Ken Dryden

I also bought this LP back in the 1970s and didn't own it for long. Evans sounded bored and wasn't improvising in his distinctive style, while most of the songs themselves were pretty forgettable.

Lots of jazz artists recorded inappropriate pop songs: Bud Shank played the music of the Lovin' Spoonful (on a long oop LP appropriately titled A Spoonful of Jazz) Carmen McRae did Alice Cooper's "Only Women Bleed" (so should have the producer or person who suggested this turkey to Carmen)

I just received both of Art Pepper's CDs issued by Widow's Taste and what I've heard so far is exceptional.

I find it sad that anyone would be so dismissive of Ella Fitzgerald's obvious contributions to jazz. She was revered by the musicians who worked with her and most critics. Yes, she kept performing when she was obviously past her prime, she sometimes chose inappropriate songs (Marvin Gaye's monotonous "What's Goin' On" on her Carnegie Hall concert of the 1970s and the insipid "Wives and Lovers" to name two) and the Grammy for her final release should have gone to Carmen McRae for Carmen Sings Monk. But at least Starbuck's is featuring Ella rather than all of the thin-voiced singer/songwriters who have been promoted as jazz artists in recent years by major labels. I am more concerned about those who are promoting the remixes of Nina Simone and Billie Holiday, as if this music has to be dumbed down for consumption by youth.

The sound on the Harkit recordings I was sent was pretty noisy, with lots of microphone bumping and such. The interviews heard on some of the discs were rather amateurish in nature. Congrats to Sonny for beating the crooks.

Carla was a good friend, we met back in 1990 at the JazzTimes Convention in New Orleans and we kept in touch. Our last time to hang out together was during a quick trip to New York City last fall, she was always a delightful person to spend time chatting with over lunch. I finally tracked down her long out of print debut LP, Andruline, a few years ago and always looked forward to reviewing her latest release. She will be missed.

I was saddened to learn that jazz vocalist Carla White died yesterday in New York City after a long battle with cancer. Carla was a talented singer who recorded eight albums under her name. Her debut recording for Stash, Andruline, was jointly led with Manny Duran; her last release was A Voice in the Night. Her frequent musical collaborators included Peter Madsen, Dean Johnson, Matt Wilson and a good friend, Lew Tabackin, who would often make a guest appearance on a few numbers. A memorial service is scheduled for St. Peter's Church (Lexington at 53rd St.) in Manhattan on June 8th at 5 pm.

Elling wasn't bad as a part of Dave Brubeck's Cannery Row Suite, premiered at last year's Monterey Festival. I've just never warmed to his voice, though I think his choice of material and the presence of Rob Mounsey are serious drawbacks on his first Concord CD.

Lack of research doesn't seem to keep some writers from get publishing contracts for new books... Examples include the recent Wayne Shorter and Grant Green bios, which were full of errors, faulty judgements and often sloppy research.

Murphy still had that ridiculous toupe on his dome when he sang at IAJE (2006?) with Kurt Elling, Jon Hendricks and Kevin Mahogany.

I have both these DVDs and have enjoyed them. Has there been a discussion of the upcoming Mingus Sextet 2 CD set at Cornell 1964, to be issued by Blue Note in July? I already have an advance and it is a good performance, even if it seems to be in mono.

I didn't request a copy of Elling's new CD, as I recognized it for what it was. I had forgotten about the Michael Franks song, he is always one for writing forgettable songs. "When the cookie jar is empty (Barf!)..."

Gee, Kurt Elling is no longer on Blue Note... Instead, he has signed with Concord and recorded such lame songs as The Guess Who's "Undun" and also utilized boring smooth keyboardist/arranger Rob Mounsey (of "I Like the Orange Thing" fame) on his latest CD. Yawn...

I highly recommend Harold Danko's Prestigious, an excellent tribute to Eric Dolphy. Of course, I've enjoyed all of Danko's releases for the label that I've acquired.

