John L

I would think maybe 1.5-2 discs. But recordings that Mary Lou Williams made first with the Synco Jazzers and later as a leader (solo, trio, quartet) during her time with Andy Kirk would comprise another full disc. Then they could add to that a good part of her recordings for Asch from 1944-1945 - and BINGO - a great potential Mosaic.

Damn! I am visiting New York this week but will be leaving on the 3rd before the concert. I would have loved to attend.

O.V.'s best gospel sides were with the Sunset Travelers (IMO).

The online Warne Marsh discography would imply strongly that it DOES exist. I didn't even know it. 59-0217/24 LEE KONITZ-WARNE MARSH QUINTET. 'The Half Note’, NYC, February 17 & 24, 1959. Lee Konitz, as; Warne Marsh, ts; Bill Evans (*), p; Jimmy Garrison, b; Paul Motian, d. Note: The following 42 tracks were recorded by Peter Ind on the two Tuesday nights of a two week engagement when Bill Evans replaced Lennie Tristano who had commitments to teach. In the early 70's, Connie Crothers made an edited tape (with Marsh's solos only) at the request of Lennie Tristano who wanted a solo tape of Warne's playing from that date. Warne Marsh ultimately gave a copy of this tape to Bill Hardy of Revelation Records and the tracks were issued on LP's, i.e. 20 excerpts on Revelation 22 (issued 1974) and 14 on Revelation 27 (issued 1977) under the title “Warne Marsh: The Art Of Improvising”. In 1994 Verve issued 12 complete tracks on the 2 CD set "Lee Konitz Live at the Half Note" - Verve 521 659-2. However, all of the original tracks have circulated amongst collectors for some time in a condition which required editing. This has now been done. Since we have no knowledge of the dating or sequence of each track between the two sessions, we have divided all tracks into two parts (21 tracks - 3 sets? - per evening). Two titles were recorded three times. We assume one version was played as a daily sound check (listed as track 1 below). In early September 2004 my co-worker in Holland, Joop van der Leij, consulted guitarist/arranger Axel Hagen to analyse the origin of the Revelation excerpts. These results are included in the following summaries (22 and 27 indicating the two LP’s - Revelation 22 and 27). Assumed program A: 1 YOU STEPPED OUT OF A DREAM 27-track 10 7:42 2 PALO ALTO * 22-track 1 9:13 3 HOW ABOUT YOU? * 9:15 4 MY MELANCHOLY BABY * 27-track 1 6:54 5 SCRAPPLE FROM THE APPLE * 22-track 5 7:53 6 YOU STEPPED OUT OF A DREAM * 22-track 4 7:39 7 317 E. 32ND * 27-track 2 7:44 8 APRIL * 22-track 6 8:44 9 IT'S YOU OR NO ONE * 22-track 2 8:09 10 JUST FRIENDS * WM out 5:40 11 BABY, BABY ALL THE TIME * WM no solo 8:31 12 LENNIE-BIRD * (also private 2nd copy, incl false start / 9:31) 8:39 13 SUBCONSCIOUS-LEE * 22-track 3 7:41 14 BACK HOME 22-track 19 6:41 15 HALF NELSON 22-track 20 6:41 16 TANGERINE 27-track 4 6:25 17 YARDBIRD SUITE 27-track 6 7:36 18 BODY AND SOUL * 7:15 19 BACKGROUND MUSIC 27-track 11 8:26 20 WILL YOU STILL BE MINE? 27-track 7 9:02 21 PENNIES IN MINOR 27-track 14 inc. 6:34 2-13 CD Verve 521 659-2 (2CDs) Jazz Lips 760 (2 CD-set / + 8 titles of 76-0315) 14,15 PCD (A) private CD-A/ see next Revelation listings 16,17,19,20 PCD (B) private CD-B/ see next Revelation listings 1,21 PCD (C) private CD-C/ see next Revelation listings 18 PCD (D) private CD-D/ see next Revelation listings Assumed program B: 1 IT'S YOU OR NO ONE 7:50 2 HOW ABOUT YOU 22-track 10 6:29 3 SCRAPPLE FROM THE APPLE 22-track 11 5:09 4 YOU STEPPED OUT OF A DREAM 22-track 17 7:53 5 317 E. 32nd 27-track 9 8:31 6 APRIL 22-track 18 10:26 7 IT'S YOU OR NO ONE 22-track 14 (ens.) / 22-track 16 (solo) 6:57 8 YESTERDAYS WM out 5:25 9 BABY, BABY ALL THE TIME 22-track 12 7:04 10 LENNIE BIRD 22-track 8 8:33 11 SUBCONSCIOUS-LEE 27-track 8 9:51 12 TWO NOT ONE 22-track 13 inc. 7:46 13 BACK HOME * 22-track 7 7:53 14 HALF NELSON * 22-track 15 8:15 15 THE SONG IS YOU 22-track 9 10:30 16 LOVERMAN WM out 4:35 17 YARDBIRD SUITE * 27-track 12 9:32 18 WILL YOU STILL BE MINE? * WM out 6:37 19 PENNIES IN MINOR 27-track 5 6:23 20 'ROUND MIDNIGHT 5:00 21 FISHIN' AROUND * 27-track 3 7:04 4,6,8,9,10,12,15 PCD (A) private CD-A/ see next Revelation listings 1,2,3,5,11,16 PCD (B) private CD-B/ see next Revelation listings 7,19,20 PCD (C) private CD-C/ see next Revelation listings 13,14,17,18,21 PCD (D) private CD-D/ see next Revelation listings Excerpts on Revelation 22 (side one: 1-10 / side two 11-20). (with indication of track source ) 1 Palo Alto (as 'Strike Up The Band') Verve (A)-1 2:30 2 It's You Or No One Verve (B)-2 2:10 3 Subconscious-Lee Verve (B)-6 1:37 4 You Stepped Out Of A Dream (add LK) Verve (A)-5 2:22 5 Scrapple From The Apple Verve (A)-4 2:18 6 I'll Remember April Verve (B)-1 1:36 7 Indiana PCD (D)-5 1:55 8 Lunar Elevation (Lennie Bird) PCD (A)-8 2:26 9 A Song For You (The Song Is You) PCD (A)-9 2:11 10 How About You? PCD (B)-4 1:55 11 Scrapple From The Apple (add LK) PCD (B)-5 2:00 12 Baby, Baby, All The Time (as 'Blues') PCD (A)-7 1:20 13 I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me PCD (A)-1 2:21 14 It's You Or No One PCD (C)-5 1:10 15 Half Nelson (mistitled 'Indian Summer')(add LK) PCD (D)-1 2:00 16 It's You Or No One (add LK) PCD (C)-5 1:10 17 You Stepped Out Of A Dream -2 PCD (A)-6 2:05 18 April, I'll Remember (I’ll Remember April)(add LK) PCD (A)-3 2:30 19 Indiana PCD (A)-4 2:40 20 Half Nelson PCD (A)-5 2:49 Excepts on Revelation 27 (side one: 1-7 / side two 8-14). (with indication of track source) 1 Melancholy Baby (mistitled 'Sweet Georgia Brown') Verve (A)-3 2:02 2 317 E 32nd (titled Out Of Nowhere) Verve (A)-6 2:49 3 Fishin' Around PCD (D)-6 1:56 4 Tangerine PCD (B)-1 2:22 5 Pennies In Minor (mistitled ‘Lennie's Pennies’) PCD (C)-6 2:18 6 Yardbird Suite PCD (B)-6 1:50 7 Will You Still Be Mine PCD (B)-10 1:57 8 What Is This Thing Called Love PCD (B)-7 2:10 9 317 E 32nd (titled Out Of Nowhere) PCD (B)-8 1:55 10 You Stepped Out Of A Dream PCD (C)-3 2:45 11 Background Music ('?' on sleeve) PCD (B)-9 1:55 12 Yardbird Suite ('?' on sleeve) PCD (D)-3 1:58 13 It's You Or No One (mistitled ‘Lennie's Pennies’) not yet found* 2:00 14 Pennies In Minor ('?' on sleeve) PCD (C)-2 1:10 *Note: Excerpt 13 could not be related to one of the complete tracks from these two dates.

