AllenLowe

I do recall that; yes, what goes around...... next episode of Ripper: Lead Suspect; Bill Crosby

haven't seen the new Joe Albany; avoiding it for personal reasons, but I hear it's pretty good.

Boyce Brown. Would be way more interesting because there are so few preconceptions and stereotypes. No Hollywood Mr. Cool and no Hollywood Angry Black Man.

that, btw, is not the Jim Andrews who was the source for some interesting Xanadu releases (the Jim Andrews I am thinking of provided the source tapes, I think, for the Tal Farlow/Eddie Costa, maybe the Art Pepper) is it?

there's a local guy in Portland Maine who will gladly give you 25 cents per record; which is why I don't sell records in Portland. on the other hand the most honest guy in the business that I know is Stereo Jack. As a matter of fact my wife has instructions that if I should disappear and she wants to know what to do with my LPs, to call Jack. Assuming they weren't the ones who caused me to disappear.....

or as Evans told his wife, "if Evan ever sits down at a piano, put a golf club in his hand." at this late stage he was not happy in the music business, though a lot of it was classic depression, I think, mixed in with narcissistic tendencies; exacerbated (self medicated?) by drug abuse. He was also fond of playing, during his sets, the MASH theme: Suicide is Painless.

I don't know if Larry remembers, but there is that film of Evans being interviewed by his brother; at one point Evans says, rather disdainfully, something to the effect that he does not like glib piano playing - and then plays something as though illustrating the negative; and the thing he plays is incredibly intense and maybe more effective than his more typical playing. We talked about that in some thread here at one time. It's a very telling illustration. on the other hand, let us not forget that Evans thought Oscar Peterson was a great pianist. Without getting into the area of judgement, this is still VERY surprising to me.

did I miss something? Did someone here compare any of these players to a cocktail pianist? What post?

just re a prior thing, I always assume Al Haig was an influence on just about all post-bop pianists; but, in the one very long conversation I had with Evans, he was adamant about Haig NOT being an influence. And it is true that the earlier Evans was closer to Tristano. I also hear, in some of the things he did with Cannonbal, a Nat Cole influence (which I did not ask about).

1) I like the vanguard Sessions a lot; my favorite Evans is still the '56 OJC, the live sessions with Tony Scott, the George Russell (especially the interchanges with Bley); also the half note with Marsh/Konitz. 2) Philly Joe was Evans' favorite drummer, but too unreliable; I got that right from the horse's mouth, as the saying goes 3) The difference between the Miles Davis Sextet and the Miles Davis Quintet was, at last count, one musician. 4) Duke Jordan told me he and Evans used to do duets. The mind boggles, wish someone had recorded. 4) in the end, Bud Powell is God. There is no God before him (or after him).

there is something here I did not know before - Monk gave Miles haircuts: "and what it was like to see his father help groom Davis" wonder if they hosed him down first.

as we head toward Xmas and I despair at how hard is to get anyone to review anything these days if it doesn't produce ad revenue, I reprint for you the following comments that John Szwed sent me after listening to our 4 CD set, Mulatto Radio: "Allen Lowe is a genius! His work is always full of wonder, the excitement of discovery, and humor. I'm amazed by the energy and intelligence it takes to do this quantity of work at this level while on the margins of media and music. Yes, I know that the best work has always been done at the margins, by the so-called underground - Poe, Whitman, Monk, Harvey Pekar, Herbie Nichols, James Joyce, Sun Ra - but it's still a surprise and a revelation whenever you find it." - John Szwed buy it for Christmas; $28.50 shipped USA, $40 to Europe. with Kalaparusha, Randy Sandke, Ken Peplowski, Matt Shipp, JD Allen, Jon-Erik Kellso, Noah Preminger, and many many more. my paypal is alowe5@maine.rr.com

Jim is basically right, and maybe my choice of words was inaccurate - what I look for is not imprecision so much as a way of breathing the music - once again, inexact terminology. In a way this describes the difference between early black and white big bands; the black bands were together but sounded so much looser. With the occassional divergence, but they always swung with unity, I like the sense that the music is always on the verge of coming apart, though that's far from the only criteria. But that sense of deep unity - Ellington, Basie, Lunceford, Gil Evans/Thornhill - is different than the kind of unity I hear in post-60s big groups. It may be generational, a way of hearing. It may be the jazz education movement. I don't know. btw, I love that Kenton London concert.

agreed on all; I also like Breuker.

