mikeweil

I e-mailed him earlier today. In case he does not react, I could step up any time.

Same here. Jack's not relying on rudimental patterns as much as the drummer here.

I hear Ya! Or let one soloist play a number with only bass, or drums, or bass and drums. Not everybody has to play every tune!

I find it impossible to seprate the position in the solo order from the person etc. It's all closely intertwined. Changing solo order in a creative way can change the whole piece drastically. I remember playing Monk's "Straight No Chaser" in a quartet with vocals, piano, bass and percussion, and with the usual solo order: vocals, piano, bass, and fours with the percussion, nothing happened. I then suggested to change the order as follows: theme - fours of vocals and piano with percussion - bass - vocals - piano - theme, and we always played the hell out of that tune, and the bassist delivered some of his most exciting solos!

I have to disagree here. If you want the Jamal trio with a drummer, go for the subsequent edition with Israel Crosby and Vernel Fournier. But one of the many unique aspect of the early Jamal trio with Ray Crawford was their interplay, avoiding the danger of clashes between guitar and piano by defining the respective roles of both instruments under rhythmic aspects just as much as harmonic conception. Jamal, as lean as his piano style was opposed to e.g. Tatum, who led a piano/guitar/bass trio after Jamal's and Nat King Cole's success, had a lot more freedom when Crawford played rhythm in a percussive way - Jamal did the same for him in a similar fashion - and a drummer would have filled up all the space left open by this role definition. The use of space was perhaps the most startling aspect of that trio - Miles admired it, and noticed how much Crawford would swing the trio with his percussion effects, and encouraged Philly Joe Jones to use the same accents. If I'm correct, Crawford may have introduced these bongo patterns on the guitar - Herb Ellis picked that up while with the Oscar Peterson trio. But Crawford does it in a very precise fashion, using different sounds fitting with the changes, and using variations he picked up from Cuban bongoceros, whereas the others stuck to the basic pattern. Ray Crawford is a very underrated guitarist, IMHO.

There were two long OOP CDs on French CBS covering all the Epic/Okeh titles. Only half of this was on a US CD. Shall I include them in my next shipment? Shrdlu informed me these CBS CDs used second generation master tapes (with some reverb added?), but except for 8 tracks in the Mosaic Jazz Piano Masters box and the US CD I mentioned, this was the only way to get these so far.

I have Paris without regret by Ursula Broschke Davis (Nathan Davis' wife?), which throughs the spoltlight on the Paris exile of James Baldwin, Kenny Clarke, Chester Himes, and Donald Byrd. Interesting reading. (University of Iowa Press, 1986)

Received today from an ebay auction:

Have another French cognac!

Drummer Victor Lewis' career strongly supports this: He did sessions with David Sanborn, Carla Bley, Steve Swallow a.o. where he played downright funky or rockish and even contibuted tunes (7th Avenue on the first Sanborn) that the Woody Shaw quintet would have played just as convincingly.

I have the Rivers and Young Mosaics. I have the Wilson on Japanese LP and all the Silvers on US LP - might get me the latter, anyway. Will get the Hill for sure.

Too bad they didn't add the four sides Jamal recorded for Parrot 78's, with Ray Crawford and Richard Davis, immediately before the LP. Must be the rarest Jamal ever!

Finally got me a copy of Giorgio Gaslini's Lampi, an excellent disc!

Received today from Cadence: Chuck Israels National Jazz Ensemble (Chiaroscuro) Giorgio Gaslini Quartet, Lampi (Soul Note) Jeff Palmer & George Garzone, Opposite Voltage (MAC) Looking forward to a delivery from the bastards: Moacir Santos, Coisas dtto. (his latest, forgot the title)

I love that box, too, and prefer to have the live recordings in that much more concise form.

Can't say that I'm 100% overwhelmed, as several of these have seen CD reissue, or vinyl copies aren't hard to find. Just my thoughts. Too much of a mixed bag for my taste, and the ones I really wanted to have - the Burrell and Jacquet - are out on CD in excellent sound.

BTW, the Shaw band I saw live had René McLean, Onaje Allan Gumbs, Stafford James and Victor Lewis. Could well be the band Tom offers us on track 6.

