The Magnificent Goldberg

Translation - colon g MG

Rain forecast for Monday - back to normal when they go back to school. MG

Tommy Turrentine John Turturro Steve Turre Roswell Rudd Sir Despard Murgatroyd of Ruddigore Rufus Gore

That must be the one Blue Note album from the classic period that I've never heard ! It's OK. If you like Soul Jazz vocals done in a not terribly distinguished way, with a superb backing band, you can get some enjoyment out of this. I think I'll dig it out and give it a spin. (The CD, that is.) MG

There is no longer any doubt - about fifty years ago I read an article in Playboy - yes I read the articles in Playboy - entitled "Nothing works and nobody cares". So it's not even the fault of Reagan and Thatcher. Everyone I know, including, amazingly, my wife, treats mobile phones as a consumable item. Find out the name of the marketing manager or sales manager at Nokia and write them a stinking letter - I'm sure you'd be good at that - and end up by saying you're going to get the cheapest thing in Wal-mart. MG

Diana Dors Van "Piano Man" Walls Frank "Floorshow" Culley

The pleasure was mine! MG

Licensing problem? It's all out of copyright, even under US law! Buy the Andorran 2 CD set! MG

My, what those Germans get up to when one's not looking! MG

Damn! I should have done a comparison! It's even in a different key! MG

Got this lunchtime today and could hardly wait to get it on. But housework intervened. Anyway, here we go on a really nice ride. 1 Phwoarrrrr! New Orleans but I can’t guess who. Tenor player sounds like Lee Allen. 2 This sounds like New Orleans drumming and New Orleans tuba playing, in 6/8 no less. Another one I don’t know. I love trombonists who sound brash and ruff like this! Is this one of those recent NO brass bands? I keep meaning to get some stuff of that nature. The guitarist sounds as if he should be familiar, but I don’t know him; kind of off-centre, like George Freeman – of course, it’s not him, he was too deep in his solo too quickly. Wunnerful!!!! 3 Now this soprano sax player sounds like another I should know. But I don’t – he’s got a wonderful big sound, though, and I want to know who he is. I like the trumpet player’s sound too – another big sound, even using a plunger (?) mute. There’s something vaguely film soundtrack-ish about the arrangement, but it’s ravishing. That bass player is playing rather a lot of bass. Well, the whole rhythm section is all playing rather a lot. 4 Big band. Sounds like a revival of one of the old ones. But who’s that piano player? Ah, the last few seconds give it away – it’s Johnny Otis. 5 I think I recognise this. It’s one of the classical pieces adapted by the John Kirby sextet. Now, if I could only think of the title, I’d get this. Got to say, it sounds a bit different from the (Andorran) CD I have of that band. 6 Another big band. This one’s got a proper groove to it. Don’t know who this is. 7 Blimey, another big band. I’m going to guess Jay McShann; bloody lot of piano he’s playing. And the trumpet player is a gaaaaaaaaasssssss! 8 “Tin tin deo”, played off centre. Ah, now it settles down. I’m getting a strong Harold Mabern feeling about this guy. I like this guy and the performance, whoever it is. 9 Very strong Ellington feel to this pianist. Which means it’s probably Monk. Or Mingus. 10 Cor! Ravishing sound of those saxes melding! Not sure I’m completely with this, but it’s very interesting. Sounds like something I could end up liking a lot. 11 “Prelude to a kiss” by a flute. Good big sound to the flute. Is this just a duet with piano? Can’t hear bass & drums. I love the sound of this guy on flute. No guesses at the pianist. Oh, there is a bass player, I think. This treatment reminds me of Debussy! 12 “Peace” Ho yuss, Fathead with Ray Drummond. Gonna dig that out and give it a listen through. 13 Nice Latin groove. I get a Willie Bobo feeling about the groove. Don’t know who the pianist is, though. If I knew the tune, it would help, but I don’t. Ah, I’ve heard someone playing a bit like this quite recently. Oh yes, Oscar Peterson. Could it be him? Wow! And the trumpet player is soaring! I don’t know him, either. And that moaning trombone behind him just feels so right. Oh, so nice. One to buy, I think. 14 “Stolen Moments” (or “The stolen moment”, as it was originally). I keep wanting Sonny Criss to come in all through the trumpet solo. Something wrong with this cut; cuts off during the trumpet solo at 2:57. I think it’s Freddie Hubbard, but I’m no expert. 15 Funny kind of thing. Funny kind of organ playing. Oh, but I like that trombone’s sound again. Oh wow!! Not the faintest idea of what this could be. 16 “The saints” – oh, this has got to be some more McShann. Or the only McShann, if my other guess was wrong. Wow, what a nice BFT! Nothing in there that I didn’t like. And not much I knew about. Gonna listen to this again and again, I reckon. And buy some of them, too. Thank you Bill. MG

Someone must have just bought the Mosaic set ! No - I asked about that and Mr K said he'd bought some guy's whole collection. And there was a Ramsey Lewis from the fifties that I turned down, probably from the same source. A load of Miles Davis CDs from the same chap, Mr K said, but I didn't look at the CDs yesterday. MG

Balmain Guerlain The Mary Jane Girls

Kelly’s Records I’ve been buying stuff from this second hand shop in Cardiff since 1975, a few months after we moved to Cardiff. In contrast to the stories about second hand record shops (and record shops, period), most recently about Lou’s records, Kelly’s are doing well. I don’t go in there often, but whenever I do, I always find something – jazz, blues, R&B, Soul, Funk or Reggae. Yesterday, I bought four, but found a lot more that were maybes (there were a whole bunch of Ahmad Jamal LPs there, including what seemed like all of his Argo albums). And can anyone name me a record shop, anywhere in the world, where you can get a haircut!?!?!?! Kelly’s occupies about half of one side of the upstairs of Cardiff’s covered market and the middle section is a barber shop! Here’s a page from their website. https://vault1.secured-url.com/kellysrecords/about.html And here are a few photos from the same page. The grey-haired guy in the blue shirt in picture 2 is the owner; Mr Kelly. He bought the shop from his uncle in 1991. They were packing up loads of records for mailing out yesterday, including one huge box large enough (at a guess) for about a hundred LPs! How much that would cost to send I shrink to consider. Looking at their website, I see there is a limited number of 78s in their stock. I’ve never seen them. I’ll have to ask next time I’m in there. Anyway, not all is going to the wall. MG

I'm probably not quite understanding you. Are you saying you're not completely taken by Ellington's arranging? The orchestral bits rather than his own playing or the spaces he left for the soloists? That's right. I like quite a lot of the Webster/Blanton band stuff - but mostly the commercial things like "Main stem" (though the duets are wonderful). And I love the "Road band" CD from 1957, because the band sounds so mellow and juiced. But a lot of Ellington's orchestral stuff is just too much for me to get. Well, y'know I'm really an R&B fan MG Ah, I understand now. You'd have been one of those people crying 'Judas' when he first started recording pieces that took up more than one side of a 78 in the early 30s! I doubt it. It's not the length; it's that there's stuff in there that goes past me. MG

Lovely weather since Sunday. Can't believe it. MG

Alf Hall Al Catcher (Old) Arthur Askey (joke)

I'm probably not quite understanding you. Are you saying you're not completely taken by Ellington's arranging? The orchestral bits rather than his own playing or the spaces he left for the soloists? That's right. I like quite a lot of the Webster/Blanton band stuff - but mostly the commercial things like "Main stem" (though the duets are wonderful). And I love the "Road band" CD from 1957, because the band sounds so mellow and juiced. But a lot of Ellington's orchestral stuff is just too much for me to get. Well, y'know I'm really an R&B fan MG

Oliver Lake Oliver Sain Aladdin Sane

I'm sure you're right, but I do prefer his piano playing to his bandleading. Possibly this is because I'm not sufficiently well educated musically to get what's really happening with the band. MG Don't the soloists stick out for you, MG? I'm probably less musically educated than you, but that got me from the start. Oh yes, but those are the soloists, not Ellington. Or am I thinking of this wrong? MG

Ah - it was 1968 when I lived there. You try remembering what instrument someone of minor importance to you was playing 42 years after the event MG

I'm sure you're right, but I do prefer his piano playing to his bandleading. Possibly this is because I'm not sufficiently well educated musically to get what's really happening with the band. MG

Anyone who hasn't got Harold Mabern's "Kiss of fire" should get it - I don't care what you think of Eric Alexander. So now, does anybody know anything about this one? UCCM 4110 Criss,Sonny(as)/Mr. Blue Is it the Peacock album or Impulse material? Or something else? MG

Playing my newies Lionel Hampton - Flying home - Verve (Polydor UK) Erskine Hawkins orch - Horizons du jazz 17 - RCA France - no image for this, which is a pity. Earl Grant - Trade winds - Decca (Brunswick UK) Earl Grant - The versatile Earl Grant - Decca (Colortune) Deep Groove!!! MG

A little shopping trip to Cardiff today and I popped into Kelly's and got a few nice ones. Lionel Hampton - Flying home - Verve This POlydor UK pressing has a horrid-looking mark all across side 2. So I asked if it could bechecked and was directed to a turntable to do it myself. No noise at all! But that Hampton man was playing a hell of a lot of vibes! Then I realised the machine was still set at 45 rpm It's a great album and I'm really pleased with it. OP doesn't sound too bad on this. There's a thing about him that he plays so much piano because he can. But really, Hamp was like that, too! They go well together. I've never been much in tune with Buddy Rich either, but he's ever so right for this job. Buddy de Franco & Ray Brown are in there, too. Erskine Hawkins orch - Horizons du jazz 17 - RCA France - no image for this, which is a pity. Nice long LP - 16 tracks, of which I had 6 already. So I'm pleased. I've been wanting more Hawkins for a while. Earl Grant - Trade winds - Decca (Brunswick UK) I suspected lounge from the start, and it is. But there's enough going on to hold my interest - particularly Plas Johnson on some cuts. And for lounge, there are surprises - "Quiet village" not Latinised but played with a slightly rolling bump and grind - oh very nice! Earl Grant - The versatile Earl Grant - Decca (Colortune) Deep Groove!!! Mostly not lounge - kind of polite R&B, but swinging. Again Plas Johnson makes some terrific appearances. Oh and Earl put words to "Honky tonk" - ain't that fine? What is this label Colortune? The inner sleeve has a Decca Harlequin with the globe on his right forefinger, but the disc & sleeve say it was licensed from Decca. Was this some kind of Decca record club? MG