jeffcrom

Quite a few, in my opinion. Here are six, off the top of my head: 1. Discipline 27 II 2. The Soul Vibrations of Man 3. Astro Black 4. The Antique Blacks 5. Voice of the Eternal Tomorrow 6. The Sound Mirror These are all very solid Ra albums in my opinion. (Some Ra records can be aimless unless you're a hardcore fan.) Atavistic was on schedule to reissue Continuation, but it never materialized. Anyone know what happened? Between the Unheard Music Series and Art Yard, Ra reissues are still trickling out. Of the six titles listed above, I consider Discipline 27 II a true Sun Ra classic. This one is trance-like at times. I would add A Fireside Chat With Lucifer.

Jeremy Steig - Flute Fever (Columbia 2-eye mono promo). I hadn't heard this one in awhile, and I wanted to refresh my memory and see if it is really as good as JLH has been saying. Yep. Gil Evans Plus Ten, from the '70's twofer Gil Evans/Tadd Dameron - The Arrangers' Touch (Prestige). My amazement is split between the incredible charts and young Steve Lacy's solos. And the record sounds pretty good, too, even if it's far from an original pressing.

It's like B.B. King said - "Does your daddy look like you, or do you look like your daddy?"

I have a few also, and they good. I should point out that the Snooks Eaglin LP I mentioned a few posts ago, although billed as a blues album, really isn't Blues with a capital B. It's more like New Orleans R & B, albeit played on solo guitar with no rhythm section.

Ellington big band, disc 10

Go on Sunday, hear the Hot 8 Brass Band, and then leave.

Snooks Eaglin - The Legacy of the Blues Vol. 2 (GNP Crescendo). No matter what kind of music Snooks played, he often sounded like at least two guitar players playing at the same time.

Duke Ellington - Unknown Session (Columbia)

Ralph Towner/Gary Burton - Matchbook (ECM)

Very funny! It does remind me of a festival I played in Atlanta where one of the events was the Theremin Gauntlet - a hallway with six theremin players set up. It was scary and pretty cool.

First of all, glad to see you here, Joel. If you've been around lately, I've missed it - I've been wondering how you were doing. I should just leave it at that, since Jim's four sentences summarize part of what I wanted to say. But I'll also add that I love what Konitz has to say in that book. He's kind of a crusty old fuck, but I love his approach to music. I'm very suspicious of any attempt to define what jazz should be. Except that each jazz musician should create the music he/she has to. When I play more "traditional" jazz with other people's bands, I enjoy it. I love playing for dancers, and in situations where the band and the audience become one focused, sweaty entity. I love playing pretty New Orleans melodies on the clarinet and honking like Lester Young on Rhythm changes. But with my own band, I write and play intense, abstract, freebop or beyond music; that's the music that most expresses what's inside me. The audiences are always small (but usually attentive and appreciative), and yes, there's probably more communication going on among the band than between the band and the audience. But that's okay. It's the music I have to play. There's a Cecil Taylor quote that I thought was ridiculous when I first read it many years ago, but it makes perfect sense to me now: "The artist's first responsibility is to communicate with himself." There will always be an audience for for jazz; probably an audience for every type of jazz. But as far as jazz being "popular" to the extent it was in its few heydays - that ain't gonna happen. Play for the people who want to hear you, and play for yourself.

What a great album! My heart skipped a beat when I saw this cover - I thought you had an original Phillips issue. That's one of the most collectible blues albums of all time; I've seen the cover (with no record) for sale for $150. In any case, it's a cooking album, by the band that later came to be known as the Jelly Roll Kings - Frank Frost, Big Jack Johnson, and Sam Carr. I was lucky enough to hear all of these guys perform in Mississippi - not together, unfortunately.

Reuben Wilson - On Broadway (BN Liberty stereo). Found this for three bucks today. I like.

Chico Hamilton - With Strings Attached (Warner Brothers stereo). Eric Dolphy sounds fabulous on this record. And I have several of these late-50's Warner Bros. jazz releases, and it just amazes me that their "For Your Listening Pleasure, May We Suggest:" box always lists releases on other labels. This one suggests George Shearing on Capitol, Fred Katz on Decca, the MJQ on Atlantic, Marty Paich on Cadence, Miles on Columbia, and Chico on World Pacific; no other WB albums are listed.

