jeffcrom

That's it - you just made my enemies list. Now where did I put it.... "Honey, have you seen my enemies list?"

It's good!. The song is pretty lame, and Henderson's version sounds like it was based on a stock arrangement, but they swing it hard. There's some hot Charlie Green trombone, a Don Redman vocal, a very good Joe Smith solo, and a great Coleman Hawkins solo. I've always thought that Hawkins picked up on Armstrong's message and came into his own just about the time Louis quit the band. This is really good tenor playing for 1925. This record is going to require careful handling, though - it's got a crack that I didn't notice at first. Coincidentally, I've got the other tune Fletcher recorded at this session on 78 as well - "Sleepy Time Gal" on the Banner label. That one is credited to Henderson on the label.

Since you replied to my post, Allen, I'll say something here that I was going to say in another thread: your Really the Blues? set is the perfect soundtrack for driving around rural Georgia looking for 78s. It was my road music today, and I really enjoyed it. And I loaded the liner notes into my Kindle, so I can take them with me, too.

Went on one of my 78 trolling expeditions today, this time north of Atlanta. I came home with a few nice records, and one real surprise. The relationship between record labels in the 1920's was incredibly complex - masters were leased back and forth and issued under a bewildering variety of pseudonyms. So whenever I find a '20's dance band record with a band name I don't recognize, I buy it if it's only a buck or two, because there's no telling who it will turn out to have on it. Well, in Adairsville today I found "Then I'll Be Happy" by the Master Melody Makers, on the National Music Lovers label. I paid a dollar for it, and figured it was probably a dollar wasted; the best I hoped for was that it might turn out to be by Sam Lanin, with a Red Nichols or Miff Mole solo. Turns out that it's by Fletcher Henderson. It's from 1925, just after Louis left the band. And it's a different take than appeared in the Classics CD series, for what that's worth. Haven't played it yet - it's probably not a masterpiece, but in any case I consider it a pretty cool find. I haven't yet tracked down who the "Manhattan Musicians" on the other side are. They're playing a waltz, so there's probably not much jazz content there. Also found some Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Ventura records in Cartersville. Somebody out in the country liked bebop.

One last, very fun blues album before going to bed: Cousin Joe of New Orleans (ABC/Bluesway). "It takes two to tango, but only one to mess around."

Well, you know this thread is going to end up with a million suggestions. But one way to start would be to get an album or two from each decade of Sunny's recording career. From the 50's, in addition to the one you've already got, you might try Super-Sonic Jazz or Jazz in Silhouette. From the 60's, Heliocentric Worlds, Vol. 1 & 2 and The Magic City are representative of the kind of very out-there, improvised stuff Sunny was into at the time. Space is the Place (the album originally issued on Blue Thumb) and Live at Montreux are representative of what he was doing in the 70's. Reflections in Blue, which you have, is a good one from the 80s, as are Nuclear War and Blue Delight. Sunny was only active for a bit of the 90's, but I like Mayan Temples, from 1990, a lot. The thing is, every Sun Ra album is different, and every one I've heard is worthwhile.

A. C. Reed and His Spark Plugs - Take These Blues and Shove 'Em! (Ice Cube/Rooster Blues). A very entertaining blues album by the long-suffering Mr. Reed.

I know that I mentioned this in a post last night, but one of the great mornings of my life was one spent in Danny and Blue Lu's living room on Sere St. in New Orleans. One of the songs he played and sang for my ex-wife and me was "Save the Bones." What a great man.

I know what you mean - I can't get this off my mind. I've been looking into this story, and based on sentences already handed down, Bill, a 61-year-old man, is probably looking at spending most or all of the rest of his life in Angola if convicted. From all reports, Angola is an extremely tough prison. Thinking about this prospect facing someone I knew and liked (at least in internet terms) is tough. Except that... The child porn site he was allegedly involved with was apparently a particularly awful one. Members were encouraged to film and submit new content, not just trade stuff they found - which would be bad enough. For anyone involved with this, it's hard for me to say that any punishment would be too severe.

Inspired by the Charlie Poole, etc. thread: Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers - Don't Let Your Deal Go Down Blues/Can I Sleep In Your Barn Tonight Mister (Columbia, 1925) Roy Harvey and the North Carolina Ramblers - the Brave Engineer/The Wreck of Virginian No. 3 (Columbia, 1926/27). Same band, vocals by Poole's guitar player. Carolina Tar Heels - When the Good Lord Sets You Free/I Love My Mountain Home (Victor, 1927). The Tar Heels were Dock Walsh on banjo and Gwen Foster on guitar and harmonica - two of the greats. Blue Ridge Mountain Entertainers - Washington and Lee Swing/Goodnight Waltz (Conqueror, 1931). A little more commercial than the other records I played today, but I wanted to hear more of Gwen Foster's harp. The Halliday Brothers - A picture from Life's Other Side/There's No Disappointment in Heaven (Oriole, 1927). This was a pseudonym for the Gentry Brothers, neither one of whom was named Gentry. Confused yet? West Virginia Night Owls - I'm Goin' to Walk on the Streets of Glory/Blind Alfred Reed - Fate of Chris Lively and Wife (Victor, 1927). These two sides were recorded at the same session - Reed was a member of the Night Owls. Scottdale String Band - Carolina Glide/My Own Iona (Okeh, 1927). I was in Scottdale today - it's an old mill town outside of Atlanta. Roy Hall and His Blue Ridge Entertainers - Natural Bridge Blues/Polecat Blues (Bluebird, 1941). This band has a little bit of Western swing influence, but otherwise sounds very similar to the earliest records I spun today. Many of the early country 78s I have are pretty worn, but they often sound better than they look.

