mikeweil

That album with Stuff Smith is a nice one - the whole band swings their butts off, especially bassist Al McKibbon, who obviously had a great time playing that date. Lou Levy, Shelly Manne, Bob Evelvoldsen - all playing exceptionally well and swinging here. This was on a French CBS CD a few years ago. I doubt there is enough material for a 3-CD Select, just two I think.

WTF does that astrological stuff have to do with anything? I just think his astrological chart mirrors his personality - this way it works out nicely in many cases.

This is the Bill Evans I like the best!!!

Very much agree with you, Jim! There is no mention of Rivers in Michael Fitzgerald's Chronology of Art Blakey. As far as Rivers' tenure with T-Bone Walker is concerned - as a pro you play any kind of gig if you need money. But you expect different things to happen in this band compared to Miles' quintet with its rather open approach. Miles really may have wnated to be the "old man", i.e. leader of the band, and Sam's natural authority and dexterity and his bonds with Tony may have been too much. Furthermore, being a Gemini, there is always a tension between conservative and progressive strains in Miles' music - he wanted to take the music further out, but not as far out as Ornette or Trane or Cecil Taylor. And Rivers and Tony certainly could have done that - Tony wanted to play with Cecil at the time. But he was still so young and perhaps couldn't quite make up his mind. I think Miles was real mad at the loss of Trane, and Shorter was the closest, he had wanted him as early as 1960 when he had just joined the Messengers. But at the same time Shorter stayed inside enough to make it easier for Miles. I always think Shorter observed Trane's path and decided not to follow him, for various reasons.

Finally, my comments to tracks 1-7: Track 1: I like this kind of hoedown, the strings and they way they're used is nice - I appreciate humor in music above all others, and if it is really authentic musical humor I'll accept some flaws - but no flaws here. Would like to hear more of it. The tincans and tambourines are a nice touch. Who is this? Track 2: Some Cecil-ite doing Donna Lee. Interesting, but I probably couldn't take a whole CD of this. But this interests me more than most free style solo pianists I have heard. His witty approach makes it listeneable. Track 3: No idea who it is. Carla Bley's tune "Sing Me Softly Of the Blues". Almost a classical tone on the alto. Is this from a whole CD of Carla's tunes? Something to check. They take the title literally - that's what I always like, when there is some reference to the song title. I dare say it is neither Konitz nor Paul Bley. The cellist uses too wide a vibrato for my taste. It would have worked perfectly without the cello. Still very nice. I'd listen to more of this. Track 4: Saxes only, with bass and drums. Nice writing. They get it across to me. After the ensemble the alto soloist gets a little on my nerves. Would have preferred less alto and more baritone - I think the latter is more consistent in his ideas. Track 5: Starts out making me curious how it will proceed, but what follows is some modern Chick-Corea-esque theme for a jazzy tv commercial with neo-baroque leanings. I probably have heard too much of this kind, so blame it on my listening experiences rather than the level of the playing here, which is good. Still all of the elements here have been used more convincingly, I think. Track 6: Now that could be Konitz, or at least someone who likes him. Konitz' sound is somewhat more fragile. No that's not Konitz. Is that a tenor sax? The pianist plays some phrases that sound he hasn't quite made up his mind - some random chords not totally conceived. Nice idea to take their time before they really play together, but somehow the track as a whole doesn't convince me. Track 7: After some more listening, I'm sure this is Bennie Wallace. I couldn't listen to him all night - well I once did for a whole evening and it was hard to bear as his drummer was so unrestful - but I somehow like his jagged style. I have some tenor battles he organized that are very nice, and his monkisms are always good. Very nice BFT !!!!!

Never was in doubt ...

"Swingmatism" is high on my list as well! Agree on the Prez sides!

Great choice, one of my favourite Keith Jarrett albums! Will give it a listen.

Now that I at last find the time for some more concentrated listening, here are my more elaborate comments on some tracks starting from the piano/bass duo: Track 8: A little too pedestrian for my taste - The walking is pretty simple, not much feeling in it, very conservative, doesn't match his solo ideas. I like to hear more tonal painting on a tune like "Alone Together" - they certainly do not sound like it, but just play the tune and the changes. Track 9: Very nice - an album I would check out for more. No idea who it is, just a feeling I should know. That Dolphy-esque tune sounds familiar. Track 10: NMCOT - and definitely not Gato. This is a Paris suburb I will not pay a return visit. Track 11: Very nice two-handed pianist - don't see how he should be interested in the dull backing of the duo bassist from track 8. Still no clue who it is. Track 12: This has been guessed, and I have it, but listened more to his trio track, one of which I considered for my upcoming BFT. I like this pianist a lot - what has he been doing lately? Track 13: I'm not a fan of this unsettled piano trio style in the Bill Evans wake. I like a tune to be played, not just hinted at. I always have the impression they would improvise just the same stuff on a totally different tune. Track 14. Nice guitar trio, no idea. Would have to hear more to say wether or not I like him. Cool idea to play an ABBA tune - it's the way you play it! He sure does it well! .... oh - it's over so soon? Enjoyed it, whish I had more time for peaceful listening.

