AllenLowe

planning on 6 CDs - 3 of my old stuff (with Hemphill, Murray, Cheatham, Rudd, Byron, Ribot, Shipp, etc) and 3 of the new stuff - October or November release.

Doc Cheatham always felt he did not become a real soloist until his 70s.

it's actually gotten worse in the last few years.....

been listening - Roswell Rudd told me he thinks of these as Indian blues.

hmmm....don't know -

Kalaparusha is completely blind, unfortunately - he also had his tenor stolen. Today's session - Ursula Oppens, Noah Preminger, JD Allen, Jon-Erik Kelso - was spectacular. btw, the drummer we are using - Rob Wallace, who teaches musicology out in Bowling Green, Ohio - is simply one of the best drummers I have ever heard. Musical, inventive, responsive, and swings like hell. and Kevin Ray is one superb bassist. Chris Meeder is a tuba player to be reckoned with - and Lewis Porter, as always, played brilliantly.

great session yesterday with Randy Sandke and Ken Peplowski. Yow, these guys scare me. Plus the rest of our estimable band of Rob Wallace, Chris Meeder, Lewis Porter, Ray Suhy, and Kevin Ray. TODAY: Ursula Oppens, Matt Shipp, Jon-Erik Kelso, Noah Preminger, Lou Grassi, and JD Allen. It's such a nice day in NYC, maybe we'll record outside.....

I don't know if I've ever mentioned this story here - but Al Haig spent a lot of time around 37th street (or somewhere around there) where he walked the dog for his former landlady. Wallington lived on the same street. Al told me, maybe in 1978, "hey I saw George Wallington the other day, he walked right by me." I was in awe of this encounter - think of it, two of the great mysterious piano-playing figures of the bebop era, running into each other. I asked, "what did you talk about?" "He said, 'hi Al.' I said, "hello George." That was it. ahh, real life....

but....one could make the argument that for great players like Jackie and Art, the one place where they were able to get to a point of honesty was, indeed, in the music. I mean, Bill Evans was the most fucked up guy I ever met. But musically he had order and purpose.

Pete - I saw that gig, too - with Sir Charles Thompson on piano. Sadly, Buck could not get it together. Some time in the 70s. As for Frank Morgan, Larry is right on the money, IMWO (in my weird opinion) - and btw, I spent one very nice day with Art Pepper, and he was definitely having "personal" problems - but he was one of the nicest musicians I ever met.

Barbara Carroll. One of my favorite pianists.

by flattened out I mean his sound had less resonance, was more even in touch -

it's funny but I don't think my own playing settled until I took up the alto at around age 50. I'm a much better player now - and actually I think it has to do with poor small motor skills and the easier grip of the smaller horn. No kidding. btw, I think Hank Jones was a better player in the 50s and early 60s - his playing had a Nat Cole-ish bounce and crispness that got flattened out later on.

thanks, we had a terrific time - we're using two different drummers on this project; Lou Grassi, who people know, and Rob Wallace, who's an old friend of mine, PHD musicologist, and one of the most musical drummers I've ever worked with. Kalaparusha was hot; had to borrow a tenor for him, and he felt right at home.

held the first of three recording sessions that we're holding this week, today, in Brooklyn. Maurice came and played and was magnificent. 4 or 5 tunes.The whole session (with me, Lewis Porter, Chris Meeder, Kevin Ray, Ras Moshe, Rob Wallace, Ray Suhy) - went incredibly well; next session is Tuesday with Randy Sandke and Ken Peplowski. Kalaparusha told me my alto playing reminded him of Marion Brown, so I can now die happy.

1) late Chet Baker - before he started declining - was amazing - late 1970s, maybe; he was on fire and still incredibly lyrical. 2) Barry and I had a long talk about the Bird thing, on a 2 hour car ride, maybe 1979 or so. We were talking about players from the bebop era who went through terrible things afterwards. His thought, and I agree with him, was that they were so dependent upon Bird as a center of energy and ideas that, when he died, they were lost. They didn't know what to do, and wandered, both literally and figuratively. Al Haig was a good example of this. Even Davey may have felt a bit disoriented by his death, and I even have the same sense from some things Triglia told me, that he felt his mentor was gone.

will take care of business soon, Jim.

just saw Fields at the SESAC luncheon in April. Shook hands with him, and made sure to count my fingers afterwards.

though I am being repetitious, I will note that both Dizzy Gillespie and Bill Evans, in separate conversations I had with them, called Davy their favorite alto player after Bird. Similar things were said to me by Jackie McLean, Stan Getz, and Mel Lewis. He was a genius.

I don't think it's Wardell on The Happy Bird.

fifty million tone deaf Frenchmen can't be wrong.....

Bob Cummins was a terrific guy, too, from my experience. I remember his wife was running a coffee shop downtown NYC somewhere, don't know if it's still going. He died way too young. Produced the one Bob Neloms record, Pretty Music, which I basically hounded him about for a year in order to get it going. Great session.

Bernie stole $3000 from me, so I'm not his biggest fan.

I see Bernie Brightman in the back row - is he picking pockets?

I'm still using his phone.