The Magnificent Goldberg

That's a very strange thing - someone in NYC making records for the Senegalese market? They must be nuts! Some details would no doubt be intriguing. Yes, that would present similar difficulties to amplifying a ngoni or other similar instruments from West Africa. I dare say there are also similar instruments in the Congo/Angola region. And clearly the guitar has advantages there. But those advantages apply to Latin American music, too. I don't think the prominence of the guitar in any part of the world needs explanation; its absence is the oddity. I was expecting someone to come up with something like - the music was developed before amplified guitars came along, so they made do without and never felt the need afterwards. (No idea whether that's anything like true, of course, hence the thread.) MG

Bobby Crush Armand Hug Grabber Ma (for those who remember "Down with Skool")

I've bought a big bunch of Latin records in the last couple of months and one thing that is striking about them is that there are no guitarists on the American ones but the guitarists are fairly prominently featured on the African ones. So I did a bit of a search through the other Latin albums I've got and found that only seldom are there guitarists in Latin-American bands - though one big exception is Pucho & the Latin Soul Brothers; but that band didn't work the regular Latin circuit - it performed on the Soul Jazz circuit (it wasn't only organists who played organ rooms ) You get the occasional guitarist forced into Mongo's band when it was recording for Atlantic and that's about it. On the other hand, guitarists such as Barthelemy Atisso (Orchestre Baobab), Yahya Fall (Star Band No 1 & Pape Fall's African Salsa), Pape Thioune (Pape Fall again) and Baye Sy and Saffirou Dieng (Super Cayor) are all well known and celebrated in Senegal for their work in the idiom. I'm sure someone here knows why the Latin-American bands have this antipathy towards the guitar. MG

Eddie Rabbit William Hare The Mome Rath

Gus Jenkins' name rings a bell. I associate it with that of Plas Johnson for some reason. Is this Flash records the one run by Charlie Reynolds? MG

Don't forget Martin Denny or TTK will be aiming his guns at you, Chewy Not a brilliant album, but quite good Neal Hefti - Synanon Oh, and here's a Liberty label list and history which you might like. http://www.bsnpubs.com/liberty/liberty.html MG

COGIC UK - Forgiven - Myrrh UK BC&M Choir - My sweet lord - Creed MG

Calloway's music was a social document - much more so than, say, Duke Ellington's, which documents a genius. It seems to me that there is more importance in a comprehensive view of a social document, than of a great genius. YMMV, of course MG

Jacques Roux Marat Robespierre

Don't think I ever bought a CD from them. The prices and selection in every store I set foot in were a joke. Fopp, on the other hand, were way better jazz-wise. Not in Cardiff. Fopp in Cardiff was awful in every department! And right across the road (virtually) from Virgin/Zavvi. I rather think local management might exert more influence on how these chain stores did than is generally reckoned. MG

Thanks Lon & Hans - I've put those two boxes into my Amazon wish list, so I don't forget them. MG

Punch Judy The Crocodile

Wow! Thanks Lon, that looks like what I want - at least for the thirties. Is there another set covering the forties? Couldn't see one. MG

A much needed pair of slippers, as I wrecked my old ones a while ago and my toe was sticking out. Lots of goodies to make me fatttttt! A nice non-kosher wall calendar with pics of pigs! (I'll join them after I've finished all the goodies ) MG

Well, perhaps you could advise me about a better set of Cab Calloway, Larry. MG

I think my favourite is Plas Johnson's "Christmas in Hollywood". He includes - and is the first one as far as I know to record this since its original recording in 1946 - Tad Dameron's "A bebop carol". Could you ask for anything better? Well, all right then, quite a few other tunes that aren't among the usual suspects are included as well. Most unhackneyed stuff. And a few great vocals by Ernie Andrews. And, as if that isn't enough, licensing for the album was done by Gaye D Funk!!!!! MG

My daughter got me this one Meanwhile in Thies, by The Royal Band de Thies (and 2 tracks by Dieuf Dieul, another 70s/80s band from Thies). And I've got some money to make some purchases of other desirable goodies; Blue Note deletions and something from Chuck, I think. MG

To reiterate what Digit said - the packaging is awful. All the sets I've bought have most of the clamp teeth broken and other broken bits appear to be common, too. This seems to come as standard; if you want the de luxe version, perhaps the CDs will be broken, too I ditch the cases and just put the CDs in little paper envelopes in the box, together with the lame excuse for discographical notes. But they really are a good way of becoming acquainted with someone you wouldn't otherwise go into in the same depth. But acquainted is the right word. I bought the Gene Ammons set a few weeks ago - not because I needed to become acquainted with Jug but because I thought I'd get a few of the early tracks I haven't got. I only got five I didn't already have and, checking up on what was there and what wasn't, I got a decidedly "not very good" feeling about the selection. If this also is standard - and the other presentation points don't give me much hope for it to be any different - then I'm getting a feeling that it's best to sort out which artist you've found that you're REALLY interested in - Cab Calloway in my case - and try to get a better set of those people (if indeed you can). But I do fear that for some people - Cab may be one of them - Quadromania may turn out to be as good as it gets, because no rival company wants to do a well packaged, good sounding, comprehensive, set with decent notes and a sound discography for some bands, about whom few people care. MG

I wonder how mean can the streets be in a town called Pontypridd? Depends on how dark it is Pontypridd means bridge over depression or hole and it is a bit of a depressing hole. MG

Rico & the Rudies Don Drummond Will Clark

Just completed downloading them. Thanks lads! Just in time! MG

Yes, that's the one I remember. The version I saw was on Philips, so that would be the Columbia album. MG

Gators this afternoon Willis Jackson - Headed & gutted - Muse Willis Jackson - West Africa - Muse Willis Jackson - Nothin' butt - Muse now Willis Jackson - In the alley - Muse MG

Not a surprise. Virgin was going downhill already. The talk on the street, when it was sold, was that Branson added a hundred million quid in training into the package as a persuader, because he didn't want to be associated with a failed enterprise - bad for all his other businesses. I suppose I should be sorry for the staff but they're so crappy in the Cardiff Zavvi that I can't but attribute part of the failure to them. Faced with false cheerfulness backing up lack of knowledge - or couldn't care less attitudes, which characterises the other half of the staff - it's hardly surprising that people walk elsewhere or use the web. MG

Enjoy! MG