Soul Stream

Some just aren't fans of Rudy's remastering. Sure, some aren't homeruns, a FEW duds (A Fickle Sonance). But the majority are beautiful, some superb. The notion that Rudy's hearing has suffered high end loss seems pretty crazy.

The old Chess studio may have been a dump, but the studio McDuff recorded "The Natural Thing" in was state of the art in 1968. I did some sessions there and wish it still existed. The Chess studios were called Ter-Mar after the 2 Chess kids, Terry and Marshall. Ah Yes, the Tel-Mar studios...I was just going by memory and Tel-Arc came out . I didin't know that was the Chess records studio! Wow, of course I LOVE Chess, but now I know why those Argo Baby Face albums sound so nice and lowdown. Nice to know you're a Face To Face lover Chuck! Being a Chicagoan from back in the day....Did you ever get a chance to see or meet Baby Face Willette? As you probably know, it's kind of a mystery as to whatever happened to him.

I think it's just recorded that way. I've got an LP, so I'll listen to that....but, I think the studio that alot of those Argo and Cadet things were cut at was kind of questionable-The Tel-Arc studios in Chicago. Jack McDuff told me that place was a dump. However, "Behind The 8 Ball" is still a truely GREAT date!!!!!

I tried to PM you Jim, but it wouldn't go through. I talked to Ben Dixon today. He said if you wanted the CD, just send $20 along with your name and address to: Ben Dixon 630 Decatur Brooklyn, N.Y. 11233 I told him your name, so he'd recognize it.... Let me know.

I'm with you Lon.... Plus, THIS Grantstand is a BIG improvement to my ears over the earlier domestic CD. I can finally hear some clarity, especially in the bass.

Now don't even get me started on how much I love THAT album!!!!!

Hey Man, I used to work and GRANDY'S when I was in high school! That place is GREASY!

Yes, I'll call tommorrow.

Can't help you find it....although you might try www.euclidrecords.com .... However, this is well worth seeking out. One of the the best Conns. IMHO..

The CD is entitled "Say Yes To Your Best." it was under Ben Dixon. It used to be sold on his website (americanclassicaljazz.com if i remember right), which last time I checked was down. I'll call Ben if you'd like to see about ordering one from him. It's a homegrown deal, but professionally manufactured, produced, ect. It's a REAL good CD, and one that sounds like it was done in about 1964. Ben wrote all the tunes on it too except a couple. If you remember right, Ben wrote a lot of tunes on Patton's "Along Came John" and also penned "Cantaoupe Woman" among other things, so you KNOW his tunes are BAAAD. By the way, I'm listening to "Face to Face" as well right now...again. Put on some headphones and CRANK IT UP. It's really gooood LOUD! Let me know if you want me to call Ben about that....

Yeah, Willette's tone, phrasing and sheer power are really hard to match. There is a short list of unique organists, and BFW is on there for sure!

Baby Face Willette's "Face to Face" was one of the first organ records I ever came across in the "used bin" (luckily), and really inspired me. I used to listen to this one A LOT. For years. It's taken a back seat until today, when I put it on for the first time in a while. It made me realize something my neophyte ears told me long ago...that this may well be THE BEST ORGAN RECORD EVER MADE!!!!! I know that type of grand statement gets made now and then. But truely, Grant Green is so on fire, as is Ben Dixon, Fred Jackson on Tenor, and Baby Face is so FRESH and explosive. A truely phenomenal recording. And one that, if it doesn't top the list, it's surely in the top 5.

...o.k....I've had the weekend to absorb XM jazz programming and...it stinks. It's not any better than the lame programming on the jazz radio channel on my cable t.v.... Lots of marsalis stuff, ellis, branford and wynton. plus lots and lots of stuff from Tom Harrell's "Village Vanguard" CD, Duke Pearson's Prestige stuff and some other oddities. Not heard a classic Blue Note or Verve side yet...wierd. I'm going to return it and get the Sirius....Kenny Washington's programming has GOT to be better than this. XM "Real Jazz" sounds like someone dipped their hand into a pale of jazz cd's, put them in a player and hit "random." ANYBODY got Sirius who can vouch for it?

YES!

Hank Mobley's version of "The Good Life" is pretty nice to my ears. Also, Stanley Turrentine's "Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most" always grabs me.

Sorry to disappoint CJ. Not a "name" cat by any stretch of the imagination. I had a one-off opportunity to record at Rudy's Englewood Cliffs studio a couple of years ago. Like you and everyone else, I'm a big fan of Rudy's and it was a sheer pleasure to just be in that studio...much less record there...much less with Rudy engineering. However, I did feel like I got a pretty good peek into a typical session with Rudy. I doubt much has changed since he began recording (the studio's basically unchanged except for some of the control room equipment). He's a detail-oriented individual who's a legend in his own field for good reason. Needless to say he was the most professional, attentive and musician-friendly engineer I've worked with. It was a thrill beyond thrill to even meet him. As a side note, The Newark Star Ledger (I think that's right) was there doing a story on Rudy while I was there. They interviewed me and even included a nice picture of me and Rudy together for the story. However, I never saw it. Just heard that it had come out from a friend who lives in Newark. I'd sure like to get a copy of that!

I've recorded in Rudy's studio with Rudy and Maureen. Maureen is an ASSISTANT, pure and simple. As far as I could see first hand, she had absolutely no input other than that of facilitating the process. Rudy is in COMPLETE control. An artist at work. Rudy is a master, I've heard rumors of such hearing loss speculation myself. My gut feeling is this... Rudy does A LOT of audio work. Like any musician or athlete...somedays he really nails it, other days he gets close, and a few he screws up.

Amen to that!!! Of course, I just had a party at my gig last week and we had pleny of kids (mine and others) and a dog(one of the waitresses' pets) roaming around...and it was a lot of fun...so....I'm not sure about this equation at this point in my life!

O.k., Jim, I don't want to be the one to tell you this. But you HAVE to stop playing "Sugar." It's an intervention. ....If you don't stop now, you could move on to even more self-destructive tunes...like "Mr. Magic."

The quality of the gig is proportionate to the number of dogs and small children in the audience. My wost gig ever had small children, animals, 100 degrees, outdoors and a guy suited up as McGruff the Crime Dog hovering in front of (i guess you'd call it a) stage. Pay...$0.00. Drummer forgot his cymbals and my family came. B) Oh...those were the days!

Oh I'm calling it in every key now, motherfucker! Okay, Jim of course played this tune yesterday, but it turned out to be kind of fun. I took the same approach Free For All mentioned, that maybe what I'm really bored with is what I'm playing rather then the tune itself. A lesson re-learned... It could be worse...just think how Stanley felt about playing "Sugar" every gig for the rest of his life. Has suicide been ruled out in his death. Joe, just modulate down to B natural for your solo everytime ya'll play "Sugar," double the tempo, and let Jim stroll for 20 choruses. That should make it interesting for Jim as well.

Well, I got XM Radio as a present from my wife this week. I have to say (and I wouln't say this to her ) that I'm pretty disappointed with the playlist so far on their "real jazz" station. There's little or no cohesiveness to it...one minute Shirley Horn, the next "Ain't in Funky Now" by Grant Green. . Plus, there seems to be a HEAVY reliance on singers and NEW releases (Wynton Marsalis or Eric Reed playing "Englishman in New York" ) I wonder if at this point I could return my XM unit and exchange it for a SIRIUS? I've signed up for XM, but I think it's only a month to month thing (of course I'm probably wrong)...j Anybody have any advice? Maybe the programming will get better, but right now I'm already dipping into my CDs and I've only had the XM for a few hours. I haven't heard any "classic" jazz yet!

In response to Rooster Ties....I've never seen musicians bail on the original set of changes to a tune and adopt "rhythm" or "blues" changes. And yes, I too, am not a fan of "Sugar." B)

I forgot he said he was a jazz d.j.! He said he and his wife were in "school security" now. Too bad, I'd love to hear a show like you describe. Guys like him are a lost breed. The old days when musicians were d.js, and d.js were musicians! Now those two things are mutually exclusive.

Was that Bob Stewart by any chance? Yes. Do you know him? He was a really, really sweet guy. I enjoyed him a lot.