Ted O'Reilly

I saw Dee Dee Bridgewater at the Bern Jazz Festival in Switzerland in 1987. I had never witnessed anyone so awkward and out-of-place in my life. Stage-fright-scared (it seemed), giggling, fidgety, wearing ordinary street clothes, carrying on with in-talk with her trio and guest Jon Faddis to the exclusion of the audience (which of course understood only half of what she said anyway), she made NO effort to connect with the audience. Someone must have taken hold of her career and straightened out her stagecraft, because the next time there in 1989, she was dressed in skin-tight black leather, prowling the stage like a wildcat and had the crowd in the palm of her hand. It was almost TOO slick, but boy! was it different...

Where do I go to get it? Back of the store? The front of the store is filled with Beatles mono boxes blocking my way...

It isn't Bob Belden. It's Bob Boilen.

How do you know he was at work? And where were you?

Back in the '60s, the veteran John Bubbles used to appear on Johnny Carson's Tonight show for a little song-and-dance, and I remember him sitting down afterwards and chatting with Johnny about old-time showbiz. One time he explained all about song verses, and sang a capella an all-purpose verse that would fit any song, any time...you could use it and then go into whatever ditty you'd imagine, and it would work. I wish I could remember it. Maybe it'll turn up on Youtube one day. There's a veteran Canadian singer, Arlene Smith, who has a fine CD that presents the verse to almost every song. She's accompanied by Mark Eisenman at the piano for 16 well-known standards, among them I Can't Get Started (which, amusingly, starts the album); Skylark; Some Other Time; What's New? and other fine choices. I'm not unbiased: I have admired her singing for more than 30 years, and wrote an introduction to Arlene for the release, but if you're a Songhound, get this one -- she's done a lot of research in turning up the verses, and does a great job in singing them. There are some dandies... Samples and purchases at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/arlenesmith (As a sidebar: she was once married to one of the great piano accompanists, Ellis Larkins).

It's not the Blackhawk material, but Fresh Sound already has a box: See this. greg mo I have this... Excellent in every respect. I've been tempted. How complete is it? That is, does it leave much material from the reissued albums off, or are they all pretty much there? greg mo This should answer your questions: http://www.worldsrecords.com/pages/artists...anne_64400.html It covers 10 lps, with a sampler track, and 60 page booklet for 33 bucks.

OK, so what's the deal with this photo? Sonny's got a lyre attached to his horn, like he's getting ready for marching band practice. And who's that with him? Looks like he's holding a mouthpiece, and others are on the table. Trying out some new pieces? And where did you find this? I did a "view image" and it comes up as being from sonnyrollins.com. But I couldn't find this image when I went to his website. It's Ronnie Scott, isn't it?

It's not the Blackhawk material, but Fresh Sound already has a box: See this. greg mo I have this... Excellent in every respect.

I'll see your Duvivier and raise you a Milt Hinton...

Sad news, indeed. As fine as he was a musician, he was a better man.

Why is the number of CDs relevant? It's a stocklist of CDs Hiroshi is selling, not a list of his preferences. I don't have a smiley for resigned head-shaking. It's not a reflection on Hiroshi, but in a way, a reflection on the market: lots of demand for Miles, so little for Duke (and many others). All things considered, for me, I'd rather have the complete Ellington than the complete Miles, which seems to nearly be available on this list. People do get twitchy around here, don't they?

Only 10 -- there are over 50 from Miles Davis. (And 2 -- TWO! -- from Ellington).

In the booklet for the Mosaic Young/Basie release, Loren Schoenberg writes (re: the March 20/39 session) ...In 1956 Young told Nat Hentoff, "If I could put together exactly the kind of band I wanted, Frank Sinatra would be the singer." Sinatra frequently cited Billie Holiday as a major influence, but far less known is his remark to Arlene Francis in a 1979 interview that "I knew Lester well. We were close friends, and we had a mutual admiration society. I took from what he did, and he took from what I did." Several close friends of Young's have remarked that he frequently played Sinatra's recordings in his hotel rooms when on the road. This (Don't Worry 'Bout Me) was one of the first tunes that Sinatra recorded for Capitol, which marked the beginning of his 1950s renaissance. Quincy Jones also wrote that "Frank's greatness -- besides immaculate storytelling, drama and elocution -- was that he phrased like Lester Young." It's a shame that these two icons never recorded together, although one diehard fan has synced their recordings of ALL OF ME so it sounds like they had.

