John L

Thanks. I didn't realize that.

California Here I Come is only one CD. The two other CDs worth of material from this gig, I believe, have only been available on the Verve Box. You should of made some CDRs, dude! That goes for the 1964 gig at the Trident Club as well.

What's compelling is that they proffer up the admittedly intoxicating and seductive notion that you don't really need a skill set to become a person of note, you just need to play at it. And hey - it works, not least of all for the reason that the notion of being something other than we really are without really getting in there and doing the soul-work needed to effect a real transformation is one of the oldes tempations in the book. Is that the same intoxication that led Bill Monroe to change the way that he played Blue Moon of Kentucky after hearing Elvis' cover for Sun? Is that the same intoxication from Elvis' Sun recordings that inspired Carl Perkins, Buddy Holly, and Charlie Feathers to play Rockabilly? Has their success made us worse off as well? Sometimes, there is more to the picture than meets the eye. Sometimes, special things come in very simple packages. That does not negate the importance of commitment and hard work for creating profound art. The exceptions don't negate the general rule.

Jim S. - While I sympathize with your arguments, I think that you are being a bit too hard on Elvis. He may not have invented Rock and Roll, but he did essentially invent Rockabilly. Objectively, you can take apart those early Sun recordings for all the reasons that you give. Yet, there is undeniably something magical in them. Given the context, they should have completely failed. Sam Phillips was telling a bunch of hillbillies to play and sing as black as possible. The outtakes are even embarrassing, as they reveal Elvis et al virtually engaging in minstrelsy, calling each other "nXXXXr" and the like. But the results are still rather amazing. Elvis et al couldn't sound black no matter how hard they tried. But the very effort of trying led them to something new. Sure, it was a variant of the "hillbilly boogie" music that had already become popular. Yet, it was somehow different, maybe more rural. Whatever, it is a sound that is still strangely compelling for many today.

Fantastic! Congratulations!

You are a part of jazz history. I thought that you would be used to it by now.

Together with James Clay? Thanks. I'll have to look for that one.

Did he ever record as a sideman? I can't recall anything.

Sounds exciting!

Once a bootleg, always a bootleg. It is not a question of whether or not some countries make it legal or illegal. It is a question of agreement from, and compensation to, artists or their estates.

The date is disputed. One reason I believe is that Jimmy Woode was with Ellington in 1955.

I imagine that there must be good programs now that can pitch correct even in the case when the pitch on the tape is variable. It would be great to correct for the common variable tape drag in many private live recordings.

1 gig memory? That doesn't even qualify as a computer any more!

ditto

I would certainly buy this set, although it is true that an abundant amount of live tapes of Rivers' 70s trio float around the web. I already have more of them than I really have the time to listen to. But a Mosaic packaging would certainly keep my listening occupied for a while.

Yes, that George Coleman is a fine recording. The Tommy Flanagan is also one of his better trio dates.

RIP

A prayer for Aretha.

Yes, it was that Cologne concert of mostly Monk tunes that really grabbed me first. There is also this one recorded in Barcelona 4 years earlier. It is maybe not as consistently engaging as Cologne, but it is an excellent recording, nevertheless. As I understand, it was issued in very limited quantities on some sort of "private" label:

I first became interested in Tete after hearing tapes of a couple amazing duo concerts that he did with Bobby Hutcherson. I see them still floating around the web from time to time. It would be nice if they could get some sort of official release.

One of the reasons is "I Left My Baby," one of the greatest Basie-Pres-Rushing masterpieces that was somehow left off of the #1 Band set. The overlap is large, however, so your decision will probably depend on how much you really love this music.

A very good athlete and extremely entertaining announcer-public figure. RIP

And his music hasn't aged a day.

Although my permanent residence is in the DC area, I actually spend very little time there. Hopefully that will change soon. I like DC. For jazz and other nightlife, U st (NW) has become a rather lively scene, and is beginning to resemble the genuine sort of downtown that DC has lacked. As far as living is concerned, Silver Spring and Takoma Park are nice neighborhoods in the north that are on the less expensive side, offer quite a lot of cultural and ethnic diversity, and are about 4-5 miles straight north of U st.