Peter Friedman

Mel Rhyne, Eddy Louiss, Sam Yahel, Larry Goldings

There have been many more Xanadu LPs reissued on CD than have been mentioned in this thread. I just counted and I have 38 commercially issued CDs of Xanadu material. Some are European and some from Japan as well as those from the USA. Xanadu was always among my favorite labels. There are still quite a few things that have not, to the best of my knowledge, made it to CD.

Very little by Chick during the past 25 years or so has appealed to me. I loved much of his early playing so it has been disappointing to find so few things I have enjoyed by him in recent decades. One story I recall from long ago. I was in NYC for a few days and dropped by the Village Vanguard on Monday night to catch the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Jazz Orch. A piano player was subbing that evening, and I did not recognize him. He played wonderfully all evening long and really knocked me out. After the first couple of numbers I asked someone sitting close by who he was. The answer was Chick Corea. This was probably somewhere in the late 1960's.

I am surprised that no one has mentioned Buddy Tate !!!!!!!!

My favorite strings album is Dizzy and Stuff Smith on Verve !!!!!

I have had this one since it was first released on LP back many decades ago. Now have it on CD, I have always dug Kenny Drew a lot. His early playing was a terrific blend of bebop (ala Bud Powell), and a more bluesy style (associated with someone like Horace Silver). In his later years his playing on some tunes took on a more rhapsodic, impressionistic style, especially on ballads. I suppose the influence of Bill Evans effected him. But Kenny always was a marvelous blues player. Hubbard and Mobley are great on this album too,

Jim, It seems as if one of your last comments indicates you are agreeing with me. You agreed that when it became commercially viable most musicians switched back to playing straight ahead jazz. That would indicate that they were going back to the music they preferred to play, and that the move to jazz funk was done primarily to pay the bills. I agree that Cannonball was a man of the people, but many of the soulful tunes that became popular during his early days on Riverside were very accessible and reached the people. I remember going to hear Cannonball live in the period when "This Here","Work Song", and "Dat Dere" were new and popular. The place was packed with a highly enthusiastic crowd. The question of what influenced him to move quite a bit further into the jazz funk realm is an interesting one. You make some good points, and I would concede that there may have been a variety of factors involved, but would maintain that the commercial element was a very important one.

One factor in this discussion that has been basically ignored it the time period of the 70's for jazz. That was a period when we saw many jazz musicians getting into the jazz-funk bag. The electric piano and bass were becoming fairly common, and the music itself was aimed in many cases toward a more commercial goal. Straight ahead jazz was not doing as well as it had in the 50's and 60's. It is within this context that Cannonball's music changed in the way we have been discussing. Does it therefore not seem logical to recognize that Cannonball's "new direction" was not something he just happened to decide to do internally, but rather was influenced by what he observed happening around him with other musicians as well as in the larger jazz scene. it is interesting to me to observe that many of the established musicians who played a role in the jazz funk realm eventually left that approach and gave up their electric pianos, etc. and returned to a more straight ahead style of playing.

I believe that to some extent it relates to the style of music you first heard and associated with that musician. I got the sense that in Tom's case, he heard Cannonball playing Jazz-Funk live early in his listening experience. But for many of us who heard Cannonball both live and on records playing the style of music associated with his Savoy, EmArcy, & Riverside periods, the later Jazz-Funk music he played was a big letdown. My first exposure to Cannonball was when I heard his deeply bluesy playing on "Hear Me Talkin" To You " on Savoy in the 50's. Remember Cannonball played a very soulful, funky type of music that resonated with many people on a large percentage of his Riverside recordings, and his EmArcy/Mercury records too. It was when in the 70's that he decided to go with the trend of that time period and go in the direction where he could do better financially that he lost me. As Allen said, he had every right to better himself financially, and it was up to him, certainly not me, to decide the music he chose to play. However, it my choice as to whether I found Cannon's Jazz Funk musically satisfying and the answer was clearly NO. The word monotonous comes to mind. This is a matter of personal taste, but I would pose the following question. If one had to take their five or six favorite Cannonball recordings to the proverbial desert island with them, which ones would they be?

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The influence of a dominant innovative musican can have have either a positive or negative impact on many other established musicians. In my personal opinion, Coltrane had a negative impact on some players I particularly enjoyed - before - they got , to some degree, "on the Trane". The most glaring example to me is with Harold Land. I suspect that many will not agree, but I much preferred Land's playing on his earlier recordings, such as the things he did on Contemporary, before Trane. Art Pepper is another example, though here I find it more of a mixed result. Some of Pepper's later recordings come off well with the emotional impact of the music reaching lofty heights. However, there are others where his lengthy Trane influenced modal playing bores me. I don't care much for most of Cannonball's later recordings. There are a few exceptions on Capitol, but it is his Riverside period with Yusef Lateef as well as the things like "Cannonball Takes Off" and "Things Are Getting Better" that say the most to me. Wynton Kelly was a great fit with Cannonball, and anything they did together turned out to be top quality. For my taste, much of Cannonball's later recordings saw a change toward a more commercially oriented style that I no longer found interesting. The frequent use of electric piano in Cannonball's groups was a symptom of a trend during that period that I found unfortunate.

