felser

I love the Elvin Blue Notes (except for the last couple, which I still enjoy), but from memory, the Enja and Especially the Honeydews had excessive drum solos on them. If 20 minute cuts with 15 minute drum solos is your idea of great music, go for it. Otherwise, stick with the Blue Notes. Ironically, the Live at the Lighthouse stuff is great.

If it was Dexter or Griff doin' the 20 minute "Cherokee", with, say, Kenny Drew, NHOP, and Tootie Heath, that would count as a good time to me. But I agree, not many players keep it interesting for that long. Still not sure what Chewy's tryin' to say here, though. I guess he's like a good rhythm section, allowing us each a lot of different directions to go on this tune, er, thread.

Chuck, you're showing your age here!

My very favorite Beatles tune of all (I liked them best pre-Rubber Soul) is "There's a Place", which is one of the least known of their early cuts (at least in the USA). It was on the 'Introducing The Beatles' album on Vee-Jay, but deleted from the track lineup when that album was reissued the next year as 'The Early Beatles' on Capitol. Also, the Flamin' Groovies did a spectacular cover of "There's a Place", somehow capturing not just the sound, but the magic of tghe original. Beatlemania is where I first hooked into music. Born in '54, I'm right in the generation who were turned upside down by "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You". All the later stuff was just an anti-climax. To me, the Byrds took over from the Beatles as my favorite group, and then the Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Santana, etc. were what I was taken by rather than 'Sgt. Pepper', 'Abbey Road', etc.

I think Collectables also reissued some, using the TCB billings. Fresh Sound used the original, proper Warwick billings, and are the way to go. The sessions are generally worthwhile, especially 'The Third World' (originally a Curtis Fuller album, I think). and the Byrd-Adams, but TCB would change the leadership credits in order to market under the name of the most recognizable musician, regardless of whether he was leader or sideman. Hence the Byrd-Adams stuff came out on the TCB reissues under Herbie Hancock's name. The sound quality is poor, even for the era, but is quite listenable.

I also really like the UA sides, more than the Steeplechase sides, which strike me as good but not spectacular.

Saw her live in Philly a lot of years ago at the Ethical Societ (have never seen Jamal live, even though he's Philly-based and I'm a fan). My main memory is that she projected a whole lot of attitude from the bandstand.

Naah, that'd be way too easy. People just don't do it, for whatever reason.

I totally agree with your idea and rationale.

I have a bunch of extras of Poetry if anyone wants to trade for one. It's an incredible CD, and I don't say that just because I'm peddling it.

One man's opinion: If you like Rouse with Monk (I do), go for them. The Riversides with Griffin come before any of the Columbia's and almost anything else in his catalog except a couple of the Riversides with Trane and Rollins. The Town Hall is a little sloppy in places to my ears, but interesting. I'd go for the live Columbia's ahead of them, and ahead of the studio Columbia's. The live Columbia's tend to have the usual Monk material more, and the studio's have some more unusual choices, but I much prefer hearing Monk play Monk than hearing him play standards.

I'd drop "Black Heros" and "Soul", and replace them with "Capra Black" and "Hello To The Wind" on disc 1, and drop "Acid, Pot, or Pills" and replace it with "Zap! Carnivorous" on disc 2. Great concept, but you gotta get "Capra Black" and "Hello To The Wind" on there ("Message From The Nile" and "I Have a Dream" were inspired choices, too. Would also like to see "He Who Lives in Fear" on there). John Patton and Larry Young are also MIA. Of course, we could always each burn our own. I've never actually heard the Eddie Gale stuff. Can anyone describe it for me free of Dustygroove cliches (ie, avoid "righteous", "spiritual", and "groove" in the description). Thx.

If I remember, the Atlantic was sort of his commercial turn (anyone remember J-Mac's 'Monuments' disaster on RCA or whatever it was?).

That's also always been my understanding.

That's my feeling also on this. Also, the mysterious Mosaic mystique mystifies me. Why would I want to pay $150 for the Grant Green/Sonny Clark set when I can have the same music in equivalent mastering and almost as good of notes for $25? And only take up 1/10th the shelf space. $ is not unlimited for the vast majority of us (and shelf space isn't either).

Totally with you on the assessment of their studio stuff. I do like 'Fresh Cream' quite a bit, but the studio LP of 'Wheels of Fire' is their greatest work. Felix Pappalardi really did brilliant work on that with them. I even love "Pressed Rat an Warthog", where I generally can't tolerate that sort of thing in British Rock (not a fan of Ogden's Nut Gone Flakes, for instance). Their live stuff is totally self-indulgent, so is fun if I'm in the mood, tedious if I'm not. It's more of the time and place, as is 'Disraeli Gears', where 'Fresh Cream' and the studio 'WOF' disc are timeless. And I sure don't need to ever sit through the entire WOF live version of "Toad" again!

I'm with you on the Mainstream (Buddy Terry,Harold Land)/Cobblestone(Jimmy Heath, Steve Kuhn, Bobby Jones)/MPS (Sugarcane Harris, I think Hannibal Marvin Peterson if I remember correctly), but that being said, Mainstream and Cobblestone don't account for many titles. Muse is missing a lot of good stuff (man, thy released a LOT of nice stuff in the 70's), and there are still an awful lot of really Archie Shepp titles missing, as well as a lot of other interesting (if often flawed) Impulse! CD's. But what's been out is amazing. 60's/early-70's Rock is ridiculously well covered by the digital era, and that is probably even more of my collection than jazz, so that changes the ratios for me compared to you. But your point is well-made and well-received, thx.

I totally agree with that assessment. And I consider 'Disraeli Gears' and 'Mr. Fantasy', despite some brilliant moments, two of those lesser albums. Both are wildly inconsistent. Tell you what I think is the great hidden pearl of the Traffic catalog, is the live second side on 'Last Exit'. Wish they had released more of that in the CD era.

DVD just came out in USA yesterday.

Who has room on our shelves to leave gaps. More concerned with what to do with the piles which don't fit on the shelves! Amazing times we're living in, as far as 90% of everything we could possibly want has seen it's way onto CD release in the last 20 years.

...We thought they'd never end. I ordered the DVD on Monday, and am looking forward to it! Always thought the LP was actually underrated at the time, because it couldn't possibly meet the expectations put on it.

The Sunrise Orchestra CD far surpasses those! They are good, but you haven't really heard him if you haven't heard his first couple of solo albums. He was also on an Eric Kloss album on Muse, 'Essence' where he took an amazing solo on one long cut (forget the name of it). A shame that one's never come out on CD.

I think even that underrates it. I've always considered it the greatest jazz organ LP ever. Earland was my favorite, and this is his masterpiece, especially the second side with 'Aquarius' and 'More Today Than Yesterday'. If it can't make you smile, nothing can.

What the last two said.

From AMG: Chuck Nessa was an important force in documenting many of the early AACM sessions. He started the Nessa label in 1967 and soon recorded Roscoe Mitchell and Lester Bowie about the time that the Art Ensemble of Chicago was being formed. In addition, Nessa was involved as a producer in most of Delmark's more important free jazz dates of the era. Although the Nessa label was primarily avant-garde-oriented, with sets by Bobby Bradford, Hal Smith, Charles Tyler and Fred Anderson, among others, it also included sessions by such tenor saxophonists as Ben Webster, Warne Marsh, Lucky Thompson and Von Freeman. The Nessa label has been mostly inactive since the late '70s, but Chuck Nessa was involved in a 1993 Art Ensemble of Chicago box set.