John L

It is a fine disc, very much worth getting. The "tenorman" in question is James Clay. It is James Clay's first recording. He plays his ass off on it too. On the subject of Earl Anderza, Horace Tapscott makes an interesting claim in his autobiography that Anderza was playing at least as far "out" in the mid-1950s as Ornette.

Great thread! Thanks, Allen (and Jazzolog)

Thelonious Monk quartet Modern Jazz Quartet VSOP Bill Evans Trio (Especially the last one)

First of all, kudos to Starbucks for keeping classic jazz on the American pop culture map. This is not the first time that they have done this. I feel no guilt whatsoever patronizing Starbucks. Their social activities are commendable in general. As for Ella, my own personal take is that she does some things VERY well, and other things less well. As an interpreter of songs, she is absolutely fantastic on those sweet and bubbly "little girl has fallen in love" type ditties. I have yet to hear a convincing Ella interpretation of a truly sad or angry song full of despair. I don't care too much for what she does with the blues either. What is nice is that we can pick or choose. I have no trouble appreciating Ella for what she is, and using other singers to make up for what she isn't.

Sounds potentially great! I hope that the sound quality is not completely miserable. In the mean time, I have really been eating up this release. These are not leftovers by any means. The level of inspiration is the same as on the more familiar Bee Hive recordings, and the sound quality is better.

There is market segmentation for books like this. The choice of a price in the 100s is an indicatation that they are only going after the top segment of the market: libraries and rich collectors. The free on-line Coltrane discographies work fine for me, especially if questions or omissions can be handled here at the Organissimo Forum.

Ain't that the truth. I think that Lester Young just might be the last music that I would ever give up, and I am not just talking about jazz. On the other hand, walking off a cliff and never getting hit by gravity sounds interesting as well.

Good point. If you don't have the Aladdin, Keynote, or Savoy sessions, that might be where to go next.

For some of us, including me, it is ALL essential.

Unfortunately, when they put up new ones, they take down the old ones. I was too late to get what I wanted.

Did "Do This" top just jazz, or other dead musicial genres as well?

Laurie chose Art's pianists??? Near the end of Art's life I had a long conversation with Art and Laurie about pianists. Kellaway was with the band and they seemed "startled" by my suggestion of Stanley Cowell as my choice. Laurie quickly told me more recordings with Cowell would follow. Strange that they would be startled, considering how well this one turned out with Cowell:

I didn't care for the Lady Day tribute, and am luke warm on the Baker's Lounge recording. But I thought that Layin' in the Cut was the BOMB.

Of course, there are a lot of Ornette records of him playing the strings himself.

The flaw in your reasoning is that you're assuming that the way to get people listening to new stuff is to gradually nudge them in a kind of linear way from what they now like to something not too different, then from there to something a little further over, etc. But I think people often do the opposite, they have some kind of revelation when hearing something entirely different. Maybe the more different it is, the more likely it is to make an impression. Hit or miss, obviously, but so is the gradualist approach, which is "give them some jazz that won't scare them off." My approach now--I stopped evangelizing long ago, but sometimes people ask--is to give them a variety of styles, from most traditional to way outside, figuring that will cover all bases. But always things I really love myself. Excellent point. For that reason, the ideal compilation should probably include a combination of "nudging" pieces that maximize the probability of being understood right away and challenging pieces that can potentially alarm and excite.

I hope that she's moving to your city.

Gatemouth's recordings from the 40s and 50s are fantastic. I saw him live a number of times in the 70s and 80s. It was a mixed picture. I tended to like him better when didn't appear to being pursuing an agenda to prove that he can play everything in American music from bluegrass to country to blues to R&B to jazz. As one blues festival in Oakland in the 80s, he just came out with his guitar, sat down, and played a straight blues set without any grandstanding. That was memorable.

Laurie chose Art's pianists???

Amen to that. "A Man & the Blues" is deep and beautiful (IMO). I prefer it to everything that Buddy has recorded since.

He was championed at one time especially by Stanley Crouch.

Does the version available on iTunes sound as odd as the old CD suppesedly does? I've never heard it, waiting for a remaster that doesn't have this problem. I haven't heard the CD. The iTunes version does sound a bit murky, although it has been a long time since I heard the LP for comparisons.

Easier said than done. I have been grabbing every Arthur Blythe recording that I can get my hands on for a decade, and I have never come across that one.

Damn. Don't remind me that I should have picked this one up. It's available on iTunes.

There's a good reason why 5/8/77 has never been released as a DP. It's not in the Vault. 5/8/77 is part of a cache of tapes know as the " Betty Boards". "Betty" is Betty Cantor-Jackson who was a member of the Dead's sound crew. She made some wonderful recordings. Anyway, the story that I heard was that she had a bad coke addiction going on and was fired by the band in the mid 80's. Apparently she was in posession of a number of shows that she had recorded. This was back in day before Dick decided organize the Dead's vast concert tapes to create "The Vault". Anyway, she was evicted from her apartment and she put her stuff/tapes into storage. When she stopped paying for storage her belongings were sold at auction. http://www.nii.net/~obie1/deadcd/betty_board_info.htm Also, IIRC... there are two nasty cuts that need to be patched. Interesting. I didn't realize that. On the other hand, it would seem a rather easy task to find a good sound source for a legitmate release that patches up what needs to be patched. If Betty had copyright, that would be a different matter.

Lonehill, Gambit, and the like often celebrate great music with 50-year anniversay reissues. Authorized? Well, of course.