Peter Friedman

Sad news. Tommy Whittle was a nice tenor player in the style of Lester Young and the Brothers. R.I.P.

Sad News - Rest in Peace.

I became interested in the music of Shorty Rogers And his Giants, Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker, The Lighthouse Allstars and Dave Brubeck with Paul Desmond at the time their earliest records were released. At roughly the same time period, the early to mid 50's, I also became a big fan of Bebop and Hard Bop. As Larry indicated, I learned to appreciate all three styles. From there my jazz interests also began to move back to swing, and eventually to traditional jazz.

Nobody has mentioned the Anderson Brothers - Peter and Will. I have two very recent CDs with them and they are terrific. Also Gilad Edelman who has brand new CD on the Sharp 9 label.

Very sorry to hear this sad news.

I am still waiting for a substantial number of Xanadu LPs to be reissued on CD for the first time.. The word was that Don Schlitten was not in favor of reissuing his material on CD. Yet about 35 or so Xanadu LPs have been reissued on CD on a few different labels?

One thing that makes these two CDs especially interesting is it offers an additional opportunity to hear Billy Root in a small group setting.

Here are two more Harold Mabern CDs on the DIW label Harold Mabern Trio - To Maya With Love Harold Mabern - The Leading Man

My copy is a Japanese CD. Label on the front cover and CD says Warwick with Century Record Co. Ltd. Japan also mentioned. The front cover has the original art work from the Warwick LP.

John, you're right that they're both very good, but I'm not sure I'd call any release 'obscure' with those musicians contributing, to say nothing of the fact that I wrote the liner notes for Volume One! (There's also a Volume Two, which doesn't include Cedar but does have Ellis Marsalis, Cyrus Chestnut, Oliver Jones, Kenny Barron, Barry Harris and Renee Rosnes as pianists with Dave on bass. Cedar is a particular favourite of Young, 'cause there's yet another trio release not yet noted: "Tale Of The Fingers" (Justin Time JUST 143-2) with Cedar, Dave Young and drummer Barry Elmes, recorded in Toronto on Feb. 24 & 25, 2000. It features two of Cedar's compositions: Bremond's Blues and A Bell For Bags. It's a terrific 'groove' album, and I recommend it highly...Edited to add that the duo releases are all on Justin Time, and Walton's NPS is one of the three tracks Young and he recorded for the duet project. Ted, yes Tale Of The Fingers is a good one as are the two Dave Young Duo CDs.

More sad news. Marian lived a long and meaningful life. Her contributions to jazz, especially through her Piano Jazz program, were important. I particularly remember seeing her leading an all female quintet in Rochester, New York in the 70's. R.I.P.

Terrible news. I was unaware he was in poor health. Saw him live a few times, and thankfully have the vast majority of his recordings as leader or sideman. Cedar was one of my 5 or 6 favorite living jazz pianists. Losing Mulgrew Miller so recently, another of my favorites, makes it seem as if many of the jazz giants are leaving us far too soon.

A few other small group recordings with Billy Root that I enjoy. Bennie Green - Soul Stirrin' - Blue Note Red Rodney - Red Returns - Argo Lee Morgan, Wynton Kelly, etc - Dizzy Atmosphere - Specialty

Other than some of his Blue Note sessions, I am not interested in most of Hancock's recordings.

Not sure if it has been mentioned, but the Curtis Counce session originally on Dootone was reissued on Fresh Sound on the CD titled "Elmo Hope - So Nice". That CD also includes the 3 tracks by the Elmo Hope Quintet that were originally on Pacific Jazz.

I especially like Terell Stafford and Joe Magnarelli as Hard Bop trumpet players. Some others are John Swana, Brian Lynch and Jim Rotondi. Also don't forget Tom Harrell. Roy Hargrove can be very good, though at times the musical direction that he picks does not appeal to me. Neither Roney or Blanchard would be among my favorites.

Check out the CD " The Benny Goodman Story" on Decca/ MCA. There is a version of "Slipped Disc" on that CD performed by the Benny Goodman Octet. Stan Getz solos on that tune.

Not sure it is correct to say I met Miles, but I did encounter him. It was at a club in Detroit and Coltrane was in the quintet. can't recall the date or the rest of the group. Between sets I went up and said hello. He looked at me for a second, grunted something and walked away.

Andy LaVerne would not rank among my favorite living jazz pianists, but I do enjoy some of his CDs on Steeplechase.

I found it disappointing. There are, in my opinion, numerous recordings by Bean I prefer. I disposed of my copy after hearing it a few times.

Charlie Mariano

Happy Birthday Richard Wyands. One of the better jazz jazz pianos players still on the scene.

One of the very best of the Swedish jazz musicians. R.I.P.

Didn't Yusef Lateef play tenor on some 50's R & B records.

I first became aware of Hank Mobley when he appeared as a sideman on the Jazz Messengers at the Cafe Bohemia LPs on Blue Note issued in the mid 50's. I still love those sessions, though now have that music on CDs. From that time on I bought everything that came out by Hank as leader or sideman.