Justin V

I'm not as familiar as I would like to be with Bailey's playing, but I love his only album as a leader, Blueprints of Jazz, Vol. 3 (the last volume in an excellent series that also included albums by Mike Clark and Billy Harper). Bailey's album has Odean Pope, Charles Tolliver, George Burton and Tyrone Brown, with Bailey playing harmonica on one tune and powerfully driving the band from behind the kit on the rest. The album also features 'Blues It' by Hasaan Ibn Ali, a tune that doesn't appear to have been recorded elsewhere, which is a shame. Rest in peace, Mr. Bailey, and thank you.

Last night, I caught Paul McCandless with some Oberlin students and faculty, with the latter including Jamey Haddad, Jay Ashby and Peter Dominguez. McCandless played soprano, bass clarinet, penny whistle, cor anglais and sopranino, I believe. The various student ensembles included clarinet, flute, harp, violin, cello, guitar, piano, drums and percussion. It was my first time catching McCandless, and I am not very familiar with his work. I was impressed by his facility and tone on his wide variety of instruments and his writing for the various ensembles, which successfully combined classical students with jazz students. It's pretty cool seeing students play with major artists and finding out who rises to the occasion. One student guitarist, Joshua Rosner, played what was probably the slowest guitar solo I have ever heard; rather than dragging, however, it was oddly riveting. I wish that I would've thought to go up to him afterward and tell him how well he did. McCandless seemed to genuinely enjoy working with the students, and Jamey Haddad was justifiably pleased by their performance. One of the highlights of the night was a rendition of Jim Pepper's 'Witchi-Tai-To', complete with the chant. It was the last song of the night, capping the portion of the set featuring McCandless with the faculty members (and talented student pianist, Shea Pierre, who studied with Ellis and Jason Marsalis). Although McCandless invited any musician who wanted to join them to come up, only one student, a percussionist, joined them. Like a previous occasion when I caught Dave Liebman playing with Oberlin students (with Billy Hart lurking in the audience and coming up for a duet!), it was free and entirely worth the fifty-minute drive from Cleveland. It was good to see a nice turnout in the middle of midterms, too.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Konitz!

Stuff Smith - The Complete Verve Stuff Smith Sessions, Disc 3, with Oscar Peterson, Barney Kessel, Ray Brown and Alvin Stoller.

I caught the late set of his quartet in Pittsburgh on Saturday. I had only previously seen him with the Mack Avenue SuperBand. Although I've seen Julian Lage with his own group and Antonio Sanchez with Pat Metheny, it was my first time seeing Scott Colley. It is was an amazing concert. Some of the highlights for me were: Gary's long solo introduction to Keith Jarrett's 'In Your Quiet Place'; their take on Sanchez's tricky 'Caminos', which the group pulled off flawlessly, despite Burton's warning beforehand that they were still working out the kinks; and, the curiously titled Burton piece, 'Jane Fonda Called Again', the title of which Burton didn't explain. Burton shows no signs of slowing down, with his creative playing and appearance belying his age. My wife, who worked third shift the night before and wasn't enthusiastic about making the trip to Pittsburgh, loved it. Listening to Generations, Lage's recorded debut with Burton from 2004, he's really grown immensely. It's hard to believe that he is only 25, and I can't wait to see how he progresses. Sanchez really impressed me; he is a sensitive drummer of intense focus and his time-feel is remarkable. With his chops, it'd be easy for him to overplay, but he really walked the fine line between power and finesse. Colley has to be one of the finest bassists on the scene, displaying the intelligence and dark tone that so drew me to his playing upon first hearing him years ago on Jim Hall's Magic Meeting. To sum up, Burton has once again managed to assemble a group of talented, like-minded musicians. I also picked up Burton's autobiography after the gig, joining the long line of people waiting to meet Gary. Although I only own 3 of his albums, I am really into the book. I wasn't aware that he was a child prodigy who was part of a family band. It is an honest, frequently laugh-out-loud read, with insightful and touching stories of his friends and colleagues. I imagine that it will get more into his personal life later on, which should be interesting. Combined with seeing his quartet live, It's really piquing my interest in his work.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Lateef!

The Complete Verve Stuff Smith Sessions, Disc 2. I stumbled upon a copy of this last month for $45.99 after shipping. Yes, only $45.99. The only thing wrong with it is that the box is a bit messed up (most of the lettering on the spine is ripped off and the bottom of the box is damaged). The discs, ranging from acceptable to mint, play perfectly and the booklet was included. Having only Cat on a Hot Fiddle, I jumped at the opportunity to get otherwise-unavailable music and the sessions with Dizzy Gillespie and Oscar Peterson. I can't say enough about the previously unreleased Cat on a Hot Fiddle tracks; Shirley Horn is absolutely spellbinding. Given the quality of the music (I now know that I can easily take Stuff Smith in large doses), it's worth the $125 people are asking for on Amazon.

I wish I could go to this. I'd like to hear Krog and I was blown away by Kuhn when I caught him two nights in a row at Birdland in May.

He was a great bassist. It's hard to beat that classic Hancock/Warren/Higgins rhythm section. I'm glad that he was able to enjoy a resurgence over the past few years. Thanks for the music, Mr. Warren.

