Jim R

... Oh man... WHY did I have to go and ask for a new board skin again? But seriously, I agree with all of the above. Jim, keep up the good work, and THANK YOU for all you've done for us.

Thanks mule. That title seems a little trite for such a beautiful composition, but maybe that's just my impression. I'll have to watch the tape again with this info in mind (I can't remember how many pieces Brubeck played, actually...). Anybody for my Nat Cole question?

I agree, and I would add that anybody who can make good music (in tune) on one of those things deserves a whole lot of credit/respect. I have an older brother who plays, and from what he's told me about the experience of learning to play, I know that's one instrument that I would never attempt. Of course, my damn brother is one of those guys that can play anything (not to mention paint, draw... ). I agree about Rosolino too. His nutty personality really came through in his playing- even if he wasn't singing "Pennies From Heaven" or "Please Don't Bug Me".

Hell yes!!!! Jim, I love this game. I've seen a lot of variations on this over the years, but this particular brand/version was sweet. With those metal blades, you could really make your point if some kid tried to reach onto the board and pick up the puck with his hand! Not only that, but there were springs in each player's mechanism that would allow you to make the players spin back and forth at the speed of a hummingbird's wings (good for distracting/frustrating your opponent if they were trying to hold the puck too long). Ahhh, I miss that game... flipping the puck around behind the net, catching it with your left wing, and in one motion, sliding a sweet no-look pass in to a hard-charging center forward who would slam it into the corner of the net before the poor kid playing defense knew what the hell had happened. He might even scuff some of the skin off his left thumb in a desperate attempt to stop the shot (thanks to the hard plastic handle on the goalkeeper's control rod). Damn, nowadays they probably have tournaments (aired on ESPN 2 on Sunday afternoons between the Poker and Scrabble tournaments) with big bucks involved...

When I was a kid, we played mostly outside (sports, "big army" and "little army"), but perhaps the most successful toy we ever had at our house was: Circa early 60's, "Hockey Night In Canada" (Canadiens vs the Maple Leafs). I was really good at it from the get-go, and proceeded to get better (absolutely mastered the sucker). My all-time record would have to be something like 500-0. I am serious. Oddly enough, I was never a fan of real hockey as a kid (and I'm still not, except for Olympic hockey).

Well, I never managed to catch a few of the episodes from the series until recently. Between my kids comandeering the TV's, and PBS going into a sickening pledge drive phase recently (every time I turn them on it's either one of those "Managing Your Money" deals or "This Land Is Your Land" and people clapping on 1 and 3 for 4 hours a night). At least Riverdance hasn't been on here for awhile. Anyway, I managed to catch the "Red White and Blues" film recently, and really enjoyed it. Intelligent, reverent and focused, I thought. It flowed very well, and the scope of the interviews was very impressive. As soon as it was over, I wanted to go back and watch it again (should have taped it). Also, a friend was kind enough to loan me a tape of the Eastwood film, which I watched yesterday. I agree with the criticisms cited above, as well as the praise. Overall, I just enjoyed the music, and the great (and I assume rare, in some cases) film clips. A couple of questions. First, does anybody know the source of that Nat Cole Trio footage? I've never seen it before, but I'm not really an avid video collector. I really dug it, especially the clarity of the image, way the camera took it in from different angles, and included plenty of shots of the great Oscar Moore. Also, one thing that really knocked me out was that first solo piece that Brubeck played with Eastwood sitting next to him, listening. That brought tears to my eyes, and made me realize that I haven't paid much attention to Brubeck's more recent playing. At any rate, when I went to view the credits at the end of the film, I couldn't read them (too small, and the quality of the tape dub wasn't too good). So, if anybody can tell me what that piece was called, I would be much obliged.

One is Wilson's BRAZILIAN MANCINI (Vault) from 1967. Indespensable also for the guitarist on the session, one "Tony Brazil" (aka "Joe Beam"). B)

FWIW, I have a (Japanese) Blakey discography from 1991, which includes the following commercial release: ART BLAKEY AND THE JAZZ MESSENGERS LIVE IN STOCKHOLM (Dragon / DIW-344) 11-23-59 Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Walter Davis Jr., Jymie Merritt, Art Blakey Close Your Eyes Like Someone In Love Lester Left Town The Midget A Night In Tunisia Of course, sometimes the dates and locations on such live concerts can be shown to be inaccurate as years pass and scholarship increases...

Oh, I'm aware of the stories. I just have yet to see anybody come forth with any evidence of actual tapes existing.

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Thanks chris. I wonder if the old saying applies here- "if you want something done right, do it yourself". Well, in way I think it might. The "do it yourself" part involves entering the types of data ("fields" is the term I use when referring to my software) that YOU want to include. That's what I like about Filemaker Pro. I can create any type of field I want. I created one called "instrument", which I basically use to identify the instrument played by the session leader or featured instrument (when applicable). When I started out, I only listed the names of the personnel, but in more recent years I've included the instrument played by each musician (should have done that from the beginning, but I can always correct that, if I want to take the time). Anyway, I understand your desire to be able to search for some data set such as all recordings that include a baritone sax. That's the sort of thing that makes having a database most worthwhile (besides the obvious one- trying to avoid buying things you already own! ).

