Justin V

The above discussion of Ricky Ford reminded me to pull out this one. It'd been a few years since I'd listened to it last.

No one has said that Allen isn't entitled to his opinion or that he is any way not a knowledgeable person. Allen has known and worked with some legendary musicians, but I don't see why that should get him a free pass. I have him on 'Ignore' and was foolish enough to click on his post. I compounded that error by responding to his trolling. I won't make the same mistake again and haven't clicked on his subsequent posts. It is one thing to say that Oscar Peterson's playing exhibits a certain rhythmic sameness or is overly reliant on patterns. It is another to go over the top and call it fake jazz and make comparisons to Trump. The latter is ridiculous and offensive for reasons I can't go into given the ban on political discussion. Peterson deserves better. Why clutter up a post with such mean-spiritedness other than to draw attention to oneself? Such hyperbole says more about Allen than it does about Peterson. Allen has demonstrated a clearly inflated opinion of his own artistic importance over the years, once listing himself as one of the top saxophonists, for example. He very rarely has anything positive to say about musicians he hasn't known personally. He also has consistently criticized other musicians whose work is more popular. The totality of his posts over the years gives the impression that he is a bitter musician who resents those who have achieved a certain level of success/popularity. Maybe he isn't at all like that in real life and I am being unfair. However, if I had a dollar for every negative post he's made about other musicians, I could personally fund one of his bloated vanity projects. That's all I'll ever say about Allen. Life is short, there are other topics I'd rather discuss and I prefer to be positive with my posts. As for Peterson, I tend to encounter him more often as a sideman or co-leader than as a sole leader in my current listening. It has been several years since I've spent much time listening to his leader work; approaching it with fresh ears should be interesting. Off the top of my head, I've long meant to check out Soul Espanol and An Oscar Peterson Christmas, although I have a general aversion to Christmas music. Until I just looked at my library's streaming service, I don't think I realized exactly how much he recorded for Verve. I may start a thread about his Verve years to see what people think about such a huge body of work.

Disc 2: A good way to start the day's listening (and get my toddler to dance during breakfast).

As a longtime vegetarian, I've grown to appreciate tofu. When cooked and used correctly, it can be a tasty, effective vehicle for sauces.

Disc 1: Beyond its historical value, this is really fun music.

Disc 1

I finally picked up this album last month. It was an inspired choice to reissue two wildly different albums together.

Disc 2: Wonderful music, lovingly presented in a deluxe package.

I put that through Google Translate and it came back as, 'Oscar Peterson is popular. I am not. Please pay attention to me.' Odd.

Newark produced some fine musicians. With Connie Lester's passing earlier this year, we've lost two Newark stalwarts (and Freddie Roach sidemen). I only know Buddy Terry through Roach's The Soul Book, but Terry's leader dates look mighty interesting. Thank you for the music, Mr. Terry, and rest in peace.

$30. I am still selling Disc 2 from the set for anyone who wants to hear some great music.

Discs 3 & 4, the tracks with Jesse Drakes, Gildo Mahones, Connie Kay and Gene Ramey or John Ore. I found this set for $20. I kind of wish I had waited and bought the legit import for $32. My copy is smoky and one of the essays is pretty negative about Young's later playing, so the (bare-bones?) import may have been better.

We get people going door-to-door. One rep visited while we were not home and managed to switch our service by faking my verbal consent. It was pretty outrageous that he was able to pull it off. It took hours on the phone to get it straightened out and required jumping through hoops to get out of early-termination fees despite the outright fraud. On the very rare occasions I answer the door, I don't give any rep the time of day.

Brad is the man. Not only did he go to PREX and grab the Tolliver Big Band Select for me, he also messaged me to see if there was anything else I wanted.

Time Warner had an 'everyday low price' internet option for $14.99. Since becoming Spectrum, that has jumped to $27.99 after several increases, ehich is still cheap. For TV, we pay for ad-free Hulu Plus for $11.99 per month, which gives us access to the major networks except CBS. During football season, we pay $5.99 per month to watch the Browns (*sigh*) live with CBS All Access. However, I believe free Hulu and CBS would provide the same access, albeit with ads and perhaps shows expiring behind a paywall 4 or 5 weeks after airing.

I am only selling this because i finally found the entire Select. I bought Disc 2 from Mosaic when the set had gone OOP. One reason why I picked that single disc was because of the bassists. Cecil McBee, Reggie Workman and Clint Houston are on bass, with a track each of McBee/Houston and McBee/Workman both playing. Here is the entire personnel info for the disc: Charles Tolliver, trumpet, fluegelhorn; Jon Faddis, Richard Williams, Jimmy Owens, Virgil Jones, Larry Greenwich, trumpets; Garnett Brown, John Gordon, Kiane Zawadi, trombones; Jack Jeffers, bass trombone; Charles McPherson, alto sax; James Spaulding, alto sax, soprano sax; flute; piccolo;, George Coleman, tenor sax; Harold Vick, tenor sax, soprano sax, flute; Charles Davis, baritone sax; Stanley Cowell, piano; Cecil McBee, bass on #1 (arco), 5, 6 (pizzicato); Reggie Workman, bass on #2, 6 (arco); Clint Houston, bass on #1 (pizzicato), 3 & 4; Clifford Barbaro, drums; Warren Smith, percussion and chimes on #1 & 6; Billy Parker, percussion on #1; Big Black, congas on #1; Strings on #2 & 6: Gayle Dixon, Noel Da Costa, first violins; Winston Collymore, Noel Pointer, second violins; Ashley Richardson, Julius Miller, violas; Akua Dixon, Edith Wint Porter, cellos.. Recorded at Sound Ideas, New York City on January 17, 1975 Produced by Charles Tolliver.

As a random aside, a dual-tenor/tenor-duel 'Phil and Bill' album would have been a good one.

I have Disc 2 from the Charles Tolliver Big Band Mosaic Select (Impact). Besides Tolliver, soloists include Stanley Cowell, James Spaulding, George Coleman, Charles McPherson and Harold Vick. It includes the full booklet from the Select in addition to the individual disc's cover and back insert. $15 PayPal, including US shipping.

Disc 6

I'd recommend this compilation to anyone interested in checking out Berigan.

Disc 1: My first listen after finding it for $2, although I have a Hep disc covering some 1938 material. I expected the sound to be worse. However, I have been spending a lot of the last few weeks listening to '20s, '30s and '40s jazz, so my ears may just be tuned in to older recordings.

Disc 3: I am on my 4th listen through this in 3 weeks.

Although I generally hate buying the same music again, Off the Record does such a great job and I only paid $1 for a Jazz Heritage version of the Milestone reissue. With this music, I think I'd regret not plunking down the cash for what should be the definitive reissue.