John L

There may not exist a completely convincing case that the blues originated in Mississippi, but I have not seen a convincing case to the contrary either. How are you so sure that this is a myth? The project sounds exciting. I recall that we had a discussion a while back on related issues. When we talk about the origins of the blues, it is important to define exactly what is meant by "blues." Some of the written transcriptions and descriptions that we have of 19th century black work songs from Mississippi seem to me to resemble very much the blues, even though the 12 bar form is absent.

To answer my own question: Track Listing Best Wishes (Sonny Rollins) Sonny Rollins, tenor saxophone; Clifton Anderson, trombone; Mark Soskin, piano; Bobby Broom, guitar; Jerome Harris, electric bass; Al Foster, drums. Recorded at Kosei Nenkin Hall, Tokyo, Japan; May 25, 1986 More Than You Know Sonny Rollins, tenor saxophone, Clifton Anderson, trombone; Bobby Broom, guitar; Bob Cranshaw, bass; Victor Lewis, drums; Kimati Dinizulu, percussion. Recorded at La Halle aux Grains, Toulouse, France; May 15, 2006 Blossom (Rollins) Sonny Rollins, tenor saxophone; Mark Soskin, piano; Jerome Harris, electric bass; Al Foster, drums. Recorded at Umea (Sweden) Jazz Festival; October 25, 1980 Easy Living Sonny Rollins, tenor saxophone; Mark Soskin, piano; Jerome Harris, electric bass; Al Foster, drums. Recorded at Congress Hall, Warsaw (Poland) Jazz Jamboree; October 23, 1980 Tenor Madness (Rollins) Sonny Rollins, tenor saxophone; Clifton Anderson, trombone; Stephen Scott, piano; Bob Cranshaw, bass; Perry Wilson, drums; Victor See-Yuen, percussion Recorded at Pantheon Tama, Tama City, Japan; June 8, 2000 Nice Lady (Rollins) Sonny Rollins, tenor saxophone; Clifton Anderson, trombone; Bobby Broom, guitar; Bob Cranshaw, bass; Steve Jordan, drums; Kimati Dinizulu, percussion. Recorded at Royal Theatre, Victoria, B.C. Canada; June 24, 2007 Some Enchanted Evening Sonny Rollins, tenor saxophone; Christian McBride, bass; Roy Haynes, drums. Recorded at Carnegie Hall, New York City, September 18, 2007

Yes, that information does not come from iTunes, but the CDDB database. Anybody can enter information into that database.

Studs is an American icon. RIP

Is there any link for discographical information on this one (i.e. band members)?

Thanks for the responses.

I saw this photo for sale on ebay. I don't recall ever seeing it before. Are others familiar with it?

Yes, George Freeman is fantastic. So is the other more famous George (Benson). I still love his earlier records.

Thanks, Allen. The trio recordings from the 50s are what I usually reach for as well.

What do you consider to be his best work, Allen?

Atlantic West Coast, although not very new anymore.

I imagine that Hank was probably still playing at the time because he needed the money. He ended up in poverty.

I wish that Obi would strip on my Japanese records.

I like the Atco Sessions quite a bit. There was a nice CD compilation circulating a while back. Her Mercury Sessions also have their moments, although the production is a bit too slick for my taste.

Sad news. I like Dee Dee quite a bit. RIP

I receive e-mails like this all the time. They are scams that are trying to get your personal information for some purpose.

Maybe you should get in touch with Mosaic. That is what I did. They got it to me just in time before I left the country. Thanks, Mosaic! Heffley certainly gives it a rave review in the liner notes. In fact, he argues that it is the "tour de force" of the entire collection. In general, one gets the impression from Heffley that he considers Braxton the classical composer to be even more important than Braxton the jazz artist. This is the first time that I have ever heard "For Four Orchestras," and wasn't grabbed by it on first listen. Then again, this is not the kind of music that usually rewards just a first listen. Getting this music on 8 discs required a bit of suboptimal programming. The albums and sessions are typically broken up over several discs, and the chronology is also broken. Given the extreme diversity of the music, this leads to very abrupt changes over the course of a disc. Thank God for iTunes, which allows you to program the music by sessions and albums. That is the way that I am going to be listening to this set.

You can hear the Four Tops when they were still singing jazz on this excellent album:

It is understandable why the Four Tops are strongly associated with Motown, but a lot of the best Levi Stubbs and the Four Tops comes from the post-Motown period. They made a number of very fine records for ABC, followed by two brilliant ones for Casablanca.

Levi is reunited now with Lawrence and OB. He doesn't need the Temps.

Damn! Levi had a great voice. I met him a few times as well. He was a fine indiivual. RIP

When David Murray formed his Coltrane Octet, he sometimes introduced James Spaulding as "from the Night of the Cookers." I have never had strong feelings about Night of the Cookers either way: fun to listen to, but nothing major. Since it does not usually receive very high ratings, I would hestiate to call it overrated.

Yea, I've got no shipping notice and I am leaving the country for 3 months early next week. I might have to wait for the New Year.

Unity does set the bar pretty high. But a few other excellent Woody Shaw albums can be added to those mentioned by Holy Ghost: Woody III, the Woody Shaw Concert Ensemble at the Berliner Jazz Stage, In My Own Sweet Way, Master of the Art, Little Red's Fantasy. Whether or not they reach the level of Unity is a matter of debate, but they are sure are damn good (IMO).