Right - Smith, Donaldson and Burrell are on Vol. 3 - I was just listening to it in the car. Disc four is Charles Lloyd, Michel Petrucciani, and Stanley Jordan.

Some of my favorite New Orleans music. Some folks might not share my enthusiasm - Piron's band was "polite" and restrained rather than hot. But there's something going on rhythmically with them that just gets under my skin. They swing in a way that only New Orleans musicians could at the time. There's plenty of improvisation going on, even if it takes the form of melodic variations rather than hot solos. And the musicians! These are the only recordings of the great Creole trumpeter Peter Bocage in his youth, and practically the only recordings at all of a couple of legendary figures: clarinetist Lorenzo Tio and pianist Steve Lewis. Don't expect this to sound like King Oliver. But on its own terms, it's great.

I think that the CDs duplicated the LPs exactly - no extra tracks. Someone will correct me if my memory is incorrect. I bought the first two CDs back in the day, and the third one years later - I like them a lot. (Cecil!) For whatever reason, I never bothered to get Volume 4 - something tells me I would seldom or never listen to it.

Jack Chambers, in his book Milestones, says that Buckmaster gave Miles recordings of Stockhausen's Telemusik and Mixtur, and that Miles played them over and over for several days. For what it's worth, Telemusik is an electronic piece (which does use recordings of "world music" as some of its source material), and Mixtur is for orchestra and electronic sounds. As someone who loves the music of both Miles and Stockhausen, the only one of Miles' recordings in which I hear any Stockhausen influence is "Rated X." The dense, atonal organs over a hard funk base seems like Miles' improvised response to Stockhausen's electronic music.

This is awful. I feel sick. I'm trying to keep in mind the last part of Larry's post, but this is bad.

Lee Konitz - Peacemeal (Milestone). Dated in some its aspects, but still very good.

Happy Birthday!

The 70's is when I started learning about jazz, so I had a bunch of twofers, including many that have been mentioned here. I've replaced most of them with subsequent issues over the years, but the Prestige Thelonious Monk twofer is still my primary Monk Prestige collection. I'm kind of odd in that I learned jazz more or less chronologically - my first jazz record purchase was the Milestone twofer Bix Beiderbecke and the Chicago Cornets. When I played it for the first time, I remember thinking, "What's all the fuss about?" during the first track, "Fidgety Feet." Then it got to the second track, "Jazz Me Blues," and I thought, "Oh, I get it." I heard Bix's genius right away on "Jazz Me Blues."

Willie Guy Rainey (Southland/Jazzology) The Georgie blueman's only album. He lived in Rico, south of Atlanta. An Atlanta female vocalist with whom I perform sometimes did a singer/songwriter type gig with a guitar back around 1980, and Willie Guy was in the audience. She said that Mr. Rainey called her over and said, "Girl, we could make pretty babies. I'd even marry you." She turned him down, and missed her chance to be Mrs. Willie Guy Rainey.

I have a fair amount of this kind of material on CD, but I also have a a medium-sized stack of old-time country on 78 RPM records - Charlie Poole, Dave Macon, Fiddlin' John Carson, Henry Whitter, Gid Tanner, Riley Puckett, Clayton McMichen, Blind Alfred Reed, The West Virginia Night Owls, Roy Harvey, Jarvis & Justice. I enjoy listening to this this stuff more on 78 than from CDs - it's the medium that fits the music the best. I realize that this is of no help to most people....

I thought about driving from Atlanta to Wilmington, NC tomorrow to see them, but decided I couldn't quite swing the seven hours each way. 7 hours is well beyond the call of duty. In moments of musical inspiration or desperation I will make the 250 mile drive to NYC. It helps that I still have family there who can put me up for a night or three. Anyway, KV said they played Athens, GA. Did you catch that? I caught the DC show, both sets. Excellent. Vandermark is one of the hardest working dudes in the music. He treats his fans great. KV played tenor, clarinet, bass clarinet, and bari. He was fine on all but really killing on the bari. Dang! I didn't know they played Athens! That's an easy hour and 15 minute drive from my house. Dang!

I heard it was too loud. The drone in the string qt is the cello. The two violins and the viola are doing all the other work. Yeah, the electronic piece sounded "clipped." Thanks for the answer to my stupid question. I know it was listed as a string quartet, but it was impossible to tell, much of the time, how many instruments were actually playing, and what was "real" and what was produced by difference tones. Pretty cool.

I'm listening to the string quartet now. Slow-moving, strange, astringent, and fascinating. What's going on in terms of instrumentation? Is this all played on cello? A quick preview of the electronic drone piece makes me think that it may have been broadcast (or recorded by me) at too high a level. Damn.

Peter Bocage at San Jacinto Hall (Jazzology)

I went to the radio station's website, and didn't see anything about archived shows. I didn't want to be tied to my computer for two hours tonight, so I plugged in my little digital recorder. I'll listen over the next several days - probably in several sessions - I expect I'll be ready for something swinging after the first 45-minute John Cage piece for microtonal cello. But I'm looking forward to hearing it all.