Ken Dryden

I don't believe that the complete Town Hall concert of June 9, 1945 has been reissued on CD, though it was included in the third volume of The Complete Commodore Recordings (a 20 LP limited edition boxed set), which has been oop for years. I remember finding the 1970s 2 LP set of it as a cutout for the price of $2.47 plus tax. It's great music that's worth acquiring.

I've seen all kinds of silliness, but when did American bootleg labels ever send out promo copies? That's what this TMOQ audience recorded bootleg of a part of Frank Zappa's 1970 200 Motels concert at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion claims to be. My guess is that someone added the promo stamps after the fact. http://cgi.ebay.com/FRANK-ZAPPA-20-MOTELS-PINK-WAX-PROMO-TMOQ_W0QQitemZ260554575195QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMusic_on_Vinyl?hash=item3caa434d5b#ht_500wt_975 In any case, this music, including portions not released on record, has been circulating among collectors for some time.

I've never heard of Mosaic full sized boxed sets described as boring. Easy to read liner notes, with lots of details, no magnifying glass needed. While the idiotic design of the various small cubes where you can't lie the liner notes flat on a surface to read them, the metal box's rust spreads to whatever it touches, or the cardboard holders scratch the CDs as they are removed and inserted... No contest, give me Mosaic's designer and fire the bozos who designed the Verve Bill Evans set, the Billie Holiday Verve set, the Charlie Christian Columbia boxed set, the Thelonious Monk Columbia best of set (with rubber holders barely holding onto the discs, etc.

Unfortunately Universal Music has consistently designed impractical boxed sets in recent years. Whether scratching the CDs on cardboard when removing them, having open top sleeves to let dust in, or the microscopic fonts used for liner notes, they obviously haven't learned from Mosaic. At least the music is decent.

I just finished reading your article Ken, then I see this. Another one of the good guys gone. I used to visit the Jazz and Blues Centre quite often when I was younger and making road trips to Toronto. A wonderful advocate for the music and great guy he was. Thanks for your kind words, Ted. His death is a great loss to jazz.

Nothing like reading about a concert a few hours after it took place...my loss! I always enjoy hearing Marian McPartland talking about Alec Wilder and have long loved his music. I doubt anyone has played "I'll Be Around" or "Blackberry Winter" on more occasions.

It's funny, but this is one rare year where I actually like both teams and haven't figured out which I one I'd like to win. My gut tells me that the Colts' defense is better and the Saints are more likely to turnover the ball, while the Saints also had way too many penalties during their defeat of the Vikings, so I figure the Colts will win by 10. I'm not betting $$$ on the outcome!

That looks like the late actor Billy Barty on the cover of Have Harp Will Travel. He was in the films Under the Rainbow and Foul Play, along with being part of Spike Jones' troupe in the early 1950s.

It was also reissued on a Japanese Toshiba EMI CD, which is how I picked it up.

They aren't, just the 9 individual volumes of airchecks, many of which have appeared elsewhere, though there are a few rarities mixed in. I am surprised they omitted one of the few Tatum television appearances which is available on YouTube, which I think is "Humoresque."

I'm saddened to learn of John Norris' death. I just interviewed him for All About Jazz New York last fall and it was published in the February 2010 issue.

Mulligan wasn't that happy with the Monk record, as it took place on a whim when he accompanied Monk to see Orrin Keepnews. He would have felt comfortable with more time to rehearse. I'm surprised no one mentioned his meetings with Brubeck, but that always seems to bring out the naysayers. Mulligan told me he was very pleased with those records and enjoyed playing with Dave.

One thing that surprised me about Mulligan: he told me that he was not in favor of reissues with restored songs and previously unissued material. I figured that he would have had doubts about Dick Bock and his excesses for editing, which were at their worst on Jim Hall's debut CD Jazz Guitar. It is a shame that Concord/Jazz Alliance never got around to issuing his appearance (on piano only) on Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz.

Agreed. I quit using Internet Explorer years ago. Good riddance.

Ugh.

