Royal Oak

This collection contained a LOT of live recordings (private pressings or bootlegs, I don't know) which I guess would mainly appeal to superfans - Stan Kenton "stans" if you will. Alas, if such a person exists, they weren't looking on Ebay at the time.

Last year I bought an unseen collection of jazz LPs very cheaply on Ebay, whereupon I found myself suddenly in possession of 78 Stan Kenton LPs. Kenton not being my thing, I tried to sell them to someone, anyone, who would appreciate them. I tried them singly, in small batches and in one whole lot, and very cheaply too. I gradually discovered that if you wanted to find the polar opposite of goods which sell like the proverbial hot cakes, then Stan Kenton LPs might just be that.

You piqued my interest.... Well the Johannesburg record shop is no more, and the street on which it stood looks in a sorry state on Google Maps. The address in Jersey was actually a hotel, also no more. A 1964 tourism guide advert I found online states "This hotel offers you comfort, cleanliness and already renowned cuisine. Dancing. Radiotel in all rooms." Radiotel, sounds very sixties.

I recently acquired Bud Powell's "Time Waits" album. The back has a sticker from "Colosseum Music Saloon" in Johannesburg. It also has the name and address of a previous owner, in Jersey (Channel Islands, not NJ). Not that interesting, though this LP has clearly done a few air miles - from NY to South Africa, to the Channel Islands, now to Greater Manchester.

The British heatwave has passed - too hot not to cool down, as the old song goes.

The latter! For balance, I guess one only remembers the times when things go wrong, subconsciously (or consciously) forgetting the thousands of letters / packages one has sent over a lifetime which arrived on time and without incident.

Royal Mail have twice delivered packages, that I have sent, to the wrong country. The first, bound for China, went to Italy. The second, bound for Japan, was flown to China. Both packages duly arrived at the correct destination eventually. I do wonder whether, if they had been sent untracked, they would simply have been binned or "liberated" in the first destination countries.

With all due respect, my problem is definitely with Charlie Shavers.

Shavers really hurt my ears on that Hal Singer record, I've never really enjoyed that fiery trumpet sound. Re your comments on Afrique, I think that's what I meant when I feel it's more a Nelson record than a Basie record. I like almost anything Nelson did - compositions, arrangements and his own sound on sax, which sounds (to my ears anyway) like he's physically squeezing the notes out. I get that vibe from Sonny Criss sometimes. I also like Hubert Laws on Afrique.

But where do you stand on Charlie Shavers? Now listening to Count Basie - Afrique. This also recently new to me, and I like it very much. Is this not an Oliver Nelson record though?

Hal Singer - Blue Stompin' on Prestige / Swingville Bought this in a lot ages ago, and only played it for the first time today. Hal and Ray Bryant are just fine but Charlie Shavers I can't have - too loud, too shrill, too extra for me.

Haha, I have that Moody with the colour cover, but my Ahmad Jamal at the Pershing Vol 2 is a crappy black and white (and limp) cover.

Oh yes, I like all the Horace Silver Blue Notes, though the 3 United States of Mind albums I rarely listen to. Perhaps subconsciously I was expecting something extra from Jody Grind, given the Cook & Morton recommendation - "zenith of finger-snapping intensity" or thereabouts, as I recall. In my jazz salad days, with limited disposable income, no internet, and CDs being £15, there was a certain amount of agonising over what to buy. I seem to recall having to order the Jody Grind specially, and waiting for a few weeks, with a trip into Manchester to pick it up. It was good, but didn't live up the (perhaps self-inflicted) hype.

I seem to recall that Cook & Morton singled this out (with "Song For My Father") as one of Horace's best, in a catalogue of pretty solidly great LPs, I duly bought it based on that recommendation. I like it well enough, but it's no "Cape Verdean Blues" IMO.

I like the Disco-Antistat too. I've had it over 10 years now, been worth every penny and more. I must have cleaned 1000 LPs with it

I am listening to the Sonny Clark / Kenny Dorham sides of the Jackie McLean "Hipnosis" two-fer. Sonny Clark interpolates a phrase from Carmen into his solo, something I have heard him do on many of his recordings; well, at least enough of them for me to have noticed it before. I'm pretty sure he uses it as the opening phrase of a chorus of blues. I had actually forgotten about this until listening tonight, and there it was, in "Blues In A Jiff" I laughed out loud when I heard it, a bit like the Leonardo DiCaprio meme where he points at the TV. Do any of the historians / musicians know anything about this? Is it significant or just a lick that he liked? It feels like he plays it for fun. Anyway, excuse the ramblings.

I concur

I remember, in late 2019, resolving to go along to a Manchester Jazz Society meeting in the new year to follow, then COVID happened. I see that the Society is still going, now to be held virtually, indefinitely. Sod that.

Grover Washington Jr - Live At The Bijou. Sneer all you like, this album grooves like mad.

I was reminded of this joke yesterday, 30-odd years after I first heard it, and found it online (isn't everything?) I'm afraid it will probably be meaningless to all non-Brits, unless Fairy Liquid ever made it out of the UK. A guy walks into a restaurant and wants to eat squid. He calls the waiter over, whose name is Yervaise, and says 'I want that squid there', pointing at a little green squid with a hairy moustache on its top lip. Yervaise says, 'but that's my favourite, I don't want to kill it, it's so mild and friendly'. But the customer is insistent, so Yervaise goes over to the tank, pulls out the squid and lays it on the worktop. He raises a knife and is about to chop it up, but he can't. Yervaise goes back to the customer, and says he can't kill it, but the customer still insists that he wants to eat it. Yervaise has an idea, and says 'OK, I'll go and get Hans, our dishwasher, he's a tough guy, he'll be able to kill it'. He goes and gets Hans, and Hans takes the knife and is about to chop the squid up, when it looks up. Hans sees its mild little face and its hairy lip and he can't kill it either, so they both go and tell the customer that they're really sorry and he can't eat it. The moral of the story?... .. Hans that does dishes is as soft as Yervaise, with mild green hairy lip squid.

Thanks Bill, I trust all is well at your end. I must dust that off the shelf again

I've never heard of Palin, but I see from that Guardian obit that he attended Chorlton Grammar School, as did my father and my father's brother. Indeed, my uncle ran a Chorlton Grammar School Old Boys website for may years before he became unwell 5 years ago. I calculate that Palin would be 4 years older than my dad, so doubt they crossed paths much (my uncle was younger still). It's a shame that my dad and uncle are both dead now, so I'll never find out.

That Jazz 635 clip ^ Howard McGhee is buzzing (ha) until Sonny shuts him up. I have seen clips from that gig on Youtube. One tune (can't pinpoint it off the top of my head) you see J J Johnson soloing for what looks like a little too long for Sonny's liking. Sonny looks at JJ and then down at his horn, as if to say "my turn now".

I surf the net on my PC, in silence, as it has no speakers. If I want to hear something, I have to dig out headphones, or switch to my phone and that's usually too hard and I get distracted. Anyway, to get people off my case, I listened to the above, and you are right, I evidently have heard some Lou Rawls in my lifetime. Whether I will hear any more is anyone's guess.

Ha, well I figured if "beatboxin' for Lou Rawls" was a way of dissing ya mama, I didn't need to hear him.