Gheorghe

What´s the mistery about "My Favourite Quintet"? (1965, live at the Guthrie Theatre, Minneapolis)? I see it in all the discographies and it was advertised on the back cover of all those Mingus records released on the french "America" label during the 70´s (then a source for us poor Europeans to purchase Mingus´stuff....) , only I never could put my hands on it. As much as I know, it was never re-issued as a CD. It would be worth listening, since it has, besides just another version of "So Long Eric" a ballad medley, in the way the Ellington-Medley on "Monterey", as I suppose..... Rumours were, that Mrs. Sue Mingus would release it. We have tons of partially bootleg material from the 1964 tour , at least this recording would be interesting. I also miss a good live recording of the band that I was lucky to see live (Walrath, Ricky Ford, Bob Neloms). The only source I have is a hideous bootleg-sampler with live material from the 70s (Stormy and Funky Blues), which I bought during the short time it was out , only because it contains a live version of "Cumbia and Jazz Fusion"......

I think it was very hard for Bud to find inspirations during his later years. All that music was in his head, but not always the vibrations were right. Especially the tracks from Sweden from the same period: I have the 5 albums from Golden Circle and the limited edition of further material ("Budism", 3 CDs) . Much of it is just tedious, too long versions of simple 12 Bar tunes like "Blues in the Closet" played over and over. The best material is on the studio album recorded in Copenhagen, that´s really great Bud Powell. I also have from Copenhagen some tracks where the usual trio has to guests added: Don Byas and Brew Moore. Bud sounds very inspired on that. He should have done more like that, not only trio-settings, but encounters with hornplayers. Playing trio all the time, each week in another town with another rhythm-section becomes boring. And if it was like Bud´s situation, when he didn´t see a penny from his work, it´s just disastrous for a man and a musician.

I also like the second album from the same date: "Charles Mingus Quintet plus Max Roach".

Yesterday I listened again to that album. Just beautiful, I love it.

A really sad album. But considering the fact, that Mingus was fatally ill then, he must be admired for the will and strength of trying to play a bass while his hands are getting stiff. It´s painful to hear him like that, struggeling with his instrument. And about the music, it´s just Mingus´ tunes, the arrangements done by Paul Jeffrey are too polished. Mingus didn´t participate in the project, he let Paul Jeffrey go to Hampton´s place to perpare the material. They even had to change to title of "Remember Rockefeller at Attica" into "Just for Laughs" because Hampton didn´t want political music. Hampton´s solos are sympathic but unessential in Mingus´music. But we must not forget it was Hampton who had employed Mingus during the forties, it was that band that played "Mingus´Fingers" then....

How about the two albums Mingus made in late 1970 in Paris? With McPherson, Bobby Jones, Jakie Byard and of course Mr. Richmond. In general, those are considered as weaker recordings of Mingus, made after the long period when he was inactive. During the 70´s I had those two LPs, last year I purchased a double CD with all that material (also alternative tracks). Of course, I heard more interesting Mingus, but nevertheless it´s very good music.

I love Cumbia and Jazz Fusion (this was in 1977). The other tune on that album "Music for Todo Modo" was recorded just the year before in Italy. It was the last occasion on which George Adams played with Mingus. Actually I heard "Cumbia" live before we could buy the record. I´ll never forget that fantastic work with all those different sections and of course Mingus shouting his "rap" (Who said Mama´s lil baby likes shortnin´bread? ). Danny Richmond recorded it after Mingus´death, but I rather would have preferred to here a good live CD of that last group with Mingus performing the music he had composed then. I still remember we all wondered what it was, since Mingus only announced "rite now we gonna play something we just recorded, it´s from a movie score". Few months later the record was for sale, but then I was disappointed since it´s quite over-produced. Then, I didn´t like all those flute and birdsounds on the beginning. Now I love that record, since it´s my only memory of what I saw in 1977.

hello marcello! Of course, being the Bud Powell freak I am, I had purchased that book right after it was published. It´s a fantastic book and I really praise Mr. Carl Smith. Also got Francis Paudras´book in the mid 80´s , the original french version. The ESP-Disk you mentioned is really nice, a more relaxed performance from 1961, but some sources mention it is from late 1962. I had the original LP but last year purchased a CD-reissue from the ESP-catalog with a rare set added with Zoot Sims. I already had that Zoot Sims-Bud Powell encounter on Mythic Sound. Well, but that´s another period, it´s Bud during his 5 years stay in Paris......

