Hot Ptah

It would be great if those who have this set could describe the previously unreleased cuts.

Sturgeon Eddy Road (in Wausau, Wisconsin). It's a main street, with a large public park and swimming pool on it. Tony Kubek used to live either on Sturgeon Eddy Road, or one block off it.

I wanted to say something nice about Joe Ford here. I saw Tyner with Ford more than five times in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Sometimes he was only an adequate craftsman, but a few times he took it to another level. I remember a show at the Bottom Line in New York in late August, 1979, when Ford blew the roof off of the place, and outdid George Adams, which was hard to do. (Elvin Jones was the opening act, with David Liebman one of Elvin's sidemen--those were the days). Ford also played lovely, compelling flute in almost every Tyner concert I witnessed.

McCoy's Milestone albums were very important to me when I was first getting into jazz. They satisfied my rock fan ears' need for some volume and excitement. I still think that they are very worthy jazz albums. I really love Trident, Focal Point, Supertrios, 4x4, and Echoes of a Friend. I think that Fly With The Wind, Enlightenment, The Greeting, and Passion Dance, are also excellent, I like all of the rest of them too, to varying degrees. To me, there is not a clunker in the lot.

We are at the point that any mention of jazz in a leading American news magazine is surprising.

To respond to the original topic of the post, I wonder if there is less of a readily identifiable jazz scene today, compared to past eras. While there are many worthy albums being released, and many excellent jazz musicians currently performing, live performance opportunities have decreased, steady working groups are few, and there are no major stylistic movements being thrashed out before the audience's eyes and ears. We are often left with introducing topics about specific musicians who have caught our fancy, sometimes almost by chance. The jazz online forums may have been around long enough now that virtually all jazz musicians of the past have already been discussed. When new listeners come to the board and state in a wide-eyed way that they really enjoy the playing of Coleman Hawkins, the established board members tend to refer the new listener to three old threads about Hawkins, and then the discussion ends. While the three old threads may contain information and insights that a new discussion would miss, this approach does tend to cut down on the number of current jazz discussions.

I think our host is remarkably tolerant. We're very fortunate to be able to say pretty much anything we want here, but I think it's also important to remember that we are guests. I sometimes wonder why Jim hasn't gotten fed up with some of this BS and pulled the plug, but I'm glad he hasn't because the good stuff is pretty darn good. I've enjoyed this place for several years now, I look forward to signing on each day and reading many interesting posts- there is quite an impressive cast of characters here. It's really been a great part of my life, and I would sure miss it if it went away. Agree. Thanks Jim. About jhoots' remarks, it might be true, but for a different extent IME: I mean some people here are serious experts with a long experience in the field, like Chuck, Chris or Brownie, just to name a few, other memebers are real musicians, including our host. So it might be sometimes that we, "ignorant amateur" are a bit frightened to discuss specific jazz issues. I like listen to music and specifically jazz, but my skills often stop at the point: "I like it" or "I don't like it" or even "I don't know it". So when the discussion is about some "minor" player or records, what can I say about it? I read the posts, type the name or the title in Google, if it seems interesting I consider to buy it, otherwise I pass on. Wich is my favourite Bird's solo? I can't remember all Bird's solos, nor I can analize the musical structure. I greatly appreciate the expertize of the Big Guns here, even if they can be "vitriolic". For instance before I joined the Forum , I disliked organ in jazz combos, now I love it, but if you ask me wich is the most important organ's records of the History of Jazz, well, my answer could be based only on my personal taste, admittely not a solid cornerstone for "The Definitive Organissimo's Guide To The Jazz Galaxy." There is something to the idea that the presence of the experts can be daunting. I know that I have sometimes private messaged other members with my thoughts about jazz because I did not want my ignorant ideas to be viewed by the experts on this board. On the other hand, the experts' contributions are often invaluable, and make the board the great place that it is.

Max was a play by play announcer for the Packers games on radio for many years. He was a witty, sarcastic announcer who never hesitated to point out what the Packers were doing wrong. He was very entertaining and had a loyal fan following for his announcing. Many fans would watch the games on TV but turn off the sound and play the radio in the background, to get Max's announcing of the game. He was a starting wide receiver for the Packers for many years. They never emphasized the passing game much, but he was known as a clutch receiver. He was the Packers' punter for several seasons too.

I was very surprised by Dee Dee Bridgewater live with her Mali musicians. It was quite different from her past concerts and in some ways a unique combination of types of music. It was somewhat like Yo Yo Ma's Silk Road concert but both were unique. That is one of the most surprising concerts I have heard this year.

I saw that Dee Dee Bridgewater group last weekend in Kansas City. It was great, a very memorable night of music.

I also remember Joey Bishop's late night TV show with Regis. I remember that Joey would deliberately stutter out Regis' last name when he introduced him, in an attempt at humor. Joey would say, "and here is Regis Philbin-bin-bin-bin-bin-bin" in a goofy voice. Even as a young child, I thought that was dumb. My other strong impression was that Joey would talk about "the youth of America these days" (around 1967) and how they talk about "love, love, love." Joey would say, with a voice drenched in sincerity, "how about caring? Love is fine, but should we try to be caring too? That's what these kids are missing these days--caring, with all of their love, love, love craze." Even as a young child, I could tell that Joey was not a great philosopher.

