BillF

I didn't know it personally, but my bassist friend Danny Padmore came from there and spoke a lot about the EmCee5.

Yes, Leeds/Bradford. Now, who did I see there? Leeds: Ellington, Hodges, Hubbard, Mance, Shearing, Red Mitchell, Rushing, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Memphis Slim, John Lee Hooker, Witherspoon, Cecil Payne, Lucky Thompson, Konitz, Griffin, Brotherhood of Breath, Polish Jazz Quartet, Lyttelton, Tubby Hayes, Harriott, Rendell, Kinsey, Ganley Bradford: Hines, Teagarden, Cozy Cole, Max Kaminsky, Buck Clayton, Emmett Berry, Dickie Wells, Earl Warren, Buddy Tate, Brubeck, Desmond, Joe Morello, Gillespie, Lightning Hopkins That should do for starters!

Was looking at a copy this afternoon at the home of Malcolm Frazer in Cheadle, Cheshire where we heard a fine local octet called Boplicity. Bill's book is a fine record of the great things that happened here, though leaving me wondering how the f--- did I miss Rollins!

Yes, the presence of a compelling soloist can produce some remarkable results in relatively minor players. I saw this happen at a Leeds University gig in about 1964 when student flugel player Terry Parkinson was moved to the heights by visiting altoist Joe Harriott shouting "Go! Go!".

Must have another listen to St Nick's. In my youth I wrote it off as just too awful soundwise for listening.

Got this one out fr the first time in a long time. Notice I had written "Bird superb; rec qual poor". I've never owned any Benedetti Parker, but heard that he always switched off when Bird was't playing. This seems to be happening here. Is this album from Benedetti material?

Now listening to:

This one seems to have passed me by. Now having a first listen. Welcome additional tracks by two long-admired Baker groups.

Yes, I recall elaborate notes in Italian on the back. Certainly a rarity in my collection.

Great reminiscences, Gheorghe!

About 60 years since I've known these tracks, but this is a very good compilation for getting reacquainted. Unlike the 1950 Bird and Diz session with "Oscar for Treadwell", "Mohawk" etc, I don't find Bird's compositions on the Schnapps date inspiring. I suppose "Blues for Alice" is the best of the bunch, though it's those wonderful changes that I really treasure. (I take it what we call "Blues for Alice" changes originated with this tune and hadn't been used before.) Coming back to the next session after many years, it's Walter Bishop's piano playing that really strikes me - such an improvement on the turgid John Lewis on the previous date. The group as a whole isn't too well integrated on Schnapps. I guess they weren't a working band, tho' I know of course of the partnership of Bird and Rodney. Finally we have the wonderful 1949 date with the Tommy Turk tracks omitted. Now there's a beautifully integrated working band which we know well from their live recordings!

Wonderful album, John!

What a good start!

Another desert island date which I first owned in about 1958 in this 10" format: and later in this: In the 70s I was to add this to the mix, on an Italian label and bought in Milan: I recall a musician friend (John Rubin, brother of Ron Rubin who played with Ronnie Scott) regretting in about 1960 that the Birth of the Cool sessions didn't swing like Shorty Rogers' "Didi"/"Popo" band: With a more up-to-date rhythm section there was no lack of swing in those arrangements:

Lovely stuff! And great photo of the sax section I hadn't seen before.

I only saw him once - I think in 1994 with his "big band" that included John Stubblefield, Billy Harper, Virgil Jones and (I think) Eddie Henderson. Liked most of all his work with Coltrane and his earliest leader albums.

I first owned the Prez Aladdins in the mid-60s on LPs that looked like this:

Some very interesting observations there, Gheorghe! And now, as I resolved in my last post, I'm moving to this. Another one for the desert island!

Following your lead, Gheorghe, I listened to this Savoy selection with the same title: First thing to catch my ear was the unmistakable sound of Argonne "Dense" Thornton (aka Sadik Hakim). (Dense is a very strange nickname: I take it you know it means "stupid" in English. ) It's unmistakable as it sounds so odd on the famous Parker "Ko Ko" studio session where piano duties were said to be shared between Thornton and Dizzy. I always assumed that on this early bop session Thornton hadn't figured out how to play a bop solo (and on the Dexter session of the same year he sounds the same, tho' with very competent comping), but in his Wikipedia entry Scott Yanow sees it as deliberate rather than incompetent, saying Hakim "had a particularly unusual boppish style in the '40s, playing dissonant lines, using repetition to build suspense, and certainly standing out from the many Bud Powell impressionists." Wikipedia also reminds me that he recorded with Lester in the 40s, which I think I recall from the Aladdin sessions. Must give them another listen. As I write this I'm listening to a later Hakim trio album which sounds far more conventional/competent:

Thank you Brad for rescuing me from the charge of ignorance! Hope I can recover something of my reputation by revealing that I saw Max Kaminsky play (tho I never saw Miles or Bechet - not even separately.) The date was 1957 and Kaminsky was touring with Hines,Teagarden, Cozy Cole and Jack Lesberg.