The Magnificent Goldberg

Oliver Winters Oliver Oliver de Coque

Well, stap me vitals! I never got your theme, Dan. Well, I didn't know you'd got a theme in the first place, being late. If I'd cottoned on, I might have got a few more. Like the Lonnie Smith/Alvin Queen/Mel Sparks, which I've got. Damn, those old bebop masterpies all sound alike! MG

Concentrate now! I’m sure I can get some more of these musicians, rather than just enjoying the music. Eh, what am I saying? 1 Ah, listening on earphones, I can hear that there’s a guitarist in this now. The pianist is too good to be Ray Bryant, I think. I’m thinking of Oscar Peterson now, but I’ve heard very little of him. But he’s truly kicking ass out of this. 2 I just don’t recognise this singer at all. Fantastic band though! I’d guess New Orleans guys. 3 This altoist has all the hard sound of Earl Bostic, but a lot of his solo – the early parts - is much tenderer than I’ve ever heard Bostic play. The quotes are very Bosticky though. I’d LIKE it to be Bostic, but I don’t think it is. 4 Still can’t think of the title of this tune. I think the technology here is post seventies, so it’s a recent kinda guitarist, even though the organist sounds pretty old school. I’m still stumped here, in every way. The tenor man’s doing some nice Gator-type stuff. 5 Still no ideas about this. 6 It’s Sweets & Earl Hines!!!!! Well, I think so… 7 Oh, I see! It’s another version of ‘What did I do to be so black & blue”. There’s a certain wildness in the last trumpet chorus before the piano solo that puts me in mind of Roy Eldridge. And a certain hesitancy about trumpet player #2 that DOESN’T put me in mind of Louis Armstrong. But it all SOUNDS like the Armstrong All-stars. 8 Well, is it even ‘Cool blues’? Well, just played Lou Donaldson’s version of that tune and it ain’t this. So it’s some other bebop masterpiece. It does sound like Don Patterson, but I can’t track down a bebop masterpiece played by him in a trio setting that’s the right length. So maybe it’s Lou Bennett? With that French guitarist, whatshisname… Rene Thomas. 10 Thinking about this one again, there’s one Gene Harris album on Concord with Jack McDuff that I haven’t got. Well, it’s not from ‘Alley cats’ – another idea down the toilet… I reckon my first guess was better. 11 Second listen makes me think this isn’t one of the old hands but someone newish trying to emulate them. 12 Oh, I think I’ve got this now; the tune’s ‘Blues everywhere’, a Shirley Scott tune, and it’s from the Stash issue of the Grey/Forrest live at Rick’s session (despite it not sounding live; I think the applause has been cut off.) 14 I’ve listened to hundreds of tracks, trying to track this down but I just can’t find it. Aha! Sudden thought that it ain’t as old as I’ve been looking for it. Went to make a cuppa and thought, ‘it sounds like an Eddie Chamblee line – maybe it’s from his Black & Blue stuff.’ And it is! It’s ‘Gone’ from ‘Blowin’ in Paris’ CD. Not sure what the original issue on LP was called. Phew! 16 Helen Humes is my latest thought on this one; late forties/early fifties. Honestly, I'd prefer it if it was one of Fluffy Hunter's rude recordings. No new ideas about the rest. Three versions of 'Black and Blue' has me foxed. But it's a really nice BFT. Wham Bam, thank you Dan! Now I'll look at what everyone else has said. MG

Solomon Burke The Drifters Them

George Kennedy Gorgeous George Pretty Boy Floyd

I meant to say, May Day, not April Fools' Day. Cretin. MG

The Disappointment of Parsley - Dave Rempis (Not Two) Parsley Is ghastly. Ogden Nash MG

What I immediately thought of when I saw the thread title was the Elvis Presley trio's recordings for Sun, with Presley on rhythm guitar, Scotty Moore lead guitar and Bill Black on bass. To think that some of the most classic Rock & Roll recordings were made without a drummer... And they DID rock! MG

The Dealer The Wheeler Teddy Edwards

Ah, I thought first meditations meant the first edition of 'Meditations'. You should always get someone who knows something about the subject to do this sort of stuff MG

