AllenLowe

the band was very good, with some problems - they had at one point a bass player who was clearly losing his hearing and when they played, all you could hear was that BOOM BOOM BOOM coming from his amp - I met the drummer Tommy Benford when he was playing with them and, at that point, I knew little about early jazz history. I almost fell over when, some years later, I realized he had played with Jelly Roll Morton. Tommy was a very nice man.

as I recall (and Chris might remember) wasn't it also a dentist who sponsored the old Harlem Blues and Jazz Band back in the 70's and 80s? Maybe a Dr. Vollmer; that group had Miss Rhapsody, Tommy Benford, Al Hall, Eddie Durham, I think - well, I guess this proves that dentists love jazz - I remember his intros for the band were annoying - always, basically, "I bet you can't believe this guy is still alive!"

wouldn't put it past him - though I'm sure Phil knows more about musicians' teeth than the musicians themselves -

funny thing about dentists and jazz musicians - years ago I met a dentist who told me that Willis Jackson was one of this patients - and man, did he dislike Jackson. Which is an impression I can confirm from once having briefly shared a bandstand with Jackson. Nasty piece of work -

well, the old man was Albert Ammons, who was no slouch either -

just doin' my thing -

what's a thing?

there's no thing; I don't do things. I really can't stand Mr. Wonder. The voice and the music are, to me, shallow new-age soul. Drives me up the friggin' wall.

my dog chewed and destroyed my wonderful Steve Broadus 1930s alto mouthpiece - only time I've ever been REAL mad at him. I was traumatized, I had just recorded with that mouthpiece and it was my favorite. Had to buy another Broadus off Ebay for $75 (now they're about double that) -

hi Chris - working on a new blues anthology/book, and am increasingly impressed by Ruby Smith's singing - found a few cuts I had not heard before (and as usual, since I'm at work, I cannot remember where I found them!) but she has a very nice voice, and a gentler sensibility than Bessie, which I like very much - will still try to locate that info on those vinyl Bessie pressings, hope to search tonight -

and still looking great - I saw him in June and he was healthy and happy -

he was a great guy - when I was working on my jazz history he sent me a CDR of a cut I couldn't find - trasnferred it for me, would not accept a penny -

it is, as they say, a classic - as I work on a new book on the blues, I'm perusing it to see what I can plagiarize -

I'll have to dig out the cds I have, Chris, but they were pressed on different material than regular 78s and so had better sound and less noise - I actually talked to John R.T. about them years ago, and he explained that they were apparently an English production, and there was, as I mentioned, one British collector who had a lot of them -

from my own experience the LPs, as Chris is implying, are hit or miss - however, there are some great transfers on them as well as some lesser sources - I think Doug Pomeroy told me that Columbia had destroyed a lot of the Bessie masters. I also have a Japanese boxed set of the Bessie sides that I have not listened to in some time, so I can report back. The CDs, as Chris indicates also, are a mixed thing - some good, some bad. The JSP Davises is excellent - John R.T. was a great transfer engineer and, most importantly, he had 78s that were in mint shape - also, there is/was a European guy (who I've lost touch with) who had these strange old vinyl 78s that they produced in small numbers back then. There is a whole CD of Bessie material taken from these, and the sound is spectacular on them, best of all sources -

my favorite Bond character is still Alotta Vagina -

well, as Lenny Bruce said, I stopped going to those Civil Rights marches because I was tired of watching Stevie Wonder bump into Ray Charles - ****** *****(actually it was Al Hibbler and Ray Charles; changing for topical reasons)

true enough re-the notes (awful stuff) - however, some of the best transfers of a lot of 78s, plus a whole LP of Lil Green - she used Carl Seltzer, who has since died, and he was one of the best -

you're missing a lot - Casino Royale was great on all fronts - characer, action, plot. A rare thing - highly entertaining AND smart -

gotta say again, get the RCA sessions with Ladnier - the height of psot- N.O. development -

won't make the obvious double joke there - Medwin's a bright guy; I sent him my last CD however, which he told me in an email was "full of shit."

Superb Sidney, as someone has mentioned, is superb. also don't know if the Solal sessions were mentioned; I may, however, be in the extreme minority, as I always though they were not very good and lacked edge.

haven't seen the new Bond, but I never take Ebert seriously; he is a world-class middlebrow and intellectual mediocrity. The last bond movie (Casino Royale) was simply the best ever made, I think, and Craig is the first guy who surprasses Connery. I prefer the new Bond because it has almost a LeCarre feel to the whole texture. worried about the new one because I have heard some other bad things, however -

awright, here's a listing of the worst albums ever, Stevie Wonder-lovers: 1972: Talking Book (U.S. #3) 1973: Innervisions (U.S. #4, UK #6) 1974: Fulfillingness' First Finale (U.S. #1, UK #5) 1976: Songs in the Key of Life (U.S. #1, UK #2) 1979: Journey through the Secret Life of Plants Soundtrack (U.S. #4, UK #7) 1980: Hotter than July (U.S. #2, UK #2) 1982: Stevie Wonder's Original Musiquarium (U.S. #4, UK #8) 1984: The Woman in Red (U.S. #4, UK #2) 1985: In Square Circle (U.S. #5, UK #5) 1995: Conversation Peace (U.S. #17, UK #8) 2005: A Time to Love

for sound, if you can find the domestic RCA Bechet LP reissue, snatch it up - the best of all sources-