Ted O'Reilly

It took a long while for me to sign up at Organissimo, as I was bothered by all the board names, pseudonyms and false identities that many posters use. (My parents taught me to always introduce myself). I used to do a six-day-a-week jazz radio show, and got a lot of mail, but after a year or two--I was there for 37 years--I always opened the envelope and first looked to see if there was a return address and name. If there was none, the letter went into the garbage unread. (The perfect solution: you can say whatever you want, but I don't have to hear it). It matters not the content: positive or negative, if the writer doesn't have the cojones to stand behind what they write, the opinion is worthless. I wonder: are other members bothered about this? Or do you think that anonymity allows people to really be truthful? Is it okay to 'talk' to someone without knowing who they are? (Special ONE-TIME OFFER: I promise I'll read every response).

Solal is a stunningly gifted musician, as pianist (leader or sideman), composer, or arranger. He's very deeply intelligent, and with a distinctive sense of humour that shows up if you listen very intently. The more you put in to his music, the more you'll get out of it. I happen to love his solo work, and remember especially a 1975 MPS recording called "Nothing But Piano". I had the privilege of recording his solo piano performance in a little Toronto jazz club in late June 1988, and still go back to listen to those tapes--2 hours' worth. I spoke with him about releasing the material, but he felt it was too similar in content to the material included on a sorta compilation record--various French artists--recorded the night before in New York as "9:11 PM Town Hall" for Label Bleu. I don't know if either of those releases is currently around, but I don't care---I have my tapes.

I think the MJQ turned into Lewis' band from the time Klook left. It was originally the Milt Jackson Quartet. The interesting thing is that while Connie Kay is thought of as a pointillist, he was a first call heavy R&B drummer before joining the Corporation.

AllenLowe: the Tom Lord Discography (4.4 version) doesn't show anything by Buddy and Dave....

If this reference is to a live taping in Toronto, I was the one that recorded it for broadcast on CJRT-FM. At least five years ago Barry's father learned I had done it, and called me about it. I sent it all to him (about 90-100 minutes of digitally-recorded solo work) and then never heard anything more. I thought it was releaseable music--I made a cassette to listen to in my car--but I guess the Kieners didn't.

Geez, 10 pages of OrganTalk, and not yet a mention of Toronto's Doug Riley. If youse guys were really hip, you'd know about this all-round great musician. He was only 23 when he arranged AND played organ and piano Ray Charles' "Doing His Thing" (1968, on ABC). He was Ray's own choice! There's a hot quartet release he did "Live at the Montreal Bistro" with Phil Dwyer that should still be available. The label was Seajam, now called Triplet. Try www.tripletrecords.com. He's done duet recordings with flugelhornist Guido Basso recently, and look under guitarist Jake Langley's name for a nice one called "Doug's Garage". You will be rewarded for your efforts...