Justin V

A tour would be incredible. Out of that entire group, I've only seen DeJohnette live, so to see them all on one stage would be special.

I'm not very familiar with Stephen Scott's work, but he's worked with Sonny, Ron Carter, Frank Foster, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Betty Carter and many other notable musicians, so his resume speaks for itself. If you don't rate Tommy Flanagan, Jack DeJohnette, Al Foster and Bob Cranshaw very highly, I don't know what to say to you.

Here's wishing Clark Terry the best on his 94th birthday! I'm off to listen to a session he did under Louie Bellson's name for Capitol with Juan Tizol, John Graas, Wardell Gray, Willie Smith, Harry Carney, Billy Strayhorn and Wendell Marshall (w/Shorty Rogers and Buddy Baker doing some of the arrangements).

The bassist is the excellent Larry Gray. That lineup sounds like a winner.

Some not already mentioned, some of whom haven't had (and deserve!) their own threads: Daniel Jackson, the saxophonist and composer who contributed many of the compositions as a precocious member of Lenny McBrowne and the 4 Souls. Charles Moore, the fiery trumpeter from Detroit who was a member of Kenn Cox's group on their excellent Blue Note albums. Ray Santisi, the highly respected educator and pianist who recorded with Donald Byrd and Serge Chaloff, and taught many of the modern giants of jazz piano. Chris White, bassist with Dizzy Gillespie and many others. He did some arrangements for the Eric Dolphy: Freedom of Sound festival this past summer. Milton Cardona, a prolific percussionist. Frank Strazzeri, whose tasteful playing and appreciation of obscure Great American Songbook tunes enriched many groups. Med Flory, the mastermind behind the fun Bird tribute band, Supersax.

Here's wishing Lou the best!!!

Can't speak to the personal side of things, but he did the recent 1965 Jimmy Giuffre thing, which was very well done on all counts. He's also doing a Red Garland release with Leroy Vinnegar and Philly Joe Jones that is set to come out next month.

Drummer Steve Johns has an Indiegogo campaign going for his upcoming album, Family, which will have his son, bassist Daryl Johns, wife, saxophonist Debbie Keefe Johns, and guitarists Dave Stryker and Bob DeVos. Steve Johns is an underrated drummer and I recently saw him perform as part of the great Sonny Fortune's tight working group, which is also underrated. It should be a special album.

Just looking at the rhythm sections on those records has me drooling.

While looking up George Cables on Wikipedia last night, I realized that the great pianist turned 70 on the 14th. Although a little late, I couldn't resist acknowledging the occasion and hope that he had a happy birthday. I've added a few more albums with Cables to my collection recently: His duo with Red Mitchell, Live at Port Townsend, Sonny Fortune's Continuum and Bobby Hutcherson's Four Seasons (with Herbie Lewis and Philly Joe Jones). Cables has to be one of the most consistently inspired musicians on the scene, so it's no surprise that he's worked with everyone. I've been very fortunate to see him twice with The Cookers and chatted with him for a few minutes after the second time, and he was one of the friendliest, most approachable musicians I've had the pleasure of meeting. Happy Birthday, Mr. Cables!

