dicky

Tonight was a wonderful evening for Henry's book launch at Rizzoli Bookstore in NYC. Tim Berne, Bill Frisell, and Brandon Ross (who spoke affectionately about his time playing w/ Henry) were amongst those in attendance.

As to the subject of the thread, the demography of the leading lights of the music has noticeably expanded. Contemporary innovators of the music we broadly call jazz come from many parts of the world... and have for many years now. Thus rendering JazzTimes' policy more than a day late and a dollar short.

I encontered Paul Shaffer in the bathroom at a NYC Jimmy Smith gig in the '90's. George Benson was also in attendance... albeit not in the bathroom.

Fair enough

"He's fucking Rod Stewart. There has never been any real depth there, just projection of personality and a voice that met the demands of that quite well." Something tells me you're not really acquainted with the 10 albums Rod recorded btw 1968 & 1972. If you are and still feel that way then we just strongly disagree.

Anat Cohen. Anat is a friend of a friend who I've met on a few occasions. The last such time she told me about hanging out with Ornette and preparing eggs for him at his place. Here she is from 2012 at a synagogue performing Lonnie Smith's And The World Weeps with Paquito D'Rivera... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6V030_WP78

While David Murray released many albums recorded over a span of several years on DIW/ Disk Union, one particular recording burst I think particularly stands out. In January 1988 (that's as specific as the discs get) he went into New York's A & R Recording Studio accompanied by Dave Burrell, Fred Hopkins, and Ralph Peterson. Jim Anderson was at the board. These sessions produced 4 contemporaneously released CDs - Lovers, Ballads, Spirituals, and Deep River. My recollection is that all 4 were released in 1988 and 1989. They are uniformly superb and compare favorably, to my ears, in capturing a moment in time much like Miles' Prestige Cookin', Workin', Steamin', & Relaxin' recordings did. A fifth and much lesser disc from the same sessions consisting of leftovers - Tenors - saw the light of day in1993. Murray recorded many worthwhile DIW released albums before and after, but those 4 releases are something special. All 4 guys are equal contributors and I think those recordings have never been given their just due.

Along with the great Henry Grimes!

Chuck - I have a healthy amount of your recordings on disc. I treasure them all. What Dylan falls short for you?

A lot of nonsense, projection and envy on display here. Bob Dylan is a towering figure the likes of which will likely never exist again. To Jazzbo's point, the music he has recorded and performed into his later years is the equal of, and in many ways surpasses, what his younger self created at his so called commercial peak. His consistency and aesthetic greatness is akin to Ellington. The comments here are really ignorant and depressing... although somewhat predictable.

Ramsey Lewis - Dance of the Soul. A 1998 release. There's a vocal track that causes me pain but otherwise a most enjoyable album.

We might be hearing different mixes. Your LP vs the CD. ECM recordings do tend ECM- ize things. Either way, it's a killer session along with the other Motian/Brackeen set, "Dance".

I'm listening to a ripped CD version of this and it sounds spectacular. Charles Brackeen dates are to be cherished.

I felt similarly many years ago. Listening to one of the Bootleg releases, Tell Tale Signs, changed everything. He's as extraordinary as he ever was, and I now listen to and enjoy his latter day recordings more than the earlier stuff. Meet Bob half way and you'll be justly rewarded. The second to last line in Murder Most Foul namechecks Bud Powell! Even cooler, the lyric is - "Play Love Me or Leave Me by the great Bud Powell". Bud, insofar as I know, never actually recorded Love Me or Leave Me but I think borrowed the chords for his "Get It" on "Swingin WIth Bud". Dylan's got big ears.

The only time I was fortunate enough to see Jaki live was as a sideman for a Ricky Ford led gig at Sweet Basil sometime in the '90's. I had a few Ford discs but I went to see Jaki. Ronnie Burrage was on drums but I don't recall the bass player. I had dragged two friends to the set, one of which was the drummer of a pop/rock group who's 1990 debut had been highly acclaimed. Jaki took ill midway through the set and had to be led out on a stretcher. I never had the opportunity to see him again. Nor have I seen Ricky again, which is a great shame. My friend, who had never prior attended a live jazz performance commented after the set something to the effect that he was ashamed to call himself a drummer. Ronnie Burrage left quite the impression. I wonder whatever happened to him. In any event, Jaki is timeless and remains one of my favorites.