jeffcrom

Right, of course. I have a weakness for the whole Metronome All Stars series; there was some great music produced, in spite of the dubious concept and strange mixtures of musicians. Among other reasons, I chose this one because Marsh's solo sums up his brilliance in 16 amazing measures.

Mitchell's production work for Hi Records was masterful. "I Can't Stand the Rain" by Ann Peebles (99 Pounds of Soul!) and "Here I Am" by Al Green are great songs, but Mitchell made them great records. And of course, he produced the masterpiece (in my opinion) of the whole Hi catalog: Al Green's "Love and Happiness" - four and a half minutes of brilliance by Green, Mitchell, guitarist Teenie Hodges, and the Hi rhythm section. RIP, Mr. Mitchell.

By the way, Paul, feel free to spill the beans whenever you're ready.

Well, I got fed up with this and other problems I found using Explorer on my new laptop; downloaded Firefox this evening, and it's working fine. It's a work-owned computer, so I wasn't really supposed to do that, but I don't care.

I was unsure of how many people would be familiar with track 12 – I actually hope it’s a lot, because it’s such an interesting recording. One of the tenor players’ solo is perhaps my favorite 16 measures by him.

I'll add that, as much as I like his records, Parker's solo approach works better when experienced in person. A few years ago he gave a solo concert (soprano & tenor) in a stone church near my house - high ceilings and wooden floor. He only played for about 55 minutes, but it was an overwhelming experience. The sound swirled around until it was difficult to distinguish the sounds Parker was producing from the reverberation. It was a very stange and beautiful hour. I have a recording of that concert, and I enjoy listening to it, but it's not the same. I've always wanted to go back and play the CD in the same building. And of course: True that.

Robert Toombs Robert E. Lee Lee Dorsey

Arizona Dranes Utah Smith Washington Phillips

Luke the Drifter Jimmy Driftwood Andrew Jackson

Let me know how the Six and Seven-Eights compares to the American Music double CD.

Johnny Hodges Otto Hardwicke Otto von Bismark

Very cool. And it makes me wonder why I don't have Procession - I'll correct that soon.

The Definitive Roswell Rudd (Horo)

Blindfold Test #71 is now up and running. Post your comments here. The first 11 tracks are a chronological stroll through the history of jazz - one track per decade, starting with the 1900s. Tracks 12-14 are bonus tracks that don't fit into the theme, but that I found interesting. Hope you enjoy it. I'm looking forward to your comments.

CDs have been sent via US mail; links have been sent via PM. If anyone else wants to participate, let me know.

Thanks for the interesting BFT. At least I feel a little better about recognizing so few players/tracks.

Others may disagree, but I think it may be because Parker's music is not about melody at all. As radical as his music is, Ayler was still playing melody - often abstract, atonal, non-tempered, intense melody, but still melody, with a familiar logic to the shape of his phrases. Parker's music is about sound and movement and intensity and space (not always all at the same time), but it's usually not about melody. He's working from a different aesthetic from many "free jazz" players. Or maybe I don't know what I'm talking about. But that's how it strikes this Evan Parker/Albert Ayler/Charlie Parker/Sidney Bechet fan.

Burton lived in Nashville for a short time when he was a young man. In addition to the Hank Garland album 7/4 posted, Burton played on the RCA Nashville All Stars album After the Riot at Newport (which has a great Jim Flora cover. The album features Hank Garland, Chet Atkins, Boots Randolph, and Floyd Cramer, among others. It's kind of a mixed bag, but Garland and Burton sound good.

I just got a new laptop, and I'm having the same problem with it.

This thread depressed me somewhat - it reminded me of how bad the Atlanta jazz scene is. I heard a few good local bands this year; the most impressive were the rock bands Vietnam and Purkinje Shift. As far as big names go, I had to travel 500 miles or more to hear most of them. My top shows of the year: Atlanta - Bill Frisell; The Shaking Ray Levis (my favorite Southern-fried free improv collective) New Orleans - The Tin Men; Evan Christopher/Tom McDermott Quartet; Society Brass Band Copenhagen - Jesper Thilo

Shorty Rogers - Short Stop (RCA Bluebird) Disc 2

Dude! Too cool!

Nice one--I'm hoping to land a copy one day for myself. Was this a Japanese only release? I'm not familiar with the label. Yes, I feel lucky to have found this. A friend saw it in an Atlanta-area used record store and, knowing how I feel about Lacy, called and told me to get down there right away. I picked up a mint copy of Cecil Taylor Live In Vienna at the same time. There seems to be a present-day punk label called Lunatic Records, but this one was a small label out of Hiroshima. The Lacy LP is Lunatic 002; #001 was a compilation featuring four Japanese pianists. (I haven't heard it.) I'm not aware of anything else they put out.

This CD has seven of the original octet recordings in addition to the six orchestral pieces (with solo instruments) that Sinatra conducts. Hopefully you can find it cheaper than these Amazon vendors if you look around.

Steve Lacy - The Kiss (Lunactic); A Hiroshima solo concert from 1986. Superbly recorded and pressed, and the music is stunningly beautiful.