Daniel A

I'm two hours late - hope your birthday was great! Take care, Bill!

I think Duke Pearson did what he could during the circumstances. For example, he did produce Herbie Hancock's last two BN albums, and they're good in my opinion.

It's a nice album with a nice cover.

In fact, the last releases on that list are from January 2003...

Brownie, does the book include any discographical data?

As far as I know, yes.

You are correct, Bertrand. Weren't those unissued Verve dates also from 1965, BTW? It would seem Green was not too active in the studios until the end of the 60s.

Isn't this the album where the pianist gets lost on "Moontrane" and plays the A part over and over?

I don't think it was in the middle of a BN cotract, but rather between his first and second stint with the label. After the Verve album, recorded in 1965, it wasn't until 1969 ("Carryin' On") he released an album on Blue Note (or any label) again.

These are the speculations of an amateur, but I would think that Gil Evans had established his arranging style by the time Nelson entered the scene. Of course he might have done some arranging prior to that, but the first recording featuring Nelson arrangements is from 1960: http://www.dougpayne.com/on51-66.htm I think Nelson's charts for the Farmer album are among his best.

Otherwise you're more than welcome to move to Europe. No such plastic on the CDs over here.

I'll differ: I prefer the earlier album. Partly because of the music, partly because the recording is much better.

Probably the remastering is better, though.

R.I.P., Val. Watched 'Quatermass 2' on TV a late night some 16 years ago. As Shawn says, a great movie.

I think "Alone" on Verve is his best solo effort. The earlier sessions for Riverside(?) which were not released until long after his death are touching performances, but they get me in a kind of sad mood; I don't think Evans was feeling too well. "Alone" was reissued with additional newly discovered bonus tracks as a VME just a few years back (unfortunately leaving out an excellent "A Time for Love" which was on the first CD reissue and the complete Verve box. It had very good liner notes, which were left out when it was just recently reissued again. Daniel A, My VME has two takes of a Time For Love, do you mean there were actually 3 takes? The VME has the orginal liners by Evans himself and some updated notes by Phil Bailey in 2001, whose notes got left out? Yes, the alternate of "A Time for Love" is a different one on the first CD. The six tracks which was added with the 2001 release are good to have, no doubt. But while the sound quality of the "old" 'A Time for Love' alternate is a bit muddier than the rest of the album, I think it's the finest take of them all. Which were probably composites anyway... The most recent release only has the original LP notes by Evans.

Is the obvious product placement from the book present in the film - Neveu's SmartCar?

I was astonished that Russia actually got a lot of votes from Estonia et al.

I think "Alone" on Verve is his best solo effort. The earlier sessions for Riverside(?) which were not released until long after his death are touching performances, but they get me in a kind of sad mood; I don't think Evans was feeling too well. "Alone" was reissued with additional newly discovered bonus tracks as a VME just a few years back (unfortunately leaving out an excellent "A Time for Love" which were on the first CD reissue and the complete Verve box. It had very good liner notes, which were left out when it was just recently reissued again.

Are you sure? That would mean that anything recorded before 1936 was now pd. I'm quite sure he's sure, because that's the way it is!

I read the book and I admit I fount it rather absorbing, while it's perhaps not a great piece of litterature, though. I read "Digital Fortress" and found it pretty weak. The film has gotten a lot of bad reviews over here; not sure I'll want to see it.

No consensus about the title mix-up, but an interesting post from Bertrand: http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=12869

Some of the tracks are mistitled on both the LP and the CD. Let me check if I can find some notes about that somewhere. If I remember correctly there was a mix-up of two or more titles.

It's good! Sound quality is not splendid (a bit muddy, dubbed-in applause; it was in reality a studio date), but his playing is thoroughly enjoyable. I like his albums on French Columbia a little better, mostly because they are nicely paced, sound well-rehearsed without losing a feel of spontanity and are in much better sound. But they are mostly only available as expensive hard-to-find second hand LPs. Solal is a great artist and has made very few bad recordings. It all comes down to if you like his style or not. I think of the 1960s as a somewhat transitional period for Solal, half-way between swing/bop influences and the more abstract style of years to come. Personally I've approached Solal chronologically; it's good to have his Vogue recordings (and others from the 50s) in the back of the head when plunging into his 60s work.

The Sony Legacy reissue of "Red Clay" sounds very good and is available at midprice. Probably the CTI Hubbard album to start with for those who are not fond of CTI productions in general. "Straight Life" is even cheaper at CDUniverse ($7.85). The almost 20 year old reissue of "First Light" is available at CDUniverse for $7.85 as well. The 2003 reissue was for some reason only released in Europe, I think. It's no striking improvement over the earlier remastering, but it's mastered at a normal sound level whereas the earlier version was a bit muted. It also features an additional (live) bonus cut. "Sky Dive" is out of print, but still available from CDUniverse. Those interested should grab the opportunity (espescially at $7.95), since CTI reissues from Sony seems to have come to a halt "Keep Your Soul Together" is long gone, and "Polar AC" has only been reissued on CD in Japan, where it is also OOP.