AllenLowe

I hope so - I am continually amazed at how backward some of the Times's cultural writing is. They did, a few years back, print a letter I wrote attacking Marsalis and Crouch, so there is a decent possibility they'll use this one.

I just emailed this letter to the NY Times, Arts and Leisure: to the editor: Terrence Rafferty's recent review of Bruce Weber's Chet Baker film Let's Get Lost shows a surprising ignorance of Baker's talent and late music, not to mention Baker's continued reputation. To say, as Rafferty does, that "his talent, though real, was thin. Unlike his rival Miles Davis, he persisted, with a stubbornness that suggests a fairly serious failure of imagination, in playing the cool style long past the point at which it had begun to sound mannered and even a little silly" is to show virtually no awareness of the development of Baker's music. Not only did his whole approach, from the dynamics of his performance to his musical attack, evolve in real if sometimes relatively subtle ways, but his reputation was/is intact among historians and fans of the music. I remember running into the great alto saxophonist Herb Geller in Germany, not long after Baker had died. Geller talked about a late concert at which "Chet could only play one octave, but it was unlike anybody else's octave." Chet Baker's sound and means of expression remained unique and wondrous to the end; his playing, from the 1960s on, took on a new and more aggressive character and a deeper, darker lyricism. Rafferty has apparently done everything except listen to the actual music. sincerely, Allen Lowe

and for someone who does not like Benny very much, it may seem strange, but my wife is named Helen Ward-

glad everybody agrees with me - and if you have some of the Benny-on-tour CDs, listen for Jack Sheldon, who does some of his best playing -

Benny is one of those players I've tried to like but, believe it or not, I think his best best work was up to about 1931 - some early trio things with a guy whose name I can't remember, and some incredibly mature playing with an early Chicago bandleader - and it's late so forgive me for being completely unable to come up with citations - will have to check some discographies. But in those beginning years I feel like his technique is more at the service of the music, instead of the other way around. I am in a VERY small minority here, but later Benny always sounds to me that he's playing at improvising, instead of really being inside the music. And in those early things he's under the influence, somewhat, of Teschemacher, which gives his playing an edge it lost later on. just my opinion...

the expert on acetates is Jack Towers, but I think he's gotten too old to do much work anymore -

ditto for what Jack said - if this guy cares so much about the historic importance he will want to determine not only what it is - but also might want to make a dub for posterity becfore it either gets lost or disappears into some collection - and there are plenty of good transfer engineers who know how to handle something like this - of course, it could end up being someone's idea of a joke - take an old disc recorder and dub Kenny G off of a CD -

sold -

the guy who probably knows what was going on with Mobley at that time would probably be Barry Harris - unless I'm remembering incorrectly, on the Mobley gig I heard about at the Tin Palace, that Mobley did not make, Barry was the pianist - I haven't talked to him for a while, but will have to ask him next time I see him -

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bring on the poo!

Kenny - I find Tosches entertaining but a very unreliable historian; so much of his writing is rattled-off research (as when in one of his books he praises Irving Mills, without any hint of sarcasm, as a great pop composer because his name is on so many songs!) He takes too many liberties with his interpretations, and if one tries to track his impressions down, they often lead to other conclusions. He's also a great exaggerator - his musical descriptions are entertaining, once more, but often innaccurate or misleading when one listens to the actual recordings. They seem to have more to do with his own fantasies than with reality - I avoid him -

one of each left - buy 'em or roast in he## for eternity, or 50 years - whichever comes first -

still here - Geoffrey Emerick - Here there and Everywhere, my Life Recording the Beatles soft cover, good shape. $6.50 plus shipping prefer paypal to alowe@maine.rr.com email me at same