Such as...? What can you not do with Music Collector? Just curious- I'm happy with my system (I enter my own data on the searchable/sortable Filemaker Pro software on my Mac).

I've been using Filemaker Pro since 1992. I enter my own data, which is pretty easy once you get past the initial phase of entering what you own. Entering large amounts of data (such as track listings from boxsets, etc) is easy to do by copying and pasting from discographical websites. This program is highly flexible, allowing for all kinds of fields (whatever you want to input, including graphics) and layouts (with "scripts" that can be accessed easily on the keyboard) and it's completely searchable/sortable. It's fun to use, and very handy when you want to search and sort song titles, personnel, labels, dates, or whatever. One of the best decisions I ever made.

Lon, that was really a low thing to do. You ought to be ashamed of yourself! ubu, the Wilen track on Tony's BF test was a great one, too. “Swingin’ Parisian Rhythm (Jazz sur Seine)” from the Jazz In Paris CD series, the 1958 session with Milt Jackson, Percy Heath, and Kenny Clarke. I didn't have it at the time of the test, but I DO NOW!

That's what I meant when I said that "pensativa" (track 9) wasn't listed. "Sidewinder" appears to be cut off. Anyone else notice this? Right- it's faded out before they get through the reprise of the theme.

This reminds me (thank you!) of a local garage sale I went to, probably around that same time. Despite intense competition amongst collectors and dealers in this area for cool LP's (I think most of those Mantovani fans you're talking about move to Florida from HERE... ), I stumbled onto a box of old jazz LP's- in great condition- for fifty cents a pop. They were all trumpeters. CLIFFORD BROWN MEMORIAL and TROMPETA TOCCATA on BN; BYRD'S WORD on Savoy; THE REMARKABLE CARMELL JONES and JAZZ AT ANN ARBOR (Chet) on PJ; MODERN ART on UA; SMOOTH AS THE WIND on Riverside; TAKE TWELVE on Jazzland; WEST COAST WAILERS on Atlantic... and probably a couple of others. I picked up some great LP's and at very good prices in my time, but that was one of the greatest killings I ever made on one day.

December (7, 8 and ) 9, 1965: J.J. Johnson - J.J.! (The Dynamic Sound Of J.J. With Big Band) - RCA

I agree- this is a nice CD. Fresh Sound has long been a great source of otherwise obscure recordings. I remember getting their catalog in the 80's, and I wish I had bought more. The drummer on RAMBLIN' was Varner (also spelled "Warner" in booklet) Barlow. The CD contains 9 tracks, but the last one ("pensativa") is not listed on the booklet. Coincidentally, on the original rear cover of the LP, one track was also not listed ("the sidewinder"). Thanks for mentioning this, Marcus- Jack Wilson is a name that tends to be forgotten, unfortunately.

I guess I really don't have a strong favorite (this is the third time I've opened this thread ). If pressed for an answer, I suppose I would have to agree with Dan and his comments re Kenny Drew... but I love a number of other pianists who recorded with Dexter as well. As long as Dexter's there, I'm pretty happy (not too fond of Cables or George Duke, though).

Part of Barney Kessel's "Vol. 1 / Easy Like" on Contemporary was recorded on my date of birth. I'm a very big fan of Kessel, and this LP was among my earliest jazz 10" LP finds.

I was a little confused about these labels, so I did a search. FWIW, the label I referred to- "Il Grande Del Jazz" (with the black covers) is actually spelled "I Grandi Del Jazz": Both the Europa and the Curcio / I Giganti Del Jazz LP's had white covers, I believe:

Dexter Gordon did a few vocals over the years. Kenny Burrell made an entire vocal album for Columbia in the 60's, and has recorded a number of vocal tunes in recent years. Oscar Peterson Grady Tate Frank Rosolino Jack Sheldon

I know even less than you guys do (really), but several years ago I recall reading an interview/article on a very similar topic. I believe the article was part of an "Acoustic Sounds" catalog (a mail order company that I must admit knowing very little about, which sells jazz/classical/pop? LP's and CD's to audiophiles). The interviewee was an RCA engineer, who was renowned for his work in the field recording symphony orchestras all over the world. Let's just say this guy knew his microphone types, and how and where to place them. I don't recall his name now, but then I had only borrowed the catalog out of moderate curiosity in the first place. Anyway, if anybody has (or recalls better than I do) that particular catalog, maybe it could be a source of info for Jim. This would have come out around 1995 or so...

I love it too. Had it on VHS for years, and recently picked up a used copy of the DVD. For me it's enough just to see Dexter do his thing (not to mention Hutcherson, Higgins, etc), but I also love some of the other performances (especially Cluzet and Scorcese) as well as Tavernier's direction. Beautifully filmed, with one evocative scene after another.

I always thought the white ones were a little odd, in terms of the groupings of artists on each LP. Sort of like the modern day Collectables CD twofers. I did pick up a few, though, when it became obvious that some contained tracks that were unavailable anywhere else (I had one with some rare Rene Thomas material that later was included on a Fresh Sound CD). The black ones ("Il Grande del Jazz") were more of a dubious nature, as I recall. At least some of them. For example, there's a self-titled "Joe Williams" LP in the series that is actually the Roulette LP "Memories Ad Lib" by Williams and Basie. I think they messed up the sound, to boot.