jeffcrom

Just to confuse things.... I have "You Ought to Know" on a Paul Gayten/Annie Laurie LP on the Swedish Route 66 label. It gives a location/date as New Orleans, late 1949, with this personnel: Paul Gayten - piano & vocal; Wallace Davenport - t; Lee Allen - ts; Frank Campbell - as, bar; Jack Scott -g; George Pryor - b; Robert Green - d This is a much more likely personnel for a New Orleans recording; I doubt those New York guys would have made the trip south. The tune is a nice, moody ballad with a good tenor solo. The whole album is excellent early New Orleans R & B. The album has one track, "Goodnight Irene," with Mobley listed on tenor. Unfortunately, there's no tenor solo. I always chuckle at one line of "Broadway's on Fire": "That bebop is okay, but I've got to have some blues."

I have a copy I would be willing to part with. I'd rather trade than sell.

Well, I broke down and bought a copy of the two-sided (Lay Lady Lay b/w Spinning Wheel) version from an Ebay vendor. It's mono/promo. "Spinning Wheel" is pretty entertaining. The line in the lyrics that goes "Ride a painted pony, let the spinning wheel spin" is taken by the organ every time, and each time it gets more dissonant - by the last time it's pretty out. There's also a few seconds of free improv - no key, no pulse - in the middle of the record. Definitely trippy 1969 stuff.

Slight correction: I left out the date of 1/7/94. And it's not totally clear (the dates are "recorded and mixed"), but I assume the music was recorded in June of '93 and mixed in January of '94. It's a great album.

Not to step on anyone's toes, but: Slipping and Sliding (Kirk Lightsey) Everything Changed (Lightsey) Fukawe T. (Bowie/Lightsey/McBee/Moye/Blythe/Freeman) High Summer (Lightsey) Louisa (Cecil McBee) Blues on the Bottom (McBee) Mist (Chico Freeman) Drums Til Don (Lightsey) Recorded 6/15, 6/16, 6/17/1993 and 1/8/1994 System Two Studios, Brooklyn, NY Engineer: Joe Marciano Executive Producer: Hirakazu Sasabe Producer: The Leaders Co-Producer: Art Ensemble of Chicago Operations Sound Hills SSCD-8054 Photos by Ted Gray; no other artwork credits (at least in English) 2,900 Yen Lots of stuff in Japanese in the booklet.

I found this very interesting - I had never heard Dave Schildkraut referred to as anything more than a talented Bird disciple. This sent me back to Eddie Bert's Like Cool album, which has Schildkraut on tenor. His solos are definitely the most interesting on the album, with all due respect to Barry Galbraith, Hank Jones, and Bert. I don't know that I would call him a genius, but my opinion is based on the hour or so of recorded music that I've heard by him. I certainly enjoyed listening with a different perspective, and I was very impressed with his playing.

I think that's a narrow way of looking at it. Some people just hear differently. Yes, McLean played noticeably sharp, enough for anyone to notice, but I doubt he heard it as "out of tune." I suspect he liked the edge it gave his sound. A classical musician could never get away with that, and I can understand how it could bother some listeners, but I accept it as part of JM's music. I also think it's interesting that he brought it "in" somewhat when playing ensemble passages with trumpeters; he was still a little sharp, but closer to standard tuning. Tuning is kind of a paradox - I think of it as both absolute and relative. A lot depends on the situation. I think Jackie McLean is an example of what Ornette meant when he said, "You can play flat in tune, and you can play sharp in tune."

78s broke my heart twice yesterday. A long-awaited package arrived - Dodo Marmarosa on the Atomic label, playing "Mellow Mood" and "How High the Moon." Unfortunately, it was not packaged well and was broken right down the middle. It just killed me - the surface of the record looked pristine. Sigh.... But then I opened another package, which contained a one-sided 12" Victor Sed Seal: Amelita Galli-Curci singing the Bell Song from Lakme. Jeez, it just broke my heart all over again. Just beautiful.

I am really sorry to hear this - Eddie was one of the greats of NOLA R & B. He was the nephew of Peter Bocage. I was fortunate enough to hear him quite a few times in my favorite city. For a while in the 90's he had a happy hour gig at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville - the music could be either inspired or sad, depending on the requests of the tourists. Once he was playing there with a guitarist and young drummer - with Eddie's left hand, he didn't need a bass. After a couple of pretty good songs, Herlin Riley walked in. He and Eddie hugged, and Herlin played the rest of set. He just smoked those New Orleans second-line funk grooves, while Eddie's regular drummer sat in the corner, shaking his head. Every Dog Has His Day. So long, Eddie.

