jeffcrom

Anyone with access to it should watch episode 5 of Frank's Place - "Frank Joins a Club," concerning Frank's adventures with the Capital C Club in New Orleans.

found on ebay: That's the first cover, which is cool, too. The later pressings have a light blue cover with artwork featuring a disembodied wedding couple - only their clothes are visible.

Long live The King!

Charlie Ventura - It's All Bop to Me (RCA Victor mono). I just got this 1955 collection of Ventura's late-forties RCA sides, and I just love it. I've always had a soft spot for Charlie V., probably out of proportion to his actual musical value. I bought this when I found that young George Russell did the arrangement of "Caravan" on this album, and that chart is indeed strange and wonderful. The rest of the album is Ventura's genial "bop for the people" stuff, and it's very entertaining.

Nice! I love 78 labels. I've got Bean's "Lost in a Fog" on American Decca. It's a great "last 78 before bed" choice.

Hal McKusick - Jazz Workshop (RCA Victor mono). What a brilliant album.

I Like Jazz! (Columbia "pre-eye" mono) Musicbox made an interesting post about this album in a Dave Brubeck thread sometime back, and I've kept my eye open for it since. It's an amusing survey of jazz history, at least up to 1954. Several of the tracks, like Brubeck's "Makin' Time" and Pete Rugolo's "4:20 Blues," are still difficult to find anywhere else. (Donald, come back and post more often!)

Jazz for a Sunday Afternoon, Volume 1 (Solid State). Dizzy, Ray Nance, Pepper Adams, Chick Corea, Richard Davis, Mel Lewis, & Elvin Jones, 1967. Pretty cool.

As much as I complain about what a cultural wasteland Atlanta can be, reading this thread makes me feel lucky. I regularly hang out in half a dozen or more "record stores" - one of which is only a block from my house. These range from stores like Wax 'n' Fax and Records Galore that mostly sell used vinyl to places like Decatur CD that sell mostly new CDs. One or two even have 78s. In most of these places, the owners know me, know my tastes, appreciate my business, and generally look out for me. Collectively, these stores constitute my primary third place.

I'm jealous! That would be the great Roger Lewis.

Unusually for me, I hadn't spun any 78s for about a week. I broke the drought today with four of Ted Lewis's more interesting records, jazz-wise: Jungle Blues/A Jazz Holiday (Columbia, 1928) Clarinet Marmalade/Shim-me-sha-wabble (Columbia, 1928) Farewell Blues/Wabash Blues (Columbia Ted Lewis picture label, 1929) Someday Sweetheart/Somebody Stole My Gal (Columbia, 1930; mid-30's pressing) The first two have George Brunies on trombone and Don Murray's excellent clarinet. The last two feature Muggsy Spanier, and Farewell/Wabash have no less than the great Frank Teschemacher on clarinet - my only Teschemacher 78. I probably don't even need to add that Lewis's own contributions to all of these records, whether on clarinet, alto sax, or vocal, are just horrible. And this came in the mail today - a record I've been looking for for about 15 years: Johnny Heartsman - Johnny's House Party, parts 1 & 2 (Music City). Instrumental R & B fun by the late, great West Coast bluesman, circa 1957.

Jimmy Lyons - The Box Set (Ayler); disc two.

Expanding this topic a little, can folks here explain this to me? I frequently see posts by people who already have all the material in a newly-issued box set, but still buy the box set. I'm not being judgmental, just curious. Since it's something I wouldn't do, I don't quite understand it.

I've been meaning to post an update here. My dad has lived in his apartment in an assisted living facility for six weeks now, and is thriving. As I hoped, he is happier than he was when living alone, and is more with it mentally. He hangs out with other folks, plays games, etc. After a bingo game last week, he said, "Bingo is a pretty stupid game, but it's nice to be with other people." Which is the point of playing games at any age. And he's gained enough weight that we have to get him some new clothes. That's a good thing - he was not eating enough on his own, despite our cooking for him, taking him to dinner, and nagging. He likes his new home, and we're really relieved. Thanks to all for your encouraging words.

Welcome! I have all of Braxton's Arista titles on LP (even the four-orchestra box), so I didn't invest in the Mosaic set. I'm sure someone who has the Mosaic will weigh in.

That's what I'm hoping for. I hope that some folks smarter and more knowledgeable than me will devote a little time and research to this interesting little record.

Marion Brown - Duets (Arista Freedom). Sides 3 & 4: "Soundways" with Elliott Schwartz. I was struck by how much "compositional" Marion Brown's improvising sounds that composer Schwartz's.

Really sorry to hear this. One thing I loved about Hal McKusick is that he tried to make his music compositionally interesting; and since he wasn't a great composer, he persuaded/commissioned Gil Evans, George Russell, George Handy, Jimmy Giuffre, Al Cohn, etc. to write for him. There's nothing wrong with blowing sessions, but Mr. McKusick's albums have a substance to them beyond what most blowing sessions can achieve.

Hal McKusick - Cross Section-Saxes (Decca stereo). R.I.P.

Pictures, courtesy of nice folks on Facebook. And with Duet for Theremin and Lap Steel:

The debut performance was sloppy as hell, but with lots of spirit, and the decent-sized audience dug it. I think my favorite part was a a collaboration with another ensemble. Duet for Theremin and Lap Steel, an Atlanta group that is exactly what the name says, was on the bill, and we played my arrangement of Steve Lacy's "Dreams" over their other-worldly improvisation. We just need to play in front of people a lot, and that's not going to be easy in Atlanta. Thanks to all for the nice comments about the rehearsal clips.

I first heard that session on the Everest album Jim posted. It's also included in the Freelance Years box set.

I can't stand the constant bickering over the relative merits of Alcide Nunez vs. George Bacquet. That's all most folks here want to talk about, and everyone's so entrenched in his or her position that it always ends up getting personal and insulting, and someone threatens to quit the forums. And jeez, when the Alphonse Picou supporters jump in....

1923-25.

Dr. John Plays Mac Rebennack (Clean Cuts). A gift from a friend. I've said it before here - Mac Rebennack is a national treasure.