Stefan Wood

I'm reading the John Szwed bio of Miles Davis, and he mentions a lost session that featured his then wife Betty Mabry, Larry Young, John McLaughlin, Joe Zawinul, Mitch Mitchell, and Harvey Brooks. There were only three tracks recorded. 1969 session. Anyone know about this? (or even heard it??)

Hey, I love jazz, but I love funk and soul just as much. There has been a number of reissues that have come out this year that I wanted to share with you guys. Most of them can be bought at Dusty Groove or www.cduniverse.com . Mickey and the Soul Generation - Iron Leg (2 cds reissue, 1 of all their tunes, the 2nd a live date done in the early 70's) Funk reissue of the year, yet another amazing Texas funk band that took that Meters sound and pounded it into the ground. They were as tight as any band of that time -- their most well known tunes are the title track and "Football." They've been staples of a number of various funk compilations, but all the tracks here sound great, remastered and all. Most of them are instrumentals, though as the timeline goes further into the 70's, there is a vocal track or two. The live session on the second cd has a hollow sound (probably recorded by someone in the audience), but it shows a much more firey sound. I'm surprised these guys didn't get national attention. Well they have now! Excellent liner notes, as the compiler actually tracked down all the band members and got them together for a lunch, where they talk about their pride in their music and an anger that nothing ever came of it in terms of a career. Howard Tate - Rediscovered So a year or so ago Solomon Burke had his big comeback. This year it is the great Howard Tate, known only to diehard soul music lovers. If you can find the Verve reissue The Legendary Sessions that came out in the mid 90's, BUY IT. The man has a voice like no other, uplifting and sweet, yet can get down with the blues and even a funky track or two. Ain't Nobody Home and Lokk at Granny Run Run have been covered and sampled by artists like BB King, and Stop was covered by Jimi Hendrix. Here on this BMG cd that came out this past week, he is reunited with his original producer Jerry Ragovoy, and puts forth an excellent soul and blues cd. At worst, a couple of tracks sound uninspired, but it has to do with the material. Tate's voice sounds as good as ever, and on most of the tracks it sounds like vintage soul, as in Mama was Right, and Don't Compromise Yourself, and Organic Love. A GREAT cover of Prince's Kiss. The band plays in the 60's Memphis deep soul tradition, with the horns and bluesy piano. Great release. James Brown - Motherlode & In a Jungle Groove remasters I was wondering why these were reissued, especially since most of In a Jungle Groove came out as Funk Power, which itself was a redo of JB's Sex Machine, without the overdub audience. No matter, since the sound on these are better than all the other Polygram reissues of the 90's. These are party mixes, with Motherlode containing a lot of unissued tracks (at the time), and In a Jungle Groove being the reference point for all the samples that were happening in the 80's when this was first issued. Not much to add here, except that these do have bonus tracks not on the other cds (for JB completists only). Owwww! Temptations - Psychedelic Soul Okay, I had these albums and made a mix of exactly the same material, but my lps were beat, so when I saw this double cd set, I knew I had to buy it. All I can say is this is the Temptations I hold dear, the Funk Brothers finest hours, all long tracks of classic 60's and 70's funk. Ball of Confusion, Smiling Faces Sometimes, Cloud Nine, Psychedelic Shack, the great great track Runaway Child Running Wild, I Can't Get Next to You -- oh just buy the damn thing! It also sounds fantastic. Kelly Brothers - Sanctified Southern Soul I bought this excello records cd at Dusty Groove for 6.99, I highly recommend this to anyone who loves Otis Redding, James Carr, etc. etc. This is an amazing compilation (done in 1996 by AVI) of deep southern soul by a five brother vocal group who could and should have been on Atlantic with all the other superstars. But they weren't and fell into obscurity. Really, just comnine Otis and Sam & Dave and this is what they sound like. The back up band smokes!!

Nice article, Alexander. But Jazz Times has claimed it wasn't that article that was grounds for the firing; it was the "conflict of interest" from a previous article that involved (or tried to involve) Wynton Marselis. Sure, it could be their excuse.

