jeffcrom

The California Ramblers Adrian Rollini Josef Škvorecký

The Jimmy Giuffre 3 from disc four, programmed in the original order. This set has meant a lot to me since it was issued. Tonight it's my farewell to Jim Hall.

RIP, and thanks for the great music.

The last opera I saw, about six months ago, was John Adams' A Flowering Tree, produced with minimal staging by the Atlanta Symphony. The libretto is based on an Indian folk tale about a young woman who could turn into a tree. The onstage transformation was done with a projection on a large screen while the soprano stood absolutely still at the front of the stage; it was striking.

Kid Thomas Valentine - Jazz, Gospel & Blues (Smoky Mary). A 1973 album with the great Willie Humphrey on clarinet. Willie was a few weeks shy of his 73rd birthday, and plays like a kid.

Happy Birthday!

Jimmy Owens/Kenny Barron Quintet - You Had Better Listen (Atlantic mono)

I don't know how many folks here are familiar with the Atlanta avant-rocker Col. Bruce Hampton, of the Hampton Grease Band, the Late Bronze Age, and the Aquarium Rescue Unit (maybe his greatest band). I just heard two long sets with his new band, the Madrid Express, and it was pretty amazing. It reminded me of what someone said about the Kansas City jam sessions of the 1930s: "The material is immaterial." Every tune, whether a Hampton original or a James Brown/Meters/Bobby Bland/Skip James cover, was a vehicle to lead the band into some strange and wonderful improvisatory areas.

This thread/concept confuses me. I would like to point out, however, that you can sing the lyrics of the "Green Acres" theme to the tune of the Beatles' "A Day In the Life." Try it. If you're too much younger than me, or not familiar with U.S. television from the 1960s, you probably don't have any idea what I'm talking about. But those who understand will be amazed.

Jack Wilson Plays Brazilian Mancini (Vault). I came across this while my wife and I were wandering through a flea market this evening. I had never heard of it, and thought that it could be pretty good or really bad. It's pretty good, in my opinion, in spite of the somewhat contrived concept. Roy Ayers and Wilson are supported by a Brazilian rhythm section, with no less than Jobim himself on guitar.

Bobby Hutcherson - Patterns (BN rainbow)

Ray Nance - Body and Soul (Solid State). Ray playing violin only; Brew Moore is on a few tracks. It had been so long since I pulling this off the shelf I couldn't really remember what it was like - it's fair to middling.

That's a good one.

Abdullah Ibrahim - Mindif (Enja)

Okay, let's get back to something important. Each U.S. state is divided into counties (expect Louisiana, which is divided into parishes). I expect every European member of this board to name all 159 counties in Georgia. To help you get started, the county in red is DeKalb County, where I live. Seriously, the fact that Georgia has 159 counties is kind of ridiculous. We rank 21st in terms of size in the U.S., but we have the second highest number of counties, after Texas. I've heard heard various explanations for this, from the idea that a trip to each county seat and back home again was to be possible in one day by horse-drawn wagon from anywhere in the county, to simple political corruption - state legislators were bribed to form more counties so more local hacks could run things. We have a Cherokee County, named after the people we drove off the land, a Jeff Davis County, named after the president of the Confederacy (who tried to escape arrest by Union forces by wearing a dress and bonnet), a Lincoln County (which seems strange given that we have a Jeff Davis County), and a Taliaferro County, which is pronounced "Tolliver." The town of Decatur is not in Decatur County, and Forsyth is not in Forsyth County. During the Great Depression, Fulton County, which contains most of the city Atlanta, annexed Campbell County to the south and Milton County to the north to save them from bankruptcy. Now the northern part of Fulton County is a wealthy, conservative area whose residents resent their tax money going to help the economically challenged residents of south Fulton County, so they are campaigning to secede from Fulton and reform Milton County. In Georgia, memory is long, but when convenient, memory is short. And all the Europeans are off the hook - I can't name all 159 Georgia counties, and I doubt that more than a handful of Georgians would be able to do so. While looking at the list of our counties, I even saw one I was totally unaware of until tonight - Schley County.

The three words that first came to my mind.

Thanks, Chuck - figured you would know.

Count Basie - Kansas City Suite (Forum stereo). My battered copy, which I acquired used when I was a high school senior, is like an old friend. Not sure why mine is on the Forum label rather than Roulette.

Kenny Barron - 1+1+1 (Blackhawk)

The Legendary Buster Smith (Atlanic mono). A beautiful black-label copy I picked up about 20 years ago. Couldn't find a picture of the mono cover online.

Miles Davis Quintet - Newport 1967 (Concert Vault). A hair-raisingly good performance.

The California Ramblers - 1925 - 1927: Volume One (The Old Masters). I've got lots of California Ramblers on 78, but this collection doesn't duplicate any of my shellac. This is a good one - hot music on cool green vinyl with "naturalistic," leave-the-surface-noise-in mastering. No discographical info, but I keep a typed sheet inside with all the particulars, courtesy of Rust and Lord.

I believe so, but I'm not sure if he produced all of the "heavy" jazz sessions. The ones I have are: Bill Barron & Ted Curson - Now Hear This (AF) Bill Barron - West Side Story Bossa Nova (Dauntless) Walt Dickerson - Jazz Impressions of Lawrence of Arabia (Dauntless) Walt Dickerson - Unity (AF) Elmo Hope - Sounds from Riker's Island (AF) There's an attractive looking Prince Lasha session with the Bossa Tres that I've never actually owned. For what it's worth, my mono copy of Jazz Impressions of LoA is on MGM. Sure you're not thinking of Impressions of a Patch of Blue? Lawrence of Arabia also came out as Vibes in Motion on Audio Fidelity. Uh, yeah - that's exactly what I was thinking of. But put "thinking" in ironic quotes. I've had so many mental lapses today - it's really pathetic.

Monk - Complete Blue Note Recordings; disc 4, the Five Spot set with Coltrane. Kinda amazing.

After posting my negative comments about #13, I started worrying about who I may have insulted. I feel a little better now. Many thanks for a great BFT.