Peter Friedman

What I find interesting is that we hear the word that jazz is dying or dead, and the CD is passé. Yet what I keep seeing is a very large number of new and reissue jazz CDs coming at me from all sides. The number of new small jazz labels putting out CDs strikes me as rather amazing. Within the past couple of year or so I have bought numerous jazz CDs on labels I had never heard of before. Once again I am speaking of both new releases and reissues. I understand that the economics of putting out a modest number of CDs has declined as technology has changed. But nonetheless, the death of jazz and of CDs seems very premature.

Ubu, it is clear that Moms has very strong opinions which is fine. He does not like Perahia's Mozart Concertos. To say they suck is, ridiculous. The Mozart concertos are among my classical music favorites. I have versions of the concertos by a variety of pianists. There is no one "correct" way to play these pieces, and I personally enjoy hearing them played by Perahia, Serkin, Casadesus, Curzon, Brendel, Fleisher, Rubinstein, and quite a few others. Each pianist brings something of themselves to the music, and hearing a variety of interpretations is, for me, an enriching experience. So, in my opinion, Moms is simply wrong, though reading his posts can be very interesting. FWIW, a representative anti-Perahia comment from the rec. music.classical.recordings list, where anti-Periaha feelings tend to run high: "If you want pretty, soft-grained, dresden-china mozart, then Perahia's your man. Personally I like a little more testosterone in my Mozart than Perahia's willing to provide." Such folks can't stand Uchida either, for similar reasons. Perhaps a jazz illustration might fit with this discussion. I can enjoy the more delicate alto playing of Paul Desmond, and the higher testosterone playing of Jackie McLean. Liking one does not mean what may not like the other.

Ubu, it is clear that Moms has very strong opinions which is fine. He does not like Perahia's Mozart Concertos. To say they suck is, ridiculous. The Mozart concertos are among my classical music favorites. I have versions of the concertos by a variety of pianists. There is no one "correct" way to play these pieces, and I personally enjoy hearing them played by Perahia, Serkin, Casadesus, Curzon, Brendel, Fleisher, Rubinstein, and quite a few others. Each pianist brings something of themselves to the music, and hearing a variety of interpretations is, for me, an enriching experience. So, in my opinion, Moms is simply wrong, though reading his posts can be very interesting.

With my classical boxes my usual pattern is to listen to one or two CDs from the box per day mixed in with other things, both classical and jazz. My preference is to listen to the entire box within a reasonable period of time.It also depends on the specific contents of the box. At present I am working my way through 2 very different types of box sets. One is the Mozart Piano Sonatas by Maria Joao Pires. I prefer to spread out my listening to this box so as to not get tired of just one Mozart piano sonata after another. The other box is The Heifetz-Piatigorsky Concerts. This box includes a broad variety of mostly chamber music by many different composers. So I can listen to the CDs in in this box set in a much compacted time frame. I am retired so am able to listen to quite a few CDs each day. Some at home, and some in the car when going someplace.

"Marionette" by the Charles McPherson Quartet This a video from Jazz on the Tube in recognition of Charles McPherson's birthday. Both McPherson and pianist John Campbell marvelous solos here that should not be missed.

I have a copy of this CD: Ben Webster - Big Ben Time - Philips W. Dick Katz, Spike Heatley, Tony Crombie Recorded in London, January 1967 This is the British Dick Katz.

I will pull a Loren Maazel Cd off the shelf and play it tomorrow in honor of this fine musician. R.I.P. Loren.

My opinion of Charles McPherson differs quite a bit from much of what I have read here. He has long been a strong favorite of mine. His playing with the Detroit group of musicians showed him at his best. He and Barry Harris were/ are an ideal match. Charles is a great bebop saxophonist who has a strong link to Bird via Barry. His Xanadu recordings as well as his Prestige sessions are gems. Charles played a concert here in Tucson not too long ago and sounded marvelous. He played with great passion and swung beautifully.

Just listened to this yesterday. It is a very good one. Recommended for all Dexter Gordon fans.

Lightnin' Hopkins has long been one of my favorites.

Thanks Mark, i found the interview most interesting.

I tend to agree with both MG and Larry with regard to a number of solo recordings by Joe Pass . However, his many small group recordings with Count Basie, Milt Jackson, Jimmy Rowles, Zoot Sims and Joe's own trio and quartet are highly swinging and enjoyable to my ears.

"For All We Know" - from CD of the same title by David Hazeltine Quartet on the Smoke Sessions label. Excellent solos by both Hazeltine and Seamus Blake.

Me too!

George Cables who is a wonderful pianist, and has played and recorded regularly with Art Pepper, Dexter Gordon, and countless other top level jazz players.

Sorry, my mistake. Just deleted that post and will place it on the correct thread.

Yes Stanley Cowell is a high quality piano player. He has a good CD out on the Venus label as follows. Stanley Cowell Trio - Dancers In Love withTaurus Mateen,bass & Nasheet Waits, drums

I would personally select Tom Harrell before To Charles Tolliver.

Charles McPherson and Mickey Roker would be good choices in my view. Charles Lloyd would definitely not be on my list.

Sam Dockery played on a number of recordings with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in the 1950's and then faded from view.

Red Holloway recorded with Horace on one of his later sessions. Was it on the Columbia label?

I didn't realize that Billy Mitchell was playing with Horace in 1957. Most biographies say he was in Miami until 1958. Not sure where you came up with Billy Mitchell in my post? Look again and you will see that I wrote BLUE mitchell.

In 1957 I was in the US Army and had just finished my basic training at Ft. Riley, KS. Had a leave and took the train heading back home to Detroit. Needed to change trains in Chicago. Was with 2 friends who both liked jazz, one of whom lived in Chicago. By chance we discovered that The Horace Silver Quintet with Blue Mitchell and Junior Cook was playing at the Sutherland Lounge on the south side. We decided to go and hear Horace. it was a fantastic evening of music, and may have been the only time I heard Horace Silver live.

Probably was this tour: http://www.amazon.com/Norman-Granz-Presents-Philharmonic-September/dp/B0042A3SA8 I have the single LP, issued in the '80s under Bob Porter's aegis, from this tour called "The Trumpet Battle." It was a high-quality JATP ensemble, with Roy, Shavers, Benny Carter, a quite alert Lester Young, Flip Phillips, and the usual OP-led rhythm section with Buddy Rich. Roy and Shavers are on fire. It suspect it may have been a year or two later. Don't recall Billie Holiday at that concert. Do recall a tenor battle between Illinois Jacquet and Flip Philips, a ballad medley that the audience did not want, bringing Norman Granz out to give the audience hell. Also a drum battle between Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich, with Buddy the clear winner.

It was probably the Jazz Messengers at the Cafe Bohemia LP's on Blue Note that first focused my attention on the playing of Horace Silver back when they were first released. That strong blues based hard driving approach to the instrument grabbed me deep down. From that point on, I made it my business to get every recording that had Horace as either leader or sideman. His playing, his groups, and his compositions have had a major impact on my musical education. I am currently away from home on vacation, so can't pull out some of Silver's recordings. but once I return home I certainly intend to rectify that situation.