Last night's favorites (with semi-substantial discussion): Don Byas - Stardust/Slam, Don't Shake Like That (American Record) Nice, but "Stardust" is pretty well worked out in advance - a lot of what he plays here showed up earlier in Jerry Newman's Minton's recordings. Still effective, though, even if it's not really improvising. Slim Gaillard Trio - Ding Dong Oreenie/Ya Ha Ha (4 Star) Slim's four-piece "trio" is worth hearing both for Zutty Singleton's drumming and for the excellent Dodo Marmarosa solos. I was struck by the variety of note values Dodo uses - his playing wasn't just a string of bebop eighth notes; it had lots of rhythmic variety. Eddie South - No More Blues/Mama Mockingbird (Bluebird) The real find. Side B is a 1933 recording of a nice Hoagy Carmichael song that I had never even heard of. Some excellent Everett Barksdale guitar - maybe the best I've heard by him, although I haven't heard that much. In the few weeks since I have rediscovered 78s, I've noticed that Victor (and the Bluebird subsidiary) records have the best sound - vibrant and natural. This record is in excellent condition, and you can hear South's bow against the strings, and young Milt Hinton's bass really pops out - and he does a great slapped-triplet break. A very cool little record.

Jeez - Honeyboy's great. I've seen him in Atlanta and Chicago. There was something special about seeing/hearing him do "Sweet Home Chicago" at Rosa's in the Windy City. Going tonight to hear Bill Frisell down the street from me in Atlanta.

Thanks so much for this information - it's great to have a name to put with this suberb clarinet playing. And yes, Gerald Clark is credited as the bandleader on the label of my record. I'll be on the lookout for more stuff Felix played on. I'm with you on that. Since I'm a newbie, pardon me if this has been discussed - I did a quick keyword search and couldn't find anything - but the 2007 Off the Record/Archeophone reissue of the King Oliver Creole Jazz Band sides was a revelation to me. I had been listening to that music for over 30 years, but this has to be the finest reissue of this material ever. And it's such a simple approach - they found the best available 78 sources, determined the correct speed for each record, and found the most favorable needle size for each side. From what I can tell, they did very little filtering or equalizing. Even the Paramounts sound better than I've ever heard. It's like listening to a bunch of excellent 78s on good equipment.

I realize that probably very few people are interested in this thread, but I'm having a great time with my new-found 78 RPM fascination. Johnny Hodges - Let the Zoomers Drool/Searsy's Blues (Mercer) Don Byas - They Didn't Believe Me/Ted Nash - Wick's Kicks (Mercury) Mary Lou Williams/Mary Osborne - D.D.T/He's Funny That Way (Continental) It's an interesting experience - hearing this music the way the artists expected it to be heard at the time. I'm glad better technology came along, but it's interesting.

Just listened to "Prisoner of Love" (Billy Eckstine, 1945), "Picasso," and "Hawk Variations" back to back. "Picasso" certainly seems to match up with "Prisoner of Love," but "Hawk Variations" puzzles me. It was two sides of a French Selmer 78, but the two sides are jammed together as one track on the Swingtime LP Hawk Variation. The first side sounds like a familiar chord progression that never goes to a bridge, but side two is minor and seems to be based on a descending bass line (i, flat vii, flat vi, V). I didn't check the key of any of them. Maybe "Hawk Variations" is a freer improv. Someone with better ears can certainly correct me. The Hawk Variation album is a pretty cool collection of rare Hawkins, by the way. And thanks for sending me back to listen to this stuff again.

Well, not right now, since I'm at work, but last night: Memphis Slim: Treat Me Like I Treat You/Country Girl (on the Money label) B. B. King: Whole Lotta Lovin'/You Upset Me Baby (RPM) Roosevelt Sykes: The Honeydripper (Victor) and the real find (last week in a junk store): Sir Lancelot: Scandal in the Family/Young Girls Today (Mercury) - Killer calypso, with a smoking hot clarinet player - sounds like Evan Christopher 40 years too soon.

Okay, here's the new guy's two cents: Years ago, I was very doctrinaire about who I liked and didn't. It was very clear-cut: I liked Monk, I hated Brubeck. I liked Ellington, I hated Kenton. But once I actually started listening carefully, I realized that Brubeck, Kenton, and a lot of people I thought I didn't like had recorded some great music. Yes, Brubeck's music can be ponderous and unswinging, but he can also come up with something like "We Crossed the Rhine," which gives me a lump in my throat, or "Someday My Prince Will Come," which at one point has three different time signatures going on at once and still swings like hell. All of the giants faltered at times, and a lot of second-tier talents have created some excellent music. Braxton: I used to love everything he did. As I started listening to more "avant classical" composers like Stockhausen, Webern, and Varese, though, Braxton's composed music started suffering in comparison. I just don't think he has the compositional technique to pull off what he is attempting with this music. I still love his "jazz-oriented" stuff. And Louis - damn. I prefer the early stuff, but listen to a late recording like "Dream a Little Dream of Me." He can't play that much trumpet anymore, but every note counts. Again, it brings a lump to my throat.

