jeffcrom

That's exactly right about the slip-in page with the CD info; I have several of the early Mosaic CD editions. You already know that there's some fabulous music on that set.

TheLBC actually called me last night; it was a long, emotional call. He revealed many of his innermost secrets to me, including the meaning of his pseudonym. At one point he became so overcome with emotion that he was unable to speak. While he sobbed, I filled the time by listening to Coltrane's Live In Japan album - twice, if I remember correctly. His angst stems from his concern that his posts are of such an abstract, intellectual nature that they can't be grasped by the rest of us. And I had to admit that there is some truth to that. Few of us here have matched the level of his contributions to the discourse on these forums. But I tried to assure The Loser-By-Choice that we all love him just the way he is. Please don't simplify the Johnsonian flow of your ideas for us.

I started several lengthy responses to this, but they weren't coming out right, and now this thread is going somewhere else. So I'll just say that I thought that this was a great post. And that one of the most ecstatic hours of music I've ever experienced was one spent listening to Evan Parker play solo in a church a few blocks from my house.

Okay, for Ubu Roi and anyone else having trouble with the Megaupload links: Disc 1 part 1 Disc 1 part 2 Disc 2 part 1 Disc 2 part 2

Okay, I've split each disc into two parts and am uploading them to Mediafire. It's a slow process, so check here in the morning for some links.

Let me see if I can upload my downloaded files to another site - I'll let you know.

Yeah, Sal Nisitco was a badass. I choose to interpret his expression as he walked to the microphone as: "I can't believe Woody makes us dress this way...."

I have a few jazz autographs, but one of the few artists I've asked to sign an album was bluesman Wade Walton. I took my copy of his only full-length album (long out of print) to his barbershop in Clarksdale, Mississippi. I had been warned that he didn't like to be interrupted while he worked, and sure enough, he scowled when I came in. But I think I hit the right tone with my apologetic explanation; he signed the album and seemed impressed that I had a copy. He even wanted to talk for awhile, but he still had a customer in the chair, so I made a pretty quick exit. On another trip to Clarksdale, I heard Othar Turner's Rising Star Fife and Drum Band at the Sunflower River Blues Festival, and bought a cassette from his daughter Bernice Pratcher, who played snare drum in the band. A few minutes later I saw Mr. Turner in the audience, digging the next band. I told him how much I enjoyed his performance and asked him to sign the cassette card. He got a funny look on his face, and I instantly realized that I hadn't thought things through - an African-American born in 1907 in rural Mississippi might not be able to write, and this appeared to be the case. I was horrified that I might have embarrassed him, but he took the card and the pen and laboriously wrote a "t" and I told him that I appreciated it.

Is the Costa performance from the Newport Fest? If so, I've got it in another guise.

Jeez, is troll-boy still around?

Yeah, the saxophone section personnel is pretty amazing. Unfortunately, there are no sax solos on "Advent," the one track I've got on 45. It ain't eight minutes long, either.

A small tribute: James Moody - Lester Leaps In/Out of Nowhere (Prestige, 1949). Some nice Arne Domnerus on this Swedish recording. James Moody - Serenade in Blue/Moody's Home (Mercury, 1951)

I second the recommendation of Needle Doctor. They're very helpful if you want to call with questions.

I've got a Glad-Hamp 45 (signed by Lionel); one side is "Advent", from a 1982 Japanese concert that was released on Paddle Wheel and Timeless. The other side is something else, though, and isn't listed in my Lord discography - it's a Latin/disco version of "Caravan," with synths, background singers, and a long, one-chord vibes solo. It's obviously a studio recording, but has very fake-sounding applause dubbed in at the end. The whole thing's a hoot.

I've been meaning to reacquaint myself with "Misty Mornin'," so I listened to the Okeh and Victor versions this morning. It alternates a simple blues theme (but one that gets under my skin) with a beautiful, lyrical melody played by Artie Whetsol. Whetsol was Ellington's "sweet" trumpet player in the early days and in his own way, he was as individual as Bubber Miley. Both versions feature tenor solos by Barney Bigard - we think of him as a clarinetist, but as a young man in New Orleans and Chicago, he was known as one of the hottest young saxophonists around. The Okeh version has the added attraction of a Lonnie Johnson guitar solo. I've always loved those Ellington records on which Johnson plays. On the Okeh record, which was the first recording, Wellman Braud bows the entire piece, except for Johnson's solo. By the time the band recorded "Misty Mornin'" for Victor, Ellington had figured out how to use Braud's bass more effectively. He only uses the bow during the introduction and coda, but sometimes plays a straight four, sometimes plays running countermelodies, and sometimes lays out, letting Ellington's left had take the bass. It's worth listening to the Victor recording once just to concentrate on the bass.

It was reissued in 1976 as part of a two-fer called "The All Star Sessions." It was paired with "Homecoming."

Louis Armstrong - Complete RCA Victor Recordings. This stuff doesn't have the reputation of the Hot 5 & 7, but in the 1932-33 period represented by discs one and two of this set, Louis' trumpet playing was at its absolute peak. The alternate take of "That's My Home" has always made my heart constrict as much as any other music I've heard, and many of the other tracks are almost as good - "I've Got the World On a String," "I've Gotta Right to Sing the Blues," even the two sides of "Medley of Armstrong Hits." There's an eloquence to this music that Armstrong never quite equaled.

The recent article about Mr. Moody and his illness warmed my heart. None of us gets out alive, and it sounds like Moody faced the end calmly and peacefully, and enjoyed his life to the last. RIP, JM.

Ghost of Miles Past by Michael Morgan: Happy Birthday!

The Art Ensemble 1967/68 (Nessa); disc two.

In terms of monetary value, I have a nice copy of Sun Ra's A Fireside Chat With Lucifer on the Saturn label. It was marked $10, but the guy gave it to me for $9. It regularly sells at auction for $250 or more. And the music's pretty good, too. I have a fair amount of rare stuff; it's not always the music I reach for the most often.

The Chicago Jazz Giants Live! (MPS). Wild Bill Davidson, Bob Wilber, Ed Hubble, Ralph Sutton, Isla Ecklinger, and Cliff Leeman live in Germany in 1976. The title's not really accurate, but it's nice Chicago swing/dixieland.

I picked this one up for a dollar a few years back, thinking it was going to be total camp. But it's actually very good - Donald Byrd, Eddie Costa, and Jimmy Cleveland are among the All-Stars.

I know that others have said something like this, but digitize my vinyl with a Philips CD recorder that's a component of my sound system. I don't have to worry about cheap turntables/cartridges, etc. As a matter of fact, my CD recorder is my primary CD player, too - it sounds so much better than my old CD player.

To a large extent, yes. But there are plenty of instances of Brubeck rising above his somewhat limited talent and creating something remarkable. The track that turned me into something of a Brubeck fan was "Someday My Prince Will Come," from 1957. Around the five minute mark, there are three levels of time going on at once - Eugene Wright is playing in three, Joe Morello is in four, and Brubeck is in four, but at a different tempo. And it swings.