I jumped on this download. Thanks!

I caught Mundell Lowe in a duo with guitarist Mike Magnelli last night. I went to the duo set last night because I planned on watching the entire Browns game tonight. However, I couldn't resist the quartet set (with bassist Peter Dominguez and drummer N. Glenn Davis) tonight. It had been over 4 years since Lowe last came to town (also with Mike Magnelli), and he sounds and looks great at 91. I've been impressed with Mike Magnelli, who is a fine guitarist and complements Lowe quite well.

Coincidentally, I just found this album at a shop yesterday (for $1.99!) and am giving it a listen now: Happy Birthday, Bud!

The Kickstarter campaign met its funding goal. The group will be going into the studio on October 26th.

I never got to see him perform. I had reservations to catch him in a club about 5 years ago. When we showed up, they had apparently overbooked and offered to let us sit with a table of strangers instead. I declined and was unable to make it the next time he came around. Now I wish that I had sat with strangers or thought to ask about sitting in a side area behind the piano that's usually empty. Here's wishing him a happy retirement.

There's a new Kickstarter campaign for a 1966 Left bank recording of Walter Namuth's Quintet, featuring Mickey Fields. The band is Walter Namuth on guitar, Mickey fields on tenor, Claude Hubbard on piano, Phil Harris on bass and Purnell Rice on drums. I'm only familiar with Purnell Rice, who appeared on Leo Parker's Blue Note albums, but I found the idea of an archival recording of seldom-recorded Baltimore musicians intriguing. For a $20 contribution, you get a 105-minute download of both sets in their entirety, the 70-minute CD and a ticket to the release party.

I recommend it. Like many of his CDs, it can also be ordered from http://www.ranblake.com, where you get 1 free CD when you order 3. In my experience, shipping has been fast and reasonably priced. Edit: I should note that the site has (had?) a limited number of autographed copies for sale.

Thanks for posting that, Tom. How long are the tracks by Corea, Zeitlin and LaVerne? I wonder how they made the decision as to what tracks wouldn't make the cut for the CD release. I know that earlier CDs didn't run up to 80 minutes, which is the current standard, but the CD edition only clocks in at around 61 minutes.

I'm only familiar with Moondoc by name, but I was curious to hear him and became a backer. Considering his résumé and the sidemen he's assembled for this project, I'm looking forward to hearing this.

Is that how he hooked up with the late Hotep Idris Galeta? I picked up Jackie Mac's Dynasty last year and was very impressed by both Rene and Galeta, neither of whom I'd heard before.

I once overheard a club promoter tell a musician that most musicians charged $20 for their CDs, and that the club asked for $4 from each CD sale to help offset any loss of revenue from people showing up late (and presumably paying less of a cover). The club, of course, had a good turnout that night. The musician agreed without comment. Is this a standard practice? Regardless, I always try to pick up an album at concerts. Unless I missed it, it appears that the Detroit Jazz festival only had the Mack Avenue tents and no outside CD vendor this year, which was the first time that I've seen that. As far as other labels go, Motema was on hand to sell at a table for a bit, but I didn't see anything else being sold. The outside vendor from prior years, Street Corner Music, used to have tons of Detroit artists, a bargain bin, general releases and selections from every artist performing. It's where I discovered Phil Nimmons and was able to snag a copy of Kenn Cox and Donald Walden's then-elusive (and excellent) duo CD.

Fortunately, Fran is still around. Sandi really brought to life an era of the music that most of us have only read about.

After ripping it, I noticed a different cover for it in my Google Play library with additional musicians' names. According to Ken Dryden, the original LP version featured tracks by Chick Corea, Andy LaVerne and Denny Zeitlin, as well as session photos and a "warm remembrance" by Helen Keane, all of which were dropped for the CD reissue. What a shame.

Well, I've never seen it mentioned, at least. I found it for $2.50 in a local shop last week. It is called Bill Evans: A Tribute and was released on Avion Records in 1992. What makes the record, which was produced by Helen Keane, interesting is the sheer number of outstanding pianists paying tribute to Evans. Over a series of 4 sessions in 1982, these pianists each recorded a solo track for the album: George Shearing, Richie Beirach, Teddy Wilson, Warren Bernhardt, John Lewis, Dave McKenna, Herbie Hancock, Joanne Brackeen, Jimmy Rowles, Dave Frishberg and McCoy Tyner! Is anyone else familiar with this recording? Can you imagine if Mosaic put together a box of alternate takes or bonus tracks? i would've loved to have been a fly on the wall (or baby in the control booth, given the year) for these sessions. I can't help but think that such a gathering nowadays would be preserved in video format as well. For me, it seems especially poignant having older musicians such as Teddy Wilson, Jimmy Rowles, John Lewis and George Shearing on hand alongside musicians who were approximately Evans's age and younger. At any rate, it's a fine sampler of some of the best jazz pianists performing solo.

I'm only familiar with him through his fine work on Frank Foster's Blue Note session, Here Comes Frank Foster (which was reissued with a George Wallington date featuring Foster). It's great to hear that he is still active; I'd love to hear him in person.

Yes, it's back: http://forums.allaboutjazz.com/.