jeffcrom

Yeah, I came across the Retrieval CD while I was researching the 78 album. If I can't get enough of Polo after living with the 78s for awhile, I'll get the CD.

Played an odd selection of 78s today, starting with my entire collection of Danish 78s - three records: two discs of folk songs from 1917-18, and a song from the movie Cirkusrevyen 1936, sung by actor Osvald Helmuth. I don't play these records often, but I had the urge today. I generally buy any "world music" 78s I find for cheap, especially those in Columbia's "E" series, which the two early ones are, but I know that Chris and Victor will forgive me when I say that these are not the most engaging 78s I have. But I enjoyed researching them, which I had never bothered to do until today. Then I moved on to some early country, by Roy Hall and His Blue Ridge Entertainers, The Kessinger Brothers ("Devil's Dream" is really nice) and the Scottdale String Band. After that I spun two 1922-23 Brunswicks by Bennie Krueger's dance band. I like this stuff, and imagine that it's the kind of thing that my grandmother danced to - she was an up-to-date, short-skirted, bob-haired flapper in the 1920's, apparently. Then the mailman brought the real prize of the day: a 1924 Silvertone (Sears' record label of the time). Side one is by Sam Lanin's dance band, but the flip is "My Rose Marie" by Fletcher Henderson, with an excellent 24 bars by young Louis Armstrong. This is my only 78 RPM example of Louis in the 20's, and his playing really dances. And the record came in the original Silvertone sleeve. Too cool.

Have a good one!

Rick Laird - Soft Focus (Muse) This was Joe Henderson's touring band at the time, although Mr. Henderson only plays on two of the eight cuts.

I recently found a four-record album by British clarinetist Danny Polo, on the London label. I've had one of the records from this set for a couple of years, but I was pleased and surprised to find the entire set in wonderful condition. Four of the sides are from 1937-38, recorded in London with some of the usual suspects in British swing of the time, like Tommy McQuater and George Chisholm. The other four sides are the ones which really knock me out; they are from Paris, 1939, with Alix Combelle and Oscar Aleman, among others. This is really nice stuff.

God help me, I bought the new two-CD set yesterday. As much as I hate the continual repackaging of old material that record companies engage in, in this case improved technology made this issue worthwhile. I had the old Columbia LPs, the 1990 "Complete" box set, and the 1998 CD reissue of King of the Delta Blues Singers. I did some A/B comparisons with the 1990 box and the 1998 CD. This new remastering is by far the best I've ever heard; it's very natural and "present," like listening to the music on mint 78s with good equipment. The 1990 set sounds pallid and distant by comparison. I always thought that the 1998 King CD sounded pretty good, but it's not as natural sounding as the new set; the EQ seems artificial when I play the same tracks before or after the new discs. I wasn't interested in an overpriced new deluxe box set of this material, but this very reasonably-priced double CD is well worth picking up, in my opinion.

Odell Brown and the Organ-izers - Ducky (Cadet) Booker Ervin - The In Between (BN Liberty stereo)

Willis "Gator" Jackson Crocodile Dundee Blind Willie Dunn

I spent a (mostly) enjoyable hour tonight listening to "First Take" and "Free Jazz" from the Ornette Atlantic box set. During "First Take" I thought, "Wow - this is not nearly as good as I remembered." But then the real deal came up next, and I still think that it's brilliant - superior in every way to the first attempt. I agree that Freddie Hubbard is not a great free-jazz soloist, but his solo on the master take is so much better than his attempt on take one - that one is an incoherent mess. And while Don Cherry's spot is not his finest moment, that section has the most interesting interplay among the horns. I enjoyed hearing FJ again for the first time in a while. And ep1str0phy, I don't agree with everything you said, but I thought that your post was a great one.

Unnecessary negativity is unattractive and depressing.

Jeremy Steig/James Moody/Sahib Shihab/Chris Hinze - Flute Summit (German Atlantic). One of the more elusive of Joachim Berendt's "summit" series - not issued in the US, I don't think.

"Free Jazz" is not without its weaker moments, but it's still brilliant. Scott LaFaro's solo near the end is one of the most beautiful improvised melodies I've ever heard.

Twiggy Sticks McGhee Billy Branch

Mose Allison - Western Man (Atlantic).

I've been curious about Tejano/conjunto music for awhile, but didn't know where to start exploring it. The answer came today in a pretty practical way - I found two Arhoolie CDs in the bargain bin of a local used CD store: Chris Sandoval - Pioneer of Tejano Music Jesus Maya & Timoteo Cantu - El Primero Conjunto Norteno Famoso; 1946-1949. So these are pretty random choices, chosen because they were there and cheap. I like them both, but the Maya & Cantu is a little rawer and roots-ier, so it appeals to me more on first listen. This thread and the Arhoolie site have given me some ideas about what to explore next, as has this interesting site.

Bill Dixon - Intents and Purposes (RCA stereo). Revolutionary Ensemble - The People's Republic (A & M Horizon)

Paps' new Kid Thomas purchase put me in the mood for: Kid Thomas Valentine at Kohlman's Tavern (New Orleans). The Kid's rough-and-ready band playing for dancers in the Algiers section of New Orleans. Every time I hear a recording with trombonist Louis Nelson, I think about how I just missed hearing this great musician. When I visited New Orleans for the first time in 1990, I heard the Kid Sheik band, of which Nelson had been a member. But Mr. Nelson was in the hospital after an automobile accident, from which he never recovered.

I think so - it was Prestige's first modern jazz 78. I'm not sure whether the earliest New Jazz releases preceded it. I have this record, and it's pretty good - Moody with a Swedish band, including Arne Domnerus on alto.

Paul Barnes - Portrait of a New Orleans Clarinet Player (CSA). A wonderful 1973 record by the New Orleans Creole clarinetist, who recorded with Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver, and Oscar Celestin in the 1920's. The rhythm section consists, in its entirety, of pianist Sing Miller and drummer Louis Barbarin. Side one pairs Barnes with longtime Fats Domino alto saxist Joseph Harris; on side two his front-line partner is the great Louis Nelson on trombone. This record makes me smile. Later: Whatever the opposite of "slick" is, that's what this album is. I love it.

Stan Getz Quartet at Montreux (Polydor). A 1972 performance by the "Captain Marvel" band. New Music: Second Wave (Savoy twofer). Disc one, with Archie Shepp, Bill Dixon, and Marzette Watts.

Drive down to Atlanta on the 22nd and catch the 4th Ward Afro-Klezmer Orchestra at the Tunes From the Tombs Festival in Oakland Cemetery.

Cool! Kid Thomas, when left to his own devices, always had a saxophone in his band instead of a clarinet. Presence of clarinet instead of saxophone on a Kid Thomas album is due to the producer's ideas, not Mr. Valentine's. From the late 1950's on, the saxophonist was usually Emanuel Paul, with his old-fashioned style, big sound, and wide vibrato.

Max Roach - The Loadstar (Horo). Disc two - "Six Bits Blues."

Pete Candoli Conte Candoli Count Dracula

Yes, Max's "Six Bits" (or "Six Bits Blues") is an original with a 12/8 blues feel, inspired by a Langston Hughes poem: Gimme six-bits' worth o' ticket On a train that runs somewhere. I say six-bits' worth o' ticket On a train that runs somewhere. I don't care where it's goin' Just so it goes away from here. It's also on The Loadstar on Horo.