jeffcrom

I recall reading about the octet 50 or more years ago when I first got into jazz. I was intrigued by the article but I''ve never heard the group. Something to remedy. Recordings of the original Wilder-led group are hard to come by these days, since the CD reissue of Frank Sinatra Conducts Alec Wilder album is now out of print and fetching collectors' prices. There are a couple of CDs containing recent recordings of Wilder's octet music along with other Wilder compositions, such as this one by the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra:

Bobby Hackett - Soft Lights and Bobby Hackett (Capitol 10"). I have a strange affection for Bobby Hackett's mood music LPs. Lou Stein is the pianist here; it amuses me that the rest of the rhythm section (Billy Bauer, Arnold Fishkin, Denzil Best) once recorded as Lennie Tristano's rhythm section.

From Roaratorio, a one-sided LP containing a performance many of us have been waiting for - The Rest by Steve Lacy and Joe McPhee. In June of 1977, Steve Lacy and Joe McPhee shared a double bill in Basel, Switzerland. Lacy invited McPhee to join him for a duet to close his set, for which McPhee elected to bring out his own soprano saxophone. The main part of Lacy’s performance was issued on the classic Clinkers LP; after 36 years, here is The Rest. This one-sided, limited LP marks the first and only time that these two master musicians played together, but the simpatico meshing of their distinctly individual voices points towards a shared history on a different plane. Cover artwork by Judith Lindbloom. Download coupon included. link I got the email about 11:00 PM; mine was ordered 10 minutes later.

Miles Davis - Complete Jack Johnson Sessions, disc two.

Alec Wilder - Octets (Mercury). A very early 10" LP - 1949 pressing (with a paper sleeve) of 1947 recordings. Wilder's octets are intriguing musically - poised somewhere between jazz, pop, and classical. And I love the odd titles he gave them; my favorite here is "Jack, This Is My Husband." Lots of layers there.

Morgana King - The Winter of My Discontent (Ascot mono). A 1964 recital of Alec Wilder songs. The title song is one of my two or three favorite Wilder pop songs. I made an instrumental lead sheet (without lyrics) of "Blackberry Winter" a few days ago for a rehearsal. Something struck me - without the lyrics, it doesn't look like a pop song. The range, intervals, and all those 16th notes make it look like a page from a contemporary classical sonata.

Hollywood Saxophone Quartet - Warm Winds (Liberty). Almost put this in the classical thread - one side is Spud Murphy's suite Warm Winds; the other side is Jack Marshall's Gold Rush Suite.

I can't see your picture - I'm presuming that it's the original ABC/Paramount album. Yes, it's good - prime very early Lacy - by that I mean the stuff prior to his Prestige albums. Lacy is already the most interesting soloist; his solos are well-constructed and original, even at that point. Tom Stewart played the tenor horn - basically a euphonium/baritone horn with a smaller bore. He's just fine, as is everyone else. But Lacy already outshines everyone else here. I've got the original LP, but the pirates have reissued this - Lonehill on The Complete Whitey Mitchell Recordings and Fresh Sound on The Early Years 1954-1956. Whitey Mitchell's ABC/Paramount album from the same period has a similar personnel (including Lacy) and is also well worth hearing. Neither album will change your life, but they are very enjoyable, and fill in some gaps in our understanding of Lacy's development.

Gene Krupa - Transcribed (IAJRC). 1946 Capitol radio transcriptions. I've always liked the post-war Krupa band. Lots of Red Rodney here, and some Gerry Mulligan charts.