I have had a few dealings with unsavory individuals through ebay/half.com who either didn't ship discs ordered or badly misrepresented items for sale (one clown sent burned DVD copies and represented them as "the only way to get them,") yet I still was in touch with them before filing claims. Regarding the DVDR crook, he refunded everything, including shipping both ways. The same is true for informal direct sales through boards. Although it might be tough to get a refund or an adjustment from a seller in this type of transaction, I still feel that the seller deserves the opportunity to offer a replacement, partial refund, or full refund before a buyer goes public complaining about a purchase. Put yourself in the seller's shoes and ask how you would react to a posted bb complaint before hearing from a disgruntled buyer. I probably won't be shopping at one used CD store in NYC again. I purchased a Paul Bley disc on Steeplechase there and didn't look at it closely enough. When I finally got ready to play it a few months later, I discovered it was a CDR with a glossy photo (but definitely copied) book. If they actually took this thing in via trade, they should have pitched it or played it in the store. I know it is too late to get a refund, as they would claim I burned it myself.

Any buyer with a perceived problem should contact a seller directly first if there is a problem rather than venting on a bulletin board. I used to be a retail manager and it used to surprise me that customers would occasionally contact the Better Business Bureau before giving me a chance to offer a solution to their problems.

Willis Conover was also responsible for assembling a great jazz lineup for the initial New Orleans Jazz Festival. Now jazz is second tier behind headliners like Bruce Springsteen and Rod Stewart, making the name of the festival the worst kind of false advertising.

I am anxiously awaiting the Monterey series. I wonder if Carl Jefferson left behind the masters of the various Concord Jazz Festivals that he recorded that have never seen the light of day? Among them is a Woody Herman set with Duke Ellington sitting in; a former Concord rep once had a copy of it that Jefferson gave to him. By the way, who's George Washington, Jr.? Was it supposed to be GROVER?

I just heard Cyrus Chestnut's Trio last night. A nice set that was wide-ranging, with originals, standards, hymns and spirituals, plus even a few entertaining reworkings of tunes associated with Elvis Presley that are from his upcoming Koch CD (and I've never particularly been a fan of Elvis).

One of the strangest problems I had was paying an extra cover to sit close to the bandstand to hear Kenny Barron & Ray Drummond at the late lamented Zino in NYC, only to have some yuppie women talking loudly throughout the set at the next table. Why in the hell did these morons pay extra to sit so close? Another weird experience was during a jazz party, when Rebecca Kilgore was singing with Dave Frishberg backing her and a hotel employee was making popcorn in the back of the ballroom during the set.

It shouldn't be surprising that Captain Kangaroo would feature jazz. Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood had jazz pianist Johnny Costa as music director for most of its run.

You have to realize several things: Sometimes the songs listed are no longer with the masters, but either lost or discarded. Sometimes the performances simply are unworthy of release, even to most obssesive collectors. There also may be sound problems, poor balance, excessive dropouts in the tape, damaged tape, etc. Some of the producers who contribute to this Bulletin Board probably can give you additional reasons as to why tracks aren't made available. It is nice when labels like Mosaic mention the listing in the logs of missing tracks and why they are not present in a reissue or boxed set. No other label seems to do this much at all.

The Verve boxed set issued by Mosaic was pulled prior to the end of the normal lease period because of unstated legal problems. But look for the 2 disc Verve compilation released a few year ago, the collaborations with Stephane Grappelli, Violin Summit (oop) with Ponty, Grappelli & Asmussen. There are also a number of LPs that have never been out on CD; I've always liked his final album, Black Violin, issued by BASF/MPS. AB Fable also has put out several excellent compilations of Smith's private recordings.

I wasn't aware of the new "Buyer 1, then Buyer 2" ebay rule, but that will keep me from bidding in the future. Ebay has not done enough to protect buyers from crooks on the site. The first thing they ought to do would be to require sellers to accept Visa/Mastercard. That would put a lot of the dishonest folks out of business.

What about journeyman Harry "Suitcase" Simpson, who always seemed to be getting traded? Eli Grba, a pitcher with an unpronouncable nameand worse stuff...