bertrand

The liner notes to Feio give a clue as to how the recording dates might have gotten mixed up. Supposedly, Blue Note had trouble finding the tape (big surprise) and Wayne remembered it as being recorded the day after his birthday, which would be August 26th. However, Iska was August 26th - I think Wayne remembered recording an album the day after his birthday, but got the two albums mixed up. Only when Michael Cuscuna got access to the session logs was he able to clear up this mistake. We know that he got the session logs for the Alfred Lion era from Alfred himself, but I'm not sure when he got the post-Lion information - perhaps from the estate of Frank Wolff or Duke Pearson? Bertrand.

As of noon yesterday, 5/7, Elvin was very much still alive, according to a guy from Zildjian who spoke to Keiko. Let's not be too morbid prematurely. Bertrand.

Fred Lacey was indeed a Philadelphian. Bootsie Barnes knew him well - he was his teacher. Apparently, McCoy Tyner did an entire record of Lacey tunes that has yet to be released. Lacey also spent some time in the slammer - Jimmy Heath knew him there. Lacey was a guitarist, so it is possible he is the one with Lester. A mystery figure, for sure. Bertrand.

Evan, Thanks for the review. Do you live in Miami yourself? Wayne actually lives there now, so that was a 'local' gig for him! Bertrand.

Miles was linked to J. Edgar Hoover in that notorious biography from a few years back in which it was revealed that J. Edgar was a cross-dresser. Bertrand.

Miles messed up big time. Frances was beautiful back then (and obviously still is now), and she obviously is charming and intelligent. Maybe you could convince her to join us here at Organissimo! The Miles movie was supposed to star Wesly Snipes! It ain't gonna happen. By the way, it's Frances, not Francis. Francis Davis is a jazz writer. You had me fooled there for a second! Bertrand.

Quick question: I recently bought for $6 a cheapo European CD by Eric Dolphy called Quiet Please, which I think is the same as the Candid Dolphy which I cannot find anywhere. This has three tracks from Booker Little's Out Front: 'Quiet Please', 'Moods In Free Time' and 'Hazy Hues'. From the Booker discography I found on the web, it seems that 'Quiet' and 'Hues' are alternates, and 'Moods' is the same as the track as on Out Front. Is this correct? Also, the discography claims there is an alternate of 'Strength And Sanity' floating around. Is this true as well? Thanks in advance, Bertrand. P.S. I haven't had a chance to compare the two CDs yet. Of course, I will do this as well.

Randy, Please accept my deepest condolences. I'm sure your mother was very proud of you and what a great musician you've become. Bertrand.

Brandon, In general, you don't want to live in South East DC, especially as far as 15 blocks from LC - it's a pretty bad neighborhood. 15th and Mass. NW is OK, though - you're close to Dupont Circle. What metro stop did she say? PM me as we get closer to the date - I hang out at LC a lot, and I've been collecting some goodies there that I'll be glad to show you. Who will you be working with? Larry Appelbaum? Bertrand.

Odean Pope's Saxophone Choir - Kennedy Center DC - 6PM tonight

Nilva

I saw a video where Mary Osborne tears through 'The Man I Love' with Billie Holiday in rapt attention. It's obvious Mary was a killer player based on this performance alone. Too bad I can't find any of her records. Bertrand.

I've never heard the original, but the Jefferson Airplane's version of his song 'Fat Angel' (in which he mentions the Airplane) was excellent. On the Airplane/Starship issue (how can the first band be so good and the second be so crummy?), I feel there are a lot worse Starship songs than 'We Built This city'. How about: 'Miracles', 'Dance With The Dragon', 'Ride The Tiger' etc. I always hated those. Bertrand.

The song was written by the group America. Most of their lyrics are dreadful, but 'Muskrat Love' is the worst of all.

I had the pleasure of seeing Claude 'Fiddler' Williams at Clinton's first inauguration, of all places. Weizy was also there in a Groucho Marx disguise. Bertrand.

The woman on Sorcerer is actress (and future Miles wife) Cicely Tyson. I'm not sure who the woman on Second Genesis is. Bertrand.

Congratulations!!! Bertrand.

Shhh... Don't let Verve know about this new 'first time this particular compilation has ever been issued on CD' marketing ploy. They will run wild with it. Bertrand.

