The Magnificent Goldberg

I always found Debussy more akin to Odilon Redon MG I suspect you are more accurate there. Seem to recall either Debussy being unhappy with the Impressionist label or some commentators. Wasn't he associated with Symbolism? Yes. Back in the day, one saw quite a few albums with Odilon Redon sleeves around. I think they were mates anyway. Have to check in my Redon bio. MG

With a great assist from Bev, downloaded some albums from Hyperion Records Debussy & Ravel string quartets (+ Ravel's violin sonata) - Dante Quartet Leclair sonatas vols 1 & 2 - Convivium MG

So do I MG

I always found Debussy more akin to Odilon Redon MG

Ah, that's helpful. Thanks Bev. MG

Oh, this is really nice. Glad I did this. MG

I like Faure's chamber work, what I've heard. I used to have the piano quintet, but didn't see that on either site. Anyway, I got: Debussy & Ravel string quartets (+ Ravel's violin sonata) - Dante Quartet Leclair sonatas vols 1 & 2 - Convivium Just about to start listening to the Leclairs. Thanks a lot, Bev. MG

Thanks Bev, I'll take a look. I think you've said in the past that Hyperion does downloads with full sleeve notes etc. That's important in my new exploration. MG

Just downloaded from CD Baby (didn't know they did downlads) Sonny Stitt & Red Holloway - Legends of the saxophone Recorded in Oct 1979, live at Christos, San Francisco, by Harley White Sr, the bass player on the gig. The others are Ed Kelly (p) & Smiley Winters (d). Jolly nice stuff though perhaps a .flac would have been better. CD Baby lets you choose. MG PS here's the address for this http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/stittholloway It's only $9.99, whichever format you choose.

Thanks Mike. I'll do what I always used to with classical music; go for cheapness MG

The Toys The Toyes LaToya Jackson

I've been thinking I'd like to get back into French chamber music lately. Had a quick shufti in Amazon UK for Jean-Marie Leclair and was amazed how much there was available - but it's actually a limited number of works done several times on labels I don't know by musicians I don't know. In the 60s, there wasn't the choice, so I got what I could find. Back in the R&B days, I'd follow labels that seemeed to be good at R&B. So, do different classical labels have specialist subjects they're good at? And, if so, which are good on French chamber music - baroque to early 20th C? MG

Shirley Horn Shirley Scott Shirley Knott

I gave up trying to quit in 1972 Tobacco is very addictive; roll-ups more so than manufactured ones, I understand. MG

Ah, just realised #25 is Ram C Lewis - 'Uhuru', from 'Another voyage'. So YHU wasn't too far out. MG