The most recent shows: Trio X, Rochester I only have one Joe McPhee album, but I saw him last year with Peter Brotzmann. I'd never heard Trio X before. McPhee played two songs on tenor, one on soprano and two on (a plastic) alto sax. I was struck by how masterfully McPhee builds a solo. From a bluesy song on tenor, a song from Do the Right Thing on alto or unabashedly melodic excursions on tenor and soprano, McPhee and the group showed a tremendous amount of breadth and depth. Dominic Duvall's son, Dominic Jr., filled in for his father and acquitted himself quite admirably. Afterward, I was talking to Joe McPhee and he handed me his plastic sax to show me how light it was. I am happy to say that I didn't drop it The concert left me with the feeling that McPhee deserves much more attention than he receives. Steve WIlson/Lewis Nash Duo, Dayton I'd never seen Lewis Nash before and missed the concert that produced their new (and excellent) duo disc, Duologue, so I wasn't about to miss seeing them a second time, even if it meant driving 220 miles one way by myself. My long drive was rewarded by a great two-set concert. Wilson has such a distinctive, mainly vibrato-less sound on alto and soprano, and his articulation is flawless. Nash, in my humble opinion, ranks among the all-time great drummers. I don't think that I've heard anyone play Monk's 'Four in One' live before. It was a night of thoughtful arrangements and impeccable musicianship by an empathetic duo. Wilson and Nash also came across as genuinely humble and friendly guys when meeting people afterward. Buster Williams/Sonny Fortune, Pittsburgh Buster Williams had Steve Wilson, Patrice Rushen and Lenny White with him. Williams displayed a disarming sense of humor between songs and smiled frequently during his set. It was a well-matched quartet, with White's combustible playing, Rushen's power, Wilson's precision and Williams anchoring the whole group with his milkshake-thick sound. A highlight for me was Williams's feature on 'Concerto de Aranjuez' and 'Summertime' and the rousing number they closed with, which ended the four-song set on a high note and saw the whole group push the envelope with intense group interplay. Sonny Fortune had his regular band consisting of Michael Cochrane, David WIlliams and Steve Johns. It'd been years since the only other time that I'd seen Fortune. When he came out, I told my wife that he was like a flamethrower. I realized afterward that seeing Fortune is the closest I'm ever going to get to seeing Trane. The way that he'll worry a sequence of notes until he's exhausted several rhythmic possibilities is Trane-like, as is his total focus. He blows his horn like he may never blow again. He also seemed to thoroughly enjoy listening to his sidemen play, frequently clapping his hands and dancing to the music. As if playing burning alto, soprano and flute weren't enough, he even played some pretty interesting cowbell at one point! Although Fortune does tour solo some, I could see why he prefers to tour with his regular group, as it is a tightly knit, powerful (yet sensitive) group of underrated musicians. It was also something to hear two of the top saxophonists on the scene and how wildly different they sounded from each other. Tony Bennett, Cleveland My wife didn't want to go, so I bought a single ticket. I'm only passingly familiar with Bennett's music and don't listen to a lot of vocalists, but I figured that I'd better see Bennett or I'd someday regret not going. With his daughter, Antonia, warming up the crowd with a 15-minute set, Bennett sang for 75 minutes. He had a quartet consisting of Mike Renzi, Gray Sargent, Marshall Wood and Harold Jones (whom Bennett introduced as Count Basie's favorite drummer). At 88, Bennett's energy didn't flag in the least; on the contrary, it actually seemed like he picked up steam with each passing song and could've sung all night. The way he gets inside a song and invests it with so much passion is remarkable. His not-so-secret weapon was Sargent, whom Bennett often brought to the front of the stage to sing next to him. Sargent, like the rest of the band, really took advantage of his solo opportunities and provided tasty backing throughout the night, even throwing in a 'Salt Peanuts' quote during his 'I Got Rhythm' solo. Although the group has probably played many of the songs at countless gigs by now, they certainly didn't ever seem to be on autopilot. Bennett dropped his mic on the piano for the last song and performed his last song without a mic. His voice filled the theater and provoked stunned murmuring from the sold-out crowd. I've never heard a crowd go as bonkers after he finished as the crowd did. It was a night celebrating the Great American Songbook and covered many of Bennett's signature songs like 'I Left My Heart in San Francisco', 'The Boulevard of Broken Dreams', 'The Shadow of Your Smile', 'For Once in My Life', 'But Beautiful' and many more. Bennett is such a warm, dynamic and thrilling performer. It was an amazing concert, and I'd see him and his top-notch band any day.

The Cootie Williams Orchestra tracks from The Classical Capitol Jazz Sessions Mosaic.

I saw her in a duo with Cameron Brown last year and she was genuinely delightful. Here's wishing her a happy birthday.

Welcome aboard, HutchFan! I'm glad to see you here.

Steve Wilson has relaunched the campaign. On the third day, it's over 1/3 of the way there. I saw him in a duo with Lewis Nash on Thursday and with Buster Williams on Friday, and he is in fine form. I'm looking forward to hearing the album.

I've seen Lou Donaldson live three times in the past five years and he looks and sounds great. Happy Birthday, Mr. Donaldson!

George Jr. is a chip off the old block. Here's hoping he's okay.

I'm familiar with his playing through his work on two classics, Serge Chaloff's Boston Blow Up and Donald Byrd's Byrd Blows on Beacon Hill. I corresponded with him to find out whatever happened to Jimmy Zitano, who was the drummer on both dates, and Mr. Santisi came across as a nice man. Although he may not have been a household name as a performing musician, he had a profound impact on jazz through his role as a teacher (like his late colleague, Alan Dawson), having taught the likes of Joe Zawinul, Keith Jarrett, Gary Burton, John Hicks, Danilo Perez, Alan Broadbent, Makoto Ozone and many others during his time at Berklee. I even picked up his instructional book. Rest in peace, Mr. Santisi, and thank you for the music and the contributions you made through education.

I've had an excellent run lately, having seen Keith Jarrett Standards Trio, Expansions: The Dave Liebman Group and the Helen Sung Quartet.

I'm patiently waiting for Unity, Brown Sugar, Speak No Evil and (the non-BN) Tennessee Firebird to arrive.

Thanks, guys!

I absolutely loved The Cabin in the Woods, which is essential for horror fans. It's smart and funny, yet still scary. I saw it in the theater.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Heath!

Dang! I had planned on buying it at the end of the month. Until I track it down, at least I own the RCA/Novus sampler.

I'd like to check this out. I seem to recall reading that the cover photo was from their performance in Buffalo (that I almost went to but missed). Gjerstad rolls through these parts annually, but Bradford doesn't.