Head Man

Sorry to hear that you've been left with that many Bill Dixon copies to shift. It's such a beautiful reissue and should be in everyone's jazz collection. I've just had confirmation that that my copy of Dogon AD is on it's way from DustyGroove. Let's hope you manage to shift all your 1500 copies of that one. BTW what plans, if any, do you have for more reissues in the future?

Funnily, I was watching the third or fourth episode last night. The one with Dean Stockwell threatening to jump off a roof. I'm not sure I'll be watching all the episodes however, I find it rather repetitive. Perhaps you need to have been a fan when it was first shown on TV.

I've put my order in for the Roscoe Mitchell, Chuck. Really looking forward to hearing this.

I've e-mailed BGO asking that the text be amended.

Thanks for the heads-up, jazzbo. I've just put my order in.

I've bought hundreds of these from Jazz Loft over the years and they really are excellent. However it does seem a bit daft to have them sent half-way round the world. Does anyone know of a UK stockist for them?

What sad news, just as I'm about to go to Greece for a two week holiday! This HAS NOT made my day

I have these sessions on CD. Stan Getz/Paul Quinichette/Wardell Gray - A look At Yesterday - Mainstream Dizzy Gillespie & The Mitchell-Ruff Duo - Mainstream Charles McPherson - Siku Ya Bibi - Mainstream Clark Terry / Bob Brookmeyer Quintet - Gingerbread - Mainstream Clark Terry & Bob Brookmeyer - The Power Of Positive Swinging - Mainstream Clark Terry / Bob Brookmeyer Quintet - Tonight - Jazz heritage Art Farmer - Homecoming - Lonehill Unfortunately, I have never been able to find cd copies of the other 2 Charles McPherson recordings that were on the Mainstream label. I hadn't realised that "Art Farmer - Homecoming" had been reissued on Lonehill. Thanks for the info, Peter, I'll treat myself to that! BTW I managed to get hold of a copy of "Buddy Terry - Awareness" recently and it really is very good. Thanks to whoever recommended it.

I'm still looking for the "Walt Dickerson - Impressions Of A Patch Of Blue". Does anyone know where I could find a copy at a reasonable price?

BTW does anyone know whether this series is going to made available in the UK?

Yes, that's the one that caught my eye, The Michael White & John Handy's, too.

Looking at the reviews in AMG these seem to be a mixture of lost gems and clunkers. Apart from Mingus, Keith Jarrett and Freddie Hubbard I don't recall that any of the others have ever been generally available before. Are there any lost gems here?

In that order?

...and flared jeans...sideburns...miniskirts.....the list is endless.

Thanks folks. Looks another for my 'to buy' list. I wonder whether Fresh Sound are waiting for "Jazz" to get issued in Japan so that they can then copy it because I bet that's where these two came from.

Just seen this 'two-fer' listed at Amazon: Anyone know what they're like?

In response to my e-mail suggesting that perhaps BGO Records might be interested in reissuing the John Stevens' Away albums on Vertigo, this is what Andy Gray, who runs BGO Records, had to say: "Hi David, Thanks for Email, I have been considering these for a while and am going to try to license them. Regards, Andy" So perhaps they will see the light of day again, after all.

Giorgio Moroder? 'SME meets Donna Summer' ....in your dreams

Nice find, Bev. I think I'll treat myself to that! I was also surprised to be reminded that "Bob Downes - Electric City" and "Keith Tippett - Dedicated to You, But You Weren't Listening" were first released on Vertigo. Both of those have been reissued on CD but not by any of the major companies.

What a great site - thanks for the link, mjazzg. It always astonishes me what people put up on the web. Unfortunately there's no trace of John Stevens on it. The matrix numbers of the three albums I mention above are: 6360-131/135/141, none of which are mentioned. Perhaps they will get added later. Anyway, I'd forgotten how many groups recorded for Vertigo; Jon Hiseman's Colosseum, Graham Bond, Ian Carr & Nucleus...and not forgetting Manfred Mann, Rod Stewart & Status Quo(!). Lots of the albums have been reissued on CD, so I wonder why the John Stevens never have? I seem to recall that all the Ian Carr & Nucleus albums got released by BGO a few years back, so I wonder whether they might be interested in putting them out. I'll drop them a line to find out.

Clearly a potentially formative event for listeners/musicians of your generation, Sidewinder! Alan Barnes said he travelled down from music college in Leeds to hear Pepper at Scott's that week. Can't work out exactly why I missed it. Maybe having tickets for the Capital Fest diverted me from Scotts that week. Combined with student shortage of dosh, of course. What I do remember from RFH though is that Pepper's brief but glorious rendition of 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow' brought the house down. I remember Jazz Journal and Melody Maker having major writeups of that Scotts gig, so it was high profile. I was lucky enough to catch him on one of the nights, Saturday I think. He and the group were absolutely sensational. Although the CDs are very well done they can't really do justice to the live performance - it was ever thus! The atmosphere was electric and you were never quite certain where the music was going. There also seemed to be a bit of 'feeling' between Art & Milcho Leviev on the night which added to the tension. It's one of the few musical events that I can still remember in detail.

Stylistically they're nothing like the nessa & Emanem discs; more jazz-rock than plain jazz. But jazz-rock the way you'd expect John Stevens to play it, if you know what I mean. It's similar to the sort of music that Jon Hiseman, Dick Heckstall-Smith and perhaps Ray Russell were making at about the same time and it's a great shame that none of it is currently available.

Happy birthday, Bob. Don't forget to open your surprise parcel

There are many excellent albums by the drummer John Stevens that have been reissued on CD. I'm thinking particularly of two he made with Bobby Bradford; one on Emanem, live in Paris in 1973 and one reissued recently on nessa (thank you, Chuck). However none of the albums he made for Vertigo Records in the mid-70s - "John Steven's Away", "Somewhere In Between" and "'Mazin' Ennit" have ever seen the light of day on CD. Does anyone know what happened to Vertigo Records? Who now owns the rights to reissue their albums?

My CD version sounds fine. Your bank manager's not wrong!