Michael Weiss

Harry James band

I believe I was at that gig. August 10, 1981?

(courtesy of Mark Stryker) with Ray Santisi at Connolly's Stardust Room, Boston, December, 1962

2012

My first time playing at Bradley's (1988) was a week with George Coleman and Bob Cranshaw on Fender (no drums). Daunting to say the least.

What a sound.

This is the shit right here: Von Freeman, Pat Patrick, Andrew Hill, Malachi Favors and Wilbur Campbell.

I'll be leading a sextet at Smalls this Friday and Saturday. It will be interesting to see if this revenue sharing business is for real or if it's like spotify, where I receive $0.0006 per download. That's 6% of one penny. Anyone interested in trying it out, please tune in this weekend 10:30p-1:00a.

The Wilbur Ware Institute's annual fundraiser honored Bob Cranshaw this past weekend with a lifetime achievement award. (Last night Al Foster replaced Louis Hayes, who is recovering from a hip fracture.) Gloria Ware and Bob Cranshaw:

I assume you've consulted Gordon Lee.

The Mets, Royals and Bird Not without your typical Schaapisms - "It was Thursday, so Bird ate cornflakes at 10:39am," but still worthwhile, at the very least for any exposure of Pres and Bird to the masses...

Oh shit. Very sorry to hear this. Ray recommended me to Slide Hampton, with whom we did several gigs together over the years starting in 1983. We also did a week at Sweet Basil with Buddy Montgomery on vibes. Ray had a longstanding relationship with both Buddy and Slide, and of course Freddie Hubbard - all Naptown guys. He had a serious no-nonsense beat - like right up your ass.

"there's always a bastard in a bunch."

What a great era of graphic design. George Giusti My aunt was the art director of a children's book publisher. I remember losing myself for hours in her huge collection of Graphis magazines.

Fittingly, almost looks like Peter Boyle on the cover.

Sure

Happening right now.

I'd be pissed off either way. When the Japanese BNs hit J&R around 1979-1980 it was off to the races to snatch them up before they disappeared. Around $15 a piece IIRC back then! Quite a few were never issued stateside on LP including those Grant Greens, the Sonny Clarks, Hutch's Oblique.

And "Toy Tune" is missing from "The Collector."

"Everyone should man their stations."

Any residue of Griff's spirit that was left in that horn is long gone now.

Words fail me. Did he not call Johnny Griffin the Keith Richards of the saxophone?! This would be hilarious if it was real satire but I'm afraid it's not.

I was a late comer to "Our Thing" precisely because it was so hard to get that I got to know all the others so intimately and fell in love so deeply with "Inner Urge" and "In N Out" that even now, as great as "Our Thing" is, I prefer to stick with my first loves. I also still prefer "Free For All" to "Indestructible" (it ain't even close) and I think I'm right so no arguments. "Unity" was definitely a holy grail record -- I remember getting my first cassette tape copy c. 1985 and listening to it constantly for weeks on my Walkman (remember those?). I adore "Gettin' Around" -- in fact, just yesterday did the Twitter/Facebook, posting "Shiny Stockings" and saying of Dexter: "Now there's a cat who knows how to relax. Hutch, Barry, Bob and especially Billy in no hurry either. Coda: Michael Kocour and I once saw Dexter play 'Moment's Notice' in Chicago and Dexter was so far behind the beat that I swear the rhythm section lapped him at one point." But back to "Gettin' Around" -- yeah, "Heartaches"! That saucy vamp, The sly way Dexter sneaks in with that breathy attack on the melody and the hip way he phrases the tune with that incredible sound, and the way Hutch circles the tenor on the melody (that first vibes fill is so flirty and perfect). That whole record has such an incredibly relaxed feel, but I get why it's not as revered as the others. I mean, in a fire, I'm grabbing Our Man in Paris/Go/Swingin Affair but there's no other record that sounds like "Gettin' Around" and, well, that's what it's all about. . Dexter's solo on "Very Saxily Yours" is a masterpiece. A perfect solo.

I'm playing with a very good group tonight. No slouches here. Bruce Harris Sextet with Jerry Weldon, Frank Basile, Michael Weiss, David Wong, Joe Farnsworth. 10:30p - 1:00a

dawg you must actually have a copy of that by this point i bet... No I don't have it. But I do have a few short minutes on homemade super-8 film (with no sound). Need to get that transferred...