mikeweil

My wife surprised me with Frank Zappa Live in New York 1984 DVD, "Does Humor belong in Music?" (sure it does!). Two CDs I ordered many months ago and was anxiously awaiting arrived on the 24th, so I placed them among my Xmas gifts:

Is that one available on CD or did you find a used LP?

These are the Vince Guaraldi Trio albums that I love and that I consider jazz by any measure, they were subtle and swinging and one of the best piano/guitar/bass units ever:

I did, but found it was generalized overall praize without discussing musical details or being very knowledgeable about Vitous's career. Same goes for the review in the January 2004 issue of Jazz Podium. I have the impression there are too many jazz jounalists at work in Germany without a thorough knowledge of jazz before they got interested - I know this is a daunting task! There is an interview with Vitous in the December 2003 Jazz Times issue shedding some light on the recording and producinng procedures. I'm still disappointed, they should have done it live, and let the sparks fly!

Thanks a lot for sharing these precious recollections! I guess we would not hold Miles' music in such high esteem were it not for Teo's edits, or at least we would view in a completely different way - the reactions to the unedited material in the recent box set reissues are telling. A lot of it sounds like jam sessions searching for some direction - and that's what it was, basically. If Teo wouldn't have done this job, maybe Miles would have focussed some more? And we tend to overlook Macero was a trained musician and maybe live out his ambitions as a composer that way? It seems like he was never really satisfied with his own works?

Orrin Keepnews revealed some of these "combined" takes in the comments to his box set reissues.

Don't send Harry Allen, go yourself - it's more fun and much more exciting than having others tell the story! And I'd say instead of rationalizing you admit your attraction - it's healthier! p.s. Harry Allen only goes for Astrud Gilberto clones - and that's not your type, I'm sure - much too cool B) .

Okay you win !!!! Didn't see it - he holds it so close as if it were implanted! And I remember that one time I saw him - with the John Scofield/Pat Metheny band - he played with the fingers.

If you'd seen this live, you would understand: Herbie did kind of charm his synth keyboard as if it was a snake, using a pedal invisible to the audience, and building to that climax you hear. Without seeing the show it's kinda cheap. (Well the show was, to us jazz buffs at least - the band didn't need cheap tricks to sustain musical interest - this was for the rock and funk fans seeing Herbie for the first time.)

That certainly would have become the counterpart to "Lady In Satin" and the discussion just as controversial.

I guess that's the reason I never even noticed! His playing is definitely more together on these than on the previous three LPs after the Riverside albums, and his interplay with Philly Joe is good.

Don't know if it's just you Jim, but it certainly isn't me - she's not my type - but considering her share of lovers and the image she projects ... It seems it worked with you ...

Swallow did NOT use plectrums!!! Saw him live several times and he never did! Did you??? That's his very personal sound, but played with fingers. Even if Carla used samples the phrasing would not be like this.

Swallow used different sounds for accompaniment and soloing. Very similar to a synth bass, the latter, I admit. You sure Carla is not on that track? If you're talking about the one on your BT disc 2, I hear organ (Carla), solo bass (Swallow), piano (Willis), guitar (Bullock), horns, and low bass - and the attack of the notes does not sound like a synth bass to me but like the way a bass guitar player phrases - Carla's simply not that good at exact phrasing , and I hear Swallow's sound in that bass. Don't have the whole album any more, but I will get it agian, if only to argue about the bass players with you .

C'mon Jim, tell us more of your projections (psychoanalytically speaking, that is... )! (oh those darned typos!)

It was on RCA/Bluebird CD 6579 in 1990, long OOP, but maybe a used copy turns up. I sold mine years ago or I would offer it to you, sorry.

Can we please continue the discussion on the other thread as Jim suggested - it gets cumbersome to watch two of them .....

I too hear Swallow overdubbing his bass as a solo voice on top of his electric bass lines; Carla played organ or synth (like an orchestral background), but no synth bass lines. When I saw them playing live they had a guitarist doubling on bass for the pieces when Swallow was the lead voice. There are no liner notes on the original LPs or CD reissues; just credits always saying that Swallow plays bass, Carla plays organ and synth, and Willis plays piano. Just that. We know that Jim loves his love stories behind musical stories ..... but it was not the liner notes that laid it on him.

