Gheorghe

Please, can you tell me, if that Mosaic box set (7 CD) includes the quintet date from Mai 13th 1965, Minneapolis ? If I´m right, the tunes from that date might be "So long Eric" , a ballad medley including "She´s funny that way, Embraceable You, Old Portraits", and "Cocktails for Two" ? Once it might have been an LP titled "My Favourite Quintet" on the french "America Label", but it seems it never was reissued on CD. I´d purchase that box only for that Minneapolis date, since I think I got the other material (the dates with Dolphy, the great "Right Now at San Francisco Jazz Workshop", the "Mingus at Monterey" and the "UCLA 1965"......

24.12.14, Woody would be 70. Will there be a DVD. Haven´t visited the Woody Shaw hp lately

As much as I remember, there was also another album from around 1970/71 titled "The Quota", with Jimmy Heath, Peck Morrison and if I remember right, Lenni McBrown on drums. A friend of mine had that album, nice little album with nice tunes...... Yes, I also would have liked to purchase some of those Galaxy albums. Remember there was also a thing called "Galaxy All Stars" recorded in Japan if I remember right. I think they had some very good stuff. I only got my "Return of the Griffin" on CD and it costed me a fortune

Charles Tolliver, I would have liked to see him, same about Charles McPherson...... I must admit I didn´t go to many shows this year. Pharoah Sanders was great, I loved it, and later that year........ Lou Donaldson.....as usual, but that girl on organ was great.

Well, How Hight the Moon and Ornithology is the same thing, Ornithology is Benny Harris´line on How High The Moon. Bud starts the theme of "How High the Moon" and the horns play the line of Ornithology. I also had the impression that the back cover picture looks almost like Jackie McLean. But I didn´t see many pictures of Phil Woods in my live, only later with beard and even later only with moustache. The question whether this was a Bud-led session is a reasonable one. Well, not "Bud-led", but I think he was the featured artist and they wanted to showcase Bud, playing stuff that he might feel comfortable. Reminds me of "Our Man in Paris", where Dexter also would have used "new" originals, but finally relented to play bop standards since Bud at a later stage of his career wasn´t wild about learning new stuff. And let´s say Art Taylor is really great on that. And I really love the brushwork he does while Chambers plays his fanstastic arco solo on "Ornithology".

The "Burnin´in USA" with O.P.and Blakey ?

Happy Birthday !

@king ubu: In general, I´d agree that the BN are great recordings, but especially the 1957 "Bud!" .....well, the stride section on "Idaho" is fun, but the rest isn´t so much inspired. The slow blues "Some Soul" sounds uninspired, same about "Frantic Fancies" which is just an improvised line on "Strike up the Band", somehow "frantic"...... But maybe, the Birdland 1957 might grow on you. I love his solos on Ornithology, and Lover Man is wonderful, maybe Groovin High a bit more tentative, and Dance of the Infidels is solid. More interesting late 1957 is on Mythic Sound, a much better version of "Bud on Bach" than on the BN, for example..... ...

The Prestige records of any artist (Miles, Trane, Jackie McLean and others) are great for just enjoying some great music done by great musicians, but without much time invested for rehearsals or arrangements. I like all of those if I just want to relax and hear lot of good blowing. In that way, they are all classics, even if other labels gave them more time and more money to really make records.....

Well I don´t think anybody would say Bud doesn´t play great on the Blakey side too, but this was 2 years later, after he had settled in Paris. As I mentioned in my own review, the point is, that Bud during the mid fifties had his bad period, remember his shaky performances late 54 early 55 for Verve . So that 1957 recording is great, a huge improvement, and even better than the BN "Bud!". But if you like to mention "Blakey in Paris", of course this was one of the best examples of Bud back in action. This together with the "Essen Festival All Stars" feat. Hawk , sounds like "the old Bud", for those who always want to compare his later work with his early work. Anyway, even in 1947 Bud had days where he didn´t play up to his best, like on the Savoy sides with Bird. where his fingers seem to be stiff or something. And: It´s great to hear Bud with good hornplayers. I always say there are to many trio recordings.

very sad news. But what can I say. I´m glad he was there and played that wonderful music for us all. He was a fantastic musician and sure a great human being. I also loved his autobiography. I have most of his records. Strange, just a few days ago I listened to the Art Blakey "A Night at Birdland". Though that´s not a record under his name, his presence is very very strong, his compositions and his great piano. One of the highlights is his piano solo on that untitled slow blues. Really moving, and while I listened to that, I wondered how Horace Silver might feel right now. I was aware he was ill, also had heard about his alzheimer desease. RIP

Got mine yesterday. Now about the music: That´s really a great live recording, I love it ! First of all: Bud really plays very very fine here. I don´t know why so many people keep telling that Bud after 1953 was finished. Here he has made trememdous steps since his somewhat shaky late 1954/early 1955 sessions. He´s even better, much better than on his 1957 studio sessions for RCA and BN, especially on Ornithology and Dance of the Infidels he really stretches out, that´s vintage Bud Powell. On "Groovin ´ High".....maybe....he sounds a bit more tentative, but I think he didn´t play that tune often. His "Groovin High" with Zoot Sims, 4-5 years later is done at a slower, more relaxed pace and Bud played the tune again at "Golden Circle" (Sweden). "Lover Man" is just beauty: Bud didn´t play that tune often, the only other version was done in Paris at the Café BlueNote, but on both occasions he sticks to the famous bop arrangement (Sarah with Diz and Bird). Bud really plays great on that, with some Tatumesque runs..... I like Donald Byrd very much and he´s a great choice here, the ideal trumpet player for such a session. I´m not familiar with Phil Woods work, my natural choice , especially with Byrd would have been Jackie McLean, but that´s really beautiful alto, very much in the Bird tradition, with many of Birds patented licks, but in an individual manner, so Phil Woods really fits in. Paul Chambers´ bowed bass on Ornithology is fantastic. Chambers and Art Taylor must have recorded together almost weekly for BlueNote during that time. Art Taylor is really great on that. I´ve mentioned earlier that he sounded boring on some studio work with Bud, but know I know it´s the fault of the engineers, they didn´t record him properly, and you just can´t play only brushes behind a bop giant like Bud, you have to cook, and exactly that´s what Art Taylor does here. I´m glad to have a recording where you hear the drummer, I hate recordings where you can´t hear what he does, even if the sound quality otherwise is good. And all those who write off Bud´s later work: Did you ever consider that this man had to play the pianos they usually have in night clubs, damp rooms, bad tuned pianos, the mecanic stiff, you have to face that and if the piano is in sad condiditon, you have to slow down a bit to make it sound. And: Bud NEVER complained about a bad piano !

