Peter Friedman

Jim, I respect your right to make those choices. It probably won't surprise you to know that my choices would be the opposite of yours. A key factor for me is the ultimate quality of the music (which of course is a matter of opinion). In my judgement, the Cannonball albums after a certain point in time lost their "true essence". Rather than Cannonball moving to find " his own true voice", my interpretation is that Cannonball was looking for the commercial hooks to sell records and gigs. He was jumping on the currently "hip" bandwagon and no longer being true to his deepest jazz essence. This is just a personal opinion that you seemingly don't share, and that's ok. In looking over the entire discography of Cannonball, or any other musician, a key for me is to identify the very best musical performances. I don't focus on whether they are trying to forge new directions, or digging further into the rich lodes of what has proven to be the style in which the player has been most comfortable over time. What music has the most depth, and what do I emotionally and/or intellectually respond to the most.

It's also interesting that a large percentage of musicians started making "theme" albums at about the same time. Coincidence? I think not. Retreat is more like it. I mean, hell, when the "conservative moderns" stop moving ahead, that's a sure sign that stuff is coming to a halt, and sure enough it did. We've been down this road many times in many places on this board, but I'm of the unshakeable opinion that "jazz" today is a foregone conclusion, and if it isn't, then people are gonna get all up in arms about it not being jazz, if they do anything at all. Not at all my idea of a good time, but your mileage may vary. Sometimes it makes sense to retreat when you find you have driven into a cul-de-sac. There are many ways to be "modern" if that is one's goal.

Pianist Cees Slinger is not a name known to most American jazz fans. I first became aware of him when I bought a CD under his leadership that featured Clifford Jordan, Isla Eckinger, and Philly Joe Jones. It is titled SLING SHOT and on the Timeless label. That very good CD led me to two other CDs with Cees Slinger as leader, and they are also good ones. The Cees Slinger Octet - Live At The North Sea Jazz Festival - Limetree Cees Slinger's buddies In Soul - Happy Times - Blue Jack Slinger can also be heard as a sideman on a number of recordings by people such as Ben Webster, Dexter Gordon, Bud Freeman, and Alvin Queen.

Perhaps the term "dated" is not the most appropriate one to use in describing music from an earlier time period. I am not referring here to ROSEWOOD, but have no hesitancy in saying, that for my personal taste, the rough period of the late 60's and the 70's, when many jazz players put aside the acoustic piano and bass and switched to electric piano and bass, did not produce much jazz I find appealing. There are of course a few exceptions. Let me be clear, I am not referring to all the jazz of that time period, but just those sessions where the electric piano and bass were involved. There is nothing inherently wrong with electric piano or bass, and some listeners find them highly enjoyable. But my ears greatly prefer the no-electric versions. It is interesting to me that a large percentage of those musicians who switched to electric piano and bass eventually switched back.

There are many good recordings on Chiaroscuro. Here are some of the CD's I especially enjoy. A Buck Clayton Jam Session A Buck Clayton Jam Session 1975 Kenny Davern & Flip Phillips - Spanish Eyes Don Friedman - Hot House Dave Glasser - Begin Again The Trio -Hank Jones/Milt Hinton/Bobby Rosengarden Roger Kellaway Meets Gene Bertoncini and Michael Moore The Dave McKenna Quartet with Zoot Sims The Gerry Mulligan Songbook - Bill Charlap, Ted Rosenthal Joe Venuti And Dave Mckenna - Alone At The Palace Joe Venuti And Zoot Sims Bob Wilber And The Scott Hamilton Quartet

I saw Marchel Ivery playing once when I happened to be in Dallas quite a few years ago. Two CDs with him in my collection are definitely worth getting. Marchel Ivery - Marchel's Mode - Learning House Fathead Newman/Marchel Ivery/Rein de Graaf Trio - Blue Greens& Beans - Timeless The one on Learning house which also features Cedar Walton is a definite winner. Marchel swings his tail off. R.I.P. Marchel

Charles McPherson - Chuck McPherson Terry Gibbs - Gary Gibbs Jimmy Raney - Doug Raney Bucky Pizzarelli - John Pizzarelli

After jazz, my favorite musical genre is classical music. Blues would come in 3rd place. I have little if any interest in Rock, with just a couple of exceptions.

