John L

Neither. The music was eventually rejected for the soundtrack.

Yes. Most jazz artists are only loved by jazz fans, many of whom are very anal about taking good care of their records. People who were not jazz fans per se bought Jamal records and stacked them up on the multiple LP turntables with their other stuff. They played 'em bald.

Ive never heard the Superior Jazz Band tracks, but I am sure that you are probably right. It is hard to keep track of all of the different band names under which the same musicians recorded recorded back then. The Original Memphis Five had a very nice sound. It is hard to put a finger on exactly what is so attractive about it, but I always enjoy hearing it.

I was getting ready to go see Joe Henderson in Paris when they canceled the show due to illness. The illness turned out to be a major stroke, and Joe never played again.

John, would you say most of Africa skipped CDs altogether and went straight from cassettes to digital files on phones? Do bootleggers sell massive mp3 collections on CD or DVD ROM in markets, like in Mexico? I can't speak for the rest of Africa, but CDs are still quite common in Nigeria, although the vast majority of them are of the pirate variety. I don't know if Discman was ever popular here as a way to carry around music.

I want a 10 TB iPod. I am not a Buddhist. Does it come with a protective backpack? I have been hoping for 250 or larger iPods for some time now. My iTunes has reached 1 TB, and I have been living away from my CD collection. For a while, I thought that the demand for portable videos would justify its development. However, as others have posted, things seem to be moving in the opposite direction. Some are even predicting that Apple will stop manufacturing the 160 GB. Carrying music around in something other than a telephone is becoming very old fashioned. I have been spending most of my time in Nigeria these days. It is interesting that the iPod never really took root here. After cassette players, people have always carried music only on mobile phones. When I am on a Nigerian airplane and a turn on my iPod, they often tell me to turn it off right away, thinking that it is a phone. When I tell them otherwise, they often don't believe me.

Best of luck to Bobby. As I understand, colon cancer in its first stages is very treatable.

The BFT sub-forum says "Liar, liar, pants on fire!" Identifying tracks in one's own collection is a different ballgame than identifying artists on tracks that you may have never heard before. As opposed to Jim, I can easily fail the former test. That often concerns one of the numerous discs that I acquired long ago, listened to once, and then forgot about. Having those tracks pop up in a random draw is a rude awakening about the the degree of overkill in my collection.

I am a fan, although, like many others, I have trouble staying with his more recent albums. Tunnel of Love was the last one that really got me.

Now put it on shuffle and try to identify everything that you hear.

Not bad, although the name of the song is ocharovena.

I did have a blues/R&B band for a while in Russia. I don't know Ian Starr. But I guess that he sings in Brooklyn, not Russia. I have heard a bit of Russian dinner music at Brighton Beach, but not Mr. Starr

There are a lot of interesting and thoughtful comments here. Thanks for the essay, Allen. One basic point that I agree with 100% is that, while the "white hipster" theory may have a degree of truth for quite a number people, there are also quite a number of white people who love or play music with black roots for which it makes no sense at all. The point is that much of black American music in the 20th century was exceptionally deep and compelling to the point that hardly anyone who grew up surrounded by it can feel indifferent to it. Myself, I am white, grew up surrounded by it, and feel it deeply inside of me. That doesn't mean that I have any claim to authenticity when I play or sing it, and I really don't care about that. (Right now, as a hobby, I am performing mostly black American music on weekends to all black audiences in Nigeria, and they don't know quite what to make of me. ) If I tried purge all of that inside of me deliberately, the music would end up being fake. The only thing that I know is that what I am doing is not fake from the point of view of what is inside of me.

Mal Waldon deserves mention here.

What re-union? '58, or the tour of Europe in '60 (or was it '61)? He probably means Europe '60. That was sort of a reunion, maybe almost a reunion. Trane had quit the band a few months prior. Of course, for Trane's clock, a few months of development was like a few years for other players.

Now that Dogon A.D. is available, Julius Hemphill's Georgia Blue might be worthy of consideration. I don't believe that it ever saw a CD release. I consider it to be quite a strong session.

Leon Spencer's playing could always bring a smile to your face. RIP

I've never heard Extension, but I am sold. Like others here, I will be picking up all of Jonathan's releases without hesitation.

Guess you never took a marketing class. I am not at all sure that this is a smart marketing strategy in this day and age. Sure, there are probably a number of people who will buy this set only because of the single new disc. But I bet that there are a lot more people like me, who would have gladly pre-ordered a single release of disc 3 for $25, but will now wait and download it somewhere for free without any feelings of guilt. I make a point of not taking free downloads of music that is commercially available. But if a music company wants to play dirty with me, trying to force me to re-purchase music that I have already have, technology now allows me to play dirty too.

Why can't they market us the disc of unreleased music separately?

The list would include the following albums: - Lift every Voice and Sing (Atlantic) - Nommo (Victor Japan) - Live in Tokyo, vol. 1 and 2 (Denon) - The Loadstar (Horo) - Live in Amsterdam (BayState) - Confirmation (Fluid, France) Looks like the Victor, Horo and Fluid were not reissued on CD. There is also a quite nice tape circulating of a concert in Milan on May 4, 1978. It was a hell of a band!

The first CDs of the Turnaround and No Room For Squares were great in that they released entire sessions.

That subject came up a while back on the Jazz Corner board. Here is what Charles Coffman posted about it:

Masters of Jazz covered virtually everything live through early 1939. The live tracks alone make up about 4 full CDs of amazing music. Too bad the series got cut short. A couple CDs of the Lincoln Hotel recordings from 1944 would have been a musical Godsend. I should also add that the Basie airshots with Billie Holiday are included on the Complete Lady Day box.

Jonathan - Some angel must have sent you down to earth to bring happiness to us jazz lovers!