jeffcrom

A stack of Benny Carter, on Decca, Bluebird, Capitol, Deluxe, and Manor. I particularly enjoyed Carter's imaginative solo on "There, I've Said It Again" on Bluebird; the side is mostly a vocal feature for Roy Felton, and I probably never would have heard it had I not found the 78 at an estate sale. The Manor disc (All Alone and Daddy Daddy, from 1945) is billed as Savannah Churchill and Her All Star Orchestra, and of course feature Ms. Churchill, who was Carter's regular female vocalist during this period. The labels helpfully identify "Trombone Solo by Jay Jay" on "Daddy Daddy" and "Tenor Sax Solo by Don Byas" on the flip.

Paul Barbarin - New Orleans Jamboree (Jazztone). An excellent New Orleans band featuring two miinor heroes of mine, Willie Humphrey and Danny Barker.

I just listened to the Everybody's LP, and want to point out that there's another unusual, magnificent tenor solo on the album. On the Andy Kirk Orchestra's aircheck of "Marcheta," Don Byas plays a very harmonically wild swing-to-bop solo that really knocks me out.

Husa - Elegie et Rondeau; Lawrence Gwozdz, alto saxophone; Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic/Kirk Trevor Husa - Music for Prague 1968; Eastman Wind Ensemble/Donald Hunsberger Saddened to learn of the death of Karel Husa, whose music has always affected me strongly. He was good to the saxophone and good to the concert band. I had four or five pieces picked out to listen to, but stopped after Music for Prague 1968, which is just overwhelming.

Messiaen - Quartet for the End of Time; Tashi (RCA Victor)

u Just spent an hour with a relatively neglected (by me) area of my 78 collection: more formal spiritual records, as opposed to gospel. I really enjoyed these records tonight. Pace Jubilee Singers - Stand By Me / Leave It There (Victor, 1928) Sandhills Sixteen - Hush! Hush! Somebody's Calling My Name / Down By the Riverside (Victor, 1927) Sandhills Sixteen - Shine on Me / What Kind o' Robes Do the Angels Wear? (Victor, 1927) Dixie Jubilee Singers - I Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray / Roll, Jordan, Roll (Brunswick, 1924) Tuskegee Institute Singers - Swing Low, Sweet Chariot / Steal Away (Victor, 1916) Tuskegee Institute Singers - The Old Time Religion / Heaven Song & Inchin' Along (Victor, 1916) Morris Brown Quartet - I Can Tell the World About This / Swing Low, Sweet Chariot (Bluebird, 1939). Incidentally, when I met my wife she was teaching at Morris Brown College. Roland Hayes - Steal Away / I Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray (Vocalion, 1922) And not quite the same, but related, and because it's one of my favorite 78s: Blind Willie Johnson - Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning / Lord I Just Can't Keep From Crying (Columbia, 1928)

Anthony Braxton - 9 Compositions (Iridium) 2006 (Firehouse 12). Each time I crack open this box I appreciate the music more. Braxton was created his own sonic world, and his collaborators understand how to navigate it very well.

Artie Shaw - In the Blue Room/In the Cafe Rouge (RCA Victor). I just found a mint copy of this 1961 double album complied from late-30s broadcasts. Sound and performances are excellent. It's fascinating to hear Joe Garland's full arrangement of "In the Mood," which runs over six minutes here. Glenn Miller cut out large chunks to get it to three minutes.

Thanks for posting that.

New Orleans saxophonist Herb Hardesty died Saturday, December 3, 2016 in Las Vegas. He was 91. Hardesty played with Fats Domino off and on for many years, and played on Fats' first single, "The Fat Man," which is one of the two dozen or so recordings on the "maybe" list for first rock and roll record. Hardesty's gutsy but sophisticated R & B solos can by heard on Fats' "All By Myself," "Ain't It a Shame," "Poor Me," and "I'm Walkin'," in addition to Lloyd Price's "Lawdy Miss Clawdy." RIP, Herb Hardesty. http://www.offbeat.com/news/herb-hardesty-longtime-fats-domino-saxophonist-dies/

Son House - The Real Delta Blues (Blue Goose). Maybe the Son House I would take to a desert island. Or maybe not - that's a tough choice. But this version of "Pony Blues" is one for the ages.

