Jim R

"Que-pon"? That would be "Kay-pon", no senor? I think you were going for "Cue-pon" vs Koo-pon (I've said it both ways, but I'd lean more toward Koo (as in "Ool ya KOOpon" B-) ). boot/moot, cute/mute. I mean, DUH?!?! (I hope and pray that your wife was the one who was sarong, Al)... old pal... As long as I'm here, how about the word "route"? rhymes with "root" or rhymes with "rout"? You don't hear Nat singing "rout" 66, but some people say "I took a different "rout" to get there". I tend to go with Nat on this one.

Sorry- couldn't quite stop at 5, and don't have time right now to review... Roland Hanna- Everything I Love Bill Charlap- Somewhere: The Songs Of Leonard Bernstein Hank Jones- The Talented Touch / Porgy And Bess Alan Broadbent- You And The Night And The Music Bobby Jaspar / Rene' Thomas- Thomas/Jaspar Quintet Eddie Higgins- Bewitched Mel Rhyne- Tomorrow Yesterday Today Horace Parlan- Relaxin' With Horace Eddie Davis / Johnny Griffin- Pisces

Well, I've gotta ask... how do they compare to these: (Maybe we'll let Dan answer that... )

I don't think he was ever a "troll", Chris. We've seen enough trolls over the years to recognize the difference. He needed attention, that's for sure, but he was sincere (if often misinformed/misguided). He was usually so focused on his own opinions and his own topics, that he actually ignored (or overlooked) much of the flaming that came his way, until he lashed back. Anyway, like I said, I don't want to appear to be defending everything about the guy. Does he deserve some criticism? Probably, although I'm not sure it has to go on forever. Oh well, I've said what I wanted to say... and I know for damn sure I'm not going to change YOUR mind.

I see that this 6 month-old comment went unchallenged. What is it about Benny Golson's tenor playing that some folks find "generic"? To my ears, he's very distinctive and easily recognizeable. Is it that his style was not mullti-faceted enough for some? I guess "generic" in not a term I would use to describe someone like Golson. For me, it's harder to recognize Hank Mobley (whom I love, BTW) than Benny. Regarding Chet, I think he was more about the melodies (and melodic improvising) than he was about being a trumpet player. And yet he was a great trumpet player when he was "on" (probably a poor choice of words in this case). Obviously, he had it clicking at the beginning of his career (when Bird selected him in that big audition). He went through some very tough times, and recorded too many times when he was ill and ill-prepared, but right to the bitter end, he still produced some real gems from time to time. Those '65 Prestige sessions were by no means the only examples of the hot side of Chet (but that side didn't show itself as often, of course).

I don't think it's that cut & dried. There's a good amount of jazzy Sarah on Roulette- some of it indespensible, IMO. "Sarah +2", the Benny Carter sessions, the Basie sessions, "Sarah Sings Soulfully"... some very nice stuff. I would admit that if someone already has some of the better Roulette material in their collection, there may not be any point in getting the Mosaic in order to get it all (there are some duds in there, just like in the Mercury set), but for somebody with little or no Sarah, I would give it a . I don't have the Dinah set, but I suspect from what I've read that it might be as worthy as the Sarah (and I'm thinking about it too, because I too love Dinah's voice in various settings).

I recall his "review" of Ornette Coleman's last concert in New York--I believe he called him "Moronette." And he hadn't even been to the concert, he was just distorting the New York Times review in a negative way. So he deserves any insults he receives. I too shared boards with him for years (maybe longer than you). I've read those things. It's old news. I'm not defending his positions or his attitudes. I just don't see any value (or much class) in a public gang-bashing. He's a person, not a cartoon character. If it's just me, then so be it.

I hear you, Chuck. My post followed yours because we see this slightly differently, but the real motivation for me came from some of the other posts. I just don't get all the ire over something like this. If people are "bugged" by these polls, there's always the option of not pointing and not clicking. I'd prefer to think that there's always the potential for something worthwhile to be found inside.

I understand the criticisms (always have, going way way back), but I always found it pretty easy to ignore what I didn't like about him. I think it's in bad taste to bash the guy here like this.

I was just going to let this fade away without commenting any further (and I'm probably too late), but I think I should go ahead and put my $.03 in. While I do understand the frustration that some have expressed here (and I do agree that too many threads started by relatively inexperienced posters can be a problem... I mean, just visit AAJ once in awhile...), I think some of these reactions are a bit harsh. Not so much Chuck... at least not THIS time. For one thing, c.a. didn't make the common bbs mistake of polling us on the "greatest" trombone player over 50. So, it's all a matter of perspective, just asking for people's opinions on their own personal favorites. Anybody who starts a poll of this type will: A) slant things toward their own musical taste and experience (and there's NOTHING WRONG with that); and B) leave off LOTS of names that could have (and even perhaps "should" have, although I'd argue that isn't the right way to look at it) been mentioned. NO BIG (FUCKING) WHOOP. Everybody states their opinions, laments the missing names, we all get a bit of information about names we're unfamiliar with (for whatever reason- maybe because we've been asleep, or maybe because we don't like that style of jazz), and then we move on, and hopefully have a nice dinner and a good night's sleep. I thought c.a. took it all very well, BTW, so he still gets a from me.

Again, this wasn't directed at me, but a very interesting clue. Might 7 and 12 feature the same drummer, then? (that question is for the group, not necessarily for Milan B-) ).