BFT111 I love the album art! Part 1 (or A) 1 I thought I recognised the pianist at the beginning, but when the rhythm section came in, I realised I didn’t know him/her from Adam. Nice though. Eddie Palmieri? 2 I’m going to kick myself when we get the answers because I feel sure the tenor and trumpet players are well within my normal ambit. The baritone player sounds a bit tentative and I don’t know him, I think. The pianist sounds OK but ordinary, to me. The drummer is very interesting, particularly early on. 3 Must be Ronnie Cuber on baritone. Never heard many of Ronnie’s own albums (my bad) so I don’t know what this is, but it’s fuckin’ great! To think I could have been listening to this for 30-40 years! Oh, the last nearly 3 mins are much more African than I’d expect from Ronnie – so maybe it’s Lekan Animasaun? Nah, it’s Ed Pazant, ‘Psychedelic Pucho’, the DJs favourite. So I HAVE been listening to this for the last thirty-something years! 4 Unhh? 5 New Orleans marching band music. One for Jeff or Alex to identify. I like the clarinet player very much. I like the whole thing, really. I think I know the tune, too: is it ‘West end blues’? It’s post-war; probably sixties or even later. 6 This is another nice one. But it goes on rather too long for me, I think. Ran Blake? 7 Kind of squawky alto player. Fifties bebop I’d guess. Off my radar. Pleasant without being terribly interesting to me. 8 Can’t say this is doing much for me, Joe. The tune has the relaxed feeling of some of Hank Mobley’s tunes but I don’t know it. 9 The intro to this kinda turned me off but, as it went on, I found myself warming to it. I think, during the bass solo (which sounds like Dave Holland to me) the guitarist and Rhodes player are getting in the way a bit. Pleasant, without having anything very much to say or be. A second listen to this, after hearing #10, leads me to Dwight Dickerson on piano and Rufus Reid on bass. 10 Is this the same band? Or the same Rhodes player? Well, I think it’s another track from the same album, just by the sound and volume (I had to turn it way, way up for #9 and it’s still up there now). The drummer is really on target on this cut. And I’m getting a bit of a Clare Fischer feeling about this. But NOT a Dave Holland feeling about the bass player. Oh, this is live; was #9? No. And, of course, there’s no guitarist audible on this, so it’s not the same band. It’s just that all Rhodes sound alike (to me). 11 Well, the volume control’s settled back down now. More Rhodes. Can’t say the trumpet player means much to me, though there are familiar bits on his solo. Ditto the tenor player. Oh, I know – it’s a jazz record! 12 More of the same. No it ain’t. Oh this is nice! Not the faintest idea of who these musicians are but I rather want to know. 13 Unhh? Part 2 (or B) 14 Nice groove in the rhythm section but, when the tune comes in, it doesn’t seem to fit. Vibes player brings it back OK. Then the sax player loses it – he doesn’t seem to want to swing at all. Nor does the pianist. Waste of a groove. 15 Ooo, nasty spiky stuff! Must get some Earl Grant on 16 Nice. Is this Jimmy Owens? 17 Back to acoustic piano – ‘So many roads, so many trains to ride’ 18 A bit of 70s funky stuff here, by the sound of the technology. Well, in between other stuff. I dunno… 19 Sounds like a rather warbly K7 rip. The 22 Band does a train number with a rhythm like this, but I doubt if this is African. 20 Hm, an organist… Recent recording, however. I am not really digging the tenor player, though I might with a bit more listening. Interesting organist; sounds like he’s self-consciously trying NOT to sound like anyone; even himself. 21 Some people I quite like, like Arthur Blythe, sometimes, or perhaps even often, play stuff I really don’t. This sounds like one of those people. Could it be Anthony Ortega? 22 Sun Ra? The dog’s out in the garden, irritating my wife, otherwise he’d be seriously pissed off with this. Especially the cat miaowing. 23 This sax player would be much more likeable without the industrial background, the point of which I fail to see. 25 There’s something familiar about this. Danged if I know what, though. Best guess is Young-Holt Unlimited. I’ve got to confess there wasn’t all that much that attracted me in this, Joe, but some stuff that interested me, which is good. Thanks MG

I've been smoking since I left school at 16. Rolled my own since '69 or '70. Don't smoke much - it takes me 15-16 days to get through 50g of tobacco. That's VERY THIN rolling, as I have 10-11 a day. Dunno when my Mum started. She used to smoke very expensive fags like Abdullah 37 and Passing Clouds, until I turned her on to roll-ups. She was 97 when she died. My Dad was 71 when he died; used to smoke little cigars - cheroots? MG

Otis Rush - Tops - Blind Pig MG

Not music but... Douglas E Friedman & Anthony J Gribin - Early American vocal groups Heard about this on Unca Marvy's R&B page. MG

MG

I recall from a 1958 school visit to Lucerne that they played nine pins, not ten, out there. No doubt the same in Germany. MG

Millinder's 1941-1950 material is available on 3 Chronological (sorry Chronogical ) Classics CDs. Very nice stuff but I wonder what the benefit of a small Mosaic box (which they no longer do anyway) covering the same period might be. MG Probably better sound, but that's hypothetical now. Well, I greatly enjoy those recordings on Chronogical Classics. I doubt if anyone would ever have thought of issuing the material in excellent sound. Would enough people be sufficiently interested in Millinder to secure a profit for the company doing to? We're all jazz fans (to some degree) on this board, but I bet there are precious few of us who have these 3 CDs. Fewer than 6, I'd guess. MG

Millinder's 1941-1950 material is available on 3 Chronological (sorry Chronogical ) Classics CDs. Very nice stuff but I wonder what the benefit of a small Mosaic box (which they no longer do anyway) covering the same period might be. MG

Thanks Chuck. MG

Is that photo really Johnny Hodges? :Looks more like Buster Keaton to me. MG