Ken Dryden

It may be a problem similar to proposed DVDs of television series, which also require royalty payments for music included within them. The issuers want to pay a flat rate, the music publishers want a per piece royalty, in case the DVD is a hit. Therefore, nothing happens. It may be that the that huge conglomerates holding long unavailable material are just too short-sighted, looking only for the next megahit, instead of producing income from stuff they already own and would have minimal costs to make available as CDs.

The Oslo set by the Mingus Sextet is complete, as on earlier releases: So Long, Eric Orange Was the Color of Her Dress, Then Blue Silk Ow (sometimes labeled Parkeriania) Take the A Train On the last track, Jaki Byard takes a wild stride piano solo, but it is Dolphy's wailing bass clarinet that steals the show.

While I like the early Mothers, they're hardly my favorite edition of Zappa's many bands. I enjoy the musicianship of later bands, including the 1984 and 1988 touring groups, as well as the Grand Wazoo Orchestra and the short-lived group featuring Jean-Luc Ponty. I do feel that some pieces like "Advance Romance" and others featuring Napoleon Murphy Brock had a tendency to go on too long. It's also sad that many of the live bootlegs that have turned up have never had a proper commercial issue made from Zappa's master tapes.

Sounds like it would be fun. Is there a touring schedule available?

I just reviewed the Dolphy DVD for Coda, though I'm not sure which issue will include it. The mislabeled "Blues Improvisation" is actually Dolphy's "245," which was recorded the year before for his Prestige album Outward Bound, his debut as a leader. Also, bassist George Joyner is better known as Jamil Nasser. The Mingus portion is also good, though there are some brief dropouts and distortion in the footage (particularly if you look at Mingus' bass strings). But I haven't looked at my Shanachie VHS copy of the 1964 Oslo concert, so it may have been in the original source. In any case, if you are an Eric Dolphy fan, you'll want to pick up this DVD. It's available through ejazzlines.com.

Actually, the worst Mosaic decisions I made are the ones that I didn't buy, though some of the early oop sets that I missed have been pretty much reissued in full on individual CDs. I'm sure that anyone dissatisfied with a Mosaic will have no trouble selling it for a reasonable price and might even make a profit if it is out of print. The smartest Mosaic purchase for me? All three volumes of The Complete Commodore Jazz Recordings, while they were still available. A total of 69 LPs, with no more than 2500 of each set manufactured.

Sorry that I didn't take notes, but they delved into a number of swing era tunes as well as their patented version of avant-garde jazz. I was busy sitting on the side of the stage and walking around the crowd at this outdoor event. This week's Riverbend Festival offers only Al DiMeola (yawn...).

If one waits for ALL of the Nat King Cole Trio jazz recordings to be reissued individually, I bet it will be a long wait...

I bought an English translation of Berendt's The Jazz Book back in the 1970s. I searched for a lot of the stuff he listed in the discography and finally just acquired George Gruntz: Noon in Tunisia (as a Japanese CD reissue). I remember reading how he died after being hit by a car while crossing a street and thinking "Das ist aber schade" or something like that. I wish more hosts of jazz television broadcasts would follow the lead of the creators of "The Sound of Jazz" and let musicians do most of the talking...long introductions by anyone are tedious.

That depends upon the condition. When it was still in print, it could be had for $240 plus shipping from Mosaic. I've seen them go on ebay from around $200-$900, though condition varied. Most sets for sale will likely have some minor shelf wear on the bottom of the box, while any other wear might lower the price. Mosaic set out to sell 10,000 of them, but I have no idea how many were manufactured and sold prior to the 3 year time limit imposed on their licensing agreement. My esitmate would be a minimum of $600-700 plus shipping and insurance if you can find one, though call Fred Cohen at Jazz Record Center in New York to see what he's charging for one, if he has it. I treasure my review copy!

