jeffcrom

Chester Burnett McKinley Morganfield Rice Miller

HB, 7/4!

Well, this makes it seem like it has to be a recording by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers themselves. I do not know this album. though. Of course, there were many editions of the Jazz Messengers on record. You got so close that I have to give you credit. It is Blakey and the Messengers. Anybody know this album? You've got it - Milt Buckner with Kenny Burrell from Mighty High.

They won't appeal to readers of hard-boiled detective/mystery stories, but I always liked Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael series. They're set in 12th-century England; Brother Cadfael enters a monastery in his middle age after much experience of the world as a soldier and herbalist/healer.

I'm a former member of the Bazooka Ants.

The new Ellington, disc three. I'm really enjoying this, and learning a lot. And I just love the Mills Brothers, who guest on disc three - I didn't really begin to appreciate them until a couple of years ago.

Bingo! That's it.

Two excellent sources: Gunther Schuller - The Swing Era, pp. 788-790; Albert McCarthy - Big Band Jazz, pp. 131-134 & 284-285. I don't see the McCarthy book mentioned often, but it's a very impressive source of information about big bands. And while the CD I took "Smooth Sailing" from states that Emmett Berry is the trumpet soloist, Schuller believes that it's Money Johnson, while McCarthy thinks it's Nat Bates. Identifying soloists on big band records is often problematic, I guess.

Happy Birthday dude!

Just sent you the links.

Okay, we have our first full artist and track ID. #5 is indeed "Smooth Sailing" by Horace Henderson and His Orchestra. It's not his brother's musicians, though. This October 23, 1940 session is the closest we have to a recording session by the great Nat Towles big band out of Omaha. Towles had a legendary band, but didn't record and wouldn't take his band to Chicago or New York, because he knew that he would lose his sidemen to more well-known leaders. His worst fears came true when Horace Henderson heard his band, and basically stole it. Henderson didn't need pianist Sir Charles Thompson, and he kept Emmett Berry on trumpet and Israel Crosby on bass from his old band, but the rest of this band was pretty much the Towles band intact. "Smooth Sailing" is a composition/arrangement by Sir Charles that had been in the Towles book, with solos by Emmett Berry, Bob Dorsey on tenor, C. Q. Price (who later played with Basie) on alto, and Horace. This track came from a CD reissue, but I have a Horace Henderson LP that has three pretty good big band sessions, and then this fabulous one. Lift a glass to the great Nat Towles band.

This makes me sick. Yes, Buddy Bolden's house on First Street is still standing. It's on the National Register of Historic Places, so it can't be torn down. But apparently it can be allowed to decay - the current owner doesn't seem to be maintaining it well. The reference to Danny Barker's house worries me. His birth home in the French Quarter is still standing, in good shape, and marked with a plaque. But he and Blue Lu bought a nice little bungalow on Sere Street in the 1960s and lived there the rest of their lives. I'll have to see if it's still there when I visit New Orleans this Spring.

Is it? Never thought the master of BFTs had to do that... but thanks a lot for your offer! Well, whether it "officially" is or not, I'm glad to do it.

I'll be glad to send out CDs to anyone who needs them - part of my job. And I'm in for a download, of course.

I'm finally listening to this set - the UPS guy dropped it on my porch today. I have no problem with the sound on disc one, considering when it was recorded. Brunswick and Columbia 78s never sounded as good as Victor's, anyway, and I'm happy enough with the sound. I didn't notice any problems taking the CDs out, but I generally use a pretty good bit of downward pressure on the tines. After one disc, my reaction is that this set is a revelation. I thought I was pretty conversant with this body of work, but I didn't know the half of it.

Very cool - congrats!

Sunnyland Slim - Slim's Shout (Prestige); reissue of the Bluesville album.

I'll have to go back and read that. It hit me a couple of hours after reading your post how amazing that trumpet section must have been. I've often thought that, if I could go back in time for one day, I'd go to the Lincoln Gardens in Chicago in late 1922 or early 1923, when King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band with Louis Armstrong was playing. I think I now have to change that - I would want to go to New Orleans and second-line that parade. And you know that at least one of those guys had a dance-hall gig that night.

Yep, you've got it, Alex.

Madonna Guy Ritchie Fred Guy

If it's not too obvious to point out, I love that fact that Maupin's bass clarinet is used as part of the rhythm sections, not as a "horn."

Cow Cow Davenport Bix Beiderbecke Paul Whiteman

I generally agree with this. There are lots of ways to make a good record, and recording stuff in pieces and editing them together is one way. Hope this is not too far off topic, but I was never crazy about "Shhh/Peaceful" from In a Silent Way - until I heard the version from disc two of the Silent Way box set. This edit reflected Miles' original conception of the piece, which was originally called "Mornin' Fast Train From Memphis to Harlem." The originally issued "Shhh/Peaceful" was put together from the improvised parts, but "Mornin' Fast Train" had not one, but two composed melodies - one for the pianos and guitar, and one for the horns. To me, it works much better as a coherent piece of music.