I'll be glad to, if you can be patient for a couple of weeks. With going into logistics, I'm going to burn a bunch of 78s onto CD-R in about two or three weeks. I'll make you a copy at that time.

The Collector's Item 78 arrived yesterday, and it's pretty good. The first side, "On a Blues Kick," has a great alto solo - asymmetrical phrasing and unusual note choices. It's obvious that Brown is really improvising, not just running patterns. The flip side, "I Surrender Dear," is not quite as good - it's played with an odd, straight-eighth-note feel throughout. Maybe it's pre-bossa. Boyce's odd note choices are still there, but the phrasing is stiffer. Wild Bill Davidson sounds good in the ensembles, but doesn't take any solos. There is no band name listed on the label, just the names and instruments of the five musicians, none of whom I've heard of except for Brown and Davidson. For some reason I'd always thought of this as a Wild Bill Davidson date, but I thought it was interesting that "BB" is engraved in the dead wax on side one. Side two just has "2." The piano is pretty bad; I've seen a picture of the recording session, and it looks like they recorded on the bandstand of a club. Anyway, it's a cool little record. And I haven't dropped it yet. And I take the middle ground on the "Brother Matthew" LP. Boyce is still full of interesting ideas - he just can't execute them very well at that point. Worth hearing, if you're interested in BB.

Just traded for a new box of 78s. The favorites so far: Sarah Vaughan: My Kinda Love/I Could Make You Love Me (Musicraft) The second side has a Freddie Webster trumpet intro, sounds like. Slam Stewart Quartet: Coppin' Out/Blues Collins (Musicraft) McKinney's Cotton Pickers: Milenberg Joys/Shim-Me-Sha-Wabble (Victor) Never heard the second side before now, and my CD take of "Milenberg" is different, so this was a real find. Really vibrant sound from Victor on this one, too. Chris Kenner - Sick and Tired (Imperial) Tough New Orleans R & B - just jumps out of the speakers.

I wouldn't have believed it myself, except that I have the record. I bet that makes Paul feel really old!

Thanks, chewy - yeah, I just discovered this forum, and I'm already hooked. I'm not a Caruso expert, but a while back I found the BMG/Victor 1990 Complete Caruso CD set at a great price and snatched it up. I didn't have any context to process all that music with, so I got the Bolig Caruso Records: A History and Discography and photocopied the hard-to-find Caruso On Records by Aida Favia-Artsay, which a local university library had. These helped me get a grip on this huge body of music. I also have a few Caruso 78s. Okay, your Caruso record is a later "transcription," or copy, of the original masters - probably from the early to mid 1920s. To quote Bolig: "Nobody knows what the symbol "S/8" represents, but the records are transcriptions of the original recordings." All that means is that hard-core Caruso collectors aren't going to want your record, but who cares - just enjoy it.

If it's two-sided, it's either a reissue or a record that was not released until after Caruso's death. If it's an early enough reissue, though, it could be pressed from the original stampers, which is what Caruso collectors value. If you'll post the titles, record #, and matrix #'s, I'll look up your record - I've got both John Bolig's discography of Caruso and the Favia-Artsay Caruso on Records book.

I have recently gone off the deep end and gotten into 78s, motivated by winning an Ebay auction of the never-reissued Collectors Item disc by Boyce Brown/Wild Bill Davidson. That one hasn't arrived yet, so I can't report. But I just got a "new" 40-year-old Miracord turntable and a 78 cartridge, and I've been having a blast with a box of 78s I hadn't heard in over ten years. The most recent spins: Paul Bley - Autumn Breeze/Drum One on Emarcy. Could this be his only 78? Kenny Clarke - Klook Returns on Dee Gee. Bebop sounds pretty cool at 78 RPM. Marvin Johnson - That's My Baby (parts 1 &2) on G & G. An altoist who played with Louis' big band in the early 30s. A silly double-entendre blues with some really nice alto solos - kind of like Benny Carter. Two 1922 red-label Okehs by Sara Martin, one of which has young Thomas Waller at the piano. I'll continue working my way through the stack this weekend.

I'm having scanner problems right now, or I'd show you. The stereo side (which, by the way, doesn't say "stereo" anywhere on the label, but is) is the same blue label as in the Ebay photo JSngry posted. The mono side is white with red lettering and is almost exactly like the label on the Dylan covers site, but mine reads "not for resale" to the left of the "45 RPM" box and the Columbia eye. I still think that it's interesting that every picture anyone has come up with is of a promo copy, including the blue label on Ebay - it's hard to read in the picture, but it definitely has the same "not for resale" and "radio station copy" as mine. Thanks to everyone for your input and research. Before now I had never seen or heard of another copy of this record, or come across anyone else who had heard of it.

Thank you. Yeah, my copy, which I found used about five years ago, looks mint, but is pretty noisy. Too bad, given the dynamic range Scianni and Izenzon use.