I'd *consider* paying that much for a copy of the rejected Jackie McLean Blue Note session with Woody Shaw, Tyrone Washington, and Bobby Hutcherson - but only if the copy offered to me were legal. The only scenario under which this would occur is if Blue Note decided to put out a series of super rarities where the pressing was so limited that they had to charge an arm and a leg for it (call it the 'Fanatics' Choice' series). Bertrand.

'What Goes On' is indeed awful - a grotesque attempt at C & W. Rubber Soul also has 'Run For Your Life', which John said he hated. I agree with John. 'Don't Pass Me By' is pretty bad as well. 'Julia' is an often-overlooked gem. I heard Steve Slagle and Dave Stryker perform it a couple of years back - gorgeous. Bertrand.

Jim, Your comment about colors is all the more intriguing when you know how important they are to Wayne when he describes his music. Someone told me that a friend of his played with Wayne briefly in the 80s (Gary Willis perhaps), and Wayne's only directions for one piece was 'think green'. I wonder how many hours Wayne and Gil spent discussing music (oh, to be a fly on the wall for those conversations). It's really a shame how little they wound up collaborating (Individualism of Gil Evans is a masterpiece). I wish Columbia would issue the Berkeley concert where the quintet performed a few tracks with the Gil Evans Orchestra (including 'Antigua' and 'You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman'). I think they found a tape in Miles' stuff... Bertrand.

I haven't listened to this track with much concentration yet (I only have it on tape so far), but here's the thing about it that really surprised me. It was recorded 2/15/68 with the following instrumentation: Miles Davis (tpt); Julius Watkins (frh); Ray Alonge (frh); Howard Johnson (tuba); Wayne Shorter (ts); Hubert Laws (fl); Danny Bank (fl, alto fl); Romeo Penque (engl horn); Karl Porter (bssn); Gloria Agostini (harp); Betty Glamann (harp); Herb Bushler (Hawaiian g); Joe Beck (g); Lawrence Lucie (mandolin); Herbie Hancock (el-p); Ron Carter (B); Tony Williams (d); Warren Smith (mba, tymp); Gil Evans (arr, cond) Unusual instrumentation, to say the least, especially the Hawaiian guitar and Mandolin. And Wayne Shorter is on tenor. On 8/22/69, Wayne Shorter copyrighted an as-yet unrecorded (and probably unperformed) 20-page score entitled 'Universe' (with the original title 'Virgin Night' scratched out on the copyright deposit). It says on the score: 'Composed by Wayne Shorter 1969; orchestration by Wayne Shorter; arranged by Wayne Shorter'. Here's the instrumentation: C flute Alto flute English horn French Horn (2) Bassoon (2) Tuba Trumpet (on some pages, it says 'Miles') Bflat Saxophone (on some pages, it says 'Me' or 'Wayne') Electric Piano Marimba Timpani Hawaiian Guitar Mandolin Guitar Fender Bass (or Bass on some pages) Drums Harp The only fundamental difference is that 'Falling Water' has 2 harps and one bassoon, whereas 'Universe' has one harp and two bassoons; also Warren Smith plays both the tympani and the marimba parts on 'Falling Water', which is certainly plausible, even if two distinct parts were written out. So, how did Gil and Wayne wind up both writing a score for the same unorthodox combination of instruments? I had a friend look at the score and listen to 'Falling Water' at the same time (I had to drag my walkman to the Library of Congress), and she said they were not at all the same pieces. Very puzzling... Bertrand.

Here is some extra information: 1. Jackie was born in 1931, not 1932. He explained somewhere (Spellman's book?) that he had made himself younger by a year for whatever reason (probably in his questionnaire for Feather's Jazz Encyclopedia), and the mistake 'took'. Both Rene McLean and Steve Davis confirmed that the year was 1931. Also, they had a big 70th birthday bash for Jackie at the Blue Note in NYC in May of 2001. 2. I always thought Rene was Jackie's son (they even look alike), but Philip on the board once stated as fact that Rene was adopted. He never did elaborate on his source for this information. 3. Miles was a father very young as well (16 or 17), so it's not impossible that Jackie was a father at 15. Bertrand.

I have yet to see a mention for 'She's Having My Baby'. Bertrand.

Did Joe Henderson ever record 'Soulin' as a leader or sideman? He is neither on the Pearson nor Brooks dates. Thanks, Bertrand.