jeffcrom

Othello Macbeth Hamlet

This cover reminds me of one of my favorite jokes: An accordion player finishes rehearsal, throws his instrument into the back seat, and drives downtown to run some errands. He parks the car, goes to the post office, hardware store, etc. Then he thinks, "Damn! I left my accordion in plain sight in the back seat. Someone's going to break into my car!" So he rushes back. As he approaches the car, he sees that the side window has indeed been broken out, and someome has left two more accordions.

Two more suggestions: Billy Bang: Untitled Gift - a 1982 date that has been reissued on CD, but I don't know the label. Susie Ibarra/Denis Charles: Drum Talk (Wobbly Rail) - a wonderful meeting between two master percussionists. I'm a saxophonist, and I like it. It's out of print, but readily available from Amazon vendors.

Ain't it, though? Jimmy Raney - Strings & Swings (Muse)

I bid on it - a little over one-tenth of the winning bid. I love 78s, but they are still just highly breakable objects with six minutes of music, so I don't go nuts.

Thanks for the info, sidewinder. The music is great, and the audience is a lot of fun - they were really into the band.

Laura Bush Kate Bush Kate Jackson

On DJM Records - came out around 1975. If it's the one I'm thinking of it has the live broadcast from the 'Both/And' club, released on CD more recently by Fresh Sound. I picked up this 2LP set myself quite recently for £2 ! That's the one. Fabulous music, and the sound's not bad. Does anyone have recording date(s)?

"South Africa Goddam" is one of the most moving and harrowing pieces of music I've heard, and the rest of the album is not far below that level. Get it.

Chester A. Arthur Grover Cleveland Benjamin Harrison

The Odd Couple Oscar Brand Felix Mendelssohn

Thelonious Monk - Complete Blue Note Recordings. One of my top dozen jazz albums.

Norma Teagarden Norman Rockwell Rosie the Riveter

Armand Hug Armand Hammer Hank Aaron

I was listening to disc one of the Affinity Complete Brunswick/Decca Recordings set today and had a disconcerting experience. Early on there is an Adelaide Hall session on which Miss Hall is accompanied by Tatum and Francis Carter on two pianos. Immediately following several of these Hall vocal tracks there is a version of "Tea For Two." For about a minute I thought it was a continuation of the Hall session, since there were obviously two pianists playing. Only there weren't - it was Tatum's March, 1933 Brunswick solo session. It took me a minute to get my head around that. And I've had this set for several years and listened to Tatum for even more years, but it still took me aback. It's just an astounding display.

Have a good one!

Cootie Williams/Rex Stewart - The Big Challenge (Jazztone mono)

Johnny Young - I Can't Keep My Foot From Jumping (Bluesway). Rockin' 1973 album by the Mississippi mandolin master.

I live one block from a used record/CD store. It's small, but they often have some nice stuff. I self-exiled myself from the store for the month of August because I had been buying too much stuff. I dropped in today for the first time in about six weeks and walked out with: CD - Prince Lasha: Inside Story (Enja) LPs - Lee Morgan: a British double LP of broadcasts by the Live at the Lighthouse band Cootie Williams and Rex Stewart: The Big Challenge (for a dollar) The Freddie Roach Soul Book (Prestige deep groove). The Roach is playing right now, and it sounds great. I was so tickled that I'll send my Prestige 45 of "You've Got Your Troubles"/"One Track Mind" by Freddie Roach to the first board member who posts here asking for it. I'll even pick up the postage. Please follow up with a PM.

