jeffcrom

Haven't heard it, and it's not near the top of my list of things I was planning to order from Jazzology. Thanks for the reminder to place my order, though!

Gerald Wiggins - Wiggin' Out (HiFiJazz mono). LP, of course, not the CD reissue pictured here.

Rich Little Richard Nixon Milhouse Van Houten

I came home from San Antonio with a dozen 78s. To my disappointment, at least half of them were in significantly worse condition than they appeared in the dimly-lit store where I bought them. I even threw one away - it was too warped to play. But rather than dwell on the negative, here are the good ones: Vess Ossman - Creole Belles (Victor Monarch single-sided). This was perhaps the gem - the pioneer recording banjoist playing my favorite "cakewalk" rag. The recording is announced at the beginning, in the manner of the earliest days of recording; it was made in 1902, and my copy (like the one pictured) was pressed in 1904. Lizzie Miles - Second Hand Daddy/A Good Man is Hard to Find (Conqueror, 1928). With the original Conqueror sleeve. Snub Mosely's Band - Blues at High Noon/Between You and the Devil (Decca, 1942). With Buster Smith on alto. Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys - San Antonio Rose/The Convict and the Rose (Vocalion, 1938) and three late-40s/early 50s conjunto records on Texas labels: Los 3 Reyes - Secreto de Amor/Mala Movida (Falcon) Chris Sandoval - Pobre Corazon/Parte en Dos mi Corazon (Ideal) Conjunto San Antonio Alegre - Comprende Amor Comprende/Si Me Quieres ven Conmigo (Corona)

Woody Herman - Blues Groove (Capitol)

Jim Cullum with a quartet at Tucker's, a tiny club within walking distance of my hotel in San Antonio. I wasn't sure whether it would be worthwhile, or just corny revivalism - but I really enjoyed it. They played some tunes that I've never heard anyone play live before, like "Sweetie Dear" and Ellington's "Morning Glory." I was particularly impressed with pianist John Sheridan, whose playing was somewhat touched by Teddy Wilson.

How about TV Action Jazz by Mundell Lowe? I found this one in the dollar bin of a record store in Lincoln, Nebraska about ten years ago. I expected it to be a totally campy affair, but it's really good jazz, with Donald Byrd, Jimmy Cleveland, Tony Scott, and Eddie Costa, among others. Lowe did a second volume, and both have issued on CD by one of the pirates.

Happy Free Birthday!

I'm not going to list them separately - it's late and I'm lazy - but today I spun all my Boyd Senter 78s. I have half a dozen, on Perfect, Okeh, British Parlophone, Vocalion, and Victor, recorded from 1924 to 1929. Boyd is pretty corny (his saxophone and trumpet playing is better than his more common clarinet playing, in my opinion), but he usually had some pretty good musicians with him. Eddie Lang is on all but two of these except the earliest one, the Perfect, and both Dorsey brothers are on about half of them. Like much early jazz, some excellent jazz is scattered among the forgettable moments. All in all, I enjoyed the 36 minutes or so of Boyd. This was followed by three by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys, starting with his first record: Osage Stomp/Get With It (Vocalion, 1935) Steel Guitar Rag/Swing Blues (Okeh, 1936) Roly Poly/New Spanish Two Step (Columbia, 1945) In terms of cross-cultural fertilization, Wills is as interesting as Elvis Presley - and his music is much better, in my opinion. I now feel a little guilty about my copy of "Osage Stomp" - when I just Googled it to confirm the year, I found a recent Ebay auction where it sold for $132. When I found my very nice copy, the record store owner asked me what I thought it was worth. I said five bucks, which is about what I thought at the time, and that's what he charged me.

Bud Powell - Bouncing With Bud (Delmark)

Nelson Muntz Herman Munster Gomez Addams

Happy birthday to the guy who made me aware of the great Gregory Felix.

Every time I visit New Orleans I make sure to go by George Lewis's house on St. Phlip Street - these amazing recordings were made in the back yard.

Cool! Congrats.

A couple of odd ones: Adrian Rollini Trio (Epic EP) And deep into TTK territory for this one: Don Elliott - Music for the Sensational Sixties (Design mono). Equal parts jazz, bachelor pad pop, and exotica. Some nice Hal McKusick bass clarinet along the way.

