jeffcrom

I don't think AH issued any, but several labels experimented with 3-inch "EP" CDs. I've got half a dozen: one by Louis Armstrong and two by Bo Diddley on MCA, Joe Williams and the Timeless Allstars on Delos, and one by the great rock/fusion band the Dixie Dregs. The Dregs CD was a limited edition promo produced by Ensoniq keyboards to promote their new (1988) keyboards. It includes a five-inch adapter, but check your CD player - it might just have a three-inch "slot" in the CD tray.

I switched to plastic sleeves a couple of years ago, and it's worked out well, except for one thing - it's hell when you misfile something. It's happened a couple of times, but I've always been able to find my mistakes eventually.

The Persuasions - We Came to Play (Capitol)

Well, yeah. But I've got this 78 on the Tops label. Tops' deal was to issue two full tunes on a side. In the 40s they spaced the grooves of their 78s tightly (I now play them with a microgroove stylus), and in the 50s put out both 78s and 45s. In the 50s they seemed to specialize in "no name" artists covering early rock and roll hits, but in the 40s some of their 78s were drawn from the Black & White catalog. So I've got a couple of those Black & White-derived Tops 78s. Tops R 1005 is pretty great; it has tracks by Sammy Franklin and His Atomics, the "modern" big bands of Gerald Wilson and Wilbert Baranco, and "Mad Boogie" by Jack McVea, from 1946. The tough boogie piano on the McVea track is by Call Cobbs. So I dont "know" Call Cobbs better than anyone else, but I love hearing this early recording by the guy who played "Zion Hill" with Albert Ayler. He also recorded in the 50s with Johnny Hodges, as you probably know. The Wilbert Baranco track has solos by Vic Dickenson and Lucky Thompson. But the very interesting Baranco band is a topic for another thread, I guess.

Ran Blake - Rapport (Arista/Novus)

Ran Blake - Crystal Trip (Horo)

Been listening to a good many Mosaics lately - Cecil Taylor Candid, Ellington Capitol, and Mobley in the past few days. Tonight, parts of two Selects: Sam Rivers Rivbea Orchestra. I panicked a little when this went out print without me realizing that it was even running low. But my copy from an Amazon vendor (priced about the same as Mosiac retail) arrived today. After hearing the first disc, I think that this may be my favorite Rivers large ensemble material. Dizzy Reece.

The most on-point sentence in this thread, in my opinion. I think I once said somewhere in these forums that there was a remarkable aspect to Mr. Blake's technique that I never fully appreciated until I heard him live (in a small auditorium at Georgia State University in Atlanta) - he has the most amazing and subtle pedal technique of any pianist I've ever heard.

Thanks, Sidewinder. I'll buy my ticket with confidence. I have CD from a few years back so look forward to hearing this live. Another intriguing one I've just booked into - Evan Christopher at the Marsden Jazz Festival near Huddersfield (about an hour away from me). New Orleans brought to darkest Yorkshire! Evan Christopher is my favorite living jazz clarinetist, and I base that on hearing him live, rather than on his recordings, as good as they are. I hope his performance at the Marsden fest matches what I've been lucky enough to hear from him in New Orleans.

Johnny Young - I Can't Keep My Foot From Jumping (ABC Bluesway)

Fats Waller - "Fats" in London 1938 1939 (French EMI Pathe)

Milford Graves / Don Pullen - Nommo (SRP) McCoy Tyner - Expansions (BN)

Paul Bley - Copenhagen and Haarlem (Arista Freedom) Basil Coetzee - Sabenza (Kijima)

Great to see some mention of Jamil Sharif here. He's an excellent New Orleans trumpeter - son of Umar Sharif, who was born Emery Humphrey Thompson. Emery's mother was the sister of Percy, Willie, and Earl Humphrey. Emery played in Luis Russell's band, and was one of the earliest beboppers in New Orleans. I like Jamil's modern/traditional blend very much.

