AllenLowe

I would have responded earlier, but everything on my computer marked Clem is blocked - actually, lately I have everyone on Organissimio on my ignore list, and it's great, I have whole blank pages of people who agree with me (mostly myself) - but all seriousness aside, Clem's ok, he is full of shi* but in an entertaining way. I'm also amused by ther fac that he told me how good my work was until I started to disagree with him -

the great thing about Randy is that he is a true post-modernist, in the same sense as someone like Jaki Byard - he has a complete and natural commmand of the history of the horn and the music, but never uses it self-consciously, just plays what he knows and, like Jaki, seems to know virtually everything -

Don is an absolutely great player in an "open" context - where's he's gone wrong, IMHO, is when he tries to play on standard changes, as he does on Ivey Divey - Don playing chord changes sounds, to my ears and IMHO again, as though he's working too hard, concentrating too much on just getting the right notes, as opposed to relaxing and blowing with any degree of relaxation and command -

well, we've got ghost bands - we might call these Corpse bands - (and I don't mean the Marines)

I agree, but emulation is a funny thing - let's not forget all the horn players who started shooting up because they thought it might help them get closer to Bird - at least the Clapton pedal doesn't require any needles -

might call the Four Freshman the 4 Seniors, now -

hey, I knew Al Haig and Curley Russell - if I can talk Roy Haynes into it, I can also re-form the Charlie Parker Quintet (gotta find a trumpet player; I'll ask Randy Sandke) -

maybe McCoy Tyner can tour with the John Coltrane Quartet, with himself and 3 strangers (I'd be willing to play sax if the money's ok, and I know a good washtub bassist) -

hm....and why would Lon have something to say?

boy, that does look bad -

I have a lot of the Ambassadors - early ones are extremely good, later ones they started to fu-k up with noise reduction - the early ones have almost no processing, which is good, IMHO - the earliest ones, anyway, are the most essential -

the Jaki Byard album has a duo on Memories of You that is, pure and simply, one of the greatest recorded performances in the history of jazz - but that's just my opinion -

but as Freud once said, "sometimes a trumpet is just a trumpet..."

well, Frank recorded with Sweets Edison, a great swing-era trumpeter - and Nance was a great swing-era trumpeter - so there we have our connection -

and you haven't lived 'till you've been punched out by Jilly Rizzo -

my new set is actually different than the American Pop set - this new set goes with my semi-released book on Jazz history 1900-1950 - on a different note I would be wary of all these collections coming out - there's so much bad info and mastering that I would want to sample them first -

"I think what Lon is saying is that he has trouble getting past that pose." well, this speaks to an old issue, as in "why can't the artist I admire be a nicer guy?" But just as Ben Webster abused women and Bill Evans was a complete and utter mess personally, such arguments are irrelevant to the actual accomplishments of the artist. The point is that, for many performers, the only place in their lives that is under control and personally focused is the form of creation - music, or painting, or novels, etc etc. Frank was a complicated guy but the thing that worked for him was the music -

well, if you can wait - the CD box that's supposed to accompany my book is supposed to be out by the Fall (though I can't swear by that) - will be 36 CDs covering 1900-1950.

I would just like to add something here - I love jazz bios but I wish people would write them who know how to write bios - most of what I read (notable exception - Mikes book on Gryce) - reads like undigested research - other exceptions: Szwed on Miles and Sun Ra - biography is a special skill and discipline, and few who write in the field of pop/jazz seem to possess those - (must also mention Chris Albertson and Bessie Smith!) -

I actually found the guitar album disappointing - like most rock guitarists Zappa relies on patterns and scales in lieu of actual improvisation, and it's a little tiresome -

if it doesn't violate any rules, and I can find the damn thing, I'd be happy to make a CDR - I'll look around this weekend -

find the Boulez-conducted LP/CD of Zappa's compositions, as well - I saw this band in their prime (ca. 1969) and they were astounding - precise and wild, a real rock and roll show, in spite of Zappa's protestations - I always thought, though he professed contempt for the rock and roll audience, that Zappa was, in reality, very deeply ensconced in that tradition, along with the blues - listen to his early guitar playing in a T-Bone Walker vain- when I saw them they were nothing short of amazing. The highlight was Zappa's introduction of Sam the Sham, who was in the audience; he brought him on stage where they did a letter-perfect version fo Wooly Bully - greatest band I ever saw, jazz or otherwise -

that's the one - thanks!

now if only I can find that Buddy Bolden cylinder at the next yard sale...

hey Jazzbo - we do agree on one thing - I love Nance's playing and consider him to be the most soulful jazz violinist who ever lived -