Kalo

I file the jewel boxes in with the rest of my CD collection, stack the booklets up on top of a section of my LPs (I have generous headspace on my LP shelves), and I keep the BOXES in the attic. I used to keep all three together and file them with the LPs, but I found that I rarely pulled them out to listen to. Since they've been on my regular shelves, I listen to them more frequently.

I say, go for the upgrade. It's a historical document, and just because a self-aggrandizing editor (Schaap) got his mitts on it doesn't mitigate its importance. At least he erred on the side of including too much. As far as I'm concerned Jo Jones can never get too much credit for anything... I'm pulling this out to listen to next!

Apparently the flirty horse-race exchange was actually written after the film was already completed in order to spice it up (& in order to insert it they removed some necessary plot exposition, making the already arcane plot completely unintelligible). Howard Hawks claimed that he wrote the horse race dialogue. For what it's worth. Not the most reliable source, but he was known for improvising on the set and he even got fired as director from a film or two for re-writing during filming (Come and Get It for one).

Wow! I agree, truly sublime. Larry, I forgot that you wrote the liner notes for the CD reissue of Great Songs... An amazing set. Time to pull that one out again for further listening (and reading).

Wow. I was ten years old at the time, and not yet a jazz fan, but I remember hearing about it. Arguably the greatest musician of the 20th century.

Yeah, this one, mentioned by Free for All Earlier in the thread:

Best of luck. Now go out there and kick some ass!

Oh yes. Time to spin these discs again!

Ethel Waters owned this tune. Check out the soundtrack to Cabin in the Sky, or just watch the movie if you doubt me. (Not that the other versions mentioned here aren't good.)

No doubt--those are some tight, beautiful performances--some of the best work by all involved, IMO (especially Jackson, who comes off strong as hell). Beautiful music -- maybe my favorite Taylor records ever.

For some odd reason, I often do...

Guess I can give that one a miss. Haven't read the Priestley, but it's one of those books I've been "meaning to" read for years. (Actually, it may have been one of those books destroyed in a basement/garage flood a few months back. Oh well.) Ouch! Sorry about the flood. Good point! Mingus is so deep that the possibilities for illumination/elucidation are endless... I had the good fortune to meet Sue Mingus recently. I'll put her book on the list. I'll definitely read Priestley's book soon, as well as getting around to reading Mingus's own Beneath the Underdog. I also need to beef up my Mingus collection, though I flatter myself that I've been holding and listening to the "meat" of his music for quite some time. (Though I have none of his 1970's stuff...)

BruceH, you took the words right out of my mouth. In fact, I think that both of us already did. Not sure if I mentioned Drive-By Truckers yet. Crazy Horse fans would be well-advised to check 'em out... (Their album titles include Pizza Deliverance and Southern Rock Opera.)

I agree that the opening paragraphs, with their debunking tone, give a different impression than the article as a whole. Yet, despite the annoying turns the piece occasionally takes, it's interesting to read something that tries to make distinctions, rather than the usual puff piece. Let's face it, Hill is hard to get a grip on, and this writer has clearly tried, whether we agree with his particular conclusions or not. Still, there's a bit of a sour taste left in my mouth after reading it...

I saw virtuoso accordianist Richard Galliano with George Mraz and Al Foster at the Regattabar in Cambridge Friday night. Pablo Ziegler, who played piano for ten years with Astor Piazzolla's final quintet was a special guest and played duets with Galliano. Excellent music from amazing musicians.

Myself When I am Real, Gene Santoro's biography of Charles Mingus. Anyone else read this? It felt very disjointed. Santoro keeps repeating certain phrases, such as "Mingus was feeling the Zeitgeist." He obsessively and tiresomely lists exact amounts that Mingus was paid or that he paid for things, interesting in some cases, but enough already. Mingus is so fascinating that the book was worthwhile for that alone and for the quotes from contemporaries (I'd rather have read a compilation of the interviews, really). Also, some things in the book were just plain wrong. "Chateau Neuf du Pape" for "Chateaneuf-du-Pape" could be an editor's mistake. But to assert that cumbia is to Columbia as bossa nova is to Brazil is just plain wrong. Shouldn't he have compared it to the samba rather than bossa nova? Oh well. Has anyone read Brian Priestley's Mingus book? It looks like it has a lot more about the music in it, which Santoro was surprisingly light on.

Playtime! Finally! Might be my favorite movie (definitely in my personal top ten).

There's a square named after him in Cambridge, MA, which just happens to be right outside the Regattabar jazz club at the Charles Hotel. Every time I've noticed the sign there I wondered what it was about. This thread finally made me look up the answer: he was born in Cambridge, MA!

Great choice! The title track is a favorite of mine. I agree about Tubby's "Round Midnight," too.

Thanks. Nice article.

Well, it sounds like imitation to me, loving imitation sure, but. . .well. . .I don't dig it. (And I love Billie!) As I said, I haven't heard the album, but I've never sought it out either, because I always assumed that I'd have the same reaction that you do. I do find it interesting that Billie didn't mind the imitation, which Friedwald wrote was so close to Billie that it fooled Jimmy Rushing!

Will Friedwald in his book Jazz Singing, claims that Marilyn Moore and Billie Holiday were close friends. "When Leonard Feather gave Moore's Bethlehem album a good review, Holiday said that if he hadn't, 'Id've knocked him on his butt.'" I've never heard the album myself.

I held off from buying CDs until about 1990, when the writing had already been on the wall for vinyl for a few years, and I received a CD player as a birthday gift. My first CD was Andrew Hill's "Point of Departure."

Happy Birthday, Jim! Thanks for everything.

Both excellent movies and both available on DVD, I believe.