A little while back, in the three or four sixties favourites thread, there was some conversation about the length of time between the recording of jazz albums and their release. I volunteered to do a bit of research on the 125 identifiable albums mentioned in the thread. Well, Ive done it. I used the Lord discography to identify recording dates, and to reject those that were dug out of the archives, or first issued on European labels, which got the 125 down to 107. For albums recorded at different dates, I used the last date. Then I used Schwann catalogues from July 1967, April 1969 and July 1981 (not terribly useful even for Bitches brew), to identify the release dates. Schwann only gave release dates if the notification to them of release included a track listing Prestige seems to have been particularly bad at providing track listings, so relatively few of that companys albums are included also many Prestige albums on the thread were on NJ, a budget label, included in a separate Schwann publication. These dates are, therefore, references to the catalogue edition in which the track listings can be found, not actual release dates, but good enough, I think. In addition, some albums had clearly been released and deleted by the 1967 or 1981 editions I have. All of this, in the end, brought the list down to 68 albums. Ive tried to organise this list so you can see whats going on. From the left is the number of months between recording and issue; the label; and the artist & title. Delay Label Album 6 Atlantic Ornette Coleman - The Shape of Jazz To Come 9 Atlantic Ornette Coleman, This Is Our Music 14 Atlantic Ornette Coleman - Ornette! 2 Blue Note Freddie Redd Music from The Connection' 4 Blue Note Stanley Turrentine and The Three Sounds, Blue Hour 4 Blue Note Horace Silver - Song For my Father 4 Blue Note Ornette Coleman Trio: Golden Circle Vol. 1 5 Blue Note Sam Rivers - Fuchsia Swing Song 5 Blue Note Horace Silver - Cape Verdean Blues 6 Blue Note Andrew Hill - Black fire 6 Blue Note Wayne Shorter - Night Dreamer 7 Blue Note Hank Mobley, Soul Station 7 Blue Note The Three Sounds, Moods 7 Blue Note Dexter Gordon - Our Man in Paris 7 Blue Note Eric Dolphy - Out to lunch 7 Blue Note Herbie Hancock - Empyrean Isles 7 Blue Note Don Cherry - Complete Communion 8 Blue Note Sonny Clark - Leapin' and Lopin' 9 Blue Note Hank Mobley - Roll Call 10 Blue Note Jackie McLean - Jackie's Bag 10 Blue Note Donald Byrd - At The Half Note Café Vols. 1 & 2 12 Blue Note Hank Mobley: Workout 12 Blue Note Herbie Hancock - Maiden Voyage 14 Blue Note Jackie McLean "destination out" 14 Blue Note Andrew Hill - Point of Departure 20 Blue Note Jimmy Smith - Midnight special 23 Blue Note Wayne Shorter - Adam's Apple 10 Cadet Illinois Jacquet - Go power 5 Columbia (A) Miles Davis - Filles De Kilimanjaro 6 Columbia (A) Thelonious Monk: Criss Cross 6 Columbia (A) Miles Davis - Miles smiles 6 Columbia (A) Miles Davis - Sorceror 9 Columbia (A) Miles Davis - E.S.P 9 Columbia (A) Miles Davis - Nefertiti 2 Contemporary Hampton Hawes - The Green Leaves of Summer 4 Contemporary Teddy Edwards / Howard McGhee - Together Again 6 Contemporary Vince Guaraldi - Jazz Impressions Of Black Orpheus 3 Delmark Roscoe Mitchell Sound 11 ESP Albert Ayler - Spirits Rejoice 35 ESP Ornette Coleman "Town Hall 1962" 2 Impulse Archie Shepp - Four for Trane 2 Impulse Sonny Rollins - On Impulse 3 Impulse Gil Evans -- Out of the Cool 3 Impulse John Coltrane "Coltrane" 3 Impulse John Coltrane, Crescent 3 Impulse John Coltrane - A love supreme 4 Impulse John Coltrane - Plays Chim Chim.... 5 Impulse John Coltrane "Africa Brass" 5 Impulse Benny Carter: Further Definitions 5 Impulse John Coltrane -- Live at the Village Vanguard 5 Impulse John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman 6 Impulse Oliver Nelson: Blues and the Abstract Truth 9 Impulse Sonny Rollins: Alfie 11 Impulse J J Johnson - Proof positive 13 Impulse John Coltrane: First Meditations 3 Mercury Sarah Vaughan - Sassy Swings The Tivoli 4 Nessa Roscoe Mitchell Congliptious 4 Pacific Jazz Roy Haynes - People 7 Prestige Lucky Thompson------Lucky Strikes 7 Prestige Richard "Groove" Holmes - Soul Message 7 RCA Victor Sonny Rollins - Our Man in Jazz 8 RCA Victor Paul Desmond - Bossa Antigua 18 Savoy Paul Bley - Footloose ! 12 Smash James Brown - Grits & soul 4 Solid State Thad Jones, Mel Lewis and the Jazz Orchestra - Presenting 3 Verve Stan Getz - Jazz Samba 5 Verve Gerry Mulligan Concert Jazz Band, Live at the Village Vanguard 7 Verve Wynton Kelly: Smokin' at the Half Note (Hope this stays as reasonable as it looks now ) One thing that's very clear from the list is that managing a record company is pretty much like managing any other piece of business; you have to balance the available resources and their cost against the likely rewards to their use and determine priorities accordingly. The amount of other material by an artist awaiting issue or still selling very well indeed will be very pertinent to this issue. Evidently, all the firms in the list had resources to enable them to get albums out quickly if they wanted to. Blue Notes two months for Freddie Redds Connection was obviously caused by the need to keep up with the theatre opening. And you can hear the cash registers tinkling for Blue hour and Song for my father; and also for the Coleman set, the first time BN had got their hands on his material. Sam Rivers, Andrew Hills and Wayne Shorters first releases were done pretty quickly, too. You can see that principle working even on the two Chuck Nessa productions of Roscoe Mitchell. In Chucks cases, there was no competing material bidding for resources. And its very clear at Impulse. The first albums by Shepp and Rollins were pushed out quickly. Gil Evans was hot in 1961, as a result of his collaborations with Miles Davis. And Trane was always commercially successful. The sames true for Hamp Hawes Green leaves; his first recording after getting out of prison. At the other end of the scale, Jimmy Smith had loads of material in the can when he recorded Back at the Chicken Shack and Midnight special (I used the latter as it was issued first (and I dont anyway have an issue date for Chicken Shack)). Was Midnight special, Smiths first hit LP, so obviously more of a hit than House party, The sermon or Home cookin? I hardly think so. Im less familiar with Wayne Shorter, but he, too, had a lot of material out, which I suspect explains the delay for Adams apple. One of the odd men out is Ornettes Town Hall concert which I understand Ornette was trying to flog to one company or other for a long time before ESP took it on. The other is James Browns Grits and soul. You wouldnt expect that album to have been sat on for a year. But it was experimental; his first jazz album. It also needed considerable editing, not because it was bad I have the original length tracks and theyre as good as the cut down versions. I suspect the editing gave rise to much argument between Brown and Mercury. There was, at about the same time I think, the legal wrangle between King and Mercury over Browns contract. So perhaps the issue of the LP had to await the outcome of two sets of wrangles. The labels heavily involved in the popular music markets (Atlantic, Cadet and the majors) look as if they had much more competing material than the indies not a notion to cause anyone brain damage. So thats it; no general rule; no norm; just the balancing of resources and benefits. MG

