adh1907

Prompted by a mention in another thread, I have been intrigued for a while by references in Jack Kerouac’s selected letters, 1940 -1956, to a character referred to as ‘Wig’. Ann Charters decides he is Gerald Wiggins in the index which is a nonsense. He is white and a bass player with Shorty Rogers. Don Bagley. He turns up in Mexico City and, with a heavy habit, connects with William Burroughs. Plays Kerouac and others Lars Gullin records (I assume these would be Bagley’s sessions with Lee Konitz etc). He also raves to Kerouac about his recent sessions with Shorty Rogers, Modern Sounds. Not sure if Kerouac or Charters disguised his name but it’s fairly obviously Don Bagley. Seems he lived to 85 so his old beatnik ways didn’t do him too much harm. Kerouac describes ‘Wig’ as a bebop bass player, in Mexico City (1952) playing with a US baritone saxist ‘Hood’. Bill Hood I guess.

Agreed, the pianist was v good and the trio sort of sat back and let her play solo sometimes but I preferred the space of the trio. I will definitely look out for more Josephine Davies and the Full Circle Quartet. Thanks

Josephine Davies Satori last night at the Parrakeet Kentish Town. In Trio format and then joined by a pianist. Wow, what a tone on the tenor, especially at the lower end. Very interesting original compositions.

Saw the Outrun with Saoirsa Ronan today, filmed in London and the Orkneys. She plays an alcoholic who heads back to her parents in the Orkneys, to recover. Beautiful film, great outdoor scenes in the Orkneys, with seals and birds. Moving.

I am getting so many pop ups on that site these days, I am not sure it is being actively maintained and it is difficult to read. It was a Michael Fitzgerald project, wasn’t it? Is he still in charge?

The Vocalion CD reissue was also billed as ‘first time in stereo’. A good album. A mix of free form tracks and more straightforward tracks. High Spirits , the other album on the CD reissue is a strange one. Tunes based on a musical version of Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit. I have only ever seen one beat up copy of Movement (never High Spirits) and even then a lot of money was being asked.

Would this have been in 1988? From rummaging around the internet, Ornette played Skies of America on 3 June that year with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Prime Time, though if it’s the concert I remember, they played separate sets. The opening set was Evan Parker solo. I recall lots of circular breathing. And all of it was fantastic too! Anthony

RIP. I was lucky to have seen him at Smoke in New York when he was about 80 I think. It was incredible to be sat close to him and hear him with a small group. Snappily dressed and in good playing form.

Yes, I have just played it twice through, enjoyable and interesting. There’s a lot going on here. £15 from Out on the Floor in Camden. More reggae than jazz but the odd interesting item.

Chic Chic Chico - Chico Hamilton (UK HMV Mono 1965). Interesting record, I bought this mainly for Albert Stinson whose playing on Bobby Hutcherson’s Oblique blew me away. Has some good Harold Land blowing space among some arranged pieces with flute and French Horn. Stinson impressive, esp on Carol’s walk. Not released on CD I understand.

Love John Law. Also Leon Greening on piano tonight. Always enjoy him. Seems to have a Phineas Newborn thing going on, to my ears.

Frank Basile, Steve Fishwick, Robbie Ellison quintet at the Parrakeet London NW5, haven’t seen Frank Basile before.

One for UK forum people. Last night’s BBC4 Parkinson repeat was billed as featuring Danny Thompson (alongside Kenneth Allsop, Lauren Bacall and Tom Paxton). No sign of him at all. What happened here? Was he backing Tom Paxton? As an aside, I think there is talk of a documentary about Danny in preparation, should be interesting.

Thanks so much Dan for looking into this for me and to the librarian for the detailed response. Very kind of you. I have tried, using my iphone and my macbook, on chrome and safari and still no joy! I wonder if other UK members of this Forum have any experiences of accessing these files? Anthony

J J Johnson, JJ, Mosaic Singles CD. What a beautiful CD. Great sound, great players. Love the 2 McFarland arrangements.

Thanks very much Dan. I have registered with Aviary too. Made no difference.

I have tried numerous times to listen to these recordings, but I keep receiving the following error message: ‘The link for this media file has expired. Please reload the page to renew access.’ Are they only accessible within the US? Anthony London

Interesting, I must admit I have never heard of or seen this After the Bridge record. Seems to be mainly Japanese issues on Discogs. What’s the story here, who is on these sessions and why weren’t they released at the time?

So, totally wrong! Matthew Halsall?

Track 12 sounds like Nat Birchall with Rachel Gladwin on the harp. I thought it was off Sacred Dimension, which I have, but it appears not.

Interesting, I didn’t know about Tubby’s old piccolo. I may be confused on naming protocol! It’s a great tune though. Anthony

The first tune is Tubby Hayes’ classic ‘Down in the Village’. By the flute player, Ed Cawthorne, the group is called Tenderlonious. I find the bass a bit relentless on this version. But I may be too used to Tubby’s version and this may be aimed at a jazz dance crowd. Thanks for posting. And hopefully people will also check out Tubby’s version, live at Ronnie Scott’s.

I saw him playing ‘later in life’ and he was perfectly sober and professional. And playing very well. Anthony

I have a spare copy for any UK residents of Keeper of the Flame: Modern Jazz in Manchester 1946 to 1972 by Bill Birch. For the cost of postage and packaging. Bear in mind, it’s a heavy book. Exhaustive and some brilliant photos of visiting UK and US jazz artists. Anthony London

Bought this in the late 70s I think, it was readily available, even in the UK. Prefer Getz’s tone on these Sittin In dates, tough sounding, to the later smoother sound in the 50s. Mouthpiece change?