I had the Bill Mays CD with ray Drummond, and I'm sure this is not the version. It does not sound like Red Mitchell on bass either, whose sound I know pretty well, so the album king ubu linked is not the one. No clue who it might be ...

For those interested, "All About Rosie" was reissued on CD as part of the Columbia Legacy CD "The Birth of the Third Stream" in 1996.

What I like the best about this is the merging of rhythmic patterns with the abstract contrapuntal lines. This one turned me on to Barry Galbraith and Hal McKusick. I then found George Russell arrangements on albums by Teddy Charles, McKusick and others - this opened up a musical world. Great choice! I have the 1987 RCA Bluebird CD - bought the French CD for a friend years later, compared the sound and found it to be absolutely identical!

Today: Georg Böhm, Complete Suites for Harpsichord, by Mitzi Meyerson (Glossa) Biagio Marini, Allegrezza del Nuovo Maggio, by Emanuela Galli (beautiful soprano, in every respect!) & Ensemble Galilei directed by lutenist Paul Beier ..... as you see, I'm very much into baroque music as well. On Monday: Nicholas Payton, Sonic Trance Cal Tjader, Cuban Fantasy Dave Pike, Manhattan Latin

You're at least the second here to praise this one, and I remember it got bad reviews when it was reissued ..... never trust the critics alone!

Nice to hear you like it! Do you have his first Blue Note, and if so, how do you think they compare?

He was born there and stayed for most of his life. He wrote mostly piano music and songs with piano accompaniment - I haven't any of the latter, but several recordings of his piano music. My favourite version is the OOP by Jean-Joel Barbier on Accord. The cheapest is the well-done by Jordi Masó on Naxos. Aldo Ciccolini did them for EMI, but while I love his Satie, his Séverac is too superficially virtuosic. Another good recording is Billy Eidi's on Pianovox - just reissued on a different label. There are two or three more. His music really breathes the wind and sun of his homeland. Cerdana and En Languedoc are his most famous pieces. For info in French, click here.

You really think they don't have it? Give it a try, and if you don't get a shipping confirmation mail say on Monday, they really don't have it... they won't charge before they ship, I think. If they were as accurate as JPC e.g., they would write: Usually ships in 2-3 days, given it is available from the label. That's what it means. I'll take my time .... and clean the salsa die pomodori from my keyboard Of course they do not charge before they ship. I just cannot make up my mind ...

Thanks for posting the link! Some of the thoughts there tell me I better save half of the price and wait - I'm not that fanatic for the metal spines.

But they don not have in stock, which could mean they have to cancel when they order it from SONY .... but I may give it a try.

In jazz, the opening from "Black Groove", the 2nd track on "Something Special" by Richard Groove Holmes with Les McCann on Pacific Jazz. But the greatest thrill I get from a classical piece: the opening arpeggio in "En Tartane", the first movement of Déodat de Sévérac's solo piano cycle "Cerdana" never fails to send me to heaven. brownie or EKE BBB, have you ever been there? One of my favourite places in the world, Cerdana and Roussillon. The opening from Arthur Honegger's Toccata for solo piano is a close call.

That Rascals set can be purchased from an outside retailer for less than Rhino Handmade prices. VH1.com has it for $81.68 Seems they don't have it any longer. Considering the unbelievable EUR 170 some German mail order shops ask for, if they can get it at all, the 90 $ from Rhino is a bargain, with the exchange rate in our favour. But I just saw they have Taj Mahal's Warner Bros. sessions and ordered that one for starters ....

Noticed this thread only now ..... -_- I LOVE the Rascals' music, had that Greatest Hits on LP and wore the grooves out. Found them to have much more soul groove than other white bands. I seriously consider the Rhino handmade 6 CD set .....

There were two takes on the US 1989 CD, but the intro on the orginally issued take was damaged by tape stretch, so they edited on the intro of the second take.

1) I doubt So Danco Samba will be part of the set, as it has Fischer playing organ and is in a different style. 2) There seems to be enough material on Pacific Jazz for a 3-CD Select without including the Jimmy Rowles Liberty LP, which was a Nocturne session and is available as part of the Fresh Sound Nocturne box set. I had a Japanese Liberty CD which sounded bad with a lot of scratches like it was dubbed from a non-mint LP. - The Freeman/Twardzik is a 67:09 CD, done by Cuscuna in 1989. The two Fischer LPs are between 80 and 90 minutes of music. The other Freeman and Rowles material may fill up the third CD - the Rowles trios could have been recorded at the occasion of some sessions were he was booked as sidemen; Richard Bock did that quite frequently. The two Rowles tracks I found in Bruyninckx certainly look like that: Rowles with Al Hendrickson, Joe Mondragon and Nick Fatool on a September 13, 1956 session playing "We'll be together again"; Rowles with Ben Tucker and Mel Lewis from a December 11, 1956 session playing "Sonny Speaks". Anyone knows which sessions with Rowles were recorded on these dates?

My local retailer told me couldn't order the Miles Davis Quintet 1965-1968 box set anymore - any indication about others going OOP, and are the new cheaper editions out already? They're not (yet) available here in Germany. Too bad, now that at last I could afford it ...