The Jazztet and John Lewis from the Jazztet box. I'm loving these arrangements - just wonderful. And there's a personal, nostalgic aspect to this box for me. 38 years ago my late mom got me my first jazz album - Ya! Ya! by Budd Johnson on Argo. I think she picked it up for me because it was a cheap cutout and had a picture of Johnson with his horn on the cover, and I had just taken up the saxophone. The inner sleeve had small reproductions of dozens of Argo albums on it, and it just fascinated me. That's where I learned lots of jazz names - I would pore over the sleeve and wonder who John Lewis, J. C. Heard, Zoot Sims, and Red Rodney were. Almost all the Argo albums included in this Mosaic box were pictured on the sleeve. I've been waiting all these years to hear some of these albums. I still have the Budd Johnson album. It gets played regularly, and I still enjoy looking at the inner sleeve.

Yeah, I'm enjoying the heck out of this one. I didn't realize that there was so much more than the Jazztet stuff, such as Farmer's Argo albums. Thanks for the quick shipping across the pond, Cliff.

Meet the Jazztet from the Art Famer/Benny Golson/Jazztet box. I was resigned to having missed out on this one. Thanks, Cliff.

Here's my final installment: 17. My favorite singing of this set – straightforward, unaffected and not overdone. I also like the way the instrumentation reveals itself slowly – the trumpet doesn’t come in until the song is over half over, and you’ll miss the trombone if you don’t listen carefully. I’d like to hear more of the soprano saxist – I like his (or her) sound. And it’s a cool song! I don’t know what I’ll do when there ain’t no jazz. 18. A real New Orleans-style clarinetist, but my guess is that he was born elsewhere. If I had to make a guess, I’d say that maybe it’s Jacques Gauthe. Nice track – not earth-shattering, but nice. 19. I can’t come up with what this is, except that’s it’s a nice little late-twenties big band recording. Nice solos all around, and the band is loose (in a good way) and swings pretty well for its time. I like it a lot. This is one of those tracks that I'm looking forward to finding out more about. 20. Another nice big band track. The excellent piano solo makes me wonder if it’s Andy Kirk’s band with Mary Lou Williams. In any case, it’s a band with a very good pianist. The other soloists are good, too. Nice swinging track. 21. Jabbo Smith– Michiganlander Stomp. Jabbo is one of the underrated jazz giants of the twenties. He was one of several trumpeters recruited by record companies in an attempt to find a rival for Louis Armstrong. Jabbo had his own style, though. Nice alto, although I can’t remember who it is. The banjo solo gets kind of out there, perhaps more than intended. 22. I don’t know this piece, but it sounds like Bennie Moten: somewhat corny two-beat rhythm, not-very-good accordion solo, slap-tongue clarinet. Moten’s band didn’t really get good until later in its career. Of course, I could be totally off on who it is. The trombone player’s got some chops. 23. The great Edmond Hall, who has one of the most distinctive clarinet sounds in jazz. He always added some fire and spontaneity to the sometimes predictable Louis Armstrong All-Stars, which is the band he appears with here. This is a good old good one, as Louis might say. 24. Jelly Roll Morton, from his General recordings, with a nice little mostly-New Orleanian band. Red Allen sounds good here, as does Claude Jones on trombone and Zutty Singleton on drums. I think Albert Nicholas is the clarinetist, but he’s hardly audible on this track. This is not my favorite of Jelly’s General sides, but any Jelly is good to me. 25. Fun little band with good players. I’d rather hear the vocalist actually sing than more or less speak the lyrics as he does here, but if I was hearing these guys in a bar on Frenchman Street I wouldn’t care – I’d be really enjoying this. And I’m guessing that I could actually hear them on Frenchman Street in New Orleans, since the singer mentions Doreen’s Candy Store – Doreen Ketchens is a fabulous clarinet player who runs a candy store in the Crescent City. I think this might be the New Orleans Jazz Vipers, who are pretty popular down there. In any case, if this is not their theme song, it should be. Really enjoyed this blindfold test. Thanks for an interesting collection of recordings.

Wingy Manone - Vol. 1 (RCA Vintage Series). Wingy's been on my mind lately....

Clarke/Boland Big Band: At Her Majesty's Pleasure (Black Lion). Thanks for the recommendation, sidewinder.