I was fortunate enough to meet Desmond Egan tonight. Here is his most well-known poem: PEACE (For Sean MacBride) by Desmond Egan just to go for a walk out the road just that under the deep trees which whisper of peace to break the bread of words with someone passing just that four of us round a pram and baby fingers asleep just to join the harmony the fields the blue everyday hills the puddles of daylight and you might hear a pheasant echo through the woods or plover may waver by as the evening poises with a blackbird on its table of hedge just that and here and there a gate a bungalow's bright window the smell of woodsmoke of lives just that but Sweet Christ that is more than most of mankind can afford with the globe still plaited in its own crown of thorns too many starving eyes too many ancient children squatting among flies too many stockpiles of fear too many dog jails too many generals too many under torture by the impotent screaming into the air we breathe too many dreams stuck in money jams too many mountains of butter selfishness too many poor drowning in the streets too many shantytowns on the outskirts of life too many of us not sure what we want so that we try to feed a habit for everything until the ego puppets the militaries mirror our own warring face too little peace

George Shearing - Satin Affair (Capitol mono). I should be in bed, but I'm still high after the gig. Desmond Egan was in the audience and apparently really enjoyed it - particularly, he said, our version of Ornette's "Mob Job." So I'm listening to this wonderful, corny album from the dollar bin - Shearing and Co. with string arrangements by Billy May. It sounds pretty good in the wee hours of the morning.

Lou Donaldson - Signifyin' (Argo mono, rather than the stereo version shown here). What a band!

RIP to a talented guy. He was back in Atlanta for awhile in the 1970s/80s. For whatever reasons, it seemed as if he never could quite capitalize on many of the opportunities he had; he played and recorded with some big names, but most of those associations didn't seem to last very long. Around 1980 Sam Rivers and Dave Holland did a duo show in Athens, Georgia, where I was in school. The next afternoon I attended a master class in which they were supposed to be joined by Ellington, driving over the 75 miles from Atlanta. He didn't show. Around 15-20 years ago I was making one of my frequent trips to New Orleans. I got tired south of Montgomery, Alabama, and decided to spend the night in a small town - I think it was Greenville, about 60 miles south of Montgomery. As I was checking into the hotel, I was surprised to see a sign outside the bar advertising the Steve Ellington Trio, which played there every Friday and Saturday. This was on a Sunday or Monday, so I didn't get to see him, but I was puzzled by this middle-of-nowhere appearance. I later found that he had moved back to this area, where he apparently grew up. I read somewhere that he had been raised in the tiny town of Fort Deposit, just north of Greenville, and had moved back there. I hope that small town life agreed with him, and that he was happy.

This may be in the Eddie Condon Mob Sessions Mosaic? I like the Paraders material in there. Nice sound too. Indeed it is - and I had no idea. That looks like a good set, although I have much of the material on vinyl.

Rampart Street Paraders - Dixieland, My Dixieland (Columbia 6-eye mono). Okay, I already feel defensive about posting that I'm listening to this 1954 dollar-bin find. But it's pretty good. I bought it because among the personnel are two of my favorite dixieland/swing musicians: Eddie Miller and George Van Eps, and I knew that the others were solid players. And the album is solid mainstream/dixieland, and occasionally more than that. A dollar well spent.

Charles Mingus - Cumbia and Jazz Fusion (Atlantic)

Jimmie Lunceford Complete Decca Sessions. As I was packing up after tonight's gig, "Miss Otis Regrets" was going through my head. So when I got home, I played my favorites from discs one and two.

I use a late-60s Miracord with a Grado 78 cartridge. Like Clunky, an inexpensive ten-band equalizer is part of my 78 rig. I keep it set to compensate for the RIAA curve built into my mid-70s amplifier, since 78s didn't use the RIAA curve. For particular noisy 78s, cutting down the 8KHz band cuts down on the noise without hurting the sound of the original recording too much. One of these days I want to get a table designed for 78 collectors with speed adjustment and the ability to play both lateral and vertically-cut 78s. But maybe that's not a good idea - then I would just start buying vertically-cut 78s, like Edisons. And they take up even more room that standard lateral records.

Earlier today: Dexter Gordon - Gotham City (Columbia)

One album-note writer put it nicely - it was early days for jazz tuba.

