Hot Ptah

PM sent.

PM sent.

Well, if that was the standard, virtually no one would post on any online site at all.

I have this music on a CD, "Harry James and his Orchestra and the Boogie Woogie Trio 1937-39", on the Affinity label.

No credit on the LP other than Producer: John Hammond And from what I have been reading on Christiern's blog, that may not even be accurate!

Happy birthday! and thanks for your amazing blog.

Yes, I own it and generally I like it. The performance is very good. I must say that I find some of the newer Ducal compostions on it not quite as substantial as his earlier works (eg. The Great Paris Concert from '63, probably my favorite live performance by the Ellington band). I agree. It was a good concert (I wish I had been there!), but it's not among my favorite Ellington albums. The version of "Rockin' in Rhythm" is very hot, but not quite as good as the Paris version. Part of the difference, to my ears, is that Rufus Jones wasn't as good a drummer as Sam Woodyard. I agree that Rufus Jones is not as good as Woodyard. Still, to me there is a soulfulness to many of the performances on "70th Birthday Concert" that really appeals to me--including Harold Ashby's solo on "B.P.", the ensemble work on "Things Ain't What They Used to Be", Johnny Hodges' solo on "Black Butterfly", Norris Turney's flute playing on "Fife" (although the song itself is rather slight), just to name a few.

I could probably get you a Xeroxed copy of the article as it originally appeared in the magazine, but I don't have any DBs from that year myself. PM sent.

Never No Lament is for me one of Duke's really great songs. I did not comment because it is like commenting on Mood Indigo--what more could I say about it? The Blanton/Webster version cannot be beat, for me--it is a Hall of Fame recording. I agree that the solo piano version of "Lotus Blossom" at the end of the album is truly memorable.

This is a great Blindfold Test. I have that Sun Ra album. I purchased that Impulse vinyl issue at Wazoo Records in Ann Arbor within a few days of arriving in that city in 1978. However, I could not remember which album it was, when I heard it on this BFT. Maybe I have too many Sun Ra albums! NO!!! How could anyone have too many? It is not that unusual to have a Sun Ra cut on back to back BFT tests--he seems to come up often on these tests. I think that there have been few BFTs with John Kirby, however. You totally stumped me with many of the cuts, and I am grateful to have been exposed to them. I want to get the Buddy Montgomery and Lucky Thompson albums for sure. I like the inclusion of the private tape--how else would we ever hear it, and it is an exciting performance.

There is an article about a family friend in a spring, 1952, issue of Down Beat. I have never been able to find a copy. Does anyone have a set of Down Beats from 1952?

Jam-A-Ditty is the opening cut on the Prestige two-fer reissue from the 1970s, "The Golden Duke". I always thought it was a compelling opener, rather exciting. No one commented on my previous post: Going back to "Rockin' In Rhythm", I find the version which opens the "70th Birthday Concert" album to be quite exciting. That album is a favorite of mine in general. Has anyone else heard "70th Birthday Concert", and if so, what are your opinions?

Going back to "Rockin' In Rhythm", I find the version which opens the "70th Birthday Concert" album to be quite exciting. That album is a favorite of mine in general. Earlier Lacy played Johnny Come Lately with Cecil Taylor at Newport. When I saw Lacy live in duet with Danilo Perez, he played "Morning Glory", with much feeling. Can't say that I see any sense in anybody else trying to play this one, not really, not as long as that recording can be heard. Except that Stan Getz did a great version on his 1987 live album "Anniversary" (with Kenny Barron).

That's OK, Al. The guess you made was very specific and right on the money.

The world became more dull when Lester Bowie passed away. He had a unique sound, style and approach to music, as opposed to the mere technicians who couldn't approach his creativity. Jazz took a big hit when he died.

Duke Ellington Johnny Hodges Lester Bowie

Chu Berry Bessie Smith Joe Zawinul

I have their "Open Letter" album--is this the one which is "not quite so engaging"?

This will be corrected in a matter of days - Historically Speaking is on its way to me from an Amazon vendor. I will be interested in your reactions to this album. I think that most people do not think much of the remake of "Koko". I find the remakes of the 1920s pieces interesting, as they tend to be stripped down in their arrangements, and slower. They are not substitutes for the earlier recordings, but are different approaches to them. There is some fine Johnny Hodges soloing on "Historically Speaking".

Is this what the cover looks like?

The Bethlehem version from the mid-1950s is a favorite of mine. This is on one of the very first Duke Ellington albums I ever heard, when I was getting into jazz in the 1970s. I bought it because I was taking a jazz history class from Richard Davis at the University of Wisconsin and he mentioned in class that his favorite versions of some of the Ellington songs originally recorded in the 1920s are on this album. It's amazing to me that with all of the versions that Jeff has listed, that this is the one he has not heard! At the time that I bought this album, I had less than 50 jazz albums.