentation, primarily) but a great deal of the harmonic and melodic conception is not jazz. Which doesn't mean it's not good. It is. There's quite a bit of interesting harmonic motion and modulations, but also some half-baked efforts that don't quite make the cut. Upon my first listen to "Painted From Memory," I raced to transcribe the tunes so that I could better understand what was going on - it was *that* amazing. Just about everything on this album is relatively mundane and doesn't inspire that kind of thing. There are also some lyrics that are just not of the highest quality. "I wasn't very conversational, except to say that you're sensational." - boring, third-rate, warmed-over Cole Porter - and it stands out like a sore thumb because of the sparse nature of the piece. I do like a lot of that tune (Let Me Tell You About Her), though. The mis-rhyme of "fracture" with "statue" also rubs me the wrong way (particularly when it follows such a great line as "Maybe this is the love song that I refused to; Write her when I loved her like I used to." Instrumentally, the arrangements are quite dull - there are a few instrumental sections that sound as if someone forgot to turn up the fader for the soloist - there's not much of interest happening. Compare this to the Bacharach album where there is always something going on, at various levels. There are some very fine moments, to be sure. The tune "Still" is very nice and the Konitz solo on "Someone Took the Words Away" really adds a lot. Too bad there weren't more solos - the only other one is by Lew Soloff that is pretty average but the crackling condensation towards the end drags it down another notch. If it were a real one-of-a-kind masterpiece, I'd accept such a flaw, but it's not. Another take would have been just as good and the water key could be emptied. I'll listen to this record over and over again, I'm sure. But I feel there is a lot of potential, but it's only partially realized. I felt similarly about "For the Stars" - some great parts, some excruciatingly boring parts. BTW, I saw a TV broadcast of that stuff - anyone know if that's available on DVD? I've enjoyed the remasters - haven't been able to listen to them as intently (I was focusing on the Yes remasters that came out recently - some amazing stuff there). Mike

Very high potential. I think I am encouraged by the fact that the pieces are by Vitous and that it's on ECM. Mike

He plays bass clarinet and tenor on this album. The section is Tom Howard-p; Eddie Swager-b; Pete Hellman-d. Rec. May 1963. Mike

Walking & Swinging - from 1936. Mike

The first appearance of the "Hackensack" melody line is on a version of "Oh, Lady Be Good" recorded by Mary Lou Williams in 1944 - a year before the Coleman Hawkins "Rifftide." Mike

The lyrics you are thinking of are by Roland Kirk, recorded on his Warner Bros. album "Return of the 5000 Lb. Man." The other set (incl. vocalese setting from Mingus Ah Um version) is by Joni Mitchell, recorded on "Mingus." Not sure if there is a third set as recorded by Ben Sidran. Mike

Ralph Bowen was one of the only permanent members of OTB (Out of the Blue). See the discography of Michael Philip Mossman on my website for details of this group's recordings. For about 20 years he has been at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ, first as a student then as a professor. He is currently the convenor of the jazz studies program there. http://musicweb.rutgers.edu/info/fac-bio/bowen/ Mike

Blue Note CD 46545 from 1987 has 7 tracks: Soul Surge, Cunga Black, Outer Forces, Blue Spirits, Jodo, The Melting Pot, and True Colors. Mike

Black Music by Leroi Jones and As Serious As Your Life by Valerie Wilmer both have worthwhile info. "Junebug" is in the Black Drama Anthology, Woodie King & Ron Milner (ed). Published by Columbia University Press in 1972. Mike

Yes Yes Yes - love the E/O. I think my favorite period is the Half-Life of Desire era, when they were a bit more eclectic. A friend saw them recently in NJ and was disappointed that there wasn't more variety. Used to be that band was The Variety Show! - as evidenced by the 2-CD live collection. Since Gershon restructured the band it's been maybe a little too focused. Still wonderful, though. Mike

Oddly enough, this was first published in the print version of "All About Jazz" (August 2003). Why it wouldn't get put on that website - well, just glad that it's up somewhere. Mike

I've just remembered that Jazz Improv magazine published a chapter excerpt in their v.2 n.3 issue (Wayne Shorter). Supposedly it's the entire chapters 6 & 7 (pp. 41-48 in the book), this is about three and a half pages in the magazine. He straightens out some facts but it seems like much more could be said. Mike

The Bley is a MUCH better book than the Rollins, but only scratches the surface. There's a 500+ page book waiting to be written on that guy (well, both guys, actually). This is a pleasant hors d'oeuvre but still could have been better in terms of fact-checking. I picked up both books used and I still feel kind of ripped off for the Rollins. I knew it would be terrible (I read Nisenson's Coltrane book when it came out - borrowed it, thankfully), but but when writing a book on Henry Grimes, you gotta do your homework and have everything that's out there. Well, at least that's MY view on the subject of research, apparently this is not universally accepted or we wouldn't have crap like the Nisenson stuff. What is really galling is that on a couple of occasions he actually quotes his other books. Witness the start of a half-page quote: "As I described the session in my book about Miles Davis, 'Round About Midnight:" Egads. Sorry to have brought this up in the Mobley thread. Mike