Strange. I can see it. Archie Brownlee & the Blind Boys - Certainly Lord

If you are just starting out, you might pick up some of the budget packages on JSP. That will expose you to a lot of the greatest artists. For starters, you couldn't do any better than the JSP package "Nuggets of the Golden Age of Gospel." There are other great ones as well: Powerhouse Gospel, Memphis Marvels, Gospel Live - a huge amount of great music to digest for little money. Acrobat records had a great run of gospel reissues. I don't know about the availability of the CDs now, although perhaps downloads are still possible. The 9-volume issue of "Texas Gospel" is actually the complete gospel Peacock singles, a sort of holy grail. Four CDs entitled Windy City Gospel vol. 1 & 2 contain most of the Vee Jay gospel singles - also absolutely incredible music. If you can find it, the 2-volume set of the early recordings of The Spirit of Memphis on Acrobat is also not to be missed.

Yes! They issued a nice full CD of Govan's 60s recordings for Fame not along ago. But these later Broadway recordings are the sh#t, the pinnacle of his recording career.

Sam Cooke? Aretha Franklin?

Yes, indeed. Robert is a huge O.V. fan. He has been using O.V.'s Ace of Spades lately as theme music that is played as his band comes on stage.

If I can say Wilson Pickett

Lots of great recommendations here. A few other greats that should not be left out: Joe Tex Solomon Burke Bobby Womack Ann Peebles Johnny Adams Ted Taylor Peggy-Scott Adams (Particularly her more recent stuff) William Bell Geater Davis Little Johnny Taylor (Different than the other phenomenal singer - Johnnie Taylor - who Jim already mentioned Z.Z. Hill Mitty Collier Ronnie Lovejoy Jimmy Hughes Otis Clay Tyrone Davis Ella Washington Jerry Butler Irma Thomas

I saw him at the Birchmere not long ago. He was great.

If you haven't heard it yet, I would suggest checking out his earlier album "False Accusations." That really blew my mind when it first came out, and it is still my favorite Robert Cray album.

I am a huge Robert Cray fan, although I find his albums to be a bit uneven in inspiration. Robert Cray's real genius is in his guitar playing (IMO). He is one of the handful of blues guitarists who reached the pinnacle of the art, someone who speaks through his guitar with a blues voice so distinctive that you know it is him after just a few notes. He is probably the last of the giants in that regard.

I don't have it on CD and can't remember now from where on the web I pulled it down. But it is a fine recording. I have never heard the Verona concert.

That is an interesting article. I like most of what Ted Gioia writes. Others have also lavished praise on these recordings. I still listen to them every now and again hoping to catch something that I missed. The music is certainly good and enjoyable. But Lester Young's last great album? I beg to differ. I wouldn't give up one of Pres' solos on The Jazz Giants from the same year for all five of these volumes.

The Octet Live might be my favorite among those five - a high energy affair that works quite well. After that, I would probably go for the two trio albums: Autumn Colors and Dissent or Descent. Tapscott is in good form on the former with Everett Brown Jr. on drums. Dissent and Descent puts him in a less familiar context with Fred Hopkins and Ben Riley, and it works well. I am less fond of Faith, despite the solid rhythm section, as it suffers (IMO) from inadequate and sometimes out of tune performances from the strings. Little Afrika is a good solo date, although I tend to prefer listening to Tapscott with a rhythm section,.

These are not among my favorite Lester Young recordings. The music is certainly good. Pres is in good physical shape and the sound quality is excellent. However, for me, most of them don't have the sparkle and moments of bliss present in many of Lester Young's other recordings from 1956, in particular those with Teddy Wilson on Verve, live in Europe, and live at the Cafe Bohemia.

Good question. I can't think of any sideman appearances. He did make some recordings with George Coleman, Donald Byrd, and Stanley Turrentine in France in the 1990s.

I certainly do not recall a box set, and I have followed most Lester Young releases closely since the 1970s.

Me too. By contrast, the earlier Atlantic albums are the Mingus that I listen to the most.

What is being discussed and argued here is nothing new. There has long been a tension between the creative forces in jazz, which have been predominantly black, and the critical establishment that has been predominantly white. I find it interesting and ironic that the advent of bebop, which was almost entirely a black creation, marked the time when audiences for jazz become more and more white. In the end, of course, it is the quality of writing about jazz that matters, not race. But it is not so simple that we can just wish this tension away.

RIP to one of the last true giants.

Two of my favorites.