AllenLowe

Al Haig used to work with him when he went to England - ALSO - if you recall the not-very-good PBS blues series that Scorcese directed; the one on British blues, with Jeff Beck, Tom Jones, et al; Peter King was the alto player in that -

thanks everyone - should arrive tonight, and will be rushed to the post office -

3 over 4 -

the only other one I have is Parties - but he actually wrote a few more -

don't forget Kid Ory's Sunshine recordings - 1922 - also Mutt Carey, Jimmy Noone and other New Orleans guys were recording there - also a fair amount of Western Swing, as a result of the migration of country players -

sorta like the Vienna boys choir -

well, I've always thought the jazz-as-democracy bit was complete bullshit - ask Wynton who makes the decisions in his band (or at Lincoln Center). And who gets leader pay. And anytime I see convoluted discussions of The American Myth I head for the door, as it usually means second-hand rationalization and layers of fog between the actual figure portrayed and his actions/reality. Reminds me of when I was in college, ca. 1971 and had a big argument with Neal Gabler (same guy who now writes books on various film-related subjects; was than film critic for the Michigan Daily at the U. of Michigan); Gabler had decided that Dirty Harry was a film masterpiece because of its portrayal of the American Myth. I though it was an ok, proto-fascist cop film. Crouch is a smart guy and I have read pieces of his with remarkable insight - as matter of fact, the BEST thing I have ever read that he wrote was for The New Republic on the movie Bird. I think they must have actually edited his crap because it was coherent, well-reasoned, and without his usual awkward and strained (maybe I should say stained) metaphors. The Bird book will be crap as long as he interprets, likely, but it may be valuable for the research he has done and the people he has intereviewed. It might be better presented a source book; with the Crouch ego, however, it will likely be much more (and less) than that. But I hate this "myth" thing that some cultural writers do; it's as tired as the use of metaphor in fiction -

short paper, so he may not want all this - but I would concur - especially the James Weldon Johnson autobiography; there are actually 2 novels that Van Vechten wrote - though somewhat maligned, he's a faxcinating and important guy. Also, Hurston, and I love Langston Hughes; also, if you can find anything, the poet Sterling Brown.

here it is: My Soul's High Song; the Collected Writings of Countee Cullen, Voice of the Harlem Renaissance. É Gerald Early, ed. (1991) Doubleday.) Early's intro about the Harlem Renaissance as more insight than about 50 other academic articles of read. It is essential -

I am no Crouch fan, but yes, it is true, I have seen a little of the research and have spoken to people who have read the notes - he interviewed important people, made important discoveries - the problem is whether he can sublimate his own ego suffciently to let the material speak for itself. We will have to wait and see -

the absolute best thing I've ever read on the Harlem Renaissance is Gerald Early's introduction to a book on Countee Cullen - I'm not sure if I can locate it but I will try to get you a citation -

ah, leave me alone - just kidding really - and I guess there are a few from 1951 - one critic complained that I call it 1900-1950 in the book, but that there is coverage from before and after that date. True; but I think of it like Henry Threadgill's groups, where he calls it a sextet and there are 7 (or something like that); l also think of some of the old vocal quartets that had 5 members. This was a hard project, did it myself, writing and mastering for 5 years without assistance (financial or otherwise except a few people who send me dubs of 78s), so I always worried about errors; fortunately not a lot have been found. HOWEVER - the Charlie Christian comes from a "live" cut, pre-Goodman - so the date may still be wrong, but I'm not sure if it's the same one you re thinking of - I'll have to look at the LP from which I got it -

thanks for doing that -

price will stay the same, don't worry (unless the Bush administration does something really crazy and disrupts the international monetary system) -

the final 2 boxes, 18 CDs in total, will arrive on Monday 12/18 - completing the project, covering until the year 1950 (actually there's one cut from 1951) - I don't know if we can make it in time for xmas, but any orders I get this weekend will be shipped out Monday night first class - let me know if you want it, use Paypal (my paypal address is alowe@maine.rr.com) and I will make sure everything is ready and packed to go. I'm happy to do checks and money orders, and am willing to do the honor system if you're really desperate, on your assurance that "the check (or m.o.) is in the mail" - I can offer each new volume for $45 shipped; both for $85 shipped - shoot me an email at alowe@maine.rr.com

just to add - Davies was a great engineer and did some terrific work - however, some of his stuff does sound a little dead on the high end, but it has nothing to do with digital - this is because for a long time he transferred everything to open-reel tape at a speed of 7.5 IPS; he did this in order to scrape away at the tape to elimiate pops and clicks. Though this was an ingenious method, it often resulted in a deadening of the high end - even an old recording, put at a tape speed like 7.5, will suffer loss of high-end signal. And those Hoffman guys don't know it, but he did use CEDAR a lot in his last years; I have this info from a US mastering engineer who knew him well.

Davies did not use No Noise - just Cedar on occassion, and he did not do any de-hissing - just take those Retrievals and boost the treble on your system (or use a good EQ) and all the highs will return -

sold - did I say $15? Sorry, left out out a zero -

this came up recently, someone mentioned the availability of this CD, and I realized I have a sealed copy, one of those Japanese mini LP/CDs - will sell, shipped, conus, for $15 - prefer paypal, my paypal address is alowe@maine.rr.com email me at the same address -

boy, this is depressing - and I'm not feeling so well myself -

so NOW he doesn't post - when he's the subject -

well, I can't get an answer so I will assume we are referring to a third possibility - old bop big-band records hardened by manufacture and time. For that Dimitry will have to turn to 78s which, though breakable, are made of a much harder substance than either LPs or CDs.

I thought it meant he was recording WHILE he was ill -

close to it - I started by writing the notes myself, and they went on...and on... 12 pages in all. Also located an old High School picture of myself playing sax onstage alongside Elliot Easton (than called Elliot Steinberg) - Elliot, who was a friend but who has, post-fame, been stand-offish, will now appear as a photo among the notes - I thought about using it on the cover, but decided I don't have time for the law suit. All seriousness aside, I think the CD will have some interesting reactions, particularly up here in Maine where the local bookers of the "hip" performance space won't hire me basically because I am over 35 -

now, the kid that Woody named Bechet - is that the one he's sleeping with?