Cali

Does anybody else have any Elvin stories? I was fortunate enough to see Elvin with Trane and with his own groups in recent years. He was a beautiful spirit. Once, at the Mannehole, with Trane, he played with his shirt off! He and Trane were smokin'! One of my favorite, non-Trane, recorded performances by Elvin is his so-hip playing on the tune DELUGE from the Wane Shorter album, JU-JU. Check it out. Oh, wait a minute! How about his brush work on ORIENTAL FLOWER from the ILLUMINATION! album on Impulse!? And, and..........I could go on forever.

Do it! Only, in the famous words of Yogi Berra, "Count me out!"

Actually, the cigar and the cap Al is wearing on the cover are symbols of Cuba. Al, as stated elsewhere in this thread, is an expert in Afro-Cuban music. He's had close friendships with all the great ex-patriate Cuban congueros, including Chano Pozo, Mongo Santamaria and Armando Peraza, and can play some mean congas, himself. He taught me. Love the latest CD (as well as the first one). The instrumentation is intriguing, combining guitar, concertina, congas, flute, sax, piano, bass and drums. The featured sax and flute player on this and McKibbon's first CD, which, incidentally, was grammy nominated, is the great Justo Almario. Justo has a terrific, brand new album, also, entitled "Love Thy Neighbor". Al McKibbon is a national treasure. When it comes to latin jazz, he's the fountainhead. He is now in his mid-80's, in good health and working regularly. Late last year, Al went to Cuba for the first time. He was given a heroes reception and was celebrated by Cuba's past and present notable musicians.

Thanks for the heads up. I've caught this band a few times and they are always on the one!

Magic never won a title after Kareem retired. Kareem had the most unstoppable (almost automatic) shot in basketball history, the sky-hook. I don't think Kareem gets the credit he deserves. Look at his total career; high school, college and professional.

Amen to that! I've often fantasized about Sonny sitting in Red Garland's piano chair!! I like Red, a lot, but Sonny? Whew! Nobody comps like Sonny. I even hear Sonny's influence in Horace Silver's comping (even though both of them are out of Bud Powell). Don't forget about SONNY'S CRIB, featuring John Coltrane, Donald Byrd, Curtis Fuller, Paul Chambers and Art Taylor. That album was the precursor of BLUE TRAIN, recorded only 14 days earlier. Features my all time favorite version of Speak Low.

Yes! And for me, it's the best Booker Ervin solo on record.

B) Miles, hands down. You had to be there!

Would that have been "Steve-O", the greatest jazz DJ this town has ever known? I was a big fan of his. KBCA was such a hip station with great DJ's, which included Chuck, Tommy Vee, Rick Holmes, Jay Rich, and Sam Fields, who, incidentally, is on KKJZ these days. I, also, was not a big fan of Chuck in those days. I liked the music selection of the others better. Also, I didn't care for Chuck's humor in those days. Then one Sunday afternoon, in the mid-80's, there was a memorial for Monk Montgomery at the Musician's Union in L.A. Chuck was the MC and there were dozens of great musicians performing. Finally, Horace Silver and his group performed. His set was SMOKIN'! I was so excited that I got as close to the stage as possible to take pictures of Horace. When the set ended, Chuck singled me out to the audience and said I had such a big smile on my face, I had to be "as big a fan of Horace" as he. Well, that sealed the deal. Anybody that loved Horace that much was "My Man". I've been his fan ever since. RIP Chuck

Thanks for the notice, GS.

LP's were around $2.99. 45's around $.95. Also, I agree with JSngry regarding THE SIDEWINDER album. If you throw out the title tracks of both that album and THE RUMPROLLER you still have two monster albums! BOY WHAT A NIGHT sounds exactly like it's title and EDDA and DESERT MOONLIGHT from RR are great tunes.

I know this has been discussed earlier but I just attempted to play MOTHER SHIP on my computer and it will not even read it. I have a MAC G4. It plays in the car and on my other players. Does anyone else have this problem?

UNA MAS was recorded before THE SIDEWINDER.

The Sidewinder was a "jazz hit" in 1964. Subsequently, Chrysler used the song in it's TV commercials in 1965-66. Can distinctly remember those commercials being aired during NFL games during that period.

A couple of good ones: Art Blakey & The Messengers On Impulse (Dig Shorter's solo on this. Yikes!) Quincy Jones - The Quintessence (Boss Phil Woods solo.)

Don't pass this one up! This is one smokin' album. What Lon says is absolute! Art Taylor plays like this is the last time he will ever play drums and he doesn't want to leave anything left unsaid. Oh yeah, you're gonna love this one.

Yes, the GRP/impulse!

John Wright (South Side Soul)

Cali, Could you please develop on or quote the liner notes you mentionned ? Vincent, this is w-a-a-y late but I just noticed your old post. Sorry, I took so long to respond. In the notes to NEWPORT '63, written by Francis Davis, "Coltrane had perhaps toyed with the idea of adding a second horn to the front line as early as the previous fall (1960), whe he'd asked a friend who worked for John Levy's management company to find out Lee Morgan's weekly salary as a Jazz Messenger. He also offered the job to Booker Little, who was already too ill to accept. Coltrane's interest in Morgan and (Leroy) Vinnegar suggests that he was initially unsure of what direction he wanted his band to pursue: despite the increasing length and questing nature of his own solos, a band with Morgan on trumpet, Vinnegar on bass, Billy Higgins on drums, and - later - Wes Montgomery on guitar might have evolved into another of the period's tastefully funky hard bop units." I read somewhere else that Blakey wouldn't release Lee.

Thanks for this thread, SS. On the old BNBB I brought up that in the 60's, jazz fans would always recognize "the Blue Note Sound" whenever there was a new release, just by walking past the local record store. I was recalling that BNs had a different (and better) sound even though Rudy was the engineer for other companies as well, notably Prestige. I was shouted down and accused of being biased. I'm happy to see a confirmation of what I and others always knew.

I read somewhere in the liner notes to one of Lee's albums where he said he didn't want to cut a record (as a leader) if he couldn't have Billy on drums. They were also best friends. I was fortunate enough to know Billy, and he had many great stories to tell about his man, "Howdy Doody". Billy's favorite expression about Lee was, "Howdy Doody was r-r-rough!". For a magic moment, listen to Lee's solo on Search For The New Land where he and Billy intertwine in a long phrase that only true "soul mates" can achieve.

Sonny's best. With arrangements by Horace Tapscott, this is Criss' flagship album IMO. An atypical outing by Sonny with tunes that are at once angular and haunting. Once you hear this album, it takes days to get it out of your head. Sonny's solos are superb, soaring and adventuresome. Excellent choice.

I really hope you're wrong! I've already pre-ordered SFTNL. I've never heard it, but after reading so much about it on the boards and in books over the years, I had the impression that it was THE Lee Morgan recording to have. Blasphemy! Man don't let anyone tell you SFTNL is anything less than sacred! P.S. The other BN reseases are ADAM'S APPLE, LET FREEDOM RING, and THE SCENE CHANGES.

Capital re-issued FIDDLER ON THE ROOF this year. If you haven't, pick it up. Features Charles Lloyd and has 3 previously unissued tracks. Don't forget the Cannonball In Europe series.

I LUV this album. Glad you picked it up, D!