jazztrain

I was also somewhat puzzled by the use of the term "needle drop" in this context. In any case, it doesn't appear that Columbia (or Sony or whoever now owns the material) is rushing out to reissue the complete Boswell Sisters (or the portion of the material that they own). The 1995 single CD that they issued in the Art Deco series appears to have used some metal parts (there's a reference in the notes to "metal or shellac parts"), but both CEDAR and NoNOISE were used in subsequent processing. Having access to metal parts doesn't always guarantee better results, as evidenced by some of the early 1940s Ellington sides from Victor that were reissued from metal parts with mixed results.

The box definitely looks worth getting, especially if it's complete with respect to their studio sessions. I have only one of the aforementioned Nostalgia Arts issues (Vol. 2), and John R.T. Davies is credited for the remastering. That disc contains material ranging from 1925 to 1932. An earlier (1994) CD reissue (Vol. 1) on another Carl Hallstrom label (Collector's Classics) contains material from 1931 and 1932, and JRTD is again credited with remastering. As far as I know, there never was a volume 2 in that series, and the relationship between Vol. 1 of the Collector's Classics cd and Vol. 1 of the Nostalgia Arts cd is unclear. Note also that there's another disc that may be of interest on Retrieval (The Boswell Sister, 1930-1935, RTR 79009). It includes airshots that most likely will not be on the Storyville box. Is there a listing yet of what the box will contain? I believe that the late John R. T. Davies did the transfers for the original Nostalgia Arts issues. Of course, sound quality is highly subjective, but a good many collectors would still consider Davies' transfers of 78s the gold standard for reissues. I have bought and cherished many Mosaic sets, but I don't think it's clear that the label has surpassed the level of Davies' work.

Lazaro: Here's some information from "All of Me - The Complete Discography of Louis Armstrong" by Jos Willems (Scarecrow Press, 2006): >> "The identity of the clarinetist on these Columbia sides has been a matter of considerable discussion and speculation for a long time. Hans-Georg Klauer and Iraki de Davrichewy have come to the conclusion after years of research that it is Jimmie Noone. This conclusion is followed here." >> Willems lists the same personnel on both the October 15 and 16 sessions in 1923 by King Oliver's Jazz Band: King Oliver ©, Louis Armstrong ©, Ed Atkins (tb), Jimmie Noone (cl), Lil Hardin (p), Johnny St. Cyr (bj), Baby Dodds (d). I'll give the sides a closer listen when I have a chance.

Several bios on the web say that he contracted polio at age 5.

Have you seen this: Don Freeman - The Musician The following appears at the end of that webpage: >>> You can see and hear Don playing his cornet on the documentary film “Storymaker” available from Clearvue/SVE. … and I still have his last cornet! >>> The following may also be of interest: Cartoon talk A quick search doesn't turn up any obvious references to recordings.

Nice entry Jeff. I was going to mention the Pee Wee Russell connection, but it's there already. I'll check out the audio tracks later.

Then there's this: White Mountain Music Festival The blurb says that he's currently the music director for Dee Dee Bridgewater.

This article would suggest that he still does play jazz on occasion: Ira Coleman/Sting

Good point. It was an unfortunate typo. Should have been 1989 (not 1979). Sorry for any confusion! Thanks for the info, but the CDs can't be from 1979 since the very first audio CDs were not released until 1982 and the EPM label was founded in 1986.

Excellent. Thanks for making this session available again (and for including the extra tune). You'll let us know when it's available, right?

All the music from the three Al Cohn albums that you show from Xanadu was contained on the following two CDs from 1979: - The Complete Al Cohn/Barry Harris Quartets - Volume 1 - Play It Now. EPM FDC 5171 - The Complete Al Cohn/Barry Harris Quarters - Volume 2 - No Problem. EPM FDC 5172 I agree with your opinion. His Xanadu sessions are among my favorites. There also is an issue on Gambit ("Barry Harris Trio with Barry Harris"). It looks like it's just one disk, so it wouldn't be all the music. Checking Amazon, I see that there's a new (2011) issue of "No Problem" available from them on demand in CD-R format. Those three are all excellent — my very favorite Al Cohn on record. A couple of years back, eMusic had a number of Xanadu titles (a lot of them needle drops), and this was the only way I could find to hear them. Finding the four Sam Noto titles this way was a gift.

Yes! Thank you Chuck. Great session. I may have asked you this before (forgive me if I did) -- will the unissued track from the session be included?

I checked for concerts in the Boston area thinking that I might have seen Shepp in that period (although it may have been slightly later -- I remember one concert in particular at the Decordova Museum in Lincoln, Mass.). There's only one listed in Boston and it shows "S. McCoy" as vocalist on one song. I suspect this is a mistake and that the vocalist was actually Semenya McCord.

How do you pronounce Joachim Mencel?

The drummer sure looks like Joe Hunt (which would also fit given the date).

BMI lists a composition called Pyramid with Roger C. Wiliams as composer. He's listed as composer for two other songs: "Good Luck Best Wishes to You" and "Sunny Day Girl." Some websites link the Williams credited as composer of the tune on the Horace Parlan album to the well known pianistic purveyor of arpeggios (sorry, couldn't resist the alliteration; been a long week). However, those sorts of links are often not reliable. Record companies often make mistakes regarding composer credits, so the name listed on the LP may not even be right. Do the notes in the Mosaic box say anything about the composer?

The booklet to Volume One lists Frank Driggs as producer with Michael Figlio credited for technical supervision. Original recordings loaned by Jeff Atterton, Stanley Dance, Harry N. Fein, Sidney Mills, Don Molinelli, and Jacob S. Schneider. The credits for Volume Two are to Frank Driggs as producer and to Milt Cherin for technical supervision. The original recordings were loaned by Stanley Dance, Frank Driggs, Harry Fein, Tom Lord, Don Molinelli, and Jacob S. Schneider.

Your welcome. Glad to help. As I had kind of remembered, it's also on a Spotlite LP: Al Haig Meets the Master Saxes Volume One.

I have it on cd on Classics 1136 (John Hardee, 1946-1948). I think I might also have it on a Spotlite LP but can't check until later.

It's not Hawkins. It sounds a lot like Jacquet, but it's not. It's John Hardee. The tune is Cobblestones. It was issued on the "Sittin' In With" label. Personnel: John Hardee(ts), Al Haig (p), Clyde Lombardi (b), Tiny Kahn (d). 1948.

Hersch and Moran are appearing tomorrow night (Tuesday, March 8) at New England Conservatory in Boston. The NEC website indicates that they'll be performing both in solo and in duo settings.

Bob Helm reportedly plays alto clarinet on some of his Stomp Off albums.

What a ridiculous load of crap (the original statement that's quoted, not JSngry's response). If something gets repeated enough times (and this opinion shows up again and again), people start to believe it. There are some stunningly beautiful Prez sessions from the post-war period. Very little left to say? Please! Maybe we should start a thread of ridiculous statements of this sort, like the ones that dismiss Stan Getz as a mere imitator of Prez. Don't people actually listen? Whoever wrote that is an unqualified, incompetent, soulless, and fully denatured fragment of a human being who maybe has a shard something to say, but absolutely nothing to tell. Ordinarily I'd add "just my opinion", but not this time.

An update on Jay Brandford. He also plays in Abdullah Ibrahim's New York version of Ekaya. That group played last week in Cape Town (alas, I was there on vacation but didn't hear of the concert until the day after).