I had a copy of Stanley Cowell's "Travelin' Man" CD and found it did not compare to a number of other CDs by Cowell. In fact, I thought it was pretty bad, and sold it. In my opinion, there are a number of very good CDs by Stanley Cowell that I would recommend. But "Travelin Man" is by no means one of them.

I had a copy of Stanley Cowell's "Travelin' Man" CD and found it did not compare to a number of other CDs by Cowell. In fact, I thought it was pretty bad, and sold it. In my opinion, there are a number of very good CDs by Stanley Cowell that I would recommend. But "Travelin Man" is by no means one of them.

I have had a copy of this session on CD for about 15 years. Buck Clayton - Olympia Concert 22 Avril 1961 - Vogue VG 651 / 600 160 (French)

I recently was on a long trip to India and decided to get some noise reduction headphones to use with my iPod. I went for the Bose and was very pleased with them. I used them for many many hours on my flights to and from India. They did a fine job of blocking out the sounds of the jet engines. The music sounded very good too, clearly better by far than the plug in the ear phones that come with the iPod.

The new CD by Gerald Wilson is a winner in my book. Gerald Wilson Orchestra - In My Time - Mack Avenue

I have loved Brew Moore's playing for a long time. Always got a large kick from this statement attributed to him. "Anyone who does not play like Lester Young is wrong."

Not terribly long ago I received from a friend the following CD. Finn Ziegler - A Beautiful Friendship - Universal Music Denmark with Kenny barron, N.H.O.P., Alvin Queen Ziegler played violin but no vibes. It's a very good CD.

I grew up in Detroit at the same time Roy Brooks was developing his skills as a drummer. He would hang out with some of the other young Detroit cats like Charles McPherson and Lonnie Hillyer. They spent a fair amount of time with jazz master Barry Harris, learning from him. The first time I heard Roy play he was rather young and his playing was ragged. Over time I watched and heard him turn into an outstanding drummer. He was one of my favorite drummers of the 1960's. Unfortunately, personal problems required Roy to leave the New York scene and return to Detroit. One interesting memory I have dates back to about 1960 or thereabouts when I had a summer job working for the Detroit Parks and Recreation Department. I was working at a playground when Roy brooks, Charles McPherson, and Lonnie Hillyer came by with a basketball, and the four of us played B-Ball together for a while.

Clark Terry - Shades Of Blues - Challenge Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Quartet - A & M Thad Jones - 1/2 of CD on Debut label Harry "Sweets" Edison - At The Haig 1953 - Fresh Sound Dusko Goykovich - Celebration - D.I.W. Dusko Goykovich - Ten To Two Blues - Ensayo Sam Noto - Entrance - Xanadu Dizzy Gillespie - Dizzy's Big 4 - Pablo Count Basie/Dizzy Gillespie Quartet - The Gifted Ones - Pablo

I realize that Ruby Braff usually played cornet, as does Warren Vache, but here are a few quartet recordings by them. Ruby Braff - Live At The Regattabar - Arbors Ruby Braff-George Barnes - live At The New School - Chiaroscuro Ruby Braff and Ralph Sutton - R & R - Chiaroscuro Ruby Braff/George Barnes - Plays Gershwin - Concord Ruby Braff/George Barnes - Salutes Rodgers and Hart - Concord Ruby Braff - The Canadian Sessions - Sackville Warren Vache - Iridessence - Concord Warren Vache - What Is There To Say? - Nagel-Heyer

Venus seems to have specialized in Piano Trios more than anything else. I'll list some of my favorites on Venus: Super Trio - Super Standard (Kenny Barron,Jay Leonhart,Al Foster) Bill Charlap Trio - "S Wonderful New York Trio - Love You Madly (Bill Charlap, Jay Leonhart,Bill Stewart) Stanley Cowell Trio - Dancers In Love Roland Hanna Trio - Milano,Paris,New York finding John Lewis David Hazeltine Trio - Alice In Wonderland John Hicks Trio - Cry Me A River Eddie Higgins Trio - Again Steve Kuhn Trio - Sing Me Softly Of The Blues Charles McPherson featuring Steve Kuhn - But Beautiful There are a number of others I like too, but this list above is a good place to start.

Brad, Which Mabern on Venus did you have? I have 4 Venus CDs by Harold as follows: Don't Know Why Fantasy Falling In Love With Love Kiss Of Fire These three Mabern Trio CD's on D.I.W. are particular favorites of mine. Mabern's Grooveyard Lookin' On The Bright Side Maya With Love

Well, it sure looks as if there are a number of different CD releases of THE RAJAH. Mine is silver and blue with copyright dates (1988) on both tray card and back page of booklet, but no date at all on the disc itself.

The Standards - Kessel album is nice, but far from one of my favorites by him on Contemporary. His "Poll Winners" CDs and "To Swing Or Not To Swing" have already been mentioned and I would agree that they are better than the Standards album. There are three other not yet mentioned that I also prefer. "Lets Cook" with players such as Ben Webster, Frank Rosolino, Victor Feldman, Hampton Hawes and Jimmy Rowles is one of my favorites. I am also very partial to "Red Hot And Blues" with Kenny Barron, Bobby Hutcherson, Rufus Reid, and Ben Riley.