I have these 3 Red Richards CDs on Sackville. LULLABY IN RHYTHM DREAMY These 2 are solo piano sessions. As John Norris accurately states in his booklet notes, "Still evident in Red Richards playing is the bustling energy of Harlem's Renaissance period as well as the quiet understatement of a musician who has found a style which complements his own personality." On DREAMY, Red adds his charming vocals to two of the 15 tracks. ECHOES OF SPRING This is a quintet session. Red on piano and vocals is joined by Norris Turney on alto sax, Claude Williams on violin and vocal, Dave Green on bass, and Joe Ascione on drums. Only 3 of the 10 tracks have vocals. All 3 CDs feature a well rounded selection of tunes. Peter, I'm sure you remember Red's work with The Saints and Sinners, a lovely little mainstream group of the '60s with Vic Dickenson, Herman Autrey, Buster Bailey or Rudy Powell, Dan Mastri and George Reed/Jackie Williams or George Foster on one session. They did an eponymous LP for 77 Records (UK 1964/65), Saints and Sinners in Canada (Cav-a-bob Records 1967, which eventually led to the formation of Sackville), and The Saints& Sinners In Europe (MPS Germany in 1968). I don't think any of them has turned up on CD, and that's a shame: it was a terrific little band, under Red's musical direction. That release of Red Richards with Norris Turney and Claude 'Fiddler' Williams was originally a Dutch radio recording... Red was a charming, always-smiling gentleman, and a real entertainer who loved to perform. I recorded him for broadcast on many occasions at Toronto's Cafe des Copains and Montreal Bistro.

Please ban everything other than live organ music at any and all baseball games.

Sounds like an icewine, and wineries in the Niagara Peninsula of Ontario have been making a specialty of it over the last couple of decades. Lots of information at http://www.winesofcanada.com/icewine.html

Happy Birthday, George! I'm told he's in pretty good health again, and has some new hearing aids which are pleaseing him greatly...

It's likely I was the one who stapled at least some of those copies. Half a dozen of us would get a case of beer, and collate page by page by hand, then whack 'em together. Some of my oldest copies have the staples rusted through and the pages spilling out. (I blame the beer). John Norris has nothing to do with the magazine these days, of course, but happened to mention today that the current owner is talking about putting an issue out in October. Perhaps it's not dead yet...

I don't get it; she doesn't like jazz. Why should she be an expert on it? Or, OTOH, why should she write about it at all? Why would the paper give her space to expound on something she knows nothing about? Would they give that much room to her to her opinions on Iraq or oil production in the Arctic, based on her experience as a bra-shooper? I doubt it -- they'd be excoriated for allowing uninformed opinion. I guess it's my (out-dated) expectation that a newspaper should be on a higher plane, somehow, than Ms. Southey's self-indulgent blog writing. Just an opinion, nothing to get excited about... I

I started this, I better end it: turns out Tabatha Southey IS an expert on jazz, as shown by a web search: Tabatha Southey Articles by Tabatha Southey. Style. Behind the Cotton Curtain. The hazards of cross-cultural bra shopping. The Walrus July/Aug 2009 ... www.walrusmagazine.com/author/tabatha-southey/ Tabatha Southey - The Globe and Mail columnist Tabatha Southey has written the Elle Girl column for Elle Canada magazine for four years. ... www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/.../tabatha-southey/ This dispute's Carnivore's tenet that "I've always believed - and pretty much found that chicks and jazz exist on different planets". Cross-cultural bra shopping, Elle Girl columnist, jazz... What RANGE!

A nice dessert, especially with brandy.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/nation...article1245175/

I dunno, Larry -- that's just a clock (and a boring one, according to Harry Lyme). Surely the Chairman of the Board would expect his own spelling...

Probably should be spelt "koo koo", as in "kooky/kookie" -- a definite '60s word, meaning "nutty, crazy (or maybe Krazy!)" I remember the '60s, even if I was there...

That "granny" is his mother! Great album, btw. It is definitely NOT his mother, or anyone he ever met. I asked Ruby about that album cover years ago, and he said it's a composite. He was photographed for a Broadway play he was in, and it was stripped into another picture. Braff appeared as "Pablo", in Pipe Dream, (Shubert Theatre, ran 11/30/1955 - 6/30/1956), a musical version of John Steinbeck's Suite Thursday. Braff HATED having to play exactly the same thing every night, as others depended on musical cues. But he got to know Steinbeck...