bertrand

'The Hearing' from Expoobident is another outstanding composition. My local Tower has an import of a Vortex session called Soul Fountain, with Big John Patton on half of it. Is this any good? I might pick it up if it ever goes on sale (it's $25.99 right now - way too much for me). It's been sitting there for two years. Bertrand.

If you want more material from the Lighthouse in the meantime, there is also the set on Fresh Sound (Live At The Lighthouse '70) which features some of the same tunes, but also some different ones. The sound quality is nowhere as good as the BN set, but the music is of the same high level. Among the tunes not on the BN set: two versions of 'Ceora', 'Willow Weep For me', and a track mislabeled 'Meofelia', which is really Mabern's 'The Chief', one of the three tracks from the 10/68 Morgan session with Frank Mitchell, Harold Mabern, Mickey Bass, and Billy Higgins that were deemed unfit for release (the other three are bonus cuts on the U.S. CD of Sixth Sense). 'The Chief' also shows up on Frank Strozier's What's Going On on Steeplechase. There was a lot of back and forth as to whether the Fresh Sound stuff was from the Lighthouse or from the Both/And, but it seems now that it is from the Lighthouse, albeit from earlier dates than the BN set - it is not bootleg versions of the tracks BN did not issue. Fresh Sound has done some things that could be called underhanded in the past, but they have yet to raid the BN vaults! Bertrand.

Jim, Have you heard the new record yet? It's absolutely lovely. We are truly lucky to have such an inspiring musician among us, still in his prime. I am driving up to Bethlehem, PA on Saturday from DC to see him. It's something to keep me going during a busy work week. Bertrand.

Jim, The explanation is simple - shrewd marketing instincts on the part of EMI, the same instincts that led them to shut down a chat room full of their best customers with nary an explanation. Bertrand.

Ordered that Deep Note compilation - I asked them to send it in a brown paper wrapper.

'The Hereafter' from Heaven And Earth. Larry does that eerie organ thing near the end that just sends chills down my spine. And of course, his playing on Iron City Bertrand.

I don't believe there are any rejected tracks from Schizophrenia, but I'll double check tonight at home. The copyrights won't help either. Wayne would not copyright tunes from an album until it was actually issued. Hence, all the pieces from Schizophrenia were copyrighted together in 1969 (when the record came out), except for 'Tom Thumb' which first appeared on a kick-ass 1966 Timmons album. 'Rio' was not copyrighted along with these. In fact, by the time Procrastinator came out, the law had changed - one could submit a recording for copyright in lieu of a lead sheet. Hence, 'Rio' is only copyrighted as part of the entire album, no lead sheet exists for this piece at the Library of Congress. Unfortunately, this is also true for all the tunes from Etcetera and The Soothsayer. Speaking of Bobby Hutcherson, I'm off to see him tonight in laurel, MD, with a local rhythm section led by Keeter Betts. Toodle-oo! Bertrand.

Does anyone know what tunes they play? I'll probably pick this up, but I may hesitate if it's all standards. I sure miss Joe - it'll be nice to hear some 'new' material. Bertrand.

Rooster_Ties, Wayne never recorded 'Rio' or 'Dear Sir' again. Both have been covered by other artists, however. I know Billy Pierce did 'Dear Sir', and 'Rio' was covered by several artists: Louis Hayes, Kent Jordan... Joe Chambers also does 'Rio' on his 1976 album for Finite called New World. However, he calls it 'Wayne Shorter's Bossa Nova'. I have a theory behind this (yet to be proved or disproved): Wayne brought the tune to one of his own sessions for Blue Note, a session on which Joe played. The piece was not used at that session, but Joe liked it and remembered it. When he recorded it in 1976, he didn't know the title (The Procrastinator came out a bit later, I believe), and so made up his own. How else would Joe had known the tune since it had never been issued - he must have learned it from Wayne directly. Bertrand.

Thanks guys - I picked it up tonight and listened once so far. Every track is totally different from the next (possibly because it's been recorded over the last few years). Wayne is trying something different and very interesting with his tenor playing - his solo on 'Orbits' hovers between R & B and free jazz, and he's trying that singing through the horn thing that Dewey Redman does. It's going to be another one of those Shorter albums where something new pops up everytime I listen to it. Bertrand.

The Swainson is a steal at $3.99. Woody is killing on the track without Joe (forget the title). I love late Woody Shaw because his sound is so relaxed - a great contrast from his harder-edged work in the 60's and 70's. It's a shame he died so tragically - he seemed to be at peace in those years. Bertrand.

I'm not sure the contract length is the same number of albums for every artist. Javon Jackson was gone after five albums, for example. Bertrand.

