John L

The classic example of such a label is JSP. At one time, they were committed to creating the best legitimate remasters of historic jazz, and hired people like John R.T. Davies. JSP then transformed into one of the worst pirate labels. The quick copy that they made of the Bunny Berigan Mosaic, which required a lot of investment in gathering the best rare 78s, was a particularly low blow.

Yes, he would be an important figure in American music even if he never did Rock and Roll. His Rock and Roll records could be a lot of fun but I also prefer the Country albums. They are timeless. RIP Killer.

Oliver Nelson AND King Curtis on the horns. Billy Butler plays second guitar. Eddie Kirkland was a major figure, along with John Lee Hooker, in the early post-war Detroit scene. He made some very good early records both solo and in duet with Hooker (It's Time For Lovin' to Be Done is a classic). His later LPs are a mixed bag but it all came together for this one.

Yes, that is one of my favorite Otis Spann albums, a great one! This is another truly great one, by far the very best Eddie Kirkland on record (IMO).

Happy birthday!

Some encouraging news from Blues Alley: "Blues Alley is temporarily closed due to last night’s unfortunate occurrence, they are currently assessing the damage and how long it will take to re-open. Some news reports have exaggerated the severity of the water damage which is confined to the 2nd floor and roof only. The club will re-open very soon. Any shows cancelled will be rescheduled as soon as possible and we ask you to wait before requesting a refund until the new date is confirmed. If you can’t make the rescheduled date then a refund will be given. We appreciate your patience on this and more information will be available soon."

This is sad news for DC. I hope that Blues Alley has good enough insurance to cover most of this and eventually get them back in business somewhere. John

Lightnin' playing acoustic guitar here. It works well for this one.

That is an interesting way of thinking about it. Indeed, creative packaging can sometimes go very well with creative music. But I really admire Mosaic's approach, which focuses not on creative packaging but on the music: the best possible sound, extensive liner notes from the best possible experts, the most accurate and complete information about the music.

Mask mandates are not the same thing as the share of the population wearing masks. A lot of people wore masks in states where masks were not mandated. Alternately, a lot of people held private events without masks in states where masks were mandated. That said, the virus has become so contagious that masks probably more delay than prevent the inevitable for people who spend a lot of time with exposure to other people.

Lu Watters on Good Time Jazz. I bought it out of curiosity because the price was discounted and very few of these recordings were otherwise available. But it is more than overkill for me.

The Bags' Groove and Walkin' sessions are the ones that I come back to the most, with the marathon sessions of the first quintet a close second. In the digital age, there is no problem listening to these sessions in complete form regardless of how the music was divided up on the original albums.

Stanley Crouch wrote a much reprinted essay: "On the Corner: The Sellout of Miles Davis." That may have put a bad label on it for many people, even those who haven't even heard it. Of course, Crouch claimed in the essay that Miles Davis sold out long before On the Corner. He dismissed everything from In a Silent Way on up. On the Corner may not be among the greatest Miles but I still think that it is generally fine music.

Maybe you can first make an MP3 version. I use software called Switch to do things like that.

Strange. But I have no doubt that he had fun doing it.