yes, I have one more set of v. 3 and 4 for $35 each plus shipping - email me at alow@maine.rr.com kenny - your other two boxes will probably go out this afternoon - as for the questions: the book still available? The type size on the booklets in pretty hard going for my poor, old eyes, and I think I'd really like to have an index to help me look up references to particular artists and tracks as I'm listening to them. -I have only a few books, but can sell you one for $20 plus shipping, which is getting, unfortunately, pricey for overseas, as the post office has just raised rates - so it's probably $10 on a book like this - let me know if you still want it - *Can you give us any sort of breakdown of how the sales have gone? What percentage, for instance, have come through organissimo, radio, interviews, magazine reviews, online retailers and so on. Just curious. -I have little info on this, but the US distributor seems to be very happy - *How many sales have gone outside the US? How many to Australia/ NZ? -once again, I wish I knew, but I have little idea - I suspect this is the kind of project for which online activity of one sort or another has been crucial. -I have sold a fair amount on the internet; for a small company and a penniless musician, the internet is crucial - *Given the inclusion of various western swingers, I'm wondering if you considered a wider representation of jazzyish countryish artsists - e.g. Jimmie Rodgers, Bill Monroe just before Flatt & Scruggs joined, Uncle Dave Macon and so on? And to complement the pianists, why not the likes of Jimmy Yancey or Little Brother Montgomery? -not a bad idea, though I did not feel that Yancey and Montgomery fit into the jazz stream very specifically; interesting that you mention early Monroe, because the pre-1945 Monroe is my favorite; I am going to use Muleskinner Blues on my rock and roll pre-history - as well as Jimmy Rogers (Let me Be Your Sidekick, a very Dylan-ish song) - *What has been the most surprising, unlikely or humourous response to the project? -nothing really stands out; I have been disappointed that nothing has appeared in the NY Times; both jazz critics have the set - I was happy to discover recently that Greil Marcus has spoken highly of my work - Anyway, thanks fot these - I, too, can get jaded at times after decades of listening, but these have put a skip in my step for sure. Looking forward to the rock 'n' roll book. -current plan is for me to self-publish the book (I've had quite a few turn-downs by publishers) along with a multi-cd set on the pre-history of rock and roll to be issued overseas. There is a new on-line service that makes it very easy to self-publish in a nice format, and which allows one to print only as many books as are sold. I am doing a final edit on the rock and roll history (1950-1970) and hope to get it out by next spring; of course, I'm not sure I'll be able to coordinate evcerything on time, but I just set up my mastering studio again, and hope to start plugging away soon at restoration of sources -

well, I never saw him in the gutter myself - maybe it was Chewy - you two guys look an awful lot alike -

Mobley was supposed to play at the Tin Palace in NYC at one point - as I heard, there were long lines but Mobley never showed - in one of Gerald Early's books he tells of lecturing a black co-worker on appreciating jazz as a part of African American heritage; a few weeks later the same co-worker comes in and says something like "hey, I just passed a representative of your great black heritage, Hank Mobley, lying in the gutter stoned."

she has a very mature "sound" which somewhat masks her lack of ideas - no great shame for a 14 year old, but it will be interesting to see how things develop - and I did find her singing supremely annoying - it re-enforces my idea for legislation banning scat singing - to paraphrase Groucho - I took some pictures of her recently - they're not developed yet - but I'll go back to see her in a few years -

possibly because so much had been amassed -

just a little too fast -

thanks, Grange, though I think some of this is getting a bit more personal than should probably be aired on the internet - for me it's a little like rubbing a scab, though that may be just the way it has to be for a while - got your email and would like to talk to Joanne, as I've long ago lost her phone - will email you privately to see if I can get it - as for me, will bow out here. thanks for everyone's comments and support; feel free, anyone, to email me at alowe@maine.rr.com for anything related to this (or anything else) -

we'll soon say mass...

hi Grange - email me at alowe@maine.rr.com

still here: Geoffrey Emerick - Here there and Everywhere, my Life Recording the Beatles soft cover, good shape. $6.50 plus shipping good book, fun read -

two of each left - is the bear Catholic?