AllenLowe

Haig wasn't an anti-semite. I knew him for about 6 years. I was one of his closest friends. I am Jewish.

thanks, happy to do it and relieved it got there. The mails have turned into like playing the lottery.

I don't know if he was a liar, but from what I know he was pretty crazy.

1) I have many doubts about the book; suffice to say that the way she described it to me before it was published was much different than the way it came out. Let us just say that the story she finally printed was better than the one she originally intended to tell. Of course Al can no longer respond, though Joanne, who he married a few years before he died, did not think the story as told matched the man she knew. As for his admission, well, I knew him probably better than anyone else, and I accept his version, which was that they were two mutually abusive fall-down drunks. And the coroner's report of NYC described it, unambiguously, as an accident. 2) as for his playing with Bird I accept Bud Powell's critical judgement that "Al Haig was a perfect pianist," as well as Hank Jones and Tommy Flanagan who both told me they thought Al set the standard for that style of bebop piano.

Chan also has some weird stories about Haig. I kind of made my peace with this aspect of his personality, which I can only attribute to alcoholism with its tendency to produce Jekyll and Hyde personality traits. I remember Curley Russell told me he was shocked at the later stories about Haig because, in the early days of 52nd Street "he was the straightest guy I knew, always went right home after the gig." When I knew him he never showed a sign of any of this.

thanks everyone, I probably shouldn't have dropped that in the middle of this discussion but I was having a rough day. In mid-January I will have surgery to remove 2 small tumors from my nose; depending on what a scan and biopsy show, best case is that the surgery will do it; worst case is the need for surgery plus radiation (plus possibly chemo, which I am hoping does not happen as it is such a hellish experience). I will know more on December 30.

always liked them, and they appeared on an episode of the old Dick Van Dyke show as a British rock and roll band called The Redcoats.

thanks guys; we are actually waiting now for a report from what they call "the tumor board" on treatment, etc. They don't think it has spread and it appears to be related to what I had last year. We're a bit freaked out, but hoping it's manageable. I should know a lot more in the next day.

I'm 66 and finally feeling it, with a vengeance (cancer has recurred, still waiting to find out how serious it is).

well, I really tried to like him. Even the stuff that Larry likes I tend to find a bit too slick - something about sound, execution, etc. But I'll throw myself on the mercy of the court.

I was lucky enough in the 1990s to record a bit with Julius Hemphill, who did great work in that decade; he was particularly on fire the night we recorded New Tango '92.

I am pretty sure he died because he was driving drunk.

well, I'm ready to take my punishment; I first realized something had gone awry back in about 1976; I was only about 22 but I picked up the LP Musique Du Boise; I had never until that point listened much to Woods, but Jaki was on this and I figured it had to be great. But Woods' playing, his tone, his execution, it was all just too damned slick. It left me cold; I couldn't hear any sweat in any of it. It was mechanized, but not in an interesting or intentional way. And he was liked that for the rest of his life. I am, however, reading the autobiography; I think it's really effed up that they used the same title as Chan's book, and I am willing to bet that Woods asked for that title to get back at her because she was so critical of him in it. But it makes no sense, and is really unprofessional for them to use it.

hey Jim. yes, you can just paypal me at allenlowe5@gmail.com - thanks -

this comes in a box that looks like a radio. It's 7 cds, a 70 page booklet, numbered limited edition, apparently about 100 unreleased sides, with half the world on it, including: Helen Humes Mary Lou WIlliams Eddie Cleanhead Vinson Helen Humes Jay McShann Buck Clayton Buddy Rich Rex Stewart Walter Brown Julia Lee Albert Ammons Professor Longhair Cootie Williams $37.50 shipped USA my paypal is allenlowe5@gmail.com

still available: Frank Zappa And Captain Beefheart ‎– Providence College, Rhode Island, April 26th 1975 $30 Keyhole SEALED Captain Beefheart ‎– Plastic Factory GO Faster records SEALED $30 captain beefheart live at my father's place no company ID $25 captain beefheart full moon hot sun live in Kansas Keyhole $35 Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band* ‎– Live 1966-67 Keyhole $30 Sonny Rollins Complete RCA Victor Recordings 6 cds BMG $25 Mildred Bailey Complete Columbia Records Vol. 1 (3 CDs) Definitive $12 Mildred Bailey Complete Columbia Records Vol. 2 (3 CDs) Definitive $12 Johnny Otis Rhythm & Blues Caravan with Little Esther Savoy 3 CDs $14 Johnny Mercer Mosaic Select 3 cds $40