We completed the deal. I also love that wild version that Jaki Byard and Rashaan Roland Kirk did of "Parisian Thouroughfare" on the album The Jaki Byard Experience.

PM sent.

Really crazy! That slice on the box spine looks bad! This CD set usually sells in the $600 range. I really want to find this set - at a reasonable price! The seller incorrectly listed this set as pop and got the release date wrong, it came out in 1991, as I have a promo copy of it. With so many Mosaic fetching $50 or more per disc, I would think $800 or more would be the going price, as it has been out of print since 1994. I'm wondering why the seller didn't include the number of the set, too.

With between 800 and 1000 CDs arriving annually, it is impossible to hear everything, let alone the titles I didn’t obtain. Both lists would have been easy to expand. My choices, in no particular order, represent some of my favorites from 2009. (This list was first published in full at jazzhouse.org). Top 10 New Releases: Charles Tolliver Big Band: Emperor March: Live at the Blue Note (Half Note) Roberta Gambarini: So in Love (Emarcy) Fred Hersch Pocket Orchestra: Live at Jazz Standard (Sunnyside) Mel Martin: Where the Warm Winds Blow (Jazzed Media) Oliver Jones & Hank Jones: Pleased to Meet You (Justin Time) Terell Stafford-Dick Oatts Quintet: Bridging the Gap (Planet Arts) The Heath Brothers: Endurance (Jazz Legacy) Bud Shank Quartet: Fascinating Rhythms (Jazzed Media) Geoff Keezer: Aurea (ArtistShare) Ted Kooshian’s Standard Orbit Quartet: Underdog, and Other Stories… (Summit) Top 10 Reissues/Historical Discoveries/Boxed Sets: Ella Fitzgerald: Twelve Nights in Hollywood (Verve/Hip-O-Select) Oscar Peterson: Debut: The Clef/Mercury Duo Recordings 1949-1951 (Verve/Hip-O-Select) Denny Zeitlin: The Columbia Studio Trio Sessions (Mosaic Select) Fats Waller: Fats Waller on the Air 1938 Broadcasts (TPR) Joe Bushkin Quartet with Stuff Smith: Live Embers 1964 (AB Fable) Scott LaFaro: Pieces of Jade (Resonance) Freddie Hubbard: Without a Song: Live in Europe 1969 (Blue Note) Jimmy Rushing: The Scene (HighNote) Lucky Thompson: New York City, 1964-65 (Uptown) Philly Joe Jones/Dameronia: Look, Stop and Listen (Uptown)

PM sent on: Maynard Ferguson - His Orchestra and Octet, 1950-1954 - Band Ain't Draggin' (Fresh Sound Jazz city series, 2005) - $6 George Gruntz - Mental Cruelty: The 1960 jazz soundtrack (Atavistic Unheard Music Series CD) - $5

I think Marian merits any award that she gets. She's done more for jazz than most realize, while her stylistic range is formidable.

PM sent on: Martial Solal/Dave Douglas - Rue de Seine (Cam Jazz, 2006) - $6

I'm guilty of voting in the Village Voice poll. I'll post the separate link to writers' individual ballots when I retrieve it. I can't speak for anyone else, but I would bet I spend more on new music than most jazz journalists (easily in the thousands of dollars), in spite of the volume of promos I receive. I've even purchased CDs directly from artists at times. While I willingly participate in top ten polls, it is difficult to narrow it to such a small number, as there are deserving CDs I've heard that I omit because of the parameters set. No matter how many promos and purchases and the amount of listening time available, there's no way I going to be able to hear every deserving CD within a year. Happy New Year, one and all!

†he Mosaic Ammons & Lewis box preceded the CD issue of the First Day, as it was one of their earliest titles, #103. I don't recall seeing this set offered on ebay in recent years, glad I bought it way back when from Mosaic, even though it seemed like a lot of money to me at the time.

No one's list is every going to jibe with everyone else's. Do we all acquire (or even hear) the same discs in a calendar year? The major labels have made it safe to omit them from my new release list, though a few are still doing a good job with reissues.