Michael Weiss

"Most personal" might be measured by total creative output by one man - compositionally and improvised. Atlantis, Phantom Navigator, Joy Ryder and High Life in particular, definitely fit this criteria down to the smallest detail. As I've posted elsewhere, these recordings have had a huge influence on my writing. I've been on the soapbox for a while about how, IMO, a greater proportion of composition in the mix is crucial for jazz to move forward. At last year's JazzImprov convention I gave a clinic titled, Get More Out of Your Tunes: Transform Your Songs Into Full-fledged Compositions. At my 2004 IAJE Conference clinic, A Treaure-Trove of Innovation: The Pen of Wayne Shorter - A Survey of the Past Twenty Years, I analyzed several excerpts from Wayne's scores of "Face on the Barroom Floor," "On the Eve of Departure," "Remote Control," "Pandora Awakened," "High Life" and others. When attendees saw the level of detail in the scores they didn't care about the synths and drum machines anymore! I've presented this clinic at a couple of schools, IU and W.Paterson, but you'd be surprised how little interest there is. Earlier Topics on pretty much the same subject: Wayne Shorter in the 80s, what do people think? Wayne Shorter Compositions It's really amazing how Wayne keeps turning his music on its head. The scores are still just as detailed, but they jump around or sit still on any given bar. But you're correct in terms of how he chooses to break down the roles of soloist and accompanist. It's being passed around all the time.

Happy Birthday Paul..When you get home after knocking back all those margaritas you should listen to this from beginning to end and make yourself play along with it!

LD was on WFAN last night with Tony Paige. Hopefully it will be added to their podcast download page soon.

Opus 65, but, hell yeah! How did you come upon this? I've had this LP since the early 80s. Don't know if it was ever reissued. Your mention of Op. 65 brought me a chuckle. I won $50 in my high school's piano competition for Op. 65 #3.

From someone who was there, it was a great concert and Robertson gave a wonderful pre-concert talk which I'm sure helped many concertgoers' appreciation of the music. In addition to Tommasini, millions more music lovers around the world hold Turangalila high on their lists as well. Personally, I like Esa-Pekka Salonen's recording best. I don't understand the snarky attitude. Apparently you seem really perturbed that others should enjoy music you don't.

This Wednesday night: http://www.centerforinquiry.net/nyc/events...eason_feb_2008/

From someone who plays, lives and breathes this music, I highly recommend Karol Szymanowski's Masques, Metopes, Mazurkas, 3rd Piano Sonata, and Etudes, op. 33, among other works. Recordings by Marc Andre Hamelin on Hyperion and Pietr Andreszewski (Virgin Classics) AND Samuil Feinberg's sonatas, especially #2 through #9 (out of 12) Recorded (many exclusively) by Christophe Sirodeau, and Nikolaos Samaltanos on these two volumes In terms of harmonic, rhythmic and melodic complexity -- I used to say if Chopin is (for comparison purposes only!, the classical equivalent of) Bird, then Scriabin is Trane. Now I say if Scriabin is Bird, then Szymanowski and Feinberg are Trane. I also highly recommend Jenny Lin's "Preludes To a Revolution" on Hanssler

My favorite is Michael Rudy, Op. 62 through 74, on Calliope

H) Stick around for the next week's band at the Vanguard

Tonight at Carnegie Hall: St. Louis Symphony, David Robertson conducting Messiaen: Turangalila Symphonie

Thanks for the well wishes everybody! After six straight nights at the Vanguard with the big band, I thought Sunday would be a quiet evening dining out with the mrs. but was called back into service for another night, which was recorded live. Thanks Chris for the artwork! I'll have my quintet at Music Hall in Detroit, May 23-24. Maybe see you guys there?

The Captain Walter Dyett of his day. My school competed with Kashmere in the mid 70s in Brownwood, TX. A great opportunity to hear what a great HS band can sound like.

A Love Supreme (okay, it's not a song...)

I've got an original LP of the Riverside date - Lenny McBrowne and the Four Souls: Eastern Lights with liner notes by Chris Albertson

Howard said that he and Hank would often sit together in Slug's listening to different bands. Cedar recently told me about a night at Slugs he worked with KD and Hank, where because of some beef, Hank and KD refused to play together the whole night. Shifting the topic away from Hank for the moment ------ I played for most of last Friday night's benefit for George Cables, and started off playing with Louis Hayes, Rufus Reid and Sonny Fortune. On the break I was playing a number of Horace tunes for Louis (Blowing the Blues Away was my first jazz record) and Howard overheard me, so he told me this story: When Howard was out of the service he visited a friend who was rooming in Tony Williams' family's house. This was 1959, when Tony was 14. Howard accompanied Tony to a gig that Alan Dawson was on with the Neves brothers. Alan had Tony sit in on drums so Alan could play vibes. They played Horace's "Baghdad Blues" which must have just come out – dig the impact Horace's writing had at the time. Tony knew the tune inside out, setting up the hit on 4 on the fourth bar several measures ahead!

Last night, Howard Johnson was telling me that Duke Pearson was trying to discourage Hank from having the tuba double those wide interval bass lines.

Just saw Earl at a New Years day party - as in four days ago. He seemed totally fine. WTF?

Hi Valerie, Can you recall the tunes they played? I'm very curious. Wayne's arrangements of older tunes (Children of the Night, Serenata, Orbits, Angola, etc..) are as intricate, fleshed out and exciting as his new material.

Lou Donaldson and Conrad Herwig are both serious.

Griff told me their group added about seven new tunes to their repertoire each week. First Griff and Jaws would get the arrangements together by themselves then they'd rehearse with the rhythm section. Griff often had difficulty learning his notes from Jaws because they weren't notes - just sounds!

I practice a lot of classical music at home - Scriabin, Feinberg, Messiaen, Szymanowski, Alexandrov - all music with the kind of harmonies, melodies and rhythms a jazz musician can salivate over. But every time I've thought about arranging one of these pieces for my group, the idea doesn't sit well, kind of like heartburn; the original always sounds so much better in its own context. So it was with no small degree of satisfaction to finally be able to conceptualize an arrangement of a Roslavets prelude for my group (Largo, 1915) which we'll record next year. Here's a short sample (of the original) from here: I used to play a nice arrangement of Scriabin's prelude for left hand alone (Op. 9) with Art Farmer. I think it was arranged by Fritz Pauer.

Can't remember if this was posted before with Kenny Washington and Dennis Irwin October, 1985 The Angry Squire, NYC I have cassettes of this gig somewhere.

Kind of embarrassing that it took the Times 9 days after his death for the obit. I was wondering if it was going to come out at all.

Here's another: