Peter Friedman

What you actually said - "there is not a a better Milt Jackson recording than "Sunflower". If that does not strongly suggest - "Bags at his best", it sure sounds like it to me. I do very clearly understand the difference. It is not surprising to me that people hold different opinions. The fact that so many on this Board had such a high opinion of "Sunflower" did surprise me. I believe everyone has the right to be surprised.

Larry, nice to see that you perceive" Sunflower" as I did. In truth, I was surprised to see that a number of people on this board held the opinion that "Sunflower" was Bags at his best.

Yes, I was making some broad based generalizations, which I maintain are correct. But read carefully my words designed to point out that not every single album from either Lion/Wolf or Taylor fit the model perfectly. There were certainly exceptions to the core focus of both Lion & Wolf and Creed Taylor's CTI productions. That is why I do have a small number of CTI albums on my shelves. I am guessing (no hard data here), that for the most part, those with large comprehensive collections of Blue Note albums on their shelves are unlikely to have large collections of Creed Taylors CTI albums on their shelves. And vice-versa. A number of good friends of mine would serve as good examples. This is a generalization, and there will be some exceptions.

Alfred and Francis produced recordings aimed primarily at "serious" jazz listeners. Many of Creed Taylor's CTI productions were aimed at a wider commercial market. Some were geared for people who were not "into" jazz, but wanted some music that gave off a "hip" feeling to themselves and their friends and family. I am not saying that what Creed Taylor did with the more commercially oriented albums was bad. Rather, it had little ,if any appeal to me. I wanted, for the most part, to listen to straight ahead swinging jazz such as what I found on Blue Note, Prestige, Riverside, Contemporary and a number of other labels( including Pablo).

Absolutely, I like the Pablo Milt Jackson CDs very much. Highly swinging music without over production or slickness.

Curtis Fuller - Paul Jeffrey Sextet - Together in Monaco

Yes Larry, much more to my taste than Milt on CTI. If I was home and had access to my files, I would list all the many albums by Milt Jackson that are favorites of mine.

Schubert - Piano Sonatas D.568 & D.575