jeffcrom

Little Queenie Elizabeth II Sonny Boy Williamson II

My guy in Atlanta is a genius - and he knows how I play: how much air I put into the horns, how I want to sound, and how I like the action to feel.

An intriguing new find: Howard McGhee - Deep Meditation b/w Hadda Brooks - Blues in B Flat (Modern Music) A 1945 record from Los Angeles, with Teddy Edwards and Charles Mingus on the McGhee side. "Deep Meditation" has no composer credit on label, and Lindenmaier and Salewski's Mingus discography lists it as a Howard McGhee composition. But Stefano Zenni includes it in his list of Mingus compositions. It's certainly got a Mingus-like title, and it sounds like Mingus' writing; it's a beautiful ballad with unusual changes, featuring Teddy Edwards for most of the side. Until I see evidence otherwise, I'm thinking that it's probably from the pen of Mr. Mingus. The Hadda Brooks side is good without being quite as exciting. There's some nice alto by Jimmy Black, who apparently only recorded with Brooks on a session or two.

Last year I paid two dollars for this record. For the past week I've been watching a copy of this on Ebay - it sold for $88.00.

Lester Young, on Aladdin and Mercury/Clef. "Almost Like Being in Love," from 1952, really got to me this morning.

Brad Gowans and his New York Nine (RCA Victor). A nice 1954 gatefold 10" LP issue of a little-known, but wonderful 1946 session. Valve trombonist Gowans arranged a bunch of dixieland standards and a couple of originals in a modern (for the time) style. The band includes Billy Butterfield and Dave Tough. This is a good one.

Three 12" Comet records I just picked up: Red Norvo and his Selected Sextet - Congo Blues/Get Happy Art Tatum Trio - Body and Soul/I Know That You Know Art Tatum Trio - On the Sunny Side of the Street/Flying Home and some related records: Red Norvo Sextet - Congo Blues/Get Happy (Dial 10"). Different takes from the record above. Art Tatum Trio - Boogie/If I Had You (Asch 12")

I keep coming back to Stockhausen. Don't let that scare you - although most of his earlier output is very much in the avant-garde, much of his later output is surprisingly melodic, even if some of his melodies are a little off-center. Tierkreis (Zodiac) is one of his most-recorded works, probably because it is quite melodic. The twelve Zodiac melodies were originally composed for music boxes, to be used in a larger theater work, but he then wrote versions for many different instruments and ensembles. I particularly like this version on Pilz, arranged for trio and played by three of his favorite interpreters, Suzanne Stephens on clarinet, Kathinka Pasveer on flute, and Markus Stockhausen on trumpet and piano. The CD also has a solo trumpet piece ("Upper Lip Dance") extracted from the opera Samstag aus Licht. If you like that, you might enjoy some of Stockhausen's other pieces for solo instruments, like In Freundschaft (In Friendship). Originally written for clarinet, there are versions for almost every instrument.

Red Garland - Red Alone (Moodsville mono)

I don't like the ads, but I consider them the payment to the piper after dancing to the music. I try to click on a couple of them every day.

CT talks about this date in A. B. Spellman's book Four Lives in the Bebop Business. The producer, Tom Wilson, chose the sidemen. Cecil was fine with Coltrane, but wanted Ted Curson instead of Kenny Dorham, who was apparently pretty hostile during the session.

I was disappointed in my attempt to hear New Orleans "sissy bounce" hip-hop star Big Freedia tonight, so I'm back at home relaxing with some very different New Orleans-connected music: The Georgians, Volume 2 (VJM). The Georgians were led by Sicilian-born trumpeter Frank Guarante, who moved to New Orleans as a teenager. He exchanged trumpet lessons with King Oliver, and you can hear what Oliver taught him about how to use a mute.

Sounds like a blast. Alas, it was not to be. We couldn't get in - the little club was sold out. We spent the evening in a nearby bar with a good beer selection.

This heterosexual 53-year-old is going out tonight to hear Big Freedia, the foremost exponent of the New Orleans gay hip-hop subgenre known as "Sissy Bounce." I expect a fun time.

Q: What is a string quartet? A: A good violin player, a bad violin player, a failed violin player, and someone who hates violin players.

Forget them; you need Ray Charles and Betty Carter.

Brownie's seemingly diabolical choice was surprisingly easy: The Banana Boat Song (Harry Belafonte) Yes! We Have No Bananas (Billy Murray, The California Ramblers, and everyone else in 1922 and '23) I've Got the "Yes! We Have No Bananas" Blues (Clarence Williams Blue Five) A blues about how tired everyone was of the song. Banana Split (Kid King's Combo) And my favorite song about fruit: Banana In Your Fruit Basket (Bo Carter) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0QRRK8cgzU Next up: CHOCOLATE

Ruby Braff/Ellis Larkins - 2 Part Inventions in Jazz, Vol. 2 (Vanguard 10" LP) I've got Volume 1 as well - beautiful stuff.

No problem. I hate when that happens. Hope you enjoyed some of the music anyway, and hope John Tchicai's bass clarinet didn't drive you too crazy.

Okonomi-yaki - Japanese cabbage-based griddle cakes. My wife and I had these in Kyoto a few years ago, but I haven't been able to find them at any Japanese restaurants in Atlanta. I think that they're too downhome/ordinary to warrant inclusion on a restaurant menu - like serving a grilled cheese sandwich at an American restaurant in Japan. But when I told my niece's Japanese boyfriend how much I liked okonomi-yaki, he gave me a couple of kits with the batter mix and sauce and taught me how to make them. They tasted pretty great tonight.

I cherish the memory of a concert in Atlanta, probably around 1990 - Wadada Leo Smith, Leroy Jenkins, and composer Alvin Singleton improvised a long, beautiful piece.

The throwaway line, "I'm full of unearned confidence!" rings very true to me, as someone who taught public school music for 29 years. I never got used to the percentage of kids who thought they could achieve without effort, and who were totally unable or unwilling to take stock of themselves and their abilities. One year I had a beginning band class on Friday - it was that hectic day when I taught the kids to properly assemble their instruments and make a sound. (I taught all the woodwinds and brass in one large class.) That's all we did that day - make one sound. No instruction about notes. On Monday one of the students proudly told me that he had played his saxophone in church the day before. Not only could he not figure out that perhaps he was not ready for that yet, his parents apparently couldn't. I just hope he didn't tell anyone who his teacher was. Edit: I originally misspelled "abilities." Oh, irony....

HBTK!

A slightly crude one: Q: What's the difference between a bull and an orchestra? A: With a bull, the horns are in front and the asshole is in back.

There's certainly nothing that couldn't have been worked out by looking at a lead sheet and talking through it.