The Magnificent Goldberg

It is very laid back; all the tracks are slow to slightly medium up. Hank plays alto sax on only one track; the rest of the time he's on electric piano. The real star of the show is Calvin who is one of my favourite guitarists. But Calvin has NEVER been a spectacular player. He just plays his story with great feeling. Versatile made very few albums before crashing, but they were all imitation CTI, which was going down the tube at the time, except this one which is about as uncommercial as you could get. MG

Ah so... MG

Jack Webb Sister Wynona Carr Jack Train

Idris Muhammad solos on "Peace" from his "Peace & Rhythm" album. I think there are some more... MG

Thought I recognised it! MG

Freddie Roach - My people (soul people) - Prestige blue label original stereo Freddie Roach - Mo' greens please - BN Liberty Stereo David Newman - Concrete jungle - Prestige original MG

Steve Khan Walter Bishop Rev David Sheppard (later Bishop of Liverpool after he'd given up cricket)

No one I know Assam tea for me just now. MG

Tony the Tiger Yogi Bear Shere Khan

If I could only remember where I got it ..... must have been some site like Cadence. If you can't obtain a copy, I would be willing to sell or trade mine. I bought it to complete my Rhyne collection and for the discography, but I'm not so thrilled by his piano playing. Far from his qualities as an organist, his touch isn't very subtle. PM me if interested. PM sent - thanks for the offer. We'll see if we can do it. MG

Thanks very much Horny! MG Just checked this against the CD issue "Food for thought". The CD doesn't include "Frankie & Johnny boogie" or "Morgantini with mime no 2" but does include "Morgantini with mime no 3" (as well as 6 tracks from a different LP; "Some groovy fours"). I wish these "Definitive Black & Blue sessions" issues really WERE definitive. The CD is only 66 mins, so there's probably room for at least one of the others. BTW - according to the CD sleeve, "Food for thought" was recorded 16 Nov 1970, in Barcelona; same personnel. The other tracks from the LP are stated on the CD as only 21 October. MG

Thanks very much Horny! MG

Struth! You can get real Senegalese food in America? Wow! Nearest Senegalese restaurants to me are in Paris and Brussels. MG

A sound all his own. Horny, can you post the track order for that Tiny Grimes, please? MG

Pinched from a Les McCann tune? Track 1 on Les McCann at Shelley's Manne Hole: "She broke my heart (and I bust her jaw)". MG

Al "Buck" Casey Fats Waller King Curtis

Especially since John Patton is on piano! MG

She does some really nice stuff on James "Blood" Ullmer's "Blue blood". MG

Mister Noisy Mister Greedy Mister Bump

Wilton"Bogey" Gaynair - Blue Bogey - Jasmine Gene Ammons - Blue groove - Prestige Mid-price original Maynard Parker - Midnight rider - Prestige original Florida Mass Choir - Come, let's reason together - Savoy original MG

Belated Happy Birthday Rod, and many thanks! Only 364 days to the next one - time flies! MG

Went into Cardiff to see a friend at work and passed by Fopp's Cardiff branch. So I had a look round and bought this Glad it was cheap! It's v funky, but not inordinately interesting. I was listening to it on the bus back home and fell asleep! Though that might have been the hot sun and the heater being just underneath me. MG

What most bothers me about this passage is the anonymity it reduces Feather and Hammond to. It's like they only exist as nexuses of social forces for Gennari. It's kind of daft, in that one remembers them as clearly defined individuals. I'm making the point because it seems to lead to a greater one about deconstruction and the perils of that approach for Jazz generally. The fact is Deveaux's book strikes me as somewhat like that, as taking away from the individuality of the musicians to make for his case of socio-economic basis. I think that's why I don't like it, because the multiplexity of the musicians' characters gets lost in the mix. Other people will talk about the aesthetic basis of Jazz, but for me it's really about people. When Claire Daly says "Oh, there I am," she really gets to the heart of it. I mean, surely that's what Jazz is about in its origin, at least in part, the assertion of (some) black people's identity in the face of a system that seeks to deny them it. And, in a world which seeks to make people more and more anonymous, we still need that. Not just blacks. Simon Weil This makes me think of Taine's history of English Literature. It has always been criticised because it left personal genius out of the account, treating Skelton and Shakespeare on even terms. But Taine was using English literature to find out something about what it was like to be English, so he was concerned about what the different writers had in common, not what separated one from another. It's legit to seek this sort of information from any kind of art, because it doesn't come in a vacuum. It's even legit to seek it exclusively, within a context in which others are seeking other information exclusively. If that approach were the only one, it would lead to wrong conclusions. But as part of a whole range of approaches, there's no reason why this shouldn't be regarded as equally interesting, provided one recognises that, like the view that concentrates solely on aesthetics, it's only part of the story. MG

Koffman Young Russell

Funny, I was looking at that this morning, wondering whether I wanted to drag it out and play it. I left it in the rack. Well, maybe tomorrow. MG