I took 5 1/2 years of German but didn't have time to try to translate all of it. Joachim E. Berendt did a lot to promote jazz in his career, but I felt like having his long commentary prior to each number was going overboard and interfered with the flow of the music. Then again, it was 1961... In any case, my comments were a bit overboard.

Ejazzlines.com has a new Eric Dolphy DVD available that includes four numbers from a 1961 performance in Berlin, along with footage of the Charles Mingus Sextet on April 12, 1964 in Oslo. The 1961 show has a few shortcomings: There is a dweeb emcee who takes forever to announce each selection, then walks right in front of a camera as the band is playing. The camera work and editing are odd at times, particular the focus on Dolphy during his bass clarinet solo of "God Bless the Child" (listed as a sax solo on the cover, duh!) which cuts off the lower half of his body for far too long. And the last tune is listed as "Blues Improvisation," while I know it is a tune I recognize from Dolphy's Prestige Boxed set (I didn't have time to check the real title). But the quality of the footage, the sound and the performances make it worth the investment. I haven't watched the Mingus set yet (I have the previously issued VHS of this concert) but it consists of some great stuff.

The Sun Ra Arkestra came to Chattanooga, and though they were depleted by the deaths of Sun Ra, John Gilmore and June Tyson since their last appearance here circa 1991, they are still going strong and should hardly be considered a "ghost band." The musicianship was high caliber, with plenty of wild moments and unexpected twists, complete with Michael Ray's acrobatics (though the last time he did cartwheels on stage here, he tore loose a kneecap) and lots of fun. The encore was a hilarious interpretation of "Hit That Jive, Jack."

I got mine long ago and it was #1617. At least Mosaic is still in good hands with Michael Cuscuna. It is hard to imagine him selling out to some conglomerate that would promptly turn it into another purely commercial, barely jazz venture, like has happened to so many once-proud jazz labels in recent years... We're safe from the Complete Warner Bros. Studio Sessions of David Sanborn or Kenny G Mosaic Select.

I can just imagine a set of liner notes by one of these hack writers beginning with "It was a dark and stormy night...."

I've got the set, but not the time to do all that typing! Is there a specific question about it?

Allen: What do you want to know about other musician's works? What inspired the compositions, choice of material, instrumentation, musicians, etc.? Making a few technical comments is usually worthwhile, it's a way for non-musicians and critics to learn something. A sense of humor never hurts. I hope your CD does well!

Added: Randy Weston's Nuit Africaine (Enja) solo CD

Although I have a thorough Frank Zappa collection, including all of his legit releases and quite a few bootlegs, I feel that his challenging instrumental music is what will have the most lasting influence. Some tracks like "Advance Romance" and "The Jazz Discharge Party Hats" haven't aged well, though I still laugh like crazy when listening to a lot of his lyrics. Too bad that the Beatles medley from the 1988 tour with lyrics referring to Rev. Jimmy Swaggart's activities will never see the light of day officially.

I don't know who's in this tribute band, but it won't be the same without Frank on guitar. I didn't care for the live CD recorded when it was formally announced that he had cancer. If it had sufficient alumni and Dweezil on guitar, it would probably be decent. I'd like to see Ensemble Modern play Zappa in concert.

I don't blame Stanley Dance for his harsh criticism of some of the books he read for JazzTimes. When Dance wrote, his books weren't full of typos, idiotic assumptions without any research and outright factual errors, as far too many volumes have been in recent years.

New Orleans has long been a dangerous place to walk alone at night. I hope that Ruiz recovers, though the chance he'll be able to identify his attackers is remote. CNN hasn't bothered to give this story any coverage.

If I can manage to keep enough sunscreen applied, I hope to spend at least one day at the Atlanta Jazz Festival on Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. The first day's lineup: Rene Marie 3 pm Benny Golson Quartet 4 pm The United Trombone Summitt - Curtis Fuller, Delfeayo Marsalis, Steve Turre & Robin Eubanks 5:30 pm Carmