The Magnificent Goldberg

I listened to that a day or two ago. Nice album, but better for Dr L and HP, than for EG. The album of his I enjoy most is "Forecast" on Kudu. I have three of his on Columbia and they're OK - "Ginseng woman"; "Part of you" and "Touch of silk"; I like the last best because of Charles Earland, Harold Vick and Arthur Blythe, though they're only on one or two cuts. I've also got three Stuff albums. They should have been a damn sight better than they were. As a sideman, I really rate his work on Red Holloway's "The burner", from 1963, which was about the first one on which he was featured prominently. Everyone on that session was playing a cut above their normal intensity, even Big John Patton, so that is one hell of an album. also, his playing on Stanley Turrentine's "Salt song" is terrific. But I think I've found that everything else I've heard isn't quite up to it. I can't recall anything else that really made me stand up and yell. Sorry to be relatively unenthusiastic. MG

My Missus takes care of all that sort of stuff, Bev. I didn't get where I am today by knowing anything useful - CJ MG

In the last few weeks, we've had a spate of things going bust: TV External hard drive Kitchen scales Microwave oven Turntable Video cassette recorder (today) and my laptop is now taking 20-25 minutes to start up in the mornings, so that'll have to go for repair, when I can get round to it. It's not the money for repairs/replacements; it's the sodding pain-in-the-arseness of it all. Do you find that you have a run of things going bust? MG

Avery Parrish Countee Cullen Art Neville

Apart from "Indonesia" none of the other tracks are listed in my old Lord. The likelihood is, it's old VJ material. But maybe not. Good, eh? MG

Victor Hugo Eldridge R Johnson (founder of Victor Records) Michael Winner

I think I had three parallel routes into jazz, starting while I was still in school. I started exploring Modern Jazz with the MJQ, Brubeck, Vince Guaraldi starting from 1960, and eventually got to Miles Davis by 1964 and "A love supreme" by 1965. I was also buying some big bands like Goodman, Ellington, Basie and Kenton, but a lot more singers who had been with the big bands, like Ella, Peggy Lee, Sinatra and Torme and Chris Connor, who immediately became my favourite, as well as a few others singing in the same style - like Keely Smith and Bobby Darin. At the same time, I was a huge Blues/R&B/Soul fan and got into Soul Jazz, via Ray Charles' and David Newman's jazz albums, which I also started buying in 1960, then Nat Adderley's "Work song" made a big impression on me. So did singers like Dakota Staton and Della Reese. I couldn't afford Blue Notes, which were very expensive here, until 1965, but I knew the music. I'd take a Blue Note LP and something else into a listening booth at HMV, listen to the BN but buy the other LP Once I was earning enough to start buying Blue Notes, with "Back at the Chicken Shack", I didn't look back because I just found so much wonderful stuff, on BN, then Prestige, Atlantic, PJ and Argo/Cadet, that looked like it wasn't going to be around very long - because the critics hated it - and was hard to get here anyway, that I gave up pursuing Modern Jazz and swing and have only taken a marginal interest in ever since. My route OUT of jazz was through Africa, of course But I haven't really left it, just found a lot more to please me. MG

This is a good thing indeed. Doodlin' Records - Pete Fallico's label specialising in jazz organists - are all available at CD Baby Rhoda Scott Bill Heid (3 of his) Will Blades Lonnie Gasperini Trudy Pitts Gloria Coleperson Fast 3 Bobby Pierce Joey DeFrancesco Up Trio And so are Organissimo's albums - but you've got all thouse, haven't you? MG

Pretty good proof that Gerry Wiggins was great, and that Jacquet didn't need him.... Or anyone, really... Calls to mind what Roy Eldridge said, that he'd never, ever, seen anyone cut Illinois. MG

MG

Cora Bissett Johnnie Bassett Bill Heid

Wonderful! And the number plate is the catalogue number! MG

Magic System Madilu System TPOK Jazz

I read somewhere years ago that the first pressing plant set up in Africa was in Portuguese Guinea - now Guinea Bissau - in something like 1919. MG

Teddy Long Tall Sally Miss Ann

Thanks GA. MG

It's probably on the 78, too, but the money goes round and round so fast, it's inflationary MG

Oh yes, if you mean that sort of equality of orange/black, I don't know any. It is dramatic. I have a few later Ernie Freeman singles, mostly on Imperial, and most featuring organ. And a later version of "Jivin' around" recorded for Ava, the MGM subsidiary, in 1965, which wasn't up to much. And I wondered what the earlier version was like. And there's almost no comparison. I haven't a turntable for a couple of weeks, so I thought I'd see if they had them on you tube. Here's the more recent version, which is just OK. MG The 45 has a different design to the 78. And the orange looks yellow and the black looks washed out. Compared to King, it's not terribly dramatic. MG

Doesn't cut much ice in 2010! I suspect it's the cover story for the vast amount poured into Covent Garden, even today. No, I'm pretty sure the cover story is that: a) it's good (which I suppose is undeniable); and b) it costs so bloody much to put on an opera, that if prices that reflected this were charged, nobody at all would go. So, the way to secure huge subsidies for live jazz is to have lavish costumes and scenery, dancers, a chorus and a temperamental lady singer. From what I read here, there are plenty of the latter in jazz. MG

The obvious answer is Duke, which had a mostly orange label with black writing. RCA singles in the early seventies also had mostly orange with black writing. Orange and yellow & black writing is fairly common - Roulette, Sue UK, Chess, Pye International UK. MG

Is Chewy using your computer? MG

Johnny Mandel The Sandals Bootsie

This is a two part single, but I can't find a video of part 2. MG Wot, you want personnel too? Irving Ashby, guitar Joe Comfort, bass Ray Martinez, drums LA, 1955. Cash 1017. Made #5 on R&B charts.

A bit of noodling and excess of patchoulie oil wafting in the air in some of the later sessions but Joe's playing is never less than very good. I agree that the playing quality exceeds that on the Verve sessions and is only bettered by his Blue Notes. I generally prefer the Milestones to the Blue Notes (except "Inner urge"). I never got "Power to the people" because it looked a bit too much like a standard BN session, but I bought "Problem/solution", "Multiple", "Canyon lady" and "Black miracle" and enjoy them all very much indeed. Not so keen on "Black narcissus", which is a bit too much like a Rock album for my limited taste in modern jazz, though I've kept the LP, so I don't hate it Is there much more on the "Milestone years" box that I've missed? (I know there are extra cuts from the ""Problem/solution" session.) MG

I love Gerald Wilson, but I've never heard any of his post Pacific Jazz material, except for something Sidewinder (I think) included in his BFT, which was great. How does "Jessica" stack up with those PJ albums? And are the CDs of the Discovery material easy to get? MG