Russian born Dmitry Baevsky was born in 1975 and moved to New York when he was 19 years old. He has one very nice CD out under his own name. Dmitry also plays on the brand new CD by Joe Cohn. This guy can play.

They make a significant positive difference on airplanes. I used a pair flying to India a couple of years ago. Without them, the noise of the planes engines made it extremely difficult to listen to my iPod. With the noise reduction earphones listening was quite enjoyable.

In many situations surprise is not the correct word. I can listen to something by a musician I have heard very frequently over a long period of time, and on a particular recording everything just seems to come together in a way that reaches me deep down inside. It may be the way the soloist and the rhythm section fit together in a groove that brings a special smile to my face, or an exclamation of praise to my lips. Sometimes I may just focus on the drummer or the bass player. Or it may be a highly creative improvisation that leaps out at me and draws my attention in a new way. Sometimes when listening to a recording I have had for many years, I hear something that I had not ever noticed in my previous listening experiences with that particular album/tune. Just recently I was playing a Stan Getz Quartet CD that I had heard numerous times. For some unknown reason, this time my ears were especially attracted to the playing of drummer Victor Lewis. While I don't think "surprise" is the proper term to use here, the fact is that I developed a deeper appreciation of Victor Lewis than I had before focusing on his playing on this CD. Sometimes , as has been briefly mentioned, it is not surprise, but the comfort of hearing a musician or a style of music that has been an important part on my life. That recognition can bring a warmth and deep seated enjoyment. It can be highly satisfying to be so familiar with a recording that you know all or many of the solos by heart, and can hum them along with the musician. Some listeners may constantly seek the newest music out there and want to be on top of the most contemporary happenings in jazz. I am old enough that I left that attitude behind quite some time ago. I am not searching for something new and different (in the macro sense) when I listen to music. What I want is music that is emotionally and / or intellectually interesting and enjoyable. The personal listening history of each individual is critical in determining what it is that will stimulate that positive reaction for them.

Thanks Peter. Is "Bags opus" a reissue of the material on BN BLP1509? I assume "The harem" isn't available, if it's on Musicmasters. I guess all the Pablo stuff is out on OJC - more OJCs for my list MG MG, No "Bag's Groove" was originally recorded in December 1958 and released on United Artists. The personnel includes Bags, Art Farmer, Benny Golson, Tommy Flanagan, Paul Chambers and Connie Kay. Tunes are Ill Wind, Blues For Diahann, Afternoon In paris, I remember Clifford, Thinking Of You, & Whisper Not. I have long considered this an excellent session.

Buy "A Sure Thing". You will be glad to have it.

Add me to the list of those who said you made a bigtime mistake. It's a very good set.

MG, I envy you the opportunity to hear for the first time the many delightful Milt Jackson recordings you don't have. Here are quite a few under his leadership that I suspect you will find right up your alley. Bag's Opus - Blue Note The Harem - Musicmasters Brother Jim - Pablo It Don't Mean A Thing If You Can't Tap Your Foot To It - Pablo London Bridge - Pablo Memories Of Thelonious Sphere Monk - Pablo Mostly Duke - Pablo None of these have O.P. on them.