, Frank Wess - Yo Ho! Poor You, Little Me, a Frankenstein's monster of an issue - a yellow-and-black label Prestige mono record in a cover that has a Status back and a Prestige front with a Status sticker stuck over the Prestige logo. The spine still reads Prestige. In any case, it's a really excellent album.

I'm a relative newcomer compared to many of you, but I'm glad I found this place (usually). Thanks, Jim.

I'm loving the Roundhay School reunion - too cool! My parents always had a variety of records - mostly classical and big band. When I was very young - I'm guessing around three or four - I wouldn't go to bed until they played "Cool Water" by the Sons of the Pioneers. And growing up around Atlanta, the blues were kind of just "in the air." I could play some blues piano as a kid, without knowing exactly how I learned. When I started buying records, around age twelve, I was into Chicago (the first few albums, before they really started sucking), Crosby, Stills and Nash, and the Grateful Dead, none of which sounds as fun as the music some of y'all discovered in your youth, and none of whom I listen to any more. Around the same time, my grandmother gave me a box of 78s - all kinds of stuff, from Bing Crosby to Benny Carter. It fascinated me, so I was listening to old stuff at the same time I was listening to current rock. My mom really planted the seeds of my corruption by giving me a jazz album - Budd Johnson's Ya! Ya! on Argo - when I started playing the saxophone. She presumably picked it out of the cutout bins because it had a picture of a guy with a saxophone on the cover. I like about half of it right away, and the rest grew on me. But Richard Davis plays a wonderfully bizarre solo on a tune ("Exotique") from that album that I think "tuned" my ear to the unusual and the avant-garde. Thanks, mom.

Bix with Goldkette and Whiteman - six records. The winners were Whiteman's "Because My Baby Don't Mean Maybe Now" on Columbia and "You Took Advantage of Me on Victor. Then some blues: Tommy McClennan - She's Just Good Huggin' Size/My Little Girl (Bluebird) Washboard Sam - Diggin' My Potatoes/Back Door (RCA Victor) JIm Jackson - Jim Jackson's Kansas City Blues (Vocalion). With stickers on both labels - Paramount Record Store, 247 E. Trade St., Charlotte, North Carolina.

I'm drooling over this find.

Well, after a visit to an Atlanta record store where I've bought 78s in the past (but had pretty much picked over what the owner had out), I'm apparently exchanging saxophone lessons for records - the owner just got an alto. He let me go through a bunch of records he had in the back, and I walked out with a dozen. Among them: Lester Young - Three Little Words/Neenah (Mercury, 1950). I don't know what it is, exactly, but Prez sounds so good on 78. Cliff Jackson's Village Cats - Quiet Please/You've Got Me Walkin' and Talkin' to Myself (Black & White 12" vinyl pressing); with Sidney Bechet and the DeParis brothers. Earl Hines and His Orchestra - Louise/When I Dream of You (Sunrise, 1947). There are some good players in the Fatha's big band, but he and vocalist Johnny Hartman are the only soloists. Sid Catlett and the Regis All Stars - Blues in Room 920/Blue Skies (Regis). Regis was a subsidiary of Manor. This record looks good, but the surface is noisy as hell. The blues was also issued under Edmond Hall's name on Delta, with a different flip side. I've got that record, too, and it sounds much better. Johnny Hodges - Come Sunday/Wham! (Clef, 1952). Just gorgeous. And to an antiquarian like me, this one is in some ways the most interesting: Prince's Band - St. Louis Blues/Hesitating Blues (Columbia 12", 1915). This record, in excellent shape, was the first recording of "St. Louis Blues" ("Hesitating, too). It's a pretty formal, even kind of plodding, but it's very interesting to hear.

Hank Mobley - A Slice of the Top (BN "rainbow")

How did I miss this? Happy Birthday!

Your "mystery albums" are actually one double album - A Wizard/A True Star by Todd Rundgren. It was a favorite among my circle of friends.

Left to right: Frank Schultz & Scott Burland (Duet for Theremin and Lap Steel), Roger Ruzow, Ben Davis, Bob Stagner, Bill Nittler, Jeff Crompton. Present but not pictured: Dennis Palmer.