Eddie Costa / Vinnie Burke Trio (Josie). 1962 reissue of the Jubilee album. Jesper Thilo / Clark Terry Quintet - Tribute to Frog (Storyville). Luckily, there's no overt imitation here, just a program of tunes (mostly) associated with Ben Webster. Terry is in excellent form. On a personal note, I'll always cherish the evening I spent in a little club in Copenhagen, listening to Thilo with just a handful of other patrons.

I've always liked that one. If I understand the Emanem website correctly, this has been mostly, but not completely, reissued on CD, making the vinyl indispensable.

Sidney Bechet with Sammy Price Blusicians - - In Paris (Brunswick)

Sunny Murray - Hommage to Africa (BYG Actuel) Joe Albany - Proto-Bopper (Revelation)

Louis Armstrong - Disney Songs the Satchmo Way (Buena Vista). This 1968 offering is as corny as you might imagine, but it has Armstrong's last great trumpet solos (on "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" and "Chim Chim Cheree"), and his vocal on "When You Wish Upon a Star" is just gorgeous.

Archie Shepp - Coral Rock (Prestige)

Luis Russell and his Louisiana Swing Orchestra (Columbia).. Enjoying the pre-Red Allen tracks more than I ever have before - although the band became a real force of nature when Allen and Pops Foster joined.

Birdland Stars - On Tour Vol. 1 (RCA Victor). Recorded after the tour, with annoying fake applause. Some nice blowing, though. Pee Wee Russell Plays (Dot stereo). Pee Wee's originals, with Buck Clayton, Vic Dickenson, and Bud Freeman sharing the front line. I really love this album.

Wardell Gray - Way Out Wardell (Crown). .The next edition, with an identical cover except for the logo in the corner. In any case, Wardell plays gorgeously.

One Night Stand with Duke Ellington: At the Steel Pier, Atlantic City, N.J., July, 1964 (Joyce). I've had this album for at least ten years, but I hardly ever play it, because it was mastered from horribly sped-up tapes. Tonight I thought, "Oh yeah, I've got a variable-speed turntable now." I'm a little slow on the uptake sometimes, and hadn't thought to play this LP since I got this turntable. Since I know what key Ellington played many of these tunes in, I slowed down the table to the right speed for the record, and am now hearing these performances correctly for the first time. There are half a dozen tunes from the then-brand-new Ellington '65 album, and about as many Ellington standards. The taped-off-the-radio sound is not great, but this is a nice, spirited performance.

Round About Close to Midnight: The Jazz Writings of Boris Vian (Quartet Books, 1988). As a jazz critic, Vian was one of those interesting, exasperating, occasionally very insightful writers - like Philip Larkin, in a way, although Vian was a modern jazz advocate, not a moldy fig like Larkin. The Shavers essay does a good job describing the recordings, but keeps branching off into Vian's speculations about Shavers' personality and character, based on the music. I found this entertaining, but I suspect many folks would find it annoying.

Just spent an enjoyable half hour listen to some records featuring Charlie Shavers and reading Boris Vian's 1953 essay on Shavers which discusses these very sides. Herbie Haymer - Laguna Leap / Black Market Stuff (Monarch) Herbie Haymer - Swinging on Central / I'll Never Be the Same (Monarch) Charlie Shavers - Serenade to a Pair of Nylons / Broadjump (Vogue) Charlie Shavers - If I Had You / Musicomania (Vogue) Charlie Shavers - She's Funny That Way / Dizzy's Dilemma (Vogue) The Haymer sides were issued on some other label as well - Sunset, maybe? They have some nice Nat Cole piano. The Vogues are all picture discs, and have Buddy DeFranco on clarinet.

These were the exact three names that came into my mind next after Hilton Jefferson. Johnny Coles got his feature on "How High the Moon" most nights, and Priester got a solo in The New Orleans Suite, but not much else for either of them. Hardwick - I dunno; after thinking about it, I suspect he was okay with his role: lead alto when Duke wanted that particular sound, and an occasional pretty melody.

At Eyedrum in Atlanta tonight I experienced one of the best sets of improvised music I've ever heard. Makoto Kawabata (guitar) and Tatsuya Nakatani (percussion) played a long improvisation in which every detail seemed perfect, and which showed communication at a deep level throughout. The Atlanta art-rock collective Faun and a Pan Flute, which seems to vary between eight to ten musicians, opened with a beautiful set as well - apparently mostly or totally composed. They've really grown musically over the past few years.