jeffcrom

Happy Birthday, Paul. Have a good one. It's also my dad's 82nd. All the cool kids have birthdays today.

Well, I guess i avoided total humiliation - I got the soloists on the first track. Can't believe I mistook Teo Macero for Stan Getz, but at least I wasn't the only one. And I do like Frank Lowe, even that track didn't do much for me. A used CD store near where I work has the Allan Chase album - think I'll pick it up Monday. Thanks for an interesting BFT.

Happy birthday! I just checked your profile, and, uh... which birthday is this?

For the second time in a week: Sonny Criss at the Crossroads reissued as half of Impulse Dedication Series Vol. 1 - The Bopmasters.

I'm in for a download. Looking forward to it.

My copy of Naftule Brandwein - King of the Klezmer Clarinet arrived today. I've been enjoying a burned copy someone gave me, but I wanted a legit copy with liner notes and info. The notes make kind of a deal of the rivalry between Brandwein and fellow clarinetist Dave Tarras, whose music I've also been enjoying lately. Tarras was the Lee Konitz to Brandwein's Bird, or maybe more like Jimmie Noone to Brandwein's Johnny Dodds. In any case, this is some excellent, passionate music, mostly from the twenties.

I suggest that it might be worth seeking out the "Complete Birth of the Cool" CD reissue that combines the studio tracks with all the live recordings. It includes the announcements, the short theme that is not on the Cicala LP, and more complete versions of several of the tracks. I kept my RVG edition for the sound on the studio tracks, though.

Duke Jordan - The Great Session (Steeplechase). Oddly titled, but it is what it says it is.

My Columbia Saxophone Sextette is a regular black shellac issue. I haven't looked up when it was recorded, but it's got the standard pre-1920 blue Columbia label they used for pop music.

Spun some early (pre-1920, for the most part), non-jazz saxophone playing this evening: Rudy Wiedoeft, Wiedoeft's Saxophone Sextette, Columbia Saxophone Sextette, Six Brown Brothers - on Victor, Vocalion, Brunswick, and Columbia. Maybe it's the antiquarian in me, but I enjoy this stuff.

This is mentioned in the Kelly Book, and in the footnote doubts its authenticity. Published after Steve Lacy passed away, and since he put out almost everything he ever wrote this was kind a golden kernel (so why didn't it come out when he was alive, reasons Kelly, who doesn't come right out and say it's a fake, but is skeptical). Lacy did mention many of these things in interviews over the years, however. Found the segment in Kelly's book on Lacy with Monk at the Jazz Gallery the most comprehensive bit on that history that I've come across. Recall talking to Lacy about it a bit, too. He mentioned the Jazz Gallery, the repertoire -- didn't realize, though, that Rouse and Lacy began their blending sounds at that point. They sounded great in that one-off "That's The Way I Feel Now" recording that Hal Wilner put together. Missed that footnote (I'll try to find it), but this is Lacy's handwriting. It's not anything Monk wrote out for Lacy - it appears to be Lacy's notes on things Monk told him. Compare it to other writings in Lacy's hand (like on pp. 259 & 262 of Steve Lacy: Conversations edited by Jason Weiss) - it's obviously Lacy's handwriting. Later edit: Just found the footnote - Kelly seems to think that this is someone's attempt to forge Lacy's handwriting. I'm not a handwriting expert, but I did some letter-by-letter comparisons from a postcard Mr. Lacy sent me, and I'm convinced that it's Lacy's writing. The shape of of the "D" and "H," for example, is the same. If it looks different from other examples of Lacy's writing I've seen, it's because it's sloppier - and that would be easy to understand Lacy was writing in his own notebook, not for other people to read.

I did. My first Horo order was around 1979, when I found a Horo ad in the back of some magazine - I think Jazz Journal International. I got Parabola by Gil Evans, Threads by Steve Lacy, and one more, but I don't remember which. After that I found a few more in stores, but never placed another order while the company was in business. I somehow came across the website Aldo Sinesio set up to sell off his stock; when was it - about 10 years ago? I don't remember if there was a minimum requirement, but I bought as much as I felt I could afford at the time - MEV, Lacy, all the Sun Ra, Laboratorio della Quercia, Rudd, Adams/Pullen, Roach, etc. I was a little nervous about it, but sure enough, the crappy pressings with the orange labels showed up a few weeks later. I always meant to place another order, but then the site disappeared. I still pick up a Horo occasionally. (If my wife sees this: please read that sentence carefully!) I got one of the Sam Rivers doubles about six months ago from an Ebay vendor - for what I thought was a seasonable price.

Now I'm listening to the Impulse reissue of Sonny Criss at the Crossroads - the first disc of The Bopmasters. This is one of those albums that makes me want to yell, "That's jazz, baby!"