I gotta admit I find it harder and harder to listen to post-1960s big bands with the exception of Julius Hemphill's one large-group CD, the occasional Mingus thing, and some Gil Evans. There is too much precision in all of these, even when well written. Though I have the feeling that I am the only one who is bothered by this.

I would recommend, before this, the Columbia solo Monk.

not crazy about the big band things; I always thought Overton's arrangements were strangely conventional and failed to capture the essence of Monk - which is to me a wonderful looseness and imprecision superimposed on very clearly defined forms; I also find Woods' ideas great but he is starting to head into that stage of his career where slickness of execution overwhelms the feeling in his playing. and Rouse I can't stand, but that's another thread. But Monk is in great shape in these years.

this makes me think of that old comedy record, maybe British, in which a jazz group plays and the speaker introduces the band, who are all, IIRC, dictators, on the various instruments. Anybody else remember this?

all my CD proceeds go to my favorite charity - me.

I understand, sorry, the email I was referring to was one I sent to the writers of the book, not Amazon. I should have made that clearer. There is some ambiguity here; I don't believe there should be a law against posting his review, or that he or they should not be entitied to express a public opinion, but I do think it should not be there, as a matter of good judgement. If it were my project I would delete it post haste. look, I don't even agree with the Sex Offender lists, for complicated reasons that would be a whole other topic. and as I pointed out elsewhere, in my email to Noal I was polite and not self righteous, because I correctly assumed he was unaware of the situation. But his response surprised me.

sonny max - I never contact Amazon, only Noel Cohen. As I hope anyone would contact me in a similar situation. Nothing in the preceding indicates that anyone contacted a third party. And yes, I started a thread here; why does anyone start a thread? Because it is of interest. but if I get your point, there's no problem with the association between Barton and the book and/or it's none of my business anyway; so why do YOU have a problem in renewing the association between Barton and this forum? And if so why is it any of YOUR business whether or not I open up a thread? Because like a lot of people I have encountered on this forum, rather than deal with an actual question or issue you would rather question the motivations of the questioner. and to say "let's be honest" - as though I have not ALREADY been honest; as I said: "f it were my product I would take the quote down." The point that I am speaking to is personal judgment, not a need for legislative relief. is called an open discussion of issues that we, as human beings, grapple with. It's called a FORUM.

she switches to alto. On which I like her much better. these guys can play; they just need some shape. to me it evokes the old Martin Williams complaint of a soloist who "plays at playing a solo," rather than actually playing one. But I have to acknowledge that I am taking a real minority position here.

Dan - I am not saying "should or should not"; personally, if it were my product I would take the quote down. Not because he is not entitled to free speech; I just would not want the association. His particular crimes weren't like parking tickets or speeding violations or even manslaughter or 2nd degree murder; they were among the most vile that anyone can commit (as I said, it wasn't just a matter of looking at the stuff, which is bad enough, but of being involved in a ring which coerced children into participating). I can think of no greater crime, and I just would not want to be associated in any way with anyone who had committed it. but you are right, there is a freedom of choice here. They are entitled to keep the quote where it is.

it's funny, because Noel Cohen, to whom I emailed a warning about this (because I would want to know if one of my projects was endorsed publicly by someone of this nature) is now annoyed at me and thinks I am crazy to think they should be worried about this because it's not their fault if someone who liked the book did something like this. oh well, I tried.....

Larry - I thought there was a lot of first hand, and so interesting and apparently reliable, testimony from contemporaries of Twardzik, interesting stuff from band members, girlfriends, family. Things from Herb Pomeroy, about Madame Chaloff, his father (who was a terrific artist). But I will re-read that link.