In no way is Andrew Hill too obscure to merit a whole book. This is a guy with a fifty year career who is *still* going strong and has contributed significantly to the music. If someone did a 130 page book (like the Dolphy) on Hill, I'd be upset. To do it right he deserves 400 or more pages. Dolphy does too, of course. I've been going through two recent acquisitions. First is the Paul Bley book (175 pages) and although there are a lot of good stories, there are things that are *completely* missing - like any mention of "Footloose" the groundbreaking Savoy session he did. There are also a lot of questionable things, but those need to be researched further to straighten them out. The second is the Sonny Rollins book by Eric Nisenson (215 pages), which is appalling. If it weren't for the quotes by Rollins (and a few other primary sources), this would have no redeeming qualities. It's almost as bad as the P.O.S. that is the Clifford Brown book by Catalano. Same kind of poor research, pathetic wrongliness in details, same kind of really bad writing - repetitive and trite. But anyway, the entire 1930-1975 period is covered (poorly) by 195 pages and then the final chapter covers 25 years (poorly, as well). A giant like Sonny Rollins deserves so much better (and bigger). Something on the magnitude of what John Szwed did for Sun Ra - and even that (475 pages) glossed over a lot of the last 20 years. I haven't read the MacDonald Dameron book and have no idea if it's a quality item. Hope that it is and that he will do a good job with Mobley. Mike

Re: the food analogy - just because you've eaten 500 different types of food doesn't mean you have all that still lining the shelves of your pantry or refrigerator (or the walls of your living room). If you want to follow that approach, you buy, listen, sell. I certainly don't - I buy, listen, buy - and I'm unapologetic. I think it was Paul McCartney who said that the Beatles were the last group NOT to be influenced by the Beatles - very perceptive. They had everything *else* to listen to. Afterwards, the Beatles became such a focal point that in one way or another just about everyone was imitating them. Pop came of age and some people never bothered to go beyond it to investigate jazz, blues, classical, folk, country, experimental, world music. I think the best pop music came from artists who did explore past their garden gate (bringing us back to the idea of broad musical tastes being important). Agree about the eager clueless labels in the 1960s and also about the artist development process which has been abandoned. Still feel that the later generations have been working from a limited palette, musically. Because the Beatles had a relatively emptier canvas, their influences were more interesting. Sorry, but a punk band nowadays whose influences go all the way back to the Sex Pistols is highly unlikely to produce anything that's going to move past that. Particularly if there is any kind of attempt being made to market them. The idea of marketing to the masses almost insists on dumbing down things. As far as I could ever tell, folks like Oasis never scratched the surface of 1960s bands to find out what *those* bands were listening to, what they were striving for. Or if they did, they didn't seem to have the wherewithal to do anything with this knowledge, because I've never heard anything from them that pushed the artistic boundaries the way The Who or The Kinks or The Zombies did. In many cases, the kids ARE less talented, but I agree that the corporations have latched onto this and made that acceptable - even admirable. I used to teach students musical analysis and we'd take apart a pop tune of their choice and they would be amazed at how rudimentary it was ("Is that it?"). Ditto for the production/execution. Once I took 5 minutes to program a drum machine and set up a loop, it came very close to what is behind a huge amount of dance music today. Of course, that doesn't mean that someone who can do that will immediately have a number one hit - because it's NOT about the music (or lack thereof). It's about the image and the marketing and the networking. The music is largely irrelevant. Mike

I'm going to try to catch him playing with Dr. Art Davis on a special east coast visit - here's the schedule: Monday 9/15 Art Davis and Odean Pope the original compositions of each artist arranged for bass and tenor avant garde to straight ahead Cornelia Street Cafe 29 Cornelia Street (between Bleeker and W. 4th St, west of 6th Ave.) 212-989-0319 www.corneliastreet.com two sets: 9 and 10:30 PM $15 per set ************************************* Wednesday 9/17 Art Davis and Odean Pope Featured performers for the opening of the Equinox Jazz Festival Berklee Performance Center 136 Massachusetts Ave. Boston, MA 02115 617-747-2474 www.jcmcsite.com/home 8:00 PM *************************************** Sunday 9/21 Art Davis and Odean Pope the original compositions of each artist arranged for bass and tenor avant garde to straight ahead North by Northwest 7165 Germantown Ave. Philadelphia, PA 19119 215-248-1000 www.nxnwphl.com 9:00 PM $15 music charge **************************************** Monday 9/22 Art Davis and Odean Pope Coltrane compositions transcribed for bass and tenor sax University of Pennsylvania Tribute to John Coltrane Houston Hall 34th and Spruce 8:00 and 9:30 pm **************************************** Mike

I think the Getting Sentimental tape is what was issued as "Monk - The Transformer" on Thelonious Records, so at least that is available now. The Smith tapes are interesting - some of them are labeled with comments like "Monk danced but did not play at this rehearsal." The bulk of the Monk stuff is big band rehearsals - for the 1959 Town Hall concert, for the 1963 Philharmonic Hall concert, and for the 1964 Carnegie Hall concert. There's also a broadcast of an interview/demonstration that Hall Overton did with the Monk quartet at The New School in 1963. Mike

We had this very discussion fairly recently - was it on the BNBB? Braxton was brought in as I recall. Anyone have that thread saved? Mike

The only Friedman interaction I know of is a Don Cherry gig in Vancouver, BC in December 1957 - Cherry, Ornette, Friedman, Ben Tucker, and a drummer. Supposedly this was broadcast and taped but no one knows more. Is there more information about a tour that Friedman made with this or a related band? Maybe it's in the Ornette bio - been a while since I looked at that. Mike