Dave Turner is a good Canadian alto player. Another Canadian Phil Dwyer usually plays tenor and also piano, but has also recorded on alto. BTW, Dwyer is a really fine tenor player. Still another Canadian alto player is Campbell Ryga. It is possible that Gary Pribek might just be the best, or one of the best real BEBOP alto players around. Of course, Charles McPherson and Frank Morgan ( both not white), might vie for that allocade? Unfortunately, there is not a huge amount of recorded music available with Pribek. He was a sideman with Buddy Rich, Lionel Hampton, and the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra. The best place to hear him is on a number of Danny D'Imperio's recordings. I attended the D'Imperio recording session on the Sackville label titled THE OUTLAW, where I had a chance to hear Pribek live over two days. He is a marvelous alto player.

I keep waiting for Black & Blue to re-issue the Illinois Jacquet recording with Hank Jones titled GOD BLESS THE CHILD. My favorite recordings by Illinois Jacquet as leader include: Bottoms Up - Prestige The Blues, That's Me - Prestige and the Mosaic set.

Some of the "recent" large group jazz CDs I have especially enjoyed include these: Bennie Wallace Nonet - Disorder At the Border:The Music Of Coleman hawkins - Enja/Justin Time Rob McConnell Tentet - Music Of The Twenties - Justin Time Bill Holman Band - Live - Jazzed Media Clayton/Hamilton Jazz Orchestra - Live At MCG - MCG Jimmy Heath Big Band - Turn Up The Heath - Planet Arts Bob Florence Limited Edition - Eternal Licks & Grooves - MAMA Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band (Directed By Slide Hampton) - Dizzy's Business - MCG

Most of the big bands I like best were not on the list. My current favorite is the Clayton/Hamilton Big Band. Other favorites include The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, The Bob Florence Big Band, The Bill Holman Big Band, Frankie Capp Juggernaut, Dave McMurdo Big Band, John Fedschock Big Band.

I don't have the problem that a number have mentioned of negative attitudes to someone who gets a tone similar to Sonny Rollins of the 1950's. In fact that is probably a positive quality for me! With the countless players who played in the style and/or with the tone of Louis, Prez, Bird, and Trane, a few who prefer a Rollins-ish tone is fine with me. It is far more a matter of what they play using that tone or style. The same sort of thing is true (though somewhat different) with piano players. The very strong influence of McCoy Tyner and Bill Evans can be strongly heard in a huge number of pianists. Once again, if all they are doing is copying note for note the recordings of their influences I find that to be a problem. However, if they take that tonal and/or stylistic influence and say something on their instruments that is creative and interesting I have no problem. To be fair, I should also mention that Sonny Rollins playing of the 1950's is music I particularly like. So as Sonny no longer plays that way with that tone, I am highly pleased to find a few musicians out there who have decided to continue that direction though with their own personal approach. For my taste the playing of Grant Stewart is vastly more enjoyable than the many players around today who use Michael Brecker or Joe Lovano as their primary influence.

George Cables is one of my favorite living jazz pianists. He played beautifully with Dexter Gordon, Art Pepper and Frank Morgan. He also has recorded a fine series of nine CDs for the Steeplechase label. Cables also has some terrific trio CDs out on the Japanese D.I.W, Meldac and M & I labels. Perhaps his most recent CD is an outstanding trio session called A LETTER TO DEXTER on the Kind of Blue label. I wish him a speedy recovery.

After all the discussion of LEEWAY, I thought I would pull my copy off the shelf and listen to it again. Haven't heard it in quite some time. Not sure why some people found this one boring. I like it a lot. There are many other Hard Bop recordings I would rate far lower than this one.

I have had a pair of these for a number of years and like them a lot. They are not the speakers in my main listening room, but nonetheless I listen to them frequently, and have nothing but good things to say about them.

There are many good recordings by Clifford Jordan. Aside from the ones already mentioned, here are some others I especially like under his leadership. Royal Ballads - Criss Cross Two Tenor Winner - Criss Cross Four Play - D.I.W. Live At Ethell's - Mapleshade/ Jazz Heritage Repitition - Soul Note

My copy of LORD indicates that there are 102 recorded versions of Stolen Moments. I suspect that there have been quite a few more in the past few years since my version of LORD was published.