Just have finished it. Very interesting bio. Until then, most information came from fellow musicians who had great memories about that band. Though my main interest still is "Mr. B and the Band", I love all his singing, love his voice, his phrasing, his musicianship. Highly recommended.

I hope it will be in a soon future that we can read the Dexter bio written by Maxine Gordon.

Happy Birthday Mr. Clark Terry, and thank you for your wonderful music !

I want to thank you all very very much !

My best wishes for a Happy Birthday !

One of the best live performances I saw, was his fantastic group with John Blake on violin. That sextet he had. I still remember the more than 20 minutes performance of "The Seeker". I love his Milestone albums from that time "Horizon" , "4 Quartets" and "Super Trios"....

I´m really lookin forward hearing this CD, for more than one reason: 1) I got recordings of Bud from November 1957 at Club Saint Germain (Cookin´at Saint Germain) and he really plays very fine, so he must have been in better form than the years before. 2) because it´s with two great horn players. There are too many trio albums of Bud. Even if Bud plays fine on let´s say "Bud plays Bird" also from 1957 for Roulette, it´s not very interesting because of the quite unispired Duvivier and Art Taylor. Nothin´happenin from the rhythm section, bop is much more than just keepin time. Same on the Victors, not very much happenin. 3) Dance of the Infidels: I remember during the same year 1957, Donald Byrd recorded it on an Hank Mobley album for Blue Note, so it might be very interesting what he did with it when playing it with the composer himself. 4) Groovin High: Bud didn´t play it very often. One time with Zoot Sims, and another time in Sweden at Golden Circle, and Lover Man, because I got only one recorded version of Bud playing it (very fine) in Paris.....

Keynote label ? Is it possible there was also an album with Lennie Tristano. The earliest one with the trio. I think I have an LP (japanese re-issue) from 1946-47, And it´s very short.

Oh my God, and yesterday I mentioned him in conversation, because I remembered that he played with Ben Webster, and now that bad news. RIP

Yes, great interview. Saw Mikey Roker on several times, mostly with Diz, maybe with some others too, but I am not sure. But I love everything he did on record. Drummers are very important to me. I can´t enjoy a record if the drummer isn´t good. And Mr. Roker sure is one of the greats. Every musician must be glad to work with someone like him......

I started playing "jazz" when I was a kid, 17 or 18 years old. Have been "self taught" or played "from hearing" what my father played (easy classical pieces). My first "jazz" sounded weak, but guys told me I got talent so I worked on it, self taught. I don´t read music, just chord progressions, but got perfect pitch and used to play tunes after I heard them. Played a lot of club dates during the late´70´s , ´80´s until 1992 and then I stopped . Played my stuff at home and thought I´d never return to play in public again, even if I thought I might sound much better now than during the time I was "active". this year, in May I went to hear my old drummer doing a gig, and he told me he want´s me back and will get a good bass player so we´d do a trio gig, so finally I decided to play two gigs and really felt comfortable playing again. After almost 20 years I noticed two things: You are older, you slow down, but even if I play "Salt Peanuts" of "Cherokee" or some fast shit like that, it sound´s better and I feel much more comfortable than 20 or 30 years ago. And ballads, I played them when I was young, but it seems you got to get older to "feel" them and make people enjoy listening to them.....

Well, I´m lookin forward purchasing that. About "Lover Man": It´s not the only '"Lover Man" But recorded. He did a short but very nice version with Pierre Michelot and Kenny Clarke on the "Life at Blue Note Cafe" which was reissued on ESP Disk. There is some confusion if it was done in 1961 or 1962, but it´s a very good record, much better than "Portrait of Thelonious" and as I said, the only "Lover Man" until then. He plays it with the original arrangement, with the intro and the coda, like Diz and Bird did it with Sarah Vaughan...... I wondered why Bud didn´t play it more often. He played "I remember Clifford" almost on every record from 1961 on, but seemed to have "forgotten" about Lover Man......

Thanks Larry. Well that is about from the time when I used to see him/hear him. Brings memories back to me, all them great musicians who played over here, Dex, Griff, Art Farmer (he lived in Vienna for some time) , Benny Bailey etc. etc. About the last LP on your list "Fritz Pauer-Blues Inside Out", I knew Fritz quite well during that period. Fritz together with Jimme Woode (b) and Tony Inzalaco frequently worked as a trio and accompanied a lot of great stars...., back to topic: As I told you, I´m not really associated with Pee Wee Russell, maybe it´s the instrument, maybe it´s the style, not my alley, so I can´t really compare him to Webster. I think Ben Webster traveled a lot during his last year, since he played in my hometown also. Well even then I thought he reminds me of Mingus, someone "like Mingus´daddy" , as I thought about it then, and I remember I had that "dream" that Webster should have been on stage during that Mingus Jam at Carnegie Hall, it would have been the greatest......