Bud was hospitalized from 9/4/51 through 2/5/53. I've read that when he was hospitalized he painted a keyboard on his wall, which was the only way he could practice. He once asked a visitor (Jackie McLean?) if he could hear the sounds Bud was "playing" on the wall. No matter what method Bud used to practice, his "Tea For Two" from 2/7/53 is as good as any version I've heard him play. He's more relaxed here than on his earlier solo version for Norman Granz. ...... ........ I haven't heard the Sept. '53 club dates but note that there's nothing in his discography from that month until June of 1954, when his playing was much darker and slower (listen to "It Never Entered My Mind" on Verve to hear the difference). 1953 is generally considered the last year Bud Powell's technique was in its prime. It was also the year that the manager of Birdland, Oscar Goodstein, became his legal guardian and started keeping him in a locked hotel room (house arrest?) between gigs. Others have written that this was the year Bud started his largactyl prescription, (which was used to combat schizophrenia but weakens the muscle system). Sometime in 1953 Bud attempted suicide by slitting his left armpit (he knew enough not to mess with his wrists). Thank you very much for your very interesting answer! Yes, maybe the legendary "keyboard painted on the hospital wall" was his only oportunity to keep in touch with a "piano" from 1951-1953. It is interesting how it seems that "practice" on piano isn´t always the only solution for a good performance. See, later during 1954-1955, when Bud was hospitalized again it´s told he had a piano in his room, but his performances when he was out again where much weaker. The only sources I found about Bud´s "activities" from late 1953 to the Granz recordings from june 1954 I found in a letter that Bud´s mother wrote to Goodstein, that she´s worried he´s drinking so much again. In early 1954 he played in Los Angeles but it´s said he was very erratic and the gig was cut short.... Some great inside views about Bud´s live (not published in other sources) I found in Ira Gitler´s "Jazz Masters of the Forties" with an interesting story about how Bud became friendly with one Dede Emerson from Utah, who studies piano in NY and took Bud to her class where he was "very articulate" and played "Dance of the Infidels" and told how he would like to have it orchestrated . Miss Emerson also tells that sometimes she almost felt like Carrie Nations making efforts to keep Bud off drinking. It´s interesting how Bud´s style started to change a bit during 1953 (his lines became less intense and his left hand chords more "abstract"), and how it seemed that he had returned to his earlier "act" after going to Europe. Then, his playing ...for example on "Blakey in Paris" or "Essen All Stars" sounds like vintage Powell from the forties.

I didn´t know who is Terry Bozzio, but I really admire Woody Shaw. During a time when Miles had retired and nobody thought he might start to play again, and Dizzy (with all my greatest respect for him) had started to play the same things over and over again with a very thin group (g, el-bass, dm), Woody Shaw was my idea of a perfect trumpet player. His group with Mulgrew Miller, Tony Reedus etc. was incredible. I would have liked to read that whole interview, because it really reveals some interesting facts (Woody first saying he never thought he would employ a white musician, then discovering that most blacks at the coast during that time didn´t really know how to play the music). And something that´s now more true then ever: Young musicians gettin´to much to early without having paid their dues.... Woody refers to "a former habit" and that he managed to kick it. It really made me so sad to see Woody for the last time. It was in Europe and I couldn´t believe that t h e o n e a n d o n l y Woody Shaw would be on a small, shabby stage playing with some semi-professional locals, doing old standards (real-book stuff usually played by generations of students, amateur jazz lovers etc.) and naturally sounding very uninspired. That was one of the saddest things to see Woody like that, when I saw him just a few years earlier in concert halls, playing his own music with his own musicians, each of them being a topnotch musician..... Since I don´t know about a Terry Bozzio, I couldn´t contribute more concretly to that thread, but I tried to tell some of my impressions about Woody Shaw.