Well, here we go, in a bit of a hurry, because my missus will be back in an hour or so… 1 First thought was that this pianist has to be Ray Bryant; the left hand is so positive and the funkiness of the right, with its touches of Avery Parrish… well. But Bryant is a fairly straight player, but this guy is throwing in a good bit of strange stuff. For the same reason, I’m not going to guess Gene Harris. Or even Junior Mance. But he’s bloody great! The further I get into this cut, the more I think that it actually MAY be Ray Bryant. I’ve not got any of his recordings after ‘All blues’, which was 1978. But I’ve read that his style continued to develop, so maybe… 2 Oh a nice shuffle on ‘Choo Choo Ch’boogie’. I think I OUGHT to know the tenor player but… need more listening. 3 ‘Take the A train’ played by someone who sounds more like Earl Bostic than John Coltrane (does). 4 Can’t think of the title of this tune I know well. The guitarist has a quite modern sound but the organist… pre-Wild Bill Davis even. Well, perhaps not, but the only guy I’ve heard with something like this sound is Jordin Fordin. Well, so it could be someone playing an organ that ain’t a B3. Fuck! Who’s that tenor player?!!! All the power (but not the finesse) of Illinois Jacquet. 5 ‘Do nowt ‘till you hear from me’ by a trombonist who MIGHT be Al Grey. And is that Jaws on tenor, playing nice and subdued? And that pianist from LA who often played organ. (And it could be him on #4.) Oh yes, Art Hillery. Don’t think it’s Jaws. Or Al Grey… unless he’s a sideman. 6 ‘Mean to me’ trumpet led with a nutty pianist behind. Did Monk ever record with Cootie? Or Earl Hines with Buck Clayton? Well, whoever, I want to get #6 – and #5, #4, #3, #2 and #1. This is a damn fine programme Dan! One more cut then I’ll be walking the dog. 7 This sounds like Mrs Armstrong’s little boy. Another tune I know so well but can’t put a title to. Is this trumpet player #2 after the piano solo? Yes, two trumpet players. 8 ‘Cool blues’? By Jim Hall, or Barney Kessel or one of those LA guitarists? But with an organist? And an organist with several chops. Don Patterson, even. But not any Don Patterson album I’ve ever come across. Well, I give up. Not listening to nearly enough jazz to make sensible stabs at this. 9 Oh, here’s one I have. ‘Body and soul’ by Gator Tail. LURRRVELY! Off we go wiv da dawg. Got soaked. So did he. 10 ‘There will never be another ewe’ played by groovy organist. And a great tenor player. And a pianist. Now a electronic bass solo. I reckon the pianist and organist are one and the same. And, since I don’t know this recording, I’m going to guess that it’s one of those white tenor players that records a lot for Concord. Scott something. 11 ‘Sugar’. Nice tenor player. All those tasteful growls put me in mind of Buddy Tate or Percy France. 12 Another well known tune I nearly recognise. I’d say that IS Al Grey on trombone. And Jimmy Forrest on tenor. 13 ‘Until the real thing comes along’ by another tenorist I almost recognise. I think I’ve got this recording, because I recognise some of the quotes. But damn me if I can finger it. Oh well, I’m damned; it’s Candy Johnson, the barely known ex-Doggett sax man, who later made a couple of albums 14 Another one I’ve got! But I don’t know what it is! 15 ‘What did I do to be so black and blue’. So long as a musician can play reasonably well, he can make something wonderful out of this song. And Mrs Armstrong’s lad can play reasonably well; his Okeh recording is wonderful indeed. But It’s not Louis, but someone taking him off very well. 16 Margie Day! Wow! No, Fluffy Hunter. Oh, I don’t know. 17 ‘Red top’ played by an alto player. Bet it’s Arthur Blythe. 18 Another I think I’ve got – ‘Comin’ home fast baby’ – but under a different title. Sounds like Jaws and Shirley as, almost, ever with a bass player. 19 ‘What did I do to be so black and blue’ again. I nearly recognise the singer. I don’t have too many albums by male jazz singers and I don’t think this is someone I’ve got, but someone I’ve heard a bit… Well. A GREAT ride, Dan! Nearly every track a winner for me. Thanks very much for taking the trouble with me. I’m not going to look at the discussion thread, as I want another listen on Saturday. MG