I LOVE their version of the Una Mas cover...... It seems to apply to the cds that they have listed. I hope I'm wrong.

A few years ago I used to find a lot of nice cds through gemm -- but that was before half.com, Dusty Groove, Planet Music, and a bunch of other places that has better competitive pricing. No bargains anymore....

I haven't heard that these were remastered at all. Same thing as when 32 jazz put them out.

Except I go blind trying to read the fine print. It's legible, but not by any means ideal.

Ditto. Firestorm is excellent, in my opinion.

So would I, JSngry. I have 10 lps from that label, and they are all amazing 50's Cuban music. Actually, I was thinking about it and I will have to check my cds. Panart has a cd called Cuban Jam Session, but the Caneys I thought were of different sessions. Well, yeah, because of the New York jams in the 60's, and I think PanArt was a Cuban based label (or were they stationed in Miami?), and they vanished when Castro came around. Hmmmm.........

July 1 listening to: Miles Davis - Live at the Blackhawk box Lou Reed - Anthology 2 cd set on RCA Trojan UK hits box set Pepper Adams - The Master 2 cd set on RCA import

Greg, I think it is a lowest common denominator thing. Anyways, portable and audiophile never seem to mix well....

Caney Records has a few kick ass cds of Cachao, called "Legendary Descarga Sessions" and "More Legendary Descarga Sessions." They are jams sessions from Cuba and New York in the late 50's - early 60's, and these have been some of my all time favorite latin cds. All instrumentals, and I believe the New York sessions have a few jazz musicians in the mix. Very funky and toe tapping music.

So how was it?

Buy it now before it goes for big bucks on ebay. It is a terrific set.

PD, Yes, I know about their great catalog, but until now, they never have really mined it like they are doing now for reissues. If they keep up this pace, this will be great for jazz listeners. Better price? Okay, they DID start at 18.99 at one time, but all the recent ones can be bought at stores for 11.99 (I bought mine at CDuniverse for 8.99). I think they are well priced right now. I haven't had the problems with getting the cds out of the case -- can't say why. But I'll take the packaging over the old Verve elites any day.

This is an EXCELLENT sounding cd of some great music. I was quite surprised and pleased. Go Verve!!! (who would have thunk?)

I hadn't realised that it was out. I bought the Sonny Clark one a month ago. The sound is FANTASTIC! Oh and the music, too.......

DEFINITELY the Gil Evans. Jazz at Oberlin is my father's favorite Brubeck cd -- I'll probably get it for him.

Not this one.

Fortunately, in DC, Gatton is a local legend. The only ones who don't know about him are the out of town college kids who man the chain cd shops. If you can ever find the Blue Note cd that he was on (I can't remember if it was the Manhattan Project or something else), buy it -- it is stunning!

The followup in the Jazz Times letters section makes for a clear case of why they let Crouch go. I'm surprised they kept him on for so long, given his lack of meeting deadlines and such. There's no excuse for not being professional, no matter who you are. Missing deadlines consistently isn't accepted at any level, from school to the business world. And for Crouch to fire back the way he has -- unacceptable.

I have the Costanza lp. Cheezy cover, but the music is very good. I would definitely go for the Willie Bobo. One of my favorite latin players before the disco thing kicked in. The Hutcherson is for completists, but there are moments. Very latin/salsa oriented, so don't expect anything like his classic 60's period. I'm still waiting for a Jazz Crusaders box (Select or otherwise).

Anthony Ortega. Everything this man did as a leader has been teriffic. It's hard to find those Fresh Sound reissues, though........ Scattered Clouds on Hat Art (or is it Hatology? I can't remember) is highly recommended.

I bought the Billy Mitchell, Sonny Stitt and Cannonball. Has anyone noticed that these have been remastered by the guys over at Sundazed? That might explain the increase (and cheap price) of the Verve reissues. Maybe they are following in Fantasy's footsteps.......

I miss nathan, especially with his reviews of all the experimental and unusual jazz that he seems to know so much about. I know he moved to NY, but that was a while ago. Michael H was a good, intelligent voice on the board but I know he left long before the BNBB demise because he was so disgusted by the general tone of the board. I still am in touch with him.