The Magnificent Goldberg

A nice Caravans compilation wouldn't go amiss. And some Rev Maceo Woods, too. But, I kind of agree with Paul. Some hopes. MG

Just had a look at Squatty Roo records but couldn't find any Wild Bill Davis. Could you provide a link to where you saw them, Jim? MG

The long distance runner (who was lonely) Tom Courtney Alan Sillitoe

Bob Stewart is also on Arthur Blythe's 2002 Savant album 'Exhale'. I should have thought a bit more about who plays with tuba players MG

Eric Sykes Tony Hancock Hattie Jacques

So, not Clare Fischer then on #2? Well, yet another bad guess MG

A nice cup of Twinings Assam tea. MG

Gaslamp Quarter Association William Murdoch Dickie Murdoch

How does Freemasonry differ from all those black societies like the Pythians that are constantly being mentioned in bios of musicians of the twenties-forties? MG

We had two or three days of rain, but the forecast's sunny now until Wednesday. I thought summer was over. MG

The Hawks Ronnie Hawkins The Band

Maynard Parker Maynard Keynes Milton Keynes

What an interesting BFT! 1 Trumpet, bells, piano and harp! Then soprano sax and cymbals. A very atmospheric piece; funereal. 2 Brubeck-ish tune. The bass player sounds like the leader, with a long solo, but then it becomes clear as the pianist’s support gradually turns into a solo, rather in the way some MJQ cuts developed. I’m getting a bit of a Clare Fischer feeling about this. I never pursued his work after ‘Great white hope’; maybe a mistake. I like this a lot. Definitely music to live with. 3 A piano trio, but not behaving much like a piano trio. I don’t like the sound of the piano much – it’s rather clangy. But otherwise, this is more music to live with. 4 Alto sax and piano. I should really like to say the sax player is Earl Turbinton – he played very much like this (but unaccompanied) at Professor Longhair’s funeral - but I’m afraid it ain’t. Very interested to see who this is. 5 Piano with strings! Don’t hear too many strings on BFTs. I can see why someone would like this – there’s a lot of interest in the way the tune goes, the way it’s arranged and the solos. But I can’t say it’s for me; too clever. 6 Guitar and bass, with a quiet assist from a drummer. As in 2, the bass player gets the first bite. But seems to me the drummer’s the real star of the guitar solo. That’s not to say the guitarist is bad – he’s damn good. But it’s like he doesn’t really mean it, flitting from one melodic mood to the next. At four minutes, I could really do with a sax solo, straight and from the heart, but I get a load of applause and a bass solo. OK, more applause at 6 minutes and more guitar, then the drummer takes the lead. He must have drowned the audience in sweat! But they liked it. 7 A tuba! And a bass! Is it an alto sax and violin? Can’t say I find the tune very attractive. In fact, the more of this I hear, the more I think that the only one who’s got a real thing together is the tuba player. No that’s not true; he’s the only one whose thing I like. 8 Starts off as if it’s going to be a Bobby Timmons piece. Then it turns into something else a bit like Duke Pearson might play/write. Another one I like. More music to live with. This BFT is looking expensive. 9 After a slow intro that had me thinking about the sound of Freddie Hubbard, this jumps into a Latin-ish groove in which even the improvised passages sound (competently) arranged. Definitely not for me. 10 Nice players; nice ideas, but it just doesn’t seem to flow as much as I feel the musicians really want it to. When the backing vocalists come in it gets a lot more flow into it. I like the last minute and a quarter much more than the first three. 11 That pianist is ALL over that piano. Oh and there’s a familiar lick to the tune that I can’t quite put a handle to. Smashing use of the sustain pedal you seldom hear in jazz. Most pianists so much want to make each note count that they’re very light on sustain. Junior Mance uses it occasionally at climactic points; so (and more frequently) does Les McCann. Here, it produces something like a Phil Spector effect. Cor! This cut is something I admire greatly rather than like very much. 12 You really like textural effects, don’t you? This one’s even more textural than some of the others. So much so that it seems as if it’s done for its own sake. 13 “A child is born’ by a guitar, vibes, bass, drums band. Plus a trumpet  Very nice. I’m not familiar with any of these players but I’m going to guess at a Gary Burton group. 14 “Song for my father’ sung. I heard Leon Thomas sing this on his first album and thought that, like so many Horace Silver tunes, the words left so much to be desired. They should have got Teddy Edwards to write them – now there was a poet! I don’t know who this singer is but he’s heard Leon Thomas’ version. Well, a great deal of interest in this BFT. And a few things I’m feeling I’ve got to get into and spend some money. Oh well, that’s life, I guess. Thanks a lot for the ride, Guv; it was good. MG

Black Sabbath Black Rod Big Black

Wisecrack of the week!!!! MG

Kids... I wonder how old these kids are. I hit the upgrade button on Spotify, to find out how much the premium service is. Amazingly, I found it's 99KR a month. I assume that's Norwegian Krone and is £9.28 (GBP). That's a hell of a slice out of a kid's pocket money (it's a quarter of my own pocket money ) Somehow, I doubt it's kids who are taking these decisions. It's people with jobs - maybe a few well heeled students. But they'll mostly be twenty-somethings. The days when teenagers controlled sales are almost certainly gone. MG

Bang Bros Yaya Bangoura El Bango

Tyrone Shoelaces Tyrone Power Tyrone

Instant Sunshine Marvin Rainwater The Mighty Clouds of Joy

I always wondered what Porter Wagoner looked like. Stone me! MG

Basher Briggs Arthur Mullard Donald Duck

I've seen a bit of this but there's usually a download available from Amazon at a reasonable price. Since I haven't got much room for CDs any more, downloads are what I'm buying anyway. And MUCH more immediate for the impulse buyer. MG

Ninefingers Logan Scorry Tiptoe Splitfoot

My wife says the same thing. She also says it about Irene Reid, so perhaps you wouldn't like her either. MG And Wild Bill Moore!!! MG

I downloaded this album from Amazon soon after you sent me a PM with the details. Damn good all the way through. Not TOO far outside and generally welcoming the listener in. I see Mr Harding has done some kinda mainstream work, too, and might try some of this in a while. I'm really glad to have heard this. Thank you. MG