Ted O'Reilly

I want box number 57 :lol: Well, if you don't get it, the whole set will have lots of Varieties...

Nice to see Junior getting some well-desrved attention. He's a lovely guy, and one of the great blues-drenched pianists, ever. Nice to see the article refer to the two Sackville solo records -- they were his first solo piano efforts. (Full disclosure: I recorded one-and-a-half of them). While the blues is at the centre of Junior's music, the version of Ellington's Single Petal Of A Rose on the 'Jubilation' CD is, I think, the best interpretation after Duke's own...

True, that: it's a description rather than a name, but we Canadians DO have a name, so we don't mind our southern neighbours usurping the general as a specific. You can call us "american" if you wish, it's like being British even if you're Welsh or English or a Scot. But I'm still not sure just what "Americana" is...

But, but, but....he's Canadian. (Or was.)

I always liked Abdullah Ibrahim's (then Dollar Brand) version of "Shrimp Boats"...

I think Dick Hyman is one of the best all-around musicians I’ve ever heard. But...?!? “As a lifelong jazz aficionado, I knew who Dick Hyman was. Dick Hyman is a jazz giant. On a level with, say, Duke Ellington or Louis Armstrong.” Hyperbole defined.

I doesn't seem so. I have the original LP. Thanks for the added information! If you don't have the date, Marcello, it's Feb. 15, 1970.

Clark Terry's "Big Bad Band" recorded at The Big Barn on Feb.15, 1970. But it doesn't say so anywhere on the cover. He released it himself, creating the Etoile label, but if I recall correctly, Carnegie Hall wanted a couple of thousand dollars to use their name on the record, and CT balked. I know there was another issue of that (Big Bear?), but I don't believe it has ever been on CD, has it?

The bassist on that Marmarosa recording is Pittsburgh stalwart Dan Mastri, who joined up with the Saints & Sinners sextet of Vic Dickenson and Red Richards in the mid-60s. They had a nice little circuit of gigs including Toronto, where Dan met a nice lady and decided to stay here. Never a flashy soloist (he had a tendency to speed up in solos), Dan was a solid band player, working often with Jim Galloway. He's on the CD I produced (with Jim) that features Vic Dickenson at a Toronto club in 1973. Mastri died in the past year, and I never knew his exact age. He told me once that his first professional (paid!) gig was on the night that Prohibition was repealed, which would make it December 5, 1933. If he was even 15 then, he would have been around 90 when he died.

Who else is on it? Never heard of that one! FWIW, though, Brown was also on the Burton/Jarrett Atlantic side (always found that one to be a big letdown, although it was pretty popular in its day). True, the Burton/Jarrett doesn't stand the test of time. And thanks for reminding me about Brown's presence. The Japanese (and Canadian issue) Atlantic has Burton, Sam Brown on guitar, Tony Levin electric bass, and Bill Goodwin on drums. I think Burton nixed a further issue because there was too much track-duplication from other releases. Good live concert, though. The tracks sre: Ballet On The Third Day Sunset Bell/The Green Mountains African Flower Portsmouth Figurations

I think 3 or 4 tracks from that album were included on a domestic Victor (Bluebird?) compilation CD, but as noted, not the whole thing. A Burton recording that never even made it to the US was a Japanese concert recording on Atlantic 8280. (Sankei Hall, Tokyo, July 12, 1971). Other than Japan, only the Canadian WEA affiliate released it. I wrote the liner notes for that issue. I think it's the only Burton recording with guitarist Sam Brown...

I don't know if he's still with Penn and Teller, but Mike Jones was their musical director a couple of years back, and he's a fine jazz pianist. From Buffalo originally, he studied at Berklee in Boston and would sub for Dave McKenna when still a student. Even then he was interested in jazz standards, unlike many of his fellow students, and has a tremendous range at the keyboard. Mike has a few CDs out, on Chiaroscuro. Highly recommended (if he's still there). Several years back I went to the P&T show, and got to the Rio theater early. The Mike Jones Duo performed live jazz music to warm up the crowd. There was a tall, mysterious bass player who looked a bit familiar...

The fine Toronto bassist Steve Wallace has been writing for friends, mostly about his two favourite things, Jazz and Baseball. A friend, John Loach, has pushed modest Steve forward by making a repository for some of the musings, with Steve’s okay. It’s at http://wallacebass.com Wallace said “I'm going to add baseball to the title 'Jazz, life and other ephemera' so I can post some of the ball stuff. There's nothing new posted here yet, but I've got a few new things going, including a piece on Mel Powell. I'm thinking I might add a section just given over to short, funny music and road stories, anecdotes and the like.” I hope you’ll find some time to check it out, and maybe pass the word around. I am always delighted to read about jazz from the inside, and Steve has ‘been there, done that’, and he has become a very good storyteller. He may say "There's nothing new posted here yet", but of course it’s all new to those who’ve not been getting his stuff by email.

I'd burn a copy of that -- I've had troubles over the years with CDRs that have pasted-on labels. It might be a chemical corrosion thing. Your own burned copy might very well outlast the one you bought. (I have found it's usually safe to use a felt-tip to write on the 'new' disc...)

I think "Dud" is the trumpet player, and the bassist is Wilbur Jr. I think... The senior Bascomb's brother was Paul, a tenor player in the Hawkins band, and the Bascomb credited on Tuxedo Junction. I think...

For another side of Ford's personality, check out the albums he did as a member of Abdullah Ibrahim's Ekaya group. There are 3 or 4 from about 1983 to 1990 or so.

Correct, but: Jimmie Smith - jazz drummer (on my records).

There was also a Benny Goodman, alto player, who was in Muggsy Spanier's big band. I think Muggsy hired him just to say "Benny Goodman plays for me..."

That's who I always 'heard', though it wouldn't be Alpert himself, of course. That's one of the things I've heard fun-loving trumpet players do backstage: sort of copying each others' sounds. One of the best around Toronto is Guido Basso. Everyone from Harry James to muted Miles to, well, almost anyone. Everyone must have seen the trumpet duel of Al Hirt and Guido by now. Interesting to see the wrong guesses made in the comments section, as to who the Black Hat guy is... That Johnny Cash show version is actually a remake -- it was done originally in Canada. Here's what Guido told me about that clip: "That is a fun clip and it was really a fun gig hanging with Al Hirt. The original version was done for a television series called "Mallets & Brass", which I co-hosted with Peter Appleyard for the CBC. Arnie (Chycoski -- great Boss Brass lead trumpet) played the bad guy and I was the good guy dressed in white. I won because I was able to play the highest note. Mind you, Arnie could have played my highest note an octave higher, but it was my show and I enjoyed the fixed victory."

David/Bacharach/Warwick productions all seemed to feature the same trumpeter playing the melody. Is that so? If so, anyone know who it was?

Now, THAT'S the truth!

"Why don't you quit?" "What, and leave showbiz?"

Are you referring to H.B. Barnum?

Peggy Lee should have won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film. I can't understand why she never acted again in a major role. Did Hollywood think that Doris Day was the only blond singer that could act?

That's the album that made me realize that "Take The A Train" was based on "Exactly Like You" (more or less). Okay, okay, I was young and stupid. But I'm not young any longer...