Peter Friedman

Hope you feel better, or go see a doctor.

Funny, but I like most Steeplechase covers.

Duke Jordan's recordings on Steeplechase are to my ears delightful. Duke has a very identifiable style that makes it fairly easy for me to pick out his solos in the majority of cases. His note selection, phrasing and ability to swing beautifully have made him someone whose playing I greatly admire.

Jack, thanks for the link. As someone who was a serious purchaser of Blue Note Lps in the 50's and 60's, I found this article very enlightening.

Return To Alto Acres is my favorite Richie Cole album. Some of Cole's albums didn't do much for me. They went "over the top" at times! Cole seemed to disappear from the scene for a number of years, but has fairly recently returned. He played at a jazz party I attended within the last couple of years. He sounded better than ever.

My copy is a 2 CD set on the Japanese TOFREC label.

Though perhaps this is not the very best Art Pepper session, it is still quite a good one. Duke Jordan plays well, and contrary to what mizee said, the audio quality is fine.

I have had a 2 CD set of this material for quite a few years. I very much enjoyed hearing Art play with a legendary pianist that had never previously recorded with Pepper.

What came immediately to mind when I began reading this thread were the Charlie Parker Dial and Savoy recordings. Numerous takes on many tunes.

"Death" isn't an accurate way of describing either, Peter. They've relaxed into their own niche. They'll always exist, but they both experienced their heyday in the past. That's actually pretty accurate. How weird is THAT?! While that may well be true, it does not explain why the barrage of new jazz CD labels and releases keeps coming at such a rapid rate.

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.