mikeweil

Indeed BS. The authors of such articles lack and envy the creativity of others. Schumann's disease cannot be completely cleared, but any symptoms similar to those of bipolar disease (which is simply a diagnostic hattrick, IMHO) were probably caused by late stages of a syphillitic infection. The author probably cannot read German, or he would have consulted the voluminous work on Schumann's late years published on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of his death.

I loved that 3-saxes front line on Focal Point a lot - Joe Ford was on that one, too. He's great - very underrated, IMO. He can be heard to great advantage on Andy McCloud's 2000 session on Mapleshade, " Blues For Bighead". Blues For Bighead

Amazon.de has a publication date of October 26 - that is tomorrow! I will ask my old friend at Saturn in Frankfurt first for his price ...

Threads are organized in solfeggio order, I reckon?

Sounds interesting, but I would have liked Rhino to give Aretha a more "complete" treatment, like the Ray Charles box, maybe just the studio recordings. And why was the Fillmore box so limited?

I once heard that Jack McDuff locked a pressed key with a match to go to the bar and have a beer while the band played on ...

I have both the solo and group boxes - after reading somewhere that they partly used the faked stereo tapes I listened to some on headphones, but it all sounds like mono to me - the liner notes also say that mono master tapes were used.

Sorry to be so late, but my energy is at a rather low level at the time - the many months of too much work exhausted me, and too much work lying around, dragging me in many different directions. Right now I'm slow at getting things done, but I certainly enjoyed listening - your discs are always among the most interesting, IMO, not only because they feature music I might not listen to otherwise. Track 1: "Five Cents a page" - so that's what some fathers pay their sons to get them to readin' ..... I hope they got more than 5 cents a second for the recording. Very nice - I like humorous vocal stuff like that, with oral rhythms and all. They play nice on their instruments, too - is the violin a little flat, or is it my ears? He has a light way of phrasing that I like a lot. No idea who this is, but this will surely apply to all tracks here. Exceptions will be noted ... Track 2: Is it just my limited knowledge of the jazz scene, or do guitarists play rather seldom in free or semi-free contexts? Perhaps it is because they cannot rely on running the changes in that style. The guitarist here reminds me a bit of Jim Hall, and one or two other more recent guys which I cannot recall right now. I wish the bass and drums would have taken a somewhat calmer approach and left more open spaces, instead of just propelling the piece with their rather dense playing, and engage in a more dialogue-type interaction, although it certainly works the way they play here. Some unison passages would have given it a little more structure. I like the guitarist best. Track 3: Monk's "Green Chimneys" played over a bell-propelled Nawleens type 7/8 groove. I like this kind of approach, and that they pace themselves without playing that groove to death. Pianist has digested his Herbie Hancock. Track 4: That very personal, almost strange sound, makes it hard for me to identify the opening instrument. Oh - inside the piano. That explains the wobbly vibrato - no other way to do that on piano strings. Or was that the acoustic guitar? Nice how close the sounds are that way. They use the plucking sounds as a starting point for their improvisation rather than relying on standard phrasings and techniques. I thoroughly enjoyed that track! Track 5: Nice jumpy, edgy tune, and again I like that they know how to pace themselves. I think staying in some identifiable groove is the key to make contemporary jazz more interesting. They pass the test for me. Track 6: Why is this faded in? Would have liked to hear how they actually started to play. I like the trombonist the best here - he paces himself well during the free part, and knows how to navigate within that free funky groove later on (that's the part I dig the most here). Saxist is a little busy and not too original, IMO. The groove part would have been enough for me, with a shorter intro. Track 7: Nice neo-boppish track, like the trumpeter very much! Track 8: Solo violin ..... can't say much about this except that it didn't scratch on my nerves, which means a lot with my ears and bowed instruments! Track 9: Ooohh .... I love slow tunes like this - faintly Mingusian, very much in the jazz tradition, nice colours (like the bass clarinet together with the horns. Is that Julian Priester on trombone? If not, someone who has listened to him. (The bones on this BFT are some of the nicest I have heard in a while!) Very nice writing behind the solo, and great comping with a lot of restrained (in the positive sense) feeling! No this not Priester! If free form big band goes like this, I'm for it! Nice clarinet, too! Great track! Track 10: Okay, something to alert my senses - at first I thought I would have liked it better with the horns, but what they do makes sense. But it's not my cup of tea. Track 11: Very nice 'n' sentimental closer - 'nother nice 'bone 'n' 'nother violin - short 'n' sweet. Thank you so much, Nate, for another highly interesting collection - great choices and sequencing! Long live the Organissimo Blindfold Test!

I think it sucks that they offer this without having a secure deal with whatever supplier/distributor they get this from.

If being gifted with so much talent results in this type of ego and behaviour, I rather stay a less talented musician. During my concerts with Mikail Aslan in Turkey I have seen more mobile phones flashing and filming than Jarrett will see in the remainder of his life, and to do other than ignore them would be musical suicide. I'm glad I can ignore them - of course it's a different case with solo performances, but if you are distracted that easily you should realize you're not yet really inside the music. If you are inside, you know the audience is there and feel it but don't notice any details. You gotta concentrate. The reviewer in Der Spiegel noted that even an artist like Jarrett has his limits, artistically. He has done what he can do. I don't expect anything new from him and find he's kind of repeating himself now for many years. I have the impression that he didn't really learn the lesson from his fatigue syndrome. That he treats his audience with so much disrespect is not acceptable! Vote with your feet!

These were rather common on the streets here when I was a boy. There were many different models of small cars, one of them being the Goggomobil (what a priceless name!). One of our school teachers, a rather weighty lady, drove one of these, and we always figured if she might use a shoehorn to get inside ...

... and what did it sound like that was coming out of the Leslie?

http://www.concordmusicgroup.com/genres/re.../jazz/upcoming/

A sturdy cardboard box - you can add a second layer for better protection, if the box is large enough. Edge protection is another sensible idea.

There's a very nice rendition of the Badinerie from the b minor suite by the Bulgarian Jazz Quartet Focus '65 with Milcho Leviev and Simeon Shterev - I intended to make a needle drop of this one later this week, anyway, and will send you a copy. Your friend is aware of the Klazz Brothers?

First I'd buy some towels to wipe off the sweat. Second I'd call the police to escort me to their post with all that money and try to get a good reward for finding and returning it. With local money washing laws, no chance to turn in such a sum without being noticed. Did any of you consider the bills' numbers being noted somewhere? Am I being too pragmatic?

This looks like being the latest (from 1979) reissue, on vinyl: Can't trace a CD appearance! I have the German pressing of this Savoy Jazz LP reissue, and it sounds like a needle drop to me. I cannot imagine the Japanese overlooked this gem of a solo piano record - I'm afraid there's a problem with the master/session tapes - damaged or lost.

To tell the truth, I'd be delighted if labels would offer to sell their deleted titles as CDR on demand! But I also think it should be clearly noted!

Happy B-Day: Yours is a BIG day!

A tip o' the hat and thanks for the story!

There's a positive review in the latest Jazz Times issue.

Anyone attempting a Hank Jones discography must be plain crazy!

I'll post some later this week - promised!

As every other label they have recordings that are splendid and others that are superfluous. They showed the majors that it can be done without asking for the big bucks. Meanwhile some of the most renowned players are with Naxos, like cellist Maria Kliegel - she told in an interview that several of the colleagues didn't think highly of her when she signed, but now they see why: she sells more CDs than them all.