Fletcher Henderson recorded two sides for Edison in 1923, "Linger Awhile" and "Shake Your Feet." They were conveniently issued on two different records, each backed with a side by (Ernest) Stevens' Trio. "Linger Awhile" was the first Edison I bought, even before my Edison-capable turntable arrived, but I just tracked down a nice copy of "Shake Your Feet." Played them both today, along with a 1919 Edison Lousiana Five - "Be Hap-E" & "Foot Warmer." I'm still learning to EQ Edisons - they respond very differently than "normal" 78s. Edison claimed that his records sounded better than any others of the time, and with proper EQ, he just may have been right. Boosting the mids and cutting the highs more than usual for 78s results in a beautiful, rich acoustic sound. Then, an album on the Hit label which I bought about a month ago - Echoes of Harlem by Cootie Williams. I was very disappointed when it arrived - all four records were extremely warped. They were playable, but the warp on each created an annoying "bump." So I tried the 78 collectors' trick - I put them at the bottom of a large pile of records. Three weeks later, I refiled the records in the stack, and when I got the bottom, the Cootie records were vastly better. A couple are still slightly warped, but it doesn't affect the sound at all. The records sound very good, as does young Bud Powell.

As far as I can tell, yes.

Because of the construction, the Walk of Fame doesn't seem to be there now. Hopefully, they're making the area better, and will bring back the markers. Here's a picture of the studio building from 1963. My iPad doesn't want to let me copy it directly. http://www.tdblues.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/gennettstudio63.jpg

This may not be the right forum for this, but it doesn't seem to quite fit anywhere. So I'm in Oxford, Ohio for family stuff. While preparing for this trip, I noticed that Richmond, Indiana, home of Gennett Records, is only 25 miles from Oxford. So I ditched the relatives yesterday and drove over to see what was left of Gennett. Not much - and they don't make what's there easy to find. What's left is the shell of the Starr Piano factory (and Gennett pressing plant?) in "the gorge" west of downtown. This used to be an industrial/warehouse area, but the Gennett building is the only thing left there. There was construction going on, but the workers let me get close and take some pictures. I was a little confused about what I was looking at until I got back to the hotel and checked some old pictures. Gennett's recording studio was not in this building - that structure no longer exists. But it was cool to visit Richmond and catch a glimpse of the early days of recorded jazz.

Today I posted to my 78 blog for the first time in several months, after listening to two rarities: the promotional discs for the Sweetwind plastic flute endorsed by Woody Herman in 1946. A Google search reveals that these records have been mentioned in these forums once before (not by me), in the "rarest items in your collection" thread. Anyway, here's the link.

Mezz Mezzrow - The Many Faces of Jazz Vol. 10 (Vogue). A loose 1951 French session, which I sought out some years ago due to the presence of New Orleans trumpeter Lee Collins, who is a favorite of mine. Mezz could have improved any session he was part of by leaving the damn clarinet in the case, but Collins sounds very good, as does fellow New Orleanian Zutty Singleton.

Noah Howard - The Black Ark (Bo' Weavil reissue)

George Lewis at Dixieland Hall (Nobility). A later Lewis album, from 1965. Trumpeter Joshua Willis, born 20 years after Lewis, was a really interesting player. He played with both the Young Tuxedo Brass Band and Ray Charles; he was adept at traditional New Orleans style, but he was also bebop-ish and (to my ears) Bobby Hackett-ish.

Elvin Jones - Coalition (BN) Early Liberty pressing with Van Gelder stamps, if that's important. In any case, it sounds better than on eight-track tape (which was the first format in which I had this music). And it's a bad-ass band, with Frank Foster and George Coleman.

Anthony Braxton - For Two Pianos (Arista Freedom). Hadn't spun this one for years; enjoying it tonight.

Art Tatum - Piano Impressions (ARA). A four-record album of excellent piano solos on an obscure label, from 1945.