Here's some things I am selling - please pardon the weird typefaces; when I tried to copy and paste here from a word doc, the site blew 'em up; I have no idea why. All will be shipped 1st class; check with me for shipping. My paypal is allenlowe5@gmail.com Frank Zappa And Captain Beefheart ‎– Providence College, Rhode Island, April 26th 1975 $30 Keyhole SEALED Captain Beefheart ‎– Plastic Factory GO Faster records SEALED $30 captain beefheart live at my father's place no company ID $25 captain beefheart full moon hot sun live in Kansas Keyhole $35 Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band* ‎– Live 1966-67 Keyhole $30 Chuck Berry His Complete ‘50s Chess Recordings SEALED hip-o-select Limited edition 4 cds SEALED $75 Sonny Rollins Complete RCA Victor Recordings 6 cds BMG $25 Mildred Bailey Complete Columbia Records Vol. 1 (3 CDs) Definitive $12 Mildred Bailey Complete Columbia Records Vol. 2 (3 CDs) Definitive $12 Johnny Otis Rhythm & Blues Caravan with Little Esther Savoy 3 CDs $14 Bud Powell Birdland 1953 ESP Disk 3 cds $22 Johnny Mercer Mosaic Select 3 cds $40 Miles Davis Complete Live at Plugged Nickel small rip and little dent on box 7 CDs $65 SOLD

well, I mailed my absentee ballots to Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Arizona. Anybody know how things turned out?

there is just this sense in all of these that Bird was a troubled guy who, if only he could have settled down like these other saxophonists, could have been a regular guy. I find this to be a very middle-class attitude. Bird was Bird, and he was what he was because of the way that he was. I mean, Bobby Watson plays great, but using him on this is a way of taming the craziness of Bird's work and life, to say "this is what Bird's music really means." But that' not right. I think it's crazy, because Bird's intensity was part of the life he lived, on all levels. Now there IS another side to this - Al Haig always said he thought that at heart Bird longed for stability, for a family life; Dave Schildkraut said the exact same thing. But if we are going to look at Bird's life, we have to show both sides and the battle between them. Instead, these documentaries are like someone trying to domesticate a pet.

to me, if they were going to show Bird's importance through those that came after - well, there were much better ways to do it. I feel like all these types of documentaries, unlike Bird, just continue to play it safe. Bird was a musical radical, and they have turned him into a symbol of middle-class stability. He was anything but. Too much respectability.

people don't mention enough that the reason the older jazz guitarists sound so much better in purely sonic terms is the use of tube amps, which really breath, give a fatness to the sound and also reflect more of the string sound. Plus the CC's have a nice compressed sound to them that swells when pushed.

I don't know if anyone has mentioned it, but I believe Kessel (whose sound and playing I love; had a lot to do with those Charlie Christian pickups) played the screaming "rock" guitar solo in the Orson Wells movie Touch of Evil.

I am going to nominate one from out of left field: one of Dave Schildkraut's favorite records was Coleman Hawkins with Strings. It was Hawk with big, syrupy arrangements, and it was quite smooth.

as a fixed income social security recipient who had some good teaching/playing gigs scheduled for the spring, this thing has caused some financial difficulty, though it's been pretty much manageable. Actually, sales from the new book and historical cds were substantial and helped me put enough aside to pay my property taxes. the good news is that Lincoln Center expects to have classes in the Spring and wants my blues-history course. We will see how that develops. I am cautiously pessimistic. on the other side of things, my niece's father in law, mid-60s and a doctor, living in Texas, died of Covid last week. Was a wonderful man from all accounts.

I have gotten in trouble in the past with this basic opinion, but I continue to avoid Dexter. He plays in these later years like his feet are stuck in cement.