BillF

Stan Levey, This Time the Drum's On Me (Bethlehem) With Conte Candoli, Dexter Gordon, Frank Rosolino and Leroy Vinnegar in 1955. Charlie Rouse/Paul Quinichette, The Chase Is On (Bethlehem) With Wynton Kelly, Hank Jones, Freddie Green, Wendell Marshall and Ed Thigpen in 1958.

Thanks for the recommendation, MG. I must search round for that.

I think it's because Miles had already recorded a different tune called "Milestones". But I think (I'm not sure) that on the original Lp release it was called "milestones". Yes, "Milestones" was one of four tracks recorded in 1947 by what was essentially the Parker quintet, but with Miles as leader (his first leader date) and Bird on (marvelous) tenor.

Listening to it now. Tremendous stuff!

there are some copies of this on ebay, mostly vinyl but also a pricey copy of a 1985 cd... http://cgi.ebay.com/A-Message-From-Newport...1QQcmdZViewItem Thanks for the info, Niko! another boring day at work... Retired. Hooray!

there are some copies of this on ebay, mostly vinyl but also a pricey copy of a 1985 cd... http://cgi.ebay.com/A-Message-From-Newport...1QQcmdZViewItem Thanks for the info, Niko!

The similarly-titled A Message from Newport has been for me an elusive Ferguson album. I've heard tracks from it on jazz radio shows, but have never owned, or even seen, a copy. Has it ever been issued on CD? Anyone own it? How does it compare with the following year's A Message From Birdland?

Such a record of its time in so many ways - right down to that fifties modernist chair Miles is sitting on in the cover photo!

I remember my reaction to Milestones when I first heard it in about 1959. Being used to Bird-style saxophone, I just couldn't take Coltrane's "sheets of sound" (and Adderley was emulating them to a certain extent, too). "Why does Miles surround himself with these guys?" I asked! Fortunately, within weeks the new sound had "clicked" with me and the album was soon in my collection, where it still gets regular airings. The popularity of this music in those days can be judged by the fact that "Straight No Chaser" from the album could be played on a jukebox at my university in about 1962.

Yes, I think "John Brown's Body" is the best track - surprisingly, as I wouldn't have expected it to be promising material!

These are the two Ammons/Stitt albums I have - and both wonderful! But what should I get next? Recommendations?

Count Basie, Kansas City Suite (Vogue/Roulette) First heard this last week on an archived radio show by the late Oscar Treadwell at www.oscartreadwell.com. Amazon.uk was offering used copies from £55, but I got it for 10 euros via the French priceminister site, which Niko recommended! Thanks, Niko!

WVCD116 by Spillett is also excellent. Recently I arrived very early for a Simon Spillett gig. The only people there were the gig organiser and Simon, doing warm-up practice. The proprietor said he was sorry the bar wasn't open yet, but I said not to worry as listening to Simon was better. When his partner arrived, Simon told her, "There's a guy there who says my playing is better than alcohol"!

Newport Rebels (Candid) A real curiosity! Superlative musicians from different eras united by participation in an alternative festival at Newport in 1960. Features Charles Mingus, Max Roach, Eric Dolphy, Roy Eldridge and Jo Jones. Performances of Eldridge and Dolphy (together!) particularly noteworthy.

Gerry Mulligan/Shorty Rogers, Modern Sounds (Capitol) Features a ten-piece group led by Mulligan in 1951 and a Rogers octet from 1953, both clearly influenced by the Miles Davis nonet. Both landmark sessions with arrangements by the leaders and including sidemen of the calibre of Chet Baker, Bud Shank and Chico Hamilton (Mulligan group) and Art Pepper, Hampton Hawes and Shelly Manne (Rogers group).

The Marty Paich composition "Lonely Time", which here features Willie Maiden, was recorded by a previous Ferguson orchestra on Live at Peacock Lane three years earlier as "Velvet" with Richie Kamuca taking the solo. Both are 13-piece bands, with identical instrumentation, but the only survivor from the Peacock Lane band who's still there at Birdland is Willie Maiden, apart, of course, from Maynard!

Art Pepper + Eleven, Modern Jazz Classics (Contemporary) Marty Paich arrangements with Art the featured soloist on alto, tenor and clarinet in 1959. Another triumph for Contemporary Records!

The U.K. equivalent, V.A.T. (Value Added Tax) stands at 17.5%!

Art Pepper, Smack Up (Contemporary) With Jack Sheldon, Pete Jolly, Jimmy Bond and Frank Butler in 1960, shortly before Art's long disappearance and showing awareness of new developments in jazz. A classic album!

Art Pepper, The Way It Was! (Boplicity/Contemporary) Includes three tracks by a 1956 quintet with Warne Marsh and Britain's own Tristano-ite Ronnie Ball on piano.

The Gerry Mulligan Quartet,What Is There To Say? (Philips) With Art Farmer, Bill Crow and Dave Bailey in 1958-59.

This is turning out to be interesting, and sometimes entertaining, reading. This anecdote appeals to me: Dave Brubeck's sons, Darius (aged 11) and Michael (10), accompanied him on a 1958 tour that included Poland and Germany. In Stettin a promoter decided to take advantage of the musical family and sent the boys onstage to play, although they had never performed publicly with their father. With Michael on drums, Darius on piano began to improvise right away, until Brubeck whispered, "Play the melody, stupid!" The next day, a German newspaper carried the headline:"Spiel die Melodie, Dummkopf!"

The Gerry Mulligan Songbook Vol 1 Featuring Gerry Mulligan and the Sax Section (World Pacific, Japanese re-issue) With Zoot Sims, Al Cohn, Lee Konitz, Allen Eager, Freddie Green, Henry Grimes and Dave Bailey in 1957. Wonderful session - not surprising when you see who's on it!

I'm afraid the answer lies in the origins of slave owners and the naming of emancipated slaves. I went to a Max Roach gig in the late sixties when he harangued the English audience, making just this point about the English surnames of his musicians (Tolliver, Pope, Cowell and Merritt).