A call to arms for BFT122, starting on April Fools Day A short (67 mins) bunch of nice things I like, some of which you won't have heard before. No theme, just some stuff I like. Please let me know if you would prefer a CD or DL. MG

Jiminy Cricket Pinocchio The Blue Fairy

So the guy who ain't Duke Ellington isn't Kenton, eh? I wouldn't know. So who is he? MG

Very interesting. Thanks for posting that article, Uli. MG

Johnny Fartpants Reverend Milo's Lino Rhino Max's Laxative Saxophone Taxi

Missed you yesterday. Hope it was a good 'un! (And that you had a happy birthday) MG

Fritz Lieber The Grey Mouser Fafhrd

Keep your mind on your driving, keep your hands on the wheel, and keep your sneaky eyes on the road ahead. MG

Just finished Anthony Heilbut - The gospel sound Haven't read this since the early nineties, I guess. One of the best books on music I've ever read. It absolutely GETS you! MG

Sidney Bechet John Coltrane Steve Lacy

I don't disagree, but there are many fine musicians without video availability - Don Wilkerson, Sonny Phillips come to mind immediately. Without looking, I wouldn't expect to find Sonny Cox or Sam Lazar on You tube. No Baby Face Willette, either. MG

I am willing to tackle CD-Rs and accept the "learning curve" for "mix CDs" but basically I agree with you, and those mix tapes are about the main reason I still use those cassette decks every now and then. (I've never liked buying albums on cassette or copying entire albums to cassette to "archive" them, though. Winding made listening all too uncomfortable for me) Depends on the period. Jazz became chic in the 80s. Those people the dealer was talking about probably hail from thereabouts. MG Well, that discussion took place in 2002/2003, and the moment when this dealer was called upon to "compile" that oh so sophisticated set of BNs happened a couple of months before that. So pretty late AFTER the 80s. Sure, that's what I guessed, but those 80s people and their attitudes are still about; they didn't all die yet MG

Old Mother Hubbard Grandpa Jones Old Granddad