AllenLowe

little personal story - about 20 years ago or so my group (with Loren Schoenberg and Mel Lewis!) opened for Ray Charles at the Stanford (CT) Center for the Arts - I had a nice chance to hear the great man himself warming up - and I was surprised (but should not have been) at the way he warmed up - all jazz chords, classic voicings ala Nat Cole and/or Tad Dameron (a lot of very pretty inversions with the upper intervals on the bottom) - it was quite fascinating to listen to - and definitely another side of his playing -

you think you have problems? Try finding a left-handed piano -

hey Chris - if necessary, I'd be willing to take a crack at digital transfers of those tapes, to see if they can be re-eq'd or otherwise improved -

Proper is crap in every way - aside from the un-ethical concept of copying the Mosaic project, they screw up the sound all the time, too much noise reduction, audible digital distortion introduced by de-clicking - run, don't walk, from Proper -

I once aske Jaki Byard about Ellis - what he said is quite interesting (and this is a direct quote): "Great musician - ignored because he was white."

Different kind of noise: Bob Neloms told me that when he played a gig with the drummer Beaver Harris, Harris and the rest of the band played so loud that, when Bob was introduced after the first song, people looked up in surprise because they hadn't realised there was a piano -

I would look for the Jamal - I have heard only one cut from his Okeh stuff, and it is fascinating, very advanced in terms of voicings and space - I've never liked his later recordings, which, to me, seem to be formulaic and slick, but that early cut was full of possibilities -

just a mild dissent - great but a little bit formulaic, somewhat repetitive, as though Bud was rarin' to go but not really all there - but a must-listen -

Webster is a fasinating figure - I've always felt his playing reflects a strange and unresolved tension between the older style of playing and the new, and that he was never completely formed as a soloist before his early death -

Eric Dolphy, Stormy Weather solo with Mingus on Candid - a life-changing event for me-

I can't argue with that - and must admit I don't know Rouse's non-Monk work well -

as I said, I did not want to start a war - but I do think that Lacy was kind of paying Rouse a left-handed compliment. Now, in saying all this, I'm not denying that Rouse was a very good musician; but technical competence and creativity are often two very separate things. I'm not just saying that he wasn't Rollins or Coltrane, but that he was not a very intersting musician, to my way of hearing. Your own hearing may vary -

interesting, because if you read that Lacy quote closely about Rouse (in the Phoenix piece), he pretty much says EXACTLY what I said about Monk's preference for Rouse: "Sonny Rollins wasn't always available. Whereas Rouse stayed with him. " Sometimes you gotta read between the lines...

well, memory does play tricks, but I just remember there was some buzz in the audience, as Ware had sent in a substitute - I think - but this was 35 years ago - I heard Monk in person only threee times - the first time was at the Vanguard, and he was energetic and amazing. There was another time, somewhere I cannot recall, and he also excellent - the LAST time I saw him was a year or so later, 1970-71 perhaps - it was as part of the Schaefer Beer Central Park music series - maybe someone can check the dates - I believe he only had a trio, not certain, but I recall no horn - and he was practically catatonic, he barely played -

YES- That Bop Thing is one of the greatest McGhee dates -

she's hangin' with Elvis at the mall -

yeah, I was exaggerating, he's not the dullest in the Universe - but maybe the dullest of any tenor with a good reputation - it's just, to me, that in the midst of all this interesting music, he sounds so damn conventional, and not even as a usefoil foil to Monk - just conventional. As I said, I don't want to start a war here, but I get the feeling he was just the guy who showed up on time and knew the music. Interesting sidebar - I saw Monk at the Village Vanguard, circa 1969 or 1970, and he had Pat Patrick playing tenor - and I remember thinking, wow, this guy fits the music nicely. Of course I was a teen than, but that's how I recall it (I also recall that Monk kept introducing "WIlbur Ware on bass," when the bassist was clearly someone else - sorry I don't remember who) -

well, Mike, I know what you mean - but - and I feel like I'm on Jerry Springer, as I've never admitted this in public before - I cannot listen to Rouse. I find him to be the dullest horn player in the universe. There...I've said it - now someone hit me with a chair -

I haven't seen her -

I don't want to start a war here, but I cannot stand Rouse's playing - it is thin, shallow, and boring to my ears - I always prefer Monk in a trio, where he can completey shape the performance - to me Rouse is a classic journeyman performer, competent but uninspired -

funny McGhee story - I interviewed him in the late 1970s; he was standing with his wife (who was white) many years before, when Miles Davis wandered by; Miles points to her, says loudly: "Who's the white bitch?" Charming guy, that Miles...

actually, Mike and Chuck, it's all being issued on wire recordings -

true - but not only is Hawkins great but also Sir Charles -

how come there's no: She's Having My Baby; Puppy Love; River of Shit (the Fugs, and I know he's a big Fugs fan); Moose the Mooche; Hello I Must Be Going; Breaking Up Is Hard to Do; My Heart Belongs to Daddy; Poon Tang; Satisfaction -

pick up the Capitols with Hawkins and Sir Charles Thompson - a fascinating look at the music JUST BEFORE bebop - when McGhee still was more Eldridge-ish -