You welcome, Quasimodo! I´m so glad for all your answers. Autumn Brodacasts: Yes, "Oblivion", two versions, the last one with Bud into "Lullaby of Birdland". Also interesting the 3 versions of "Un Poco Loco". After the great recording of 1951 Bud didn´t give that composition many other tries, here he does....

transitional is the right word! Especially on the first sessions from february, Bud sometimes sounds very much like Tatum, or like a cross between Tatum and Teddy Wilson (Bud´s stride sections on faster tunes like "Hallelujah" or "I want to be happy" sound more like Wilson than Tatum). Later during that year, another influence seemed to get into Bud´s playing: More abstract chords, peaking in some tormented but harmonically interesting things, as the fifties went on. It seems, like Bud had listened to Tristano and had added some of his voicings.

Bud loved Salt Peanuts, he even played it in later years. the last recorded example I know is from Edenville, France 1964. The Birdland-version from 1953 is interesting in what Roy Haynes is doing, indeed. Even better is the version from "Inner Fires" (Elektra Musician), also from spring 1953.

Other examples of *Heart* are on Bud´s trio-album from Massey Hall, where it is added, together with 3 other tunes, dated from september 1953. He also recorded it in the studio for Roost (which in general is considered to be a weaker session).

Hello Michael Weiss! Much of the stuff from 1953 was what I´d say is beyond be-bop. Bud started to explore other sounds. My Heart Stood Still is a very good example. I heard, that some of those intros and codas had been worked out with bass players, Mingus of cours, and later George Duvivier. They are really dialoges between piano and bass....Autumn in New York, Sure Thing etc. ......

Oh yes, Quasimodo! The two tracks with Bird. fantastic! Also from that period (shortly after Massey Hall), I got two tracks from Birdland with Diz , Bud, Mingus, Roach (Woody´n You and Salt Peanuts), on Mythic Sounds. IMHO, Bud....and I say this with all my most honest respect for him!.....made too many trio-recordings. He could be so inspired if playing with other horn-players, like the Birdland 1950 you mentioned, or 1951 with Bird and Diz.

Nobody interested? Can´t believe it, since I jumped on that board when I discovered a thread about Bud´s last recording with so many interesting answers..... Give this a try please.....anybody....

Well, we´ll never know, how it sounded or it looked like, but if it happened, I´m sure they had a ball together and with such great musical minds as Jimmy Smith and Hampton Hawes alltogether, it sure sounded good. In his autobiography "Raise Up Off Me", Hawes doesn´t mention that occasion, but - though his main interest was the piano, he sure was interested in other keyboards too. One example: During the pre-syntizezer era, Slam Steward had some kind of electric equipment you attach to the piano to get different sounds and during intermission, Hawes (who was not part) of Slam´s group wanted to try it out, but was stopped by Slam Steward who said "don´t touch it, not even Art Tatum is allowed to touch it and he´s the greatest pianist". Later, Hawes played electric piano on some occasions (1973 at Montreux, with Dexter and Gene Ammons). He also tells about a keyboard he had at home during that time, which could make the sound of a "drunken cobra". Well I´ll never know what a "drunken cobra" sounds like....

Thank you, Dave James! Well, maybe for a newbie it´s a bit hard to seek out the substantial informations. As about Hank Mobley, I´ve been looking for quite a long time for some informations. The strangest one was about what I think was his very last performance at the Angry Squire in NY just a short time before he died. I know he was present at a BlueNote anniversary but didn´t perform. At least I would have liked to know if there are photos from him, from that occasion.