I know the question wasn't directed at me, Mike, but I thought I'd respond anyway. I don't exactly have "doubt"- I know it's not from SONGS FROM THE HEART, and not Hartman. I have nearly all of his recordings, and although Hartman is not a "bad" guess in that he did have that lush baritone voice, he never crossed my mind on this track 15. I'm convinced it's Joe Williams (and seeing that a certain other member with pretty decent ears had already gone with JW, I'm even more convinced. ).

Wow, a lot of votes on #15 for Hartman from SONGS FROM THE HEART. It's not even the right length! Keep your eyes on your own paper, guys!

I received my disc this past week, but I’ve been too busy to really devote sufficient time to comment thoroughly. Some of this material is outside (predating) my area of knowledge and interest... but I did enjoy much of it! I did recognize Bird on #5 “star eyes”, Goodman quartet on #8, Billie on # 11 (with Artie Shaw?... that was pretty), Louis Jordan #16 “outskirts of town”; as well as some other tunes- #1 “in the mood”, #6 “don’t be that way” (could be Lester on that), #12 “four brothers” (great version!), #13 (familiar theme that I can’t name at the moment), #15 “they didn’t believe me” (but who? it sounds a lot like Joe Williams' phrasing to me... 2nd listen gives me a stronger impression that it is indeed Joe... kind of weird at times... like it's slowed down a tad...), #20 “ooh bop sh’bam” (don’t hear Dizzy, though), #22 “gone with the wind”, #23 “the lady’s in love with you” (nice distinctive vocalist... but I don’t know her),. Woody Herman’s band on #10? I’ll be interested to see the solutions to some of these mysteries. Thank you Milan for assembling this!

I'll second the nomination for: Rene' Thomas. GUITAR GROOVE. Don't let the nerdy cover photo deter you- this is a heavyweight album by a heavyweight player.

One or two of our local PBS affiliates have aired several broadcasts from that Cole show (circa 1957, as I recall) over the years. They package a few of them together (along with a Cole documentary) as part of their pledge drives. The show was kind of up and down, IMO. Cole was almost always good, although he was asked to do some pretty corny material from time to time. He had to "play it safe" (to put it mildly), of course, so there wasn't a whole lot of serious jazz to be had. He did do a show with a number of JATP stars featured (going from memory here... Eldridge, Phillips, Getz, Peterson trio, Shavers...?), a show with Ella, and occasionally did a number at the piano. It's worth looking for, I think.

Mike, just in case you were unaware, a bit of trivia regarding the CD release(s) of Hartman's ONCE IN EVERY LIFE (the two Malpaso/Warner Brothers soundtrack CD's of the Eastwood film). One of the tracks, "I See Your Face Before Me", was included on both THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY (45949) and REMEMBERING MADISON COUNTY (46259). On the latter, it sounds normal and has the correct run time. On the former, the track runs about five minutes in length (about 20 seconds longer), and Hartman's voice is obviously even lower than it was in reality! A technical glitch in the transfer. So, don't let anybody tell you there were two different takes of that tune. Hey, I said it was trivia. (BTW, let me know if you need to know which tracks were on which CD).

I have an old cassette copy of this someplace, which I haven't played in ages. Don't know why, because I remember it being my favorite SS recording.

I could list dozens of things here, so I'll just mention the little frenzy I got into yesterday. Programmed the player to repeat both takes of "People will say we're in love" (rec. 4/30/62 by Kenny Burrell, Jack McDuff, and Joe Dukes), from Burrell's MOTEN SWING: THE COLUMBIA RECORDS INSTRUMENTAL RECORDINGS, 1961-62. The tension KB creates on these just makes me want to scream. He's so lyrical, but with such a bite. I love his tone on these sessions- it's got that "rich and lovely but watch out or you'll get knocked on your ass" quality about it. Play it loud.

Let me know if I start to drool...

To match your cool avatar, how about "The Complete Works Of David Stone Martin"? You could begin with this one: B-) Welcome to the board.

You da man! B-)

I understand what you're saying, Mike. As I said, it's good to see a list like that available. I don't own a general discography (at least nothing comprehensive). With the resources I've collected over the years, I haven't felt a need or desire up to now. I know that would be a useful tool, but it's also more than I really feel I need at this point (and they've always been expensive). At any rate, it just seemed to me that considering the small output of this particular label, it would have been quite manageable (along the lines of an online artist discography by someone who only recorded 18 times) and even more useful to have posted this somewhere (perhaps on a separate page) as a complete label discography. I don't mean it as a "complaint" or anything, just an observation.

Good to have a list of those albums... but with that short a list, you'd think it wouldn't be too much trouble to fill out the discography with personnel, song titles, etc. Maybe it's a work in progress. I haven't heard too many of these. I never cared too much for the Sal Salvador titles, but on the other hand I think that Johnny Hartman session (which came out on CD in the form of two "Bridges Of Madison County" soundtrack CD's) was excellent.

Sleeper. One of my favorites- I've almost seen it too many times. "Take the money and run" was an early, lower budget film, but one of his funniest of all time. I always liked "Love and death", too. "Radio Days' is another personal fave. "What's Up Tiger Lily" is fun also. I need to catch up with more of the later films. Before I saw many of his films, I was in love with his books "Without Feathers" and "Getting Even". I especially enjoyed the play "Death knocks", and the "Gossage-Vardebedian Papers" (chess match by mail).