johnlitweiler

It was well known that Baby Face Willette was murdered in prison in Joliet, IL. (A drug conviction.) Willette's mother raised hell, demanded an investigation, but nothing ever came of it. When Leonard Bukowski still had his record shop on 53rd St. here in Chicago, one of the regular customers was the son of a cop -- he sd Baby Face was murdered over a drug deal. I neither believe nor disbelieve that story. / Ajaramu once told me that Baby Face was so frustrated w/the producer at the Behind The 8-Ball session that he cried and had to drink a fifth of liquor to get through the session. But "Song of the Universe" is a terrific piece.

Captain John Handy of New Orleans (no relation to the San Francisco-based J.H.) should be heard. There's at least one GHB or Jazzology album under his name and he plays on some Kid Thomas dates. Swings like mad. / Far as I know, Absholom has only recorded smooth-jazz, and that only for an obscure Israeli label or labels -- maybe it's his own label. Too bad. Nessa and I heard him when he was 18 or so years old, and he was a promising free player back then. / The Glyn Paque solos are on the King Oliver BMG CD. Earl Fouche is on all 8 Sam Morgan sides from 1928. Some of the 8 seem to have been reissued piecemeal on CD. All 8 are on the Columbia boxed set The Sound Of New Orleans. Around 5 years ago, there was some hope that those old Frank Driggs boxes for Columbia -- The Sound Of New Orleans, The Sound Of Chicago, The Sound Of New York, Fletcher Henderson. etc. -- might appear on CD. Haven't seen them yet.

Yes, Randy's Record Mart of Gallatin, TN, owned by Randy Wood of Dot Records. In those days, though, Randy's was the generic name among Midwestern teenagers for radio station WLAC in Nashville. Other sponsors included Ernie's Record Mart of Nashville (Excello Records) and White Rose Petroleum Jelly, the petroleum jelly of a thousand and one uses. Sorry, folks, but we can only tell you about a thousand of them.

I mean the 1950s Randy's. It's where I heard first records of Little Walter, Bessie Smith, Joe Liggins, Ma-Nard Ferguson, etc. etc. etc.

How I miss Randy's...

To some extent I sympathize with bop players when outside players sit in. 30 years ago, the night Lester Bowie sat in with Von Freeman, the reckless attitude to the changes and tempo obviously drove John Young nuts -- but Bowie sure played some lovely music. As Malachi Favors once pointed out, playing on changes and playing free are 2 separate disciplines. I've listened to 1 of the 2 Bird reissue discs by Braxton and cannot get indignant like Nate. Love his free playing here, the Parker themes are just excuses to get him going, and if he's careless about the heads and changes, so what? / Re outside musicians inside, oh, for a recording of that old Amina-Ajaramu band with Kalaparush, Bowie, Roscoe playing Monk songs.

Anthony Ortega has been living and playing in San Diego for years. Some of his French records are beauties. / Ornette "overlooked"? Ornette's "career problems"? Can't see it. For the last 40 years he's always played and recorded what he wants, for the $ he wants. / Absholom Ben Schlomo has been in Chicago in recent months -- saw him at the Jazz Fair at the WHPK booth last Friday. Says he's returning to Israel soon. / 2 genuinely overlooked alto players, at least on this thread, are Earl Fouche and Glyn Paque. But trad collectors certainly know them. Fouche is the player who really makes those 1928 Sam Morgan records sing and Glyn Paque has some lovely solos on the King Oliver Victors.

Wasn't the Lawrence Durrell book titled Quincunx?

Re debauchery: As Richard Rand reminded me recently, the Beats actually were cultured people who were knowledgeable about a lot of ancient and modern literature. The Beats wrote fiction and poetry. The Hippies wrote comic books. Did Charles Bukowski consider himself a Beat or a Hippy before he got rich and Hollywoodish? / Interesting that some music lovers get indignant about Art-Laurie Pepper's book Straight Life. Even if most of it is true, we should expect jazz musicians to be as diverse a bunch of characters as any other folk. / The story Art tells about seducing a lady who worked in the prison -- this story pops up in a number of ex-con's tales. Typically she's rich, a volunteer of some sort, beautiful, a nymphomaniac. It might be interesting to put together an anthology of stories by ex-cons about the ladies they had affairs with in prison. Dirty John

It took Swingville / OJC a long time to reissue the Bud Freeman All-Stars, and the CD turned out terrific, what with the Freeman-Bunny Berigan 1936 tracks added. By all means don't miss it, it surely will be among the deletions.

Virgil Pumphrey changed his name to Absholom Benschlomo and moved to Israel many years ago. A few years ago he was back in town for a visit and played some of his new smooth-jazz, or at least fusion music, recordings on WHPK. (sigh)

Just read a thoughtful, intelligent review by David Bloom of Kart's book -- it's on the Chicago Tribune web site, in the Books section. (from the Tribune on Sunday, Jan. 16)

Dang, this new computer sends e-mails before y'r finished writing them. About rules and breaking them and avant-garde -- the musician's need to play outside is what's important. Express yourself, Von keeps saying. Steve Lacy, who started as a teen-aged swing-dixie musician, gives a great description of breaking through to outside musical expression in Improvisation by Derek Bailey. The most pertinent thing said on the subject may have been by Ornette: teaching Cherry and Haden to play with him in the 1950s was a case of teaching them to be more confident in themselves. While I'm rather inclined to agree with Allen, etc. about organizing solos to develop or at least reflect themes, there are always brilliant disorderly people like Paul Rutherford (at least in Discreet Harm of the Bourgeoisie), Bailey, Bennink to prove us wrong. But maybe total disorder is another kind of thematic improvisation. Jazz In Search Of Itself is a wonder. Great to learn from. In about every article Kart points out something fundamental to the subject that I never noticed before. That's a great unsentimental style of writing; as a neighbor says, reading him is like listening to the music again. But, I think, freshly. Much as I admire writers like Giddins and Francis Davis, they drop out about where Kart digs in.

Chuck, what does the AEC say about Zappa? Somewhere Zappa said that the AEC set a fire inside a concert tent in Belgium or France.