AllenLowe

I think he means Alfred E Neumann -

it's yours for $20 plus shipping. CDs are in near mint condition, nice booklet. paypal preferred; my paypal address is alowe@maine.rr.com email me at alowe@maine.rr.com

slightly off topic, but if you haven't seen it, vis a ve Larry's mention of Lenny Bruce, the Lenny Bruce Performance Film is now available on DVD and it is indispensible - about one hour long, recorded at the Basin Street West about a year, I think, before he died, and he is brilliant. It is the best thing of its kind available, shows what made Bruce so amazing, and it belies reports that in his last years he became, by obsessing about his court cases on stage, a bore and unfunny - he's quite hilarious in it, in a very smart way -

reminds me of years ago, when Bill Barron died - there was a tribute concert at Wesleyan - I'm playing tenor and there's a bunch of guys on stage, and one says to me, "we're going to play a blues in B for Bill;" well, I'm playing tenor, so I start to play in Db, since that where it should put me, and everything's all screwy - turns out they were actually playing in A because the other tenor players were afraid of Db, and wanted A concert, of course, since this put THEM in B - lazy asses - and it was mostly guys from Hartford who I couldn't stand anyway, so this gave me another reason to hate 'em - also one night I'm at a jam session in New Haven and the piano player starts playing C Jam Blues. Well, once again I'm on tenor so I start to play in D - and the schmuck is playing in Bb because all the other tenors are too lazy to do any other key - I suggested they change the name of the tune, which didn't make me popular - sorry to digress, Mike -

you don't have one of those Irving Berlin pianos, do you?

the Bird with Strings example is a good one - an ideologue might interpet it in strictly economic terms - and yet Bird was very anxious to do the dates, he thought it was good for him professionally and musically. And Frank Brief, a violinist who was on one of the dates, has told me that Bird was happy to be there, completely professional and musically serious about the session. So things are never quite so simple as a politically-oriented critic might think. On the other hand, understanding the context within which these sessions were recorded is interesting and relevant, and helps us understand the music business as well as the times that these were recorded. Which has an impact on the musical results, no doubt. So Dan is missing something by not considering this, I think.

actually, I think Hammond is just giving his butt an affectionate squeeze - but, all seriousness aside, I'm glad you posted that passage from Bluesland (which I own and have read - but one can never get too much Lonnie Johnson) - Johnson is amazing - when I was researching my book American Pop I w was absolutely amazed to hear some of his 1920s recordings, which are, basically, the first modern blues recordings - free flowing lines, long, smooth phrases - basically, taking Blind Lemon Jefferson to the next stage - everyone should hear them - to use a somewhat awkward analogy, Lonnie Johnson is the Louis Armstrong of the blues world.

well, all Marxist critics are not the same, nor are they equal in terms of quality of language, analyses, historical understanding. While I am generally wary of people who approach criticism from a particular political point of view, the counter argument is that we all bring our politics, social background, personal attitudes and prejudices into our judgements. And while this is true, ideology does tend to breed a certain schematic approach. However, it's a mistake, I think, to tar everyone with the same brush. At the very least, a good Marxist critic brings to the table that which a good deal of criticism lacks - historical knowledge, a systematic approach to understanding art and history, an ability to analyze things in a wider context. These are things we should value, and that are sorely lacking in most jazz (read: music, arts, theater, etc) criticism. The other side of the coin however, in my experience, is that most politically oriented critics that I have known or read tend to do things a bit differently from the way I would. Though I will get plenty of argument about this from many people, I believe that, ultimately, every art form CAN be viewed and understood outside of social context - which is not to say that such context does not enrich our understanding or even our ability to make aesthetic judgements. It's just that the music is the music, and should be viewed (and here I am citing my old prof Richard Gilman) not simply (or even) as a reflection of history but as an alternative to that histroy, as an alternative reality to the prevailing "reality."

where on the site are you finding the Lester Young concert, and the picture of Bird on tenor?

well, when it comes to the guitar, I'm down about a quartal -

sweetened or unsweetened?

isn't he a Marxist? Or am I confusing him with someone else? If so, just goes to show how ideology bends reality -

I've never heard Paul Bley play a boogie riff - I think Watson was getting some cross talk on his radio or tape recorder - probably from Meade Lux Lewis -

hey, I can be just as incoherent as you guys -

thanks for the cite -

don't forget 6 & 8 - they're kinda like listening to Beethoven's 10th -

just found it on the internet - Bill Miller on piano, CD is called "After Hours With Bill Miller at the Piano," Sinatra with piano, bass, and drums.

my favorite Sinatra recordings are the transcriptions with small group- piano, bass, and guitar, as I recall, don't have the CD in front of me now - he does a very slow version of "Just One of those Things, " which is very refereshing, given how jazz people always play it fast - an absolutely perfect performance - I also like his later version of "How Deep is the Ocean." With strings, very slow and still. So I'm with Jim on a lot of this, though there are plenty of rhythm tunes by him that I like -

the Sweatman band is one of the major under-appreciated units, IMHO. Not just "peppy" but musically driving in a real, early jazz, way.

I think Sinatra could swing as long as he wasn't really trying to - meaning, on performances where he was trying to be "jazzy" he tended to sound just the opposite - but hear him just sing without pretence and he has his own definition of swing - great time, phrasing - another way of doing it -

that's ok - I hate Phil Woods too, now, but he was playing nicely in the 1950s -

well, I liked Frank, but Jilly Rizzo was the real king -

funny you should ask - Whitehead has a copy and, I was told, likes it very much - now, I also happen to know that Kevin doesn't like ME very much (it's an old grudge) - of course, journalistic objectivity would take precedence - both Ben Ratliff and Nate Chinen have been mailed sets, but I'm not aware that either has reviewed it -

consumer alert - all orders received by June 30 have gone out, and only three (dating from the last few days) after that remain to be shipped - I'm posting this to head off attorney general investigations, as I've had one pissy email from a member who shall remain namesless, 'cause I don't blame him for being annoyed, as I was a bit late on shipping some of these - and he IS a lawyer (or at least he works for a law firm), so I probably pissed off the wrong guy - I have been slow in responding to emails and I apologize for this, as I'm overwhelmed with life at the moment, working a new job, dealing with kids on summer vacation, taking a vacation myself, actually practicing every day, trying to finish up a new book, and trying to do a complicated recording project (I'm doing a session in a few weeks with Erin McKeown, a very interesting Indy-rocker). The other orders will go out today and tomorrow (as well as that missing booklet, Garth). I'm also busily preparing my boxed-set info-mercial, so am gathering testimonials about how these sets changed your life and enhanced your male members (please email my privates - I mean, please email me privately - about this) -

her last words - "would you like fries with that?"