The Magnificent Goldberg

Wait, Tenor Conclave features Mobley, Cohn, Sims and Trane, right? Is there another side with that title? Oh. The one I have is Teddy Edwards, Von Freeman and Buck Hill, with the Rein de Graaf trio. Timeless CD SJP306. 9 April 1992. Let's see if I can find an image... MG

Yes yes. MG

I love "Very saxy" too. A fabulous album; greatly treasured. But Teddy Edwards' playing on "Tenor conclave" is wonderful (as are Von Freeman and Buck Hill) and I wouldn't want to be without that album either. MG

That's definitely right. BTW, it's Plas Johnson playing on both. More people must have heard him soloing than any other jazz musician ever! MG

No sweat - it finds "Braith" easily enough. And "Cochemea". Who needs more? MG

I enjoyed the film and have it on VHS (I hope - haven't seen since we moved). I really liked the way Diz was portrayed in the film. Hope that was pretty well the way he was. Yes - they put old Bird solos over new backing tracks. I feel that was a difficult decision and there are arguments all ways. MG

I sold plenty of albums in the '60s and early '70s when I was on and off the dole. But I don't think I have sold anything, apart from some LPs I have bought on CD, since then. Well, I just checked and it shows how faulty one's memory can be. I've sold 37 albums since 1975 because I didn't like them. But nothing since 1986. They've mostly gone within a few weeks of buying them. I have a list of 91 albums I used to have and either definitely want to or might want to buy again. Not all were sold, some (mostly tapes) were chucked when they became unplayable or bust. MG

His daughter-in-law's bio says drugs, without specifying which. I just looked at my single of "Canteloupe woman" and it's a cut out. I don't think I've ever seen another jazz single that's a cut-out. I take that to imply that it didn't sell nearly as many as Verve expected it to. That leads to the conclusion that Verve had the willingness to try to push the single. So why didn't it make it? Can't tell, of course, but it could have been down to GG. MG

One thing about jazz musicians getting hits is, they have to be out there, pushing, ready and able to make the appearances that are required. If he wasn't able to do that, then the records would have bombed. I don't KNOW that's what happened. It may simply be that "Canteloupe woman"/"Daddy grapes" just wasn't a good enough try. MG

It's a pity this is Alfonso's sole outing on alto sax. I DO like his playing a lot. I should have recognised Hoist, as I have those Mango Santamania albums, as well. He also plays a mean baritone sax, as well as alto & cello. Allen IS French, I understand, so you'd expect him to like French grooves. MG

Junior Parker and Rosco Gordon would be of interest. Must find out if you can get these physically. MG

I think part of the answer may have been money. Blue Note lost Jimmy Smith, Lou Donaldson and Donald Byrd, all of whom had had hit albums, because their contracts were for cash, according to Francis Wolff. Musicians who weren't having hits generally didn't bother with royalties, but those who did suddenly realised that they weren't getting paid. GG was a musician whose records were selling well, though they weren't hits. He was a good man to have on a session; recorded for Blue Note more often in the period 1961-65 than any other musician, and GG knew he was an attraction. He wanted, and thought he deserved, chart success. So I have a feeling he moved away from Blue Note to Verve because he got a better deal - assuming hit albums. But the hits didn't come - no doubt because of his problems. MG

Cootie Williams Sextet & Orch - Original Hit recordings 1944 - Phoenix MG

I know - I got 'em when they came out - 38 years without really looking! MG

Thanks very much MG

I have the US vinyl - I think this is my favourite Hutcherson MG

Can someone PLEASE say what the catalogue number of this set is - there seem to be two in the Concord catalogue and I don't know which is the complete set (or if they're different and I need to buy both). Yours truly Confused of Tonyrefail

Bleedin' arseholes. MG

All morning and probably a good chunk of this afternoon The Jazz Crusaders box MG

I wasn't intending to level charges of racism against Jefferson or Concord. I'm sorry it was interpreted that way. I can't see how ANY jazz fan can be racist. I think he had a business idea that arose from his own tastes - just as Ahmet Ertegun and Alfred Lion in their respective periods did - that affected the people he recorded. African-American jazz fans were, as Akanalog suggested, focussing on disco jazz at the time Concord was started and it seems that Jefferson's business plan reacted to that and focussed on people whom he wouldn't expect to buy that type of material, which he didn't anyway want to record. I don't blame him for any of that - I don't find that stuff of much interest, with some exceptions, of course. However, the takeover of Fantasy, many (if not most) of the important elements of which were focussed on a rather different demographic group, by an organisation with Concord's history and (post-Jefferson) revised business plan, doesn't seem to me best calculated to preserve those elements. I could be wrong; the first lot of RVGs included "Cookbook", "Honeydripper" and "Don't go to strangers". That may promise a little bit of something for music that was aimed at the African-American audience. We shall have to see. In the meantime, I'm going to carry on getting as much of the OJC stuff as I can before I can't. MG

A few more OJCs - in anticipation of their vanishing (like Terri Hinte). I expect they'll only give US 3 days notice of deletions if they're feeling exceptionally generous. MG

I agree, but I counted ten LPs and one CD with previously unissued material. There is some commercialized stuff among it, covers of the pop hits of the day, with generic party vocals, typical early 60's stuff, that Michael Cuscuna wouldn't care for. I don't see Columbia doing this ..... What are the three you have? I like the ones with versions of pop hits - mainly R&B material, of course. I've got Stone Soul Soul Bag Hey! Let's party. Listening to all three last night was most enjoyable. Sonny Fortune's work is particularly funky. You're right about Cuscuna's views - he doesn't like commercial trash. So we'll have to wait until the material becomes out of copyright in Europe to see its reissue. MG The three you have are among the best - especially the "Soul" albums are really cooking. I recommend you get the CD Afro-American Latin which released hitherto unissued live and studio material. Fortune was in the band at the time, and blows some good solos. It can be had at mid price in the Legacy series. The Greatest Hits on Columbia is a good selection - but make sure you get the issue with bonus tracks. I really wonder why Collectables didn't go for the Columbia Mongos - they did all the Atlantics. Thanks Mike - I'll try "Afro-American Latin". MG

That's what I always thought about Concord. There were plenty of African American artists around in Concord's early days - you have only to look at the records that Muse issued - some of which were pretty funky, I'll agree - to find a load of them making all kinds of music. Sure, there were people like Kenny Burrell, Plas Johnson, Red Holloway who made albums for the Concord. And sure there were a bunch of Afro-Cuban musicians like Mongo Santamaria on Concord Picante. But the feeling I had was that Concord saw its business as making records for middle class white customers. That, naturally, affected the artists it signed up. And, equally naturally, it affected sales to me. MG

I can't find any details on this date. Who's on it? Any reviews? Ronnie has made some great music so I should expect it to be good but he also made a couple that weren't my cup 'o tea. Disco-funk stuff, Kevin. Delicious! MG

You obviously know nothing about employment law in the US, or what kind of protections exist and don't exist for most employees. That's what I said. So, go on... MG Do you really want me to? Most employees in America are "at will" - I can quit whenever I want to, you can fire me whenever you want to. This doesn't mean that employers don't make some allowances regarding notice of termination and severance pay. But most employers are free to give the notice they feel like giving, be it 0 days, 3 days, two weeks, or whatever, and pay severance if and only if they want to. Struth! Thank you, Dan. I assume the idea of someone having a contract is laughable. Everyone does here. MG