John L

Milan: In some ways, I think that Pres was the true precursor to Ornette Coleman.. Pres played virtually free in the sense of Coleman. He let the logic of the blues, as opposed to any particular chord changes, dictate how his solos evolved.

Thanks for that information and those pictures, Dima. I look forward to visiting the house myself one of these days.

That is a very interesting question. When I listen to late period Trane (post McCoy and Elvin), I think that I find most of the rhythmic information in Trane's playing itself. Trane maintained a driving pulse in his playing that followed a basic logic. It can pull you along if you get inside of it.

I agree 100%. I don't see Pops as a tragic figure at all. His story is the archetypical great American story of someone who grew up with two strikes already against him, but overcame it all through sheer talent and determination. I think that Lon, Z, and Muskat Rambler hit the nail on the head. As Muskat wrote, I don't think that Armstrong felt the shame that some others felt when he engaged in "muggin." He was above it all.

RIP

When I was living in France, I had to pay a 100% duty on invoice of every Mosaic I bought. So Mosaics were essentially double the price for me. Needless to say, I didn't buy too many Mosaics back then. Do you people in Germany and Luxembourg have it any different?

Well, you could try to add Clifford Thorton on valve trombone. but I would be worried that Mr. Brown might try to leave the group after that.

I really like this collection. The first disk is straight organ and tenor soul. Amy always keeps it interesting with that vintage Texas blues wail. The session with Bobby Hutcherson, Frank Butler, and Carmell Jones is quite nice. The live material from the Lighthouse with Roy Ayers swings hard. Then there is the great Katanga.

Good list. In addition to those, I have a major soft spot for Feelin' the Spirit and Born to be Blue.

So, in the end, how many people on Internet have recently become convinced that Monk's popularity is due to his funny hats and dances?

Thanks, guys. I even own some VMEs, I am embarrassed to say. I just never called them that. Funny thing is, I plugged VME into a search engine and came up with "virtual musical environment." I thought, uh oh, this must be some heavy shit!

Fine recording! I am sorry for being such a stupid fuck, but will someone clue me in as to what a vme is?

Oops, it was Sweets, wasn't it? I'm going to have to get my turntable repared and hear that one again.

I really like the date from 1950 with Roy and Pres that Verve released on LP in the 1980s as "Norgan Blues." Pres on Ghost of a Chance is a knockout. I assume that this still unavailable on CD?

I would bet you are thinking of the Jazz Record Center, 8th floor of 236 West 26th street. Yes, thanks Dan.

There is a great jazz-only CD/LP/book store on one of the streets in the mid-20s near 8th. The have a lot of out of print stuff. I can't remember the name right now. Look in the NYC guidebooks.

Hmm. I love the McCann Pacific Jazz trio sides that I have heard. They vibrate the blues with exuberance, and manage to generate their own unique groove. Maybe it's nothing fancy, but it's good enough me.

Lester Young Masters of Jazz series vol. 1) Contains the Commodore and 1938 Carnegie Hall KC6 material plus the session with Glenn Hardman and Lee Castle discussed above plus "Ti Pi Tin" with the Bennie Goodman orchestra plus one track from a jam with Roy Eldridge and Benny Goodman. vol. 2) Carnegie Hall KC7 1939, two rare tracks from Lester's band of 1941, session with Una Mae Carlisle, session with Sammy Price and His Texas Bluesicians, rare tracks from Lee and Lester's band, 1941, 1942 studio session with Nat King Cole vol. 3) One broadcast with Basie of of "Woodside" from 1943. The rest is the Dickie Wells (KC7) session on Signature and the Lester Young quartet session on Keynote. vol. 4) All studio tracks (KC7 on Keynote and KC6 on Commodore) vol 5) All studio: end of KC6 on Commodore. 1944 Savoy tracks without Basie vol. 6) Broadcast of Harvard Blues with Basie 1944, Jammin' the Blues Soundtrack, 2 tracks from a broadcast jam session with Hot Lips Page from 1940 that were somehow left off of an earlier volume, a few scraps in terrible sound from Lee and Lester's band from 1942. I didn't buy volumes 7 or 8 becasue I had all of the material on other disks. As I recall, they consist of a combination of Aladdin recordings and few 46 JATP sides. vol. 9) JATP 46, Jubilee All Star dates from 1946, including 3 jams with Coleman Hawkins. vol. 10) All JATP sides from April-June, 1946, including lots more with Coleman Hawkins.

good point. Of course, if the Somalians can groove as hard as their Ethiopian neighbors, you might switch to a local brand. At any rate, I wear mine around my neck. And let any motherfucker try to take my bread and butter off of my neck...

I do a lot of traveling on planes too. Get a Diskman and invest in some nice surrounding noise elimination headphones. It works wonders, believe me. I've never enjoyed flying more.

Good point! I should have added a warning that one drawback of the first recordings discussed above is that they have poor-mediocre sound quality. If sound quality is extremely important to you, there exist early recordings almost as powerful as those listed above in excellent sound on the various early collections on Chess, most notably: Then there is this gem of major significance on Atlantic:

He put together a great team with little to start with. He was tough and had respect from his players. I am not an expert, but his play calling always seemed to be quite innovative. It had the element of surprise that would always seem to catch the defense in the wrong formation. Of course, today, the science of audibles and play action has been taken to a new level. I am not an expert, but my feeling is that Lombardi was a bit ahead of his time in that department. On 3rd and 1, he made you worry about the deep pass. By the way, I think that the 49ers were using the shotgun with Y.A. Tittle back in the 50s, before Landry became a coach.

Understood. In jazz, I feel that there is often a large gap between those who really understand it, with their teeth sunk in it so to speak, and those who can articulate it well in words, particularly to non-professionals. You would seem like an ideal candidate to bridge that gap. Maybe later in life you will change your mind.

I just had the opportunity to read through this thread from start to finish. What a blast! Better than any novel of the last few years! Seriously, Jim S., you should take it upon yourself to start writing down your perspectives on jazz in a more organized manner. How about couple books? I sense the potential for some real classics.

Well, you might start with disk 1. That is the beginning, and it never really got any better. Disk 2 also has some very strong material, really equally strong. If you don't have it, be sure and also bring in "I'm in the Mood" from disk 4. If fact, if you want to mix up tracks from disks 1 and 2, prime tracks from disk 1 include: Boogie Chillen Sally Mae Stomp Boogie Black Man Blues Poor Joe Helpless Blues Goin' Mad Blues Landing Blues Morning Blues Drifting From Door To Door Hobo Blues Crawling King Snake and from disk 2: Graveyard Blues Whistlin' And Moaning Blues Miss Eloise Burnin' Hell I Had A Dream Nightmare Blues Late Last Night Wandering Blues Devil's Jump I'm Gonna Kill That Woman Moaning Blues The Numbers Weeping Willow Heart Trouble Blues Slim's Stomp