AllenLowe

or, "trying to understand Clementine's points is like dancing about architecture"

how about: "writing about music is like putting your ideas into print about sound"

well, Jim, I wouldn't say that a MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR artist who goes 30 years without making a decent record, who carries around mediocre sidemen usually unworthy of association with him, to be successful - yes, he's made a living, but so have I - and I ain't Sonny Rollins. And by PROJECT I mean recordings made with purpose and direction - like a serious writer writes a novel, like a serious filmmaker makes a film (Sonny should be our Antonioni) - these are all seriously lacking in Sonny for the last 3 decades -

why are they compaining about pops and crackles for on those CDs? That way they'll sound just like those old LPs -

and there ought to be some kind of legislation to outlaw that stupid little microphone he uses - as a matter of fact, I think I'll call my congressman today -

Reading Larry's last post, I'm thinking I shouldn't be too self-righteous about Rollins efforts these last thirty years. As a a parallel, there are certain writers who found the writing process torturous, and who consequently did not turn out a lot of work (thinking, eg, Isaac Babel) - what frustrates me about Rollins is his real lack of self-insight on this. On the other hand, thinking of Jim Hall's comparison of watching Sonny work to watching Picasso paint is illuminating - some people can turn 'em out, others cannot - but on the OTHER hand it would be nice if Sonny would say, at some point, enough PRODUCT - and let's just produce some PROJECTS -just my opinion, but my perspective is informed as a serious musician who has always had to work other jobs to live, and play/record music on the side. So when I see someone who has such absolute artistic/financial control over their career, and it seems as though they have squandered certain opportunities, it appears, to me, to be wasteful -

thanks for the mention - I 'm determined to get my '50s book finished, but time has been quite scarce this year - as for new books, I'm going to start a whole thread on this, but just received Larry Gushee's book on the Original Creole Band, and it's monumental - will post more in a few days as I advance further through it -

yes - babys, most of them - especially that generation - I hate to say this, but I think these "dilemmas" reflect a striking lack of life understanding, for want of a better phrase - a well know record producer once said to me that the only jazz musician that he'd ever met who was a "grownnup" was Al Cohn - and this guy really knew everybody. I think Rollins is a complicated guy, another of those geniuses whose personal immaturity is striking when compared to his artistic accomplishments - though, I might add, it caught up with him in these post-1970s years, when it just amplified and and complicated his own lack of direction - I know this sounds harsh, but I really feel this is true of Sonny.

a friend of mine used to play bass with Donaldson, and he's definitely a character - pictures himself as a showman, and may be a bit jaded these days - not to mention tired of touring -

Best clarinetist I ever heard was Art Pepper - in Boston at Paul's Mall, circa 1977 or 1978, somebody gave him a clarinet between sets. He took it on stage, announced that he hadn't played one in ten years, and blew the hell out of it - liquid tone, swinging, great ideas - wow -

who was playing bass with Donaldson?

well, nobody's perfect -

it actually may be a bit easier because of the bigger sound bore - probably takes less breath control - just like it's easier to get a sound on the tenor sax than the alto -

I like that idea - kind of a Sonny Rollins ghost band while he's still here - the Sonny Rollins trio without Sonny- Sonny Minus One - Sonnymoon for Us - I'm willing to do it as long as Sonny promises he won't sue -

well, he's kind to old ladies and small animals -

Well, I don't care if anybody else wants to post here, but Francis has had more shit dumped on him on this site recently than just about anybody else. But, in reality, Francis is 1) one of the best and most knowledgeable writers on music and culture in the US of A 2) A nice guy, approachable and open, unlike a lot of other critics in addition: 1) no animals were harmed in the publication of his latest book, and 2) the hell with Clementine

well, I'm not necessarily talking about recording situations - I've heard Sonny live maybe 15 times since the 1970s, certainly not a representative sampling, but enough to disappoint me regularly - sometimes when I read rave reviews of Sonny's concerts, they sound more like wishful thinking to me... I think a dose of William Parker, or someone like him, is exactly what Sonny needs. I don't really think that quoting Sonny on this resolves anything, as I think his judgement in these things has proven to be extremely poor over the last 30 years. What he really needs are some youngsters who have a true sense of song form and its various methods of extension. And no conga drums or whetever miscellaneous percussion they dump on him (or he dumps on himself) - and no more tiny microphone that makes it sound like he's playing into a tin can - just my opinion -

he actually did play it on a Verve in 1957 or 1958 I think - am I correct in this? If memory serves, it was on a date with Sweets Edison -

my impression is that every label, big or little, legit or not, trys to get away with whatever it can get away with it. My only "major" release was with Enja Records, who had a great reputation - well, I agreed to let them handle the Euro publishing, and I never saw a dime (I was paid domestically by Sesac, approx. $1500 dollars) - my feeling is, sh*t, some day I'll just reissue the stuff myself, as I feel morally in the right. I called Fantasy a while back because I've been trying to locate Al Haig's widow,and I figured, well, they must be dealing with his estate, as they have some releases in his name. No, they told me, they have no contact, and no one is being paid.

nah, the damn thing is a pain in the ass....tough embouchre, and the most annoying thing is that the identical fingering represents two different notes in different octaves - I always got lost playing it - my favorite clarinetist, however, is Lester Young -

still...I wish they had put Sonny, over the years, with players like William Parker or Jason Moran, or Mark Ribot, etc etc etc - than we mighta seen something besides bad fake-fusion tunes -

well, as long as he can sing...

wait - I haven't read your whole post yet, but before I do, let me ask: how come you don't mind the mistakes in Hard Bop but you mind the ones in Footprints?

I like the general, but the sound is always a problem - can't hear the dialog -

let's not forget, by the way, that Bacharach's Alfie is quite an amazingly written song - complicated but catchy -