For the second time in a few days: Max Roach - Jazz in 3/4 Time (EmArcy mono)

I'm with you on Crisis. And while we're dreaming, how about more music from that concert - you know that they played for more than 40 minutes. Improved sound/balance would be nice, too.

Between Garnett and Saxton, I vote for Garnett as the tenor soloist. I knew not having any of the Decca recordings by the Hines big band would come back to bite me in the ass. Great BFT - really enjoyed it!

Classic Capitol Jazz Sessions, discs 9 & 10, with some great Eddie Johnson tenor solos on the last two Cootie Williams big band sessions. And the obscure, two-song Murray McEachern session has always fascinated me, and today it really knocked me out - two great, unusual Ellington pieces played by McEachern on alto only (no trombone), with an unknown band that turns in a wonderful performance.

Never heard Eddie Johnson before but I just went to amg and listened to some samples from his Delmark date. Sounds great. I will be getting this Nessa date for sure. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/eddie-johnson-p90981 For more info on EJ check out this. Thanks for posting that - fascinating stuff! I'll second that; I learned a lot, and about to go digging in my records and CDs. Looking forward to the new release.

Felt the need for some New Orleans clarinet today: Johnny Wiggs and His New Orleans Kings (Southland) A really nice 1953 album with trombone pioneer Tom Brown and one of my favorite N.O. clarinetists, Harry Shields. Original Dixieland Jazz Band/Louisiana Five (Fountain) I've been really taken with the N.O. clarinetist Alcide "Yellow" Nunez, the co-leader of the Louisiana Five, lately. Louis Cottrell and His New Orleans Jazz (Nobility) 1964, with Kid Howard, Frog Joseph, and Paul Barbarin in the band.

I'm winding up a 10" LP on Angel - a collection of German jazz from 1954 - with one of the worst album titles ever: The Cats and Jammer Kids. It's got the Hans Koller Quintet with Albert Mangelsdorff (Jutta Hipp had already left), the Johannes Rediske Quartet, the Paul Kuhn Quartet, and the Fatty George Combo.

This afternoon, some middling swing by Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra: Come and Get It/Mirage (Decca, 1939/40) No Name Jive, pts. 1 & 2 (Decca, 1940) Memories of You/If I Love Again (Decca, 1937/46). Decca paired the 1946 "If I Love Again" with a decade-old recording, I assume, because they are both trumpet features: "Memories" is played by the somewhat overwrought Sonny Dunham, while "If I Love" is a gorgeous Bobby Hackett feature. Then I got my daily Louis Armstrong fix in 78 RPM form: LA and His Orchestra: It Takes Time/I Wonder, I Wonder, I Wonder (RCA Victor, 1947). The last record date by Armstrong's big band. LA and His All Stars: A Song Was Born/Before Long (RCA Victor, 1947). Great Teagarden on this one. LA: Blueberry Hill/C'est si Bon (German Brunswick, 1949/50) LA and His All Stars w/ Bud Freeman: Basin Street Blues, pts. 1 & 2 (Decca, 1954). From The Glenn Miller Story. I have all of these on CD or LP (except "C'est si Bon"), but Louis sounds great on 78.

Dave Brubeck - Southern Scene (Columbia 6-eye mono)

Is that an original Debut issue Brownie? Or one of those numbered limited edition 70s/80s reissues? Don't think I've ever seen that one (although at least one of the tracks is on the Debut Story CD set). I've got a copy of the original - found in a Savannah junk store 15 or so years ago. I might spin it tonight. I had been thinking about pulling this record off the shelves to reacquaint myself with it, since I hadn't heard it in years - thanks for the reminder, Brownie. I remember having mixed feelings about it in the past, but I really dug it tonight. Interesting, moving music with one foot in jazz and one in classical. What happened to Alonzo Levister?

Max Roach - Jazz in 3/4 Time (EmArcy mono) Gerry Mulligan Sextet - Mainstream of Jazz (EmArcy mono) I found absolutely beautiful copies of both of these today for less than ten bucks apiece.