I meant playing, mostly - but at its best listening to music can be an equally intense, life-giving experience. It's odd - I used to say that I got more out of listening to music than playing it. I would write, form bands, play, but the music never came out the way I wanted it to. Now, at the tender age of 55, the music usually comes out the way I intended. And when it doesn't, I still like it; sometimes it's better than what I had in mind. I like the analogy of the wire, but Steve Lacy's "edge" means a lot to me - you play on the edge between the known and the unknown, but you have to keep pushing toward the unknown.

Maybe old news to some of you, but I just came across this quote by Karl Wallenda: "Life is on the wire. The rest is just waiting."

Albert Ayler - Lorrach/Paris (Hat)

After skimming the rest of the thread - I got the name of the Oscar Pettiford tune wrong, and I should have known Eddie Johnson, and I certainly should have known "Blue Star." My first reaction on hearing #2 was that the alto player had that South African style happening, but I chickened out from saying so. This BFT was not my finest hour.

I haven't checked in yet, and now that I have, I'm pretty much wasting space here. I've listened to everything a couple of times, but can't identify anybody, really. And while I enjoyed most everything (there were two tracks which I wasn't crazy about), I somehow find myself without anything intelligent to say about most of it. Most of what follows is a variation on "this swings, and I like it, and I don't know who it is." 1. Well, it sounds like the Messengers, of course: latter-day, but I don’t know the album, personnel, or exact vintage. Good playing all around – I particularly like the strong trombone player. If it ain’t Blakey and Company, it’s someone trying to sound just like them. 2. Wow – cool, fun, and very raw. I don’t know anything about this, but I like it – all the musicians have personality. 3. Some cool, swinging free playing before it turns into “Impressions.” This is one of those tracks where the identity of the tenor player is right at the tip of my brain, if that makes any sense. Nice stuff. 4. O.P.’s “Swinging ‘Til the Girls Come Home.” A good, solid performance – don’t really have anything to say about it beyond that. 5. I like musicians who sound like themselves, so I like the slightly sour-sounding alto player. The trumpet player has a great sound in the Harmon mute, and makes the most of his short solo. This almost sounds like a Mingus group. 6. There are plenty of reasons I like these blindfold tests – but here’s a reason I sometimes don’t. I’m about to go crazy trying to remember the name of this tune. I’ve racked my brain and searched through my records, but I just can’t remember. Time to let it go. Beautiful tenor sound, and the playing of the rhythm section could be a textbook example of how to accompany a ballad. The pianist gets a little busy during his/her solo, though. Nice little trumpet solo and recap by the tenorist. 7. I love this, from the piano introduction. Respectful of the sanctity of Duke’s piece, but not too much so. These guys turn “Rockin’ in Rhythm” into a totally contemporary experience. 8. Nothing fancy – just a good old gospel waltz. Somebody’s got quite a command over the Hammond. Enjoyed it. 9. Okay, I liked the groove and the soloists well enough, but there was something very artificial about this track to me. A real drummer instead of a drum machine would have helped. And the sampled voices that were part of the keyboard sound freaked me out a little. I found this one a little wearing. 10. Excellent little tenor battle we’ve got here. Hip chart, too – love the stacked fourths, even if that is a little cliché. Again, no ideas. 11. Again, nothing fancy – just some nice funky blues. The piano player reminds me of early Erroll Garner, but is probably not. 12. Nice, unspectacular version of “I’m Beginning to See the Light.” Nothing to add beyond that. 13. Ditto “Old Devil Moon.” 14. This “Ja-Da” swings hard at a tempo which is hard to swing. Beyond that, it’s kind of predictable. It’s tries a little too hard to be greasy for my tastes. YMMV. 15. Another tenor player with a big, individual sound. Good stuff all around, although I got a little bored during the walking bass solo – not many guys can really make that work, in my opinion. 16. More good stuff. Is this early Bud Shank? Anyway, it’s excellent, imaginative playing. Sorry my contributions are so lame this time around.