I hope our wives will get along as well, otherwise we risk ruining our marriages, 'cause this will be going to last for months!!! I couldn't find any better words describing Warne Marsh's sound, he was truly unique, and this kind of individuality moves me much more than the Berklee/Brecker type of playing. The Joe Daley is another example for great talent that nobody notices, and I sure will try to get the Threadgill. The fact that he was almost killed in a severe automobile accident in August 1952 - he was unconscious for several weeks -, leaving an impact on his forehead and lowering his voice considerably sheds some light on that Percy Mayfield lyric. His expression is so uninhibited it sends chills down my spine, not always of the pleasurable type.

So you've fooled me (and probably all of us) completely with that Hadley Caliman track! I've always liked his energetic approach, e.g. on the Luis Gasca Blue Thumb LP, but never had a chance to listen to that one, otherwise I would have bought and kept it! This is a lesson in that there are many players as great as those in the spotlight - Bayété, Leary and Sonship Theus easily compare to Corea/Holland/deJohnette! I got the Clare Fischer and Braxton Orchestras right, and it kind of moves me that again there is a striking similarity between our adolescent listening experiences - Thesaurus was my first encounter with Warne Marsh, too. I know almost every note on this LP by heart. I guess about nobody over here in Europe got the "tribute" etc. elements in the Bley/Swallow record ... Willis played acoustic piano on all these albums, Carla NEVER did, she handled organ and synth. Saw this band live, but without Willis shortly before they started the duo thing ..... B) That Wein All Stars track is nice, and the attitude of that is not too far removed from the WGJB that I took it for - these were bands that gave exposure to these masters when their playing styles were considered "out". What can I say but: an excellent BT!!!!!

I received Stand! on Chistmas Eve and it is one of the best guitar albums I have heard in many years. He makes me listen to pop tunes I hated (because you couldn't but hear them every day on the radio) or rather his brilliant improvisations on them. Very original treatments. His solos are variable, spontaneous, full of unexpected turns and catch my interest more than Peter Bernstein or other comparable guitarists. The trios interplay is great - e.g. the way the play The Letter in 5/4 and take it out as a blues - you miss something if you never listen to that album! Highly recommended!!! Premonition Records Bobby Broom website

Thanks for Tony's death year, didn't have the time to look up. Arthur Taylor - I know many great drummers that were as great as he was, but not as original and/or innovative or important as those listed: Jimmy Cobb, Oliver Jackson, Don Lamond, Vernel Fournier .... these would belong into the B-league, I think.

In the case of Wes, the discography on jazzdisco.org gives a pretty accurate listing of all takes issued.

A complete lsiting of all issued takes of Wes Montgomery's sessions with Milt Jackson are in the discography of the Complete Riverside Recordings box set. Wes was particularly self-critical and often asked for another take when everybody else was satisfied - "Wes doesn't like his solo" is one of Keepnews' most frequent notes in the session logs. In the case of Wes, alternate takes always merit a listen as he completey changed his approach to a solo every time, same goes for Charlie Parker. The accuracy of a discography depends on many factors: the existence of session logs, the way they were written down in the first place; sometimes they used a new take number even if it only was a false start. Tapes with unused material were stored and kept, as is the case with Miles Davis' Columbia material, were every fart he let go in the studio still exists, but in most cases, and the more so with smaller labels who could not afford storage facilities, they were destroyed, lost, or the tape was re-used. In the case of Wes' Riverside material, I think everything that merits a release is available - and just as often the original session tapes are lost. The Bags meets Wes, Groove Brothers, Fusion, Live at Tsubos's and all organ trios are those were all session tapes still exist. Fantasy is not consistent in giving take numbers in liner notes or on the CD inlay card, sometimes they do, sometimes not. It took me quite a few hours to figure out which takes of Wes' last Riverside organ trio sessions are on what specific release.

Once more you hit the nail on the head, Jim!