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I’m sure the title is a shout out to vibes master Vince Montana. MFSB, leader of the Salsoul Orchestra, and jazz credits before that. And I could see him having involvement in every track on this, though not sold that is the case. The BFT was short and sweet. Wish it had gone on longer! 1 – No idea, and it’s certainly not jazz. But I do like it and stuck with it the whole way through. 2 – Has to be Dizzy Gillespie & Co., doesn’t it? Really enjoyable. 3 – Well, this is going to be one wide-ranging BFT! But would we expect anything else? 😊. Track is certainly well-done for what it is, but this style doesn’t do that much for me (though I appreciate the sentiment). 4 – Love it. I listen to a lot of this sort of thing, have for 45 years. Great voice. Wouldn’t mind purchasing if it’s available on CD (though it’s conceivable I have it already and am just not placing it). 5 – Loleatta Holloway & the Salsoul Orchestra, “Runaway”. Classic. 6 – Neal Hefti’s “Girl Talk”. Nice, moody version. Not gonna change the world, but can bring a smile to my face, and sometimes that’s good enough. 7 – Dramatic little interlude. Nice. 8 – Fascinating. The music piece is awesome, whatever it is. Not sure what to make of the narration, don’t know that it’s gonna work for me on repeated listenings, but it might. Thanks for getting my Monday morning off to a great start, and very much look forward to the reveals on several of these, especially #4.

As opposed to the pits of despair know as the Newark Processing Center (where shipments from Europe take weeks long vacations) and the Philadelphia Processing Center (who seem determined to hoard every CD I order for days on end). It seems bad in every major metropolitan area right now. And not just media mail. My mother sent three christmas card to our family from Florida on Dec. 15 and all three took about a month to get here. an And if changes don't occur at the top, it's gonna get even worse (slower and more expensive). Depends on your view of the charter of the USPS. Me, I see it as a government service rather than a self-sustaining business, and have no problem with paying my share of a $10 billion annual loss in order for it to run well. Pay the freaking overtime at Christmas, etc. As far as DG, I haven't ordered from there in years, just a phase of life (for me, and for the CD business/era) plus importcds is so much cheaper on so many titles (and carry a shockingly wide range, including the Euro and Japanese titles we crave). But glad they are there, and that they bring so much joy/pain to so many here.

Yes, I especially like his work on the label.

My favorite label of the decade was Nimbus West. Just about all of the L.A.-based releases were quite worthwhile. They were largely in the Horace Tapscott orbit, and have that magic.

I'm not a huge Baker guy, but this is my favorite of his. It has a magic about it (as so many of the recordings in this Onkel Po's series do). A 1979 quartet recording with pianist Phil Markowitz (who I barely was aware of), bassist Jean-Louis Rassinfosse, and drummer Charlie Rice (neither of whom I had ever heard of). Long cuts, Baker up front having a great night, and it just works beautifully.

Any further word on that Firebirds Live material ever seeing CD reissue?

Billy Harper

One of the games that used to get played with the "young lions" was to identify the role model of their playing. Vincent Herring was Cannonball Adderley-ish, Christopher Hollyday was Jackie McLean-ish, Branford Marsalis just made his Sonny Rollins-ish trio album, etc. Not exactly a forward-thinking approach.

I think the question with the set was quantity rather than quality. That was well before the box set era we have lived in the past 30 years.

I thought "Restoration Ruin", "In the Light", "Luminescence", and "Hymns/Spheres" had already accomplished that...

Me too.

I do like the band plenty (though not sold on Merritt on the electric bass) plus it was the first jazz album I ever bought in 1972, so holds plenty of appeal on those criterea. Good to hear that the sound quality is so much better and that the alternates are of high caliber. How much do the performances of a given tune differ from each other?

I loved the first few Columbia Mahavishnu Orchestra albums ("The Inner Mounting Flame" was a game changer for me, and "Birds of Fire" is awesome), and some of the Soft Machine albums, including "Bundles" with Holdsworth, as well as Soft Machine Third and Soft Machine Fourth with Mike Ratledge and Elton Dean. I like most of the 70's electric RTF albums plenty (not a fan of "No Mystery" except the title track) including the "Stanley Clarke" album, from the same template, but will take some of these other ones over them in a heartbeat. Weather Report was always more hit and miss for me, though I found plenty to like on their first 4-5 albums. I do love the first two, Airto/Flora/Farrell RTF's, and the Stanley Clarke "Children of Forever" album, but those are a whole different thing.

By far my favorite Ricky Ford album (the only one I have kept by him):

KYW in Philly is pure news/weather/sports/traffic, no talk show anything. And they do a great job, and tight as described by Jim.

GREAT story!

I don't remember him ever mentioning Scientology onstage any of the (3) times I saw him live. Does anybody?

Add this to my previous list:

That Corea/DiMeola/Clarke RTF group must have been hell for White then. I know a LOT about churches, and I've learned to avoid any church where the focus is on a personality. Glad to talk to anyone about this offline.

It's still very difficult in Pennsylvania. I'm 66 and can't get an appt. despite being eligible in two counties (Montgomery where I live, Chester where I work). My wife got her second Pfizer shot yesterday at HUP, where she works. She sees patients, so they rightly took care of her need. Montgomery county is stating 6-12 week wait to even fulfill 1A. Not good.