Sounds rather like Victor Lewis on drums to me. Lewis was in the band that recorded the tune Teotihuacan for Columbia. This is not Billy Hart's solo style.

For your info, my friends, let me introduce our newest member in Blindfold Test circles, Mr. Bassman, my dear friend, to whom I passed the two extra discs Tom sent me, with his consent. Welcome to the board! As you might have guessed we frequently blindfold each other at home ...

I understand your being skeptical, Jim, but I remember Han Bennink playing with all kinds of people that must be considered mainstream compared to what he did later - there were some interviews I do not have the time to dig out. Daniel Humair comes to mind as well, but was he that daring at that time? And, BTW I remember Humair saying he played with probably everybody except Rollins and Miles, so he's out of the game. I hear the drummer drum on some massive wood like a floor or furniture, and that was something Bennink more or less introduced. Andrew Cyrille or someone of this caliber, moved in different circles. Dawson? Unlikely, does not sound like him to me. I stick with my Bennink guess. Thanks for the compliment, BTW .... Will send you a PM regarding some item on disc 1.

Here are my guesses for disc 2, notes taken during the very first listen to this disc, and of course without peeking at others' guesses. 1. Private live recording, of probably 1970's vintage. No idea. The sound of that trumpet gets a little painful although I see he wants that sound by inserting the mic into the bell of the horn. I may have heard similar bands back then, but can't quite recall whom - somewhat in between electric Miles and advanced hard bop. 2. The opening phrase sounds like Bird, but the theme and the solo give it away instantly, who this is, everybody here should know this famous tune by an even more famous tenor. Probably made during one of his European tours - I dare say Han Bennink on drums, as he is the only one I recall to have that much daring and imagination and still the groove and guts to play in such a context. Wild ideas - too bad there is a fadeout, but he probably went on for days ... 3. Straight No Chaser by what sounds like an impromptu festival group. Bass guitar sounds a little annoying, though he plays very nicely. Bobby Hutcherson? The doorbells have that California vibe. No idea who the pianist is; guitarist sounds familiar and like he was the leader. 4. Bye Bye Blackbird. HAFC, but I like the "cool" sound of the alto cat, and he seems to know a lot of music - I especially like the "When Lights Are Low" quote. I must admit I enjoy such lengthy performances more at the club than on a CD. But this is a very interesting player. Oh - Bye Bye Naima! I just wish some people in the back room would shut up and listen! 5. It's nice the drummer starts out with these bells and icebell cymbals, but for my taste he relies a little too much on typical drum technical phrases as he moves to the toms and snare. Ah - "One Finger Snap". Now is this Herbie? Sounds a little less daring harmonically than what I am used to hear from him, but there are so many trademark licks and turns, it must be him. Bassist sounds like a croosing between Ron Carter and Dave Holland, so I'd say Buster Williams. But no, the solo is too cleanish for Buster - Pattitucci? Gene Jackson on drums? Or this younger guy Willie Jones III he used on a recent tour? I'd rather say Jackson. Not Brian Blade. p.s. Turns out I have a 1990 New York live recording of this tune with Jackson and some Jeff Rother on bass, but this is different. Tom, can we arrange a trade? 6. Woody Shaw? The vibe sounds what I remember from seeing this band live back then. Great and technically excellent trumpet playing. Victor Lewis on drums? Ah - the tune title at the end - a piece recorded for his last Columbia LP but unissued until the Mosaic. Like this much better than the studio stuff. Great idea - only live tracks on disc 2, and mostly unofficial, it seems - but the theme must be somewhat beyond that. Thanks a lot for the care you took in selecting these, Tom!

Will give this a try as soon as it is out here.

The Carmen McRae with the CBBB, BTW, is a real gem. One of the high points in the singer's discography, IMHO, and much better than the LP recorded with Gitte, which partly uses the same arrangements. I saw a video of the CBBB with Carmen and Dizzy one time - this should be on DVD!

AFAIK the material on the Muse LP (I have the Happy Bird issue, which seems to be a bootleg) is different from other versions of the same tunes. Gigi Campi made all kinds of deals ... I will check some of them tomorrow.

Oh boy - where's the next rabbit hole to hide .... at least I was right about the Tristano lineage. Here goes my rule # 1 item! I should get me some sleep!