After I´ve read the very interesting thread about Bud´s recordings from 1957/58, I was once more listening frequently to Bud´s music for the last week. I´d like to start a discussion about Bud´s activity during 1953 since I always thought Bud went through a quite interesting musical developement during that year. It´s like a kind of transition between the early Bud and his later recordings. The best known recordings are those from Massey Hall, and the BlueNote-date with Glass Enclosure. Also, I like very much a recording with Mingus and Roy Haynes from Washington. Yesterday I purchased the 4 CDs of broadcasts from Birdland (ESP-Disk "Winter,-Spring,-Summer,-Autumnsessions"). Of course I knew most of that music from diverse LP-issues from long ago (some of them quite hidous bootlegs). The Wintersession is particulary interesting for Buds left-hand playing which is surprisingly strong with some of his most exiting stride-section on "I Want To Be Happy". I always liked Bud´s version of "Embraceable You" which seems to be much more a new composition, rather than a rendition of that standard-ballad. But I observed that the music has very much complexity on the earlier dates from that year, and the autumn-sessions are less intense. Same can be said about a studio-date he made during that time for Roost. I know that the first recordings were done just 2 days after Bud was released from a long stay at a mental hospital. I wonder if he had the opportunity to practice during that time, because his playing is so strong. What happened after september 1953?

I love everything Hank Mobley played and often wondered why we know such a few facts about his live. Even a biography about Hank Mobley that was ´published this year doesn´t reveal much about the person Hank Mobley. I´m really a fan of his music and think he was a genious in what he was doing. So I was looking forward finding some informations on this discussion, but I must admit I´m a bit disappointed....

I must admit, I also wondered why this album is on BlueNote, because you wouldn´t expect that. It´s a great album, really! Well, about BlueNote stuff recorded in Europe.....there are a few more examples: Dizzy Reece "Blues in Trinity" (which I think was recorded in London though they had to write on the liner notes that it was recorded in France, it has something to do with a record ban they had in UK), Dexter Gordon "Our Man in Paris", "One Flight UP", Ornette Coleman "Golden Circle Vol1+2". Some of those records were produced by Frank Wolff who went to Europe quite often. But it wasn´t Wolff who produced "Golden Eight", it was Gigi Campi, the famous Gigi Campi from Köln/Germany. About the musicians: You mentioned Karl Drewo. Of course I saw him live on many occasions in Austria (where he came from). It´s too bad he died to early. It was always a great pleasure to hear him, and he was such a nice man. In his hometown St. Gilgen/Wolfgangsee near Salzburg they still have a "Karl Drewo-Jazzfestival" each year.

You are talking about that album "In The Land of Oo Blaa Dee"? Yes, I purchased it. Because I always did like Eager´s sound and lines on many sessions from the 40´s , mostly with Fats. The stuff from Boston 1953 is really nice, a typical club-performance from that time. I also really like that one track "Some Blues" . But I remember, one of the last tracks is a slow blues, which would be great, but the drummer is just terrible.

Eager´s performance on that "Saturday Night Swing Session" really knocked me out. I first bought it because of Fats Navarro, who plays on those two tracks "Sweet Georgia Brown" and "High on an open mike". The best solos of Eager, together with that sessions I heard on the live-album Tadd Dameron-Fats Navarro from Royal Roost 1948. I´m a freak of Fats Navarro and Tadd Dameron, but Eager really takes care of business. His solos are as well-constructed as Fats´solos and he really has a beautiful sound. The same thing can be said about the BlueNote date from 1948, where Eager and Wardell Gray are playing. Another great example is on one of the three broadcasts from 1947 ("Bands for Bonds"), where Eager is featured with Bird, Fats, Lennie Tristano etc. and has a great feature on "Grooovin´High".

I was 32 years old when he died. Miles was the reason I became a jazz-fan. The first jazz-record I ever heard (or better let´s say: "I liked") was one of his Prestige-recordings and this was the start of a live-long love affair with jazz. Whatever I´d listen to...from bop to 60´s avant-garde and some of the electric-stuff, Miles always was the centre of everything. I was lucky I saw him quite often, even though I would have preferred to see him live with one of his quintets from the 50´s or 60´s .