Cecil - Fly! Fly! Fly! Fly! Fly! (Pausa)

3 Shades of the Blues (Lupine). Late 50s-early 60s Detroit blues/R & B by Eddie Kirkland, Mr. Bo, and The Ohio Untouchables, featuring the greatest guitarist ever to come out of Dry Branch, Georgia: the amazing Robert Ward. Hell, yes!

Playing an LP I just picked up - Bouzouki and Clarinet on Greek EMI/Regal. I've been getting more interested in klezmer, Greek, and Turkish clarinet traditions lately, and this 1974 album is amazing. There are minimal liner notes in Greek and English, but no artists' names anywhere. It sounds like a collection of recordings made at different times by different artists. Very cool stuff. Uh-oh.... Just flipped over to side two, and it's much less enchanting. The notes describe the music on this side as "urban-popular," and it sounds more like cliche Greek jukebox music, as opposed to the more traditional first side. When I die, side two will still be in mint condition, but I'll be playing side one a lot.

Brigitte was a beautiful cat - thanks for posting her picture.

Yes - I like that one. I felt the need for some hard funk, played LOUD: James Blood Ulmer - Are You Glad to Be in America (Artists House)

How cool is that! I'd love to hear these charts live. Kudos to these students.

I hope these issue are legit and related to what's below. Back in February, I did an entry about Horo on my blog and got the following comment: I was assistant producer at HORO Records for several years, when I was in my teens. Aldo Sinesio, the producer, is on the verge of reissuing most of the HORO catalogue on CD, and I will produce the reissues. Lonehill Records has just ripped off a Teddy Wilson record from HORO, so, in order to avoid other "fakes" (the guys at Lonehill have just copied an LP), the catalogue wll be reissued almost in its entirety. Within May/June a series of recordings live by Freddie Hubbard, and an unissued recording, by pianist Dave Burrell and legendary drummer Sam Woodyard, will be out. I think you're the first person to get the news... Cordially yours, Gianni Morelenbaum Gualberto Of course, we're considerably beyond May/June at this point, but I hope this is the beginning of the reissue program Gianni was talking about.

No one has mentioned Bukowski's poetry yet. Maybe because it might not really be poetry - I would be unable to argue with anyone who says that it's just prose arranged interestingly on the page. I really like it when I'm the right mood, though. I read The Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over the Hills in one sitting about 20 years ago. I will admit that the title is probably better than any of the poems inside. That title captures the fleeting quality of life as well as anything I've ever heard.

Off-topic, perhaps, but I enjoyed reading this post, Jim. I've always liked the Buddhist dictum "Live a good life, and die a good death."

I have nothing to add to the direction(s) this thread has taken. I just wanted to say that I just finished Kelley's book about Monk, and it deeply impressed and moved me. The depth of research is incredible, and it seems unlikely that it will be surpassed for many years, if ever. Yes, I found flawed passages, but it would be unrealistic to expect otherwise in a work of this length. Warts and all, I consider this a great book about a musical genius.

Cool! What kind of stuff do they play?

Well, I was fairly close. I've been scanning and then recycling a ton of paper lately. Kind of feels like passing my entire academic career through a shredder at 50 pages a pop -- though not quite so satisfying. Anyway, this reminded me that I never got the answer to this question, so I went back to the interwebs, and what do you know, now this poem shows up, cited in Google Books a couple of places. I know there is a lot of controversy over Google Books and copyright etc., but I think what they are doing is great. Anyway, it turns out it is not Baraka but Don L. Lee (aka Haki Madhubuti) "In the Interest of Black Salvation." Now I just need to track down if I have the chapbook the poem is in. It turns out he is releasing a new volume of his collected poetry -- and is giving a reading in Hyde Park next week, though I don't think I will be able to make it. Well, I'll keep an eye out to see if he is doing any downtown or northside readings. Wow - had no idea this thread was here - this is the first post I noticed since I joined back in March. I have the Don Lee poem in a book called Understanding the New Black Poetry, edited by Stephen Henderson, but it was published in 1972, so it would probably not be much easier to find than the original chapbook. Anyway, I'm excited to see this thread. Here's one from memory - I can vouch for the words, but not the line breaks or punctuation. It perfectly captures the feeling I had wandering the beautiful and unfamiliar streets of Copenhagen 'round midnight after hearing Jesper Thilo's quartet last week. Morning Joy Piano buttons stitched on morning lights; Jazz wakes with the day. As I awaken with jazz, Love lit the night. Eyes appear and disappear To lead me once more To a green moon. Streets paved with opal sadness Lead me counterclockwise To pockets of joy And jazz. -Bob Kaufman