Before I rush out and buy the new Shorter CD - does the Japanese version of this have any bonus tracks like Footprints Live did? A quick search of the web found several vendors who had an import and the track listing was the same as the U.S. CD. Of course, the European version of High Life had two extra minutes on 'Midnight In Carlotta's Hair'... I actually was at Tower and remembered this conundrum on my way to the register. I put it on hold knowing that my friends at Organissimo would no doubt have an answer for me. I tried to find an e-mail for Verve on their site but didn't see one. I want to buy this ASAP as I'm going to see him in Bethlehem, PA on 4/5 and I'd like to 'absorb' this record by then. Thnaks in advance, Bertrand.

I read somewhere that Wayne Shorter did at least one blindfold test for Downbeat. Does anyone know the date? Did he do similar tests for other periodicals? Thanks in advance, Bertrand.

Mike, My source is a musician who himself got the information second-hand. All he told me was that he'd heard the tape, and that he was told '64 or '65 and that it was Peacock. I do not have a copy of this myself. You are right that it must be '65 - Shorter joined too late in '64. Brownie, You sure are lucky. I would have loved to hear the quartet you describe. It's a long shot, I know, but you don't happen to remember what tunes they played, do you? I've always wondered if Shorter played any of his Blue Note compositions when he was doing these quartet gigs without Miles (Jack Chambers mentions quite a few, and even a trio gig in Boston). I know he did some of his BN material when he played briefly with Roy Haynes. Bertrand.

I've been told there is a private tape of the Wayne Shorter Quartet at the Vanguard from 64-65. It's a actually a Sunday matinee of the Miles Quintet where Miles decided to stay home. Gary Peacock subs for Ron Carter.

I love hearing my son sing, but it would never occur to me to release it commercially!

I heard this on vinyl years ago and found the out-of-tune singing by then 7-year-old Waheeda Massey on 'Quiet Dawn' very disturbing. Was this just my imagination?

Soul Stream, More likely, Yanow hadn't a clue what a varitone was and thought it was a typo... I think Michael does a great job, and I certainly can believe a lot of the errors happen after he's signed off. But as you pointed out, I'm sure they could find a couple of enthusiastic interns to do quality review of the final product before it hits the streets in exchange for a few comp copies of said CDs. Aric would have killed for the job. He probably was not the best person to do it, but I'm sure there are others out there...What about the Blue Note Street Team?

Soul Stream, Blue Note quality control is the pits, but they are not the only ones. Verve has yet to resolve the fact that the 2-CD reissue of Coltrane has the wrong version of 'Big Nick'. At least BN corrects the problems, but those corrections were only for BN board members or anyone hipped to the corrections by a BN board member. Both Dialogue and Along Came John could be replaced by sending it in to BN, but you had to know about it - the general public did not. The correction to The Soothsayer was the worst. They fixed it, but just dumped the corrected version out there with no sticker or anything. You could only know by buying the CD and looking closely at the center. I doddled about sending it in, and now I don't know if it can still be done at the new address. Does anyone have their new address, by the way?

So it's: Along Came John The Way I Feel Oh Baby! That Certain Feeling Understanding (complete!) Michael decided to go with a complete Understanding, and no Harold Vick Steppin' Out (same line-up as Oh Baby!) I already have: Along Came John Blue John Let 'Em Roll Got A Good Thing Goin' Memphis To New York Spirit Bogaloo Accent On The Blues With the Mosaic select, I will have the complete Patton BN sessions. This box works out very nicely for me! I know others are miffed, however. I certainly would have preferred Blue John as well instead of Along Came John, if only because there are some extra tracks from Blue John that have not yet come out (for example, a version of Grant Green's 'Jean De Fleur').

Dmitry, Remember what happened to Pat Martino and Mal Waldron? They both had to re-learn to play their instruments from scratch - and they pulled it off. It may not have been as quickly as Henry Grimes seems to have done, but it happened. Also, when you reach a level of playing like these guys, I suspect you never completely 'forget'. Kinda like riding a bike...

Vincent, Welcome aboard!

Just found out bassoonist Michael Rabinowitz is playing tomorrow night in a quartet at Strathmore Hall in Rockville, MD. Michael is a bassoonist, which of course is kinda rare in jazz. I heard him once with the Mingus Epitaph band, and he was smokin'. Should I go? On the plus side, the line-up is highly unusual: bassoon, vibes, bass, drums. On the minus side, I don't know the three sidemen, and I'm still kinda fighting this damn cold. Also, it's $24, which is a bit steep for an unknown group (but reasonable considering Strathmore is a very intimate room). They will be playing 'classics from the bop repertoire' (well, that narrows it down!) - I hope that doesn't mean standards. Help me make my mind up!

Booker Little (Time) Woody Shaw: Steppin' Stones (Muse) Lee Morgan: Candy (label unknown) Freddie Hubbard: Empyrean Isles (label unknown) Woody Shaw: In My Own Sweet Way (In & Out)