AllenLowe

I don't know it it's true, but there's a story of Zoot sleeping in the back seat of a car while Al Cohn (who had only one working eye) was driving and while someone else with also only one working eye was sitting in the front next to him - Zoot was sleeping it off, but woke up long enough to say "you two keep your eyes on the road."

The first tenor I ever owned had a Varitone connection, which I never used. btw, listening to some Bebop Boy recordings with Stitt from '46. I actually like early Stitt best; like with a lot of the beboppers, there's a freshness and challenge to the music in those early days that eventually faded, especially by the '60s. Also want to mention that Leeway, above, is a groovy cat. And this was confirmed by my old friend and running buddy Emmett Hardy.

actually, from what I was told, he switched to electric because of back problems.

Alexander - I think you are confusing cause and effect in terms of increased work hours - those gadgets were really the result of corporate insanity, not the cause.

there's a bio of Earl Hooker which, I think, explains a lot of why his records don't quite match the reputation - as I mentioned previously, he was a bit self-destructive in the studio, and had that deluded sense that I encountered in certain older jazz musicians in the 70s and 80s - that rock and roll was just a teen fad and THEY could do just as well because they were playing rock and roll BEFORE it was called rock and roll. The result was not only a lot of the crap that came out on various jazz labels, or the Varitone, but also a lot of bad blues records.

I don't know. Jack's got a new bouncer working the door, and she's very tough.

was Jack Sheldon in that band? Or was he in the Mort Lindsey version? at any rate, my father was crazy, land left me nothing except Irritable Bowel Syndrome. At least that's according to my last shrink.

hey Chuck - just listening to Before there Was Sound, and reading the notes - I had no idea Roscoe worked with Eddie Buster out there. I knew both Eddie and Bobbie Buster well, worked with both (Bobby quite frequently). Interesting piece of information,

thank you. I'll definitely take that as a plus.

by the way, it may (or may not) be interesting to know that Stitt had a very analytical approach to playing (based, basically, on the typical diatonic, 2minor, 3 minor, 4 major, 5 dominant, etc) approach to blowing - Bob Neloms told me about sitting in a hotel room with Stitt and some other musicians in Chicago one night and listening to Sonny go through his whole theory approach -

at it's best Stitt's playing has a "let's just blow" quality that can be very exciting, On the other hand,,,,,I have to admit that I cannot really listen to him any more.

this just in; in French from something called Focus; accompanied by 5 stars, so I assume it's friendly; if not, don't tell me. JAZZ | Une méditation sur le blues par un saxophoniste et compositeur doublé d'un musicologue. Avec Blues and the Empirical Truth (hommage à l'album d'Oliver Nelson enregistré il y a un demi-siècle), Allen Lowe livre un point de vue neuf et décapant sur ce genre musical fondamental à travers 52 morceaux qui éparpillent le blues aux 4 coins de la musique populaire américaine (et même au-delà)-partant des champs de coton pour aboutir au free jazz, en passant par l'église, les marching bands, les maisons closes, le ragtime, les minstrels, le swing, le bop, le rock, la pop, tout en faisant référence à des musiciens aussi divers que Johann Strauss, Maybelle Carter, Armstrong, Ellington, Billie Holiday, Bud Powel, Max Roach, Mingus, Brubeck, David Schilkraut, Doris Day, Miles, Ayler, James Brown, Coltrane ou Lou Reed! Entouré, selon les titres, par les pianistes Lewis Porter et Matthew Shipp, le tromboniste Roswell Rudd, les guitaristes Marc Ribot et Ray Suhy, le saxophoniste Spikes Sikes, le contrebassiste Jessie Hautala, l'électro-batteur Jake Millett et le chanteur Todd Hutchinsen (sur 3 titres), Allen Lowe, qui évoque Ornette à l'alto (instrument auquel il substitue, ici ou là, le ténor, le C melody sax et même la guitare), fait montre d'une imagination débordante, d'une culture illimitée et d'un humour (juif) détonant au sein d'un triple album qui, à l'exception peut-être du grand précurseur évoqué plus haut (The Blues and the Abstract Truth), est sans équivalent dans son genre. Ph.E

Earl Hooker, btw, was named by both Buddy Guy and BB King as the greatest guitarist they ever heard - there's some nice Hooker around, but I have a feeling none of it really reflects what he could really do, based on certain testimony. As a recording artist, he was somewhat deluded, always searching for gimmicks and hits, so that probably hurt his output.

don't worry because ultimately, unlike Moms, I'm just a white kid from the suburbs. Though I too have lost a lot of teeth.

just about to listen to Have No Fear. Interested in Larry's observation, because I think there's some interesting philosophical/intellectual questions that are raised about solo coherence.

just listening to her on Spotify.

well, I'd almost forgotten about this, but around 1976 or so I ended up telling Sonny Stitt off in the dressing room of the Jazz Workshop in Boston, while Pat Martino (who opened for him) was sitting watching, Sonny was a prick, and accused me of dishonesty, of ripping off musicians because I didn't pay them for interviews. Pissed me off, even though I was scared and only 21, I told him he was full of shit. It felt really good.

I like Earl Hooker. Funny Stitt story, told to me by Bobby Buster, an organist I used to work with in New Haven who worked a lot with Stitt - Stitt would switch horns a lot and didn't want to transpose, so they'd end up playing things like Body and Soul in G Flat if he decided to do it on alto. Drove the rhythm section nuts,

maybe the only possible truth is partial.

I like Moms points - because, while I disagree with them, they make sense. Makes me question my own opinions (as does Larry on those occasions that we disagree,) I even feel this way about Phillip Larkin, who sees the flaws in music I love. Larry, is that Stitt session the one that has been described as with Barry Harris?

anybody know what happened to Al Gafa? Nice guy, great guitarist.

interesting stuff. Never heard them before.

just ordered mine.

the complaint, musically, was that Brown didn't leave any space for the rest of the rhythm section - that he filled in all the holes, hogged things.

very interesting on Ray Brown - years ago Al Haig worked with the guitarist who was in the group with Roker/Dizzy/Ray Brown, and he gave me an earful one night on Ray Brown. He did not like him, musically OR personally. I always wondered about that.