Happy Birthday, Chris! You have been an inspiration to me ever since I read your music reviews in this magazine when I was in high school: Oh wait, that was Stereo Review, not Stereo World. Well, your reviews were inspiring, in any event.

A CD of penguin sounds.

In the book "Where Are You Now, Bo Diddley?" by Edward Kiersh, there is a chapter which consists of an interview with McGuinn. He states that he was a guitarist with Bobby Darin and learned from Darin how to lead a group and handle the music business. He was then a staff songwriter in the Brill Building in New York, until a promoter approached him to form a group. The Byrds were always his group, according to McGuinn. The other musicians were his choice of collaborators or sidemen. According to McGuinn in this interview, as time went on, David Crosby wanted to be elevated to co-leader, but McGuinn saw that as an impossible way to run a band. So McGuinn fired Crosby, paid Crosby off with $50,000, which Crosby used to buy a big luxury boat, and the group went on. According to McGuinn in this interview, the Byrds were his idea, his conception, and his business responsibility from the beginning, and the other musicians were there if he wanted them to be there. On "Mr. Tambourine Man", McGuinn sings and plays guitar. All of the other musicians playing on it were Los Angeles studio pros. None of the other Byrds played on the single. The Kiersh book is quite interesting. It is a series of interviews with many late 1960s and early 1970s rock stars, conducted in the 1980s, about what they are doing now that they are obscure historical figures with virtually no musical careers. Some of the aging stars had adjusted to their decline in circumstances much better than others.

Bobby Richardson Richard Burton Burton Cummings

I have "Equal Interest" with Jarman, Leroy Jenkins and Myra Melford. Each of them contributes compositions to the album. It is, for the most part, a restrained, celebral album, almost chamber music. Much of it has a dissonant sound to it. Jarman's flute playing on his "Poem Song" is very beautiful, but that is about it for conventional listening enjoyment. There are no rollicking moments on the album. I can appreciate it more than enjoy it. It is probably really a stunning masterpiece and I am just too musically uninformed to understand why.

Happy Birthday!

Not to be a wet blanket, but I have been at wedding receptions of jazz fans who had the band play semi-obscure hard bop classics, and the crowd was oblivious to the music. The crowd seemed mostly to regard those jazz songs as a break from the dancing they wanted to do, and chattered and drank throughout them without any regard to the music. I think it may be best to forget jazz at a wedding. Your expectations for how it will be received will be disappointed.

That is interesting in that I always thought that the material was disappointingly weak on the first few McGuinn solo albums in the mid-1970s. The "Roger McGuinn" album included some sideman blowing by Charles Lloyd, but the material was not good enough to make that as interesting as it would have been if a jazz saxophonist had been included on "Eight Miles High" for example.

Les Moss Mayo Smith Chuck Dressen

????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? I was wondering if anyone was ever gonna call me out for that.... I agree with you. I like Notorious Byrd Brothers better than anything Brian Wilson put together.

Well, it cost me a quarter, but I got my answer: I want my money back. I know that I am in a distinct minority, but I like the 1973 reunion album. It is not a Byrds album. It is more of an "acoustic guitar/singer-songwriter" album of that era. For that, it is no worse than many albums in that genre from that period. It was common for two or more folksy singer songwriters to join together and record an album at that time, with varying results. To me, it is not a disaster or unlistenable. Someone expecting to hear what "Younger Than Yesterday" would have sounded like if Gene Clark was still in the band would be disappointed, as they did not even try to match the sound of the 1960s Byrds.

See McGuinn live some time if you get a chance. At least as of about three years ago, he was still a monster on 12 string. After thinking I'd go to the grave without ever seeing him live, I saw him three times since Y2K. Ends his shows (which are solo and very eclectic) with a long long 'Eight Miles High'. He was a victim of the industry in the 70's, then basically just checked out to live his life and sustain his marriage. Gotta respect that. He is also very dedicated to preserving folk music. Gotta respect that, too, I guess, but the Folk Den stuff is not an easy listen when you know the other things he could be doing. BTW, he answers emails - I've emailed him twice, received answers both times. That's very good to know. I saw McGuinn on the Tonight Show within the last few years of its existence, and he played some excellent guitar. It was a very loud performance, I remember, a hard rock song. After it, Johnny Carson did not invite him over to the couch. He instead yelled out, "Roger! Rog! Good stuff, Rog!"

It just goes to show how listeners can differ widely in their reactions. The Gene Clark contributions to the early Byrds albums have always left me cold. I have never understood the excitement about him. To me, it is a shame that McGuinn could not sustain the creativity, and skill at playing guitar, evidenced on the albums from 5D through Notorious Byrd Brothers. I realize that many rock stars of that time had a fairly short career peak and then a decline into mediocrity or worse. But McGuinn seemed to have more potential talent and guitar playing ability than many.

Willie Williams Dick Richards Glen Glenn