mikeweil

Courntey's website features a fine online introduction - highly recommended! The second LP of Shakti, A Handful of Beauty, opens with Zakir Hussain and Vikku Vinayakaram doing a short exchange of bols.

Each of the bols corresponds to a specific stroke on the drum heads, either on one head, left or right, or both combined. There are sixteen basic strokes, and the combinations, analogous to snare drum rudiments or melodic practice patterns, go into the thousands. The term tal (pronounced tala in English with a very short closed "a" on the last syllable) describes the basic beat/accent structure in a rhyhmic cycle, which is heavily ornamented and embellished. There are lots of preconceived embellishments varying according to regional and personal styles. Many are composed and presented vocally by singing the bols before playing them on the drum. But beyong that, the bols and tala are learned by any musicians as well as singers and dancers as a rhythmic training - the level is much higher here than in any western training method I know of. I happen to work on a review of a newly published book on tabla playing which serves a fine introduction even if you are not playing the specific instrument - the Indian way of structuring and counting time is superb. David Courtney, Learning the Tabla

Another favourite Haynes sideman date of mine is Introducing Nat Adderley, which is currently available in Verve's LPR series. He is well featured throughout and gives plenty lessons in creative modern bop drumming. Excellent stuff!

Gégé Telesforo from Italy, whom I featured on disc 1 of my recent BT, improvises his own vocalized drum solos, I have a live record where he even does exchanges with his drummer. That's about as close as it will get. Jim, do it yourself - you don't need perfect vocal pitch for doing this! But, Indian hand drummers do this in a way - singing their solos by using the mnemonic syllables used for encoding the drum patterns, and then play it on the instruement. But in jazz? Not to my knowledge, and, being a big vocalese nut, and a percussionist, I think I would have noticed.

I second that recommendation - I had a 2 CD Columbia Compliation with all the master takes, but the 1997 CD has a few alternates, other bonus material, and better sound and annotation.

... and the Muddy Waters London Sessions and the like. In retrospect, an unsucessful attempt at reconquering the market they had lost to the British invasion?

Atlantic's producers had a lot of similar ideas in those years - remember Herbie Mann played with Reggae groups, the Muscle Shoals rhythm team a.m.o. - Robin Kenyatta with Reggae, Yusef Lateef and Rahsaan Roland Kirk with soul musicians ..... ? They probably got together in the studio unprepared and did just that - jam.

Monday it was: Stanley Turrentine & Shirley Scott, Never let me go Kenny Clarke 1948-1950 Cannonball Adderley, Fiddler on the roof Donald Harrison, Free Style Today the mailgirl brought: Paul Bley, Synth Thesis Reggie Workman, Summit Conference

Some of the covers were posted in the sexiest album covers thread .....

With so many good thoughts on your side it has to get better! I will keep my fingers crossed for you!

Eddie was bad enough to give a good performance regardless of context - but the backup bands .....

Judging from your (avatar) background, Jim - square and white - I guess you know what you're talking about ......

There is, of course, Humes' Aladdin session with Prez: December 22, 1945, Los Angeles, studio session Helen Humes vocal, Willie Smith altosax, Maxwell Davis & Lester Young tenor sax, Jimmy Bunn piano, Dave Barbour guitar, Junior Rudd bass, Henry Tucker drums. 126B Riffin' Without Helen (Humes out) 122B-2 Please Let me Forget 125A-2 He Don't Love Me Anymore 125B-3 Pleasing Man Blues 127A-2 See See Rider 126A-3 It's Better To Give Than Receive Complete session on Blue Note CD The Complete Aladdin Recordings of Lester Young CDP 7243 8 32787 2 5 Two of Humes' Mercury sessions include Buck Clayton.

Do they allow programming your CDs from different sources or rearranging the tracks, or do they make only 1 to 1 copies?

Really a nice website you have! ..... and I see you finally managed to get your chicken to act as an avatar

Remember I gave it a listen in a shop when it was first released, and thought it was the dullest Eddie Harris album I had ever heard. Didn't give it another try. I dunno ... the grooves were too weak.

This is one for me to get! I'm a big fan of Keeezer, who had an ongoing inspired musical relationship with Steve Nelson early in his career, and now with Joe Locke - Keezer works extremely well with vibists.

The US Prestige Coltrane box says: Sound IS pretty good to these ears, too.

German mail order shop JPC has some of them at reduced price (EUR 9.99 for single, EUR 16.99 for double CDs) for a limited time, among them the Farmer, Hutcherson, Chambers, Coltrane etc. Go to the English section, jazz part, type lonehill into the search box and you have them all.

Couldn't find any - seems to be too new. Release date was November 8.

Here's an excerpt from an inteview with guitarist Paul Weeden, who played on the session (he founded the trio with Don Patterson and Billy James):

Of the four sides recorded at the 1954 Charlie Singleton session for Sunset, only one title was issued as a single - Freddie Redd and Jimmy Cobb were in that band. Michael Frohne's recent Freddie Redd disco does not show any reissues. The four Paul Williams sides from 1952 originally on Norgran were reissued on a Swedish LP Saxophonograph BP-500. (Richie Powell and Sam Jones were in that band - the wealth of great jazzmen doing time in R&B bands in the 1940's and 1950's remains amazing.) The Gatemouth Brown 1956 Peacock sides should be available - I heard two of them many years ago but don't remember any trumpet solos - would have been unusual for a blues side at the time.

The Al Grey was reissued on US and Japanese LP, but may be hard to find. Those Al Grey Argo/Cadet LPs would make a verrrrry nice Mosaic .....

The Collectables guys bothered to put Vibrations on CD together with The Ballad Artistry of Milt Jackson - I should have bought it for Boozier alone. The Ballad album is with strings arranged by Quincy Jones, but very well done. It can be ordered from oldies.com for $ 12.97 plus shipping. There may be a lot of trumpet players technically more assured, but he had a beautiful, round, fat tone in the Freddie Webster tradition, especially in the lower range. I doubt that he solos on the R&B sessions he is on.

Glad you liked that one, Mike! Next I will get me the three CDs Beirach made with Mraz and Hübner for the German Act label ... very interesting, their takes on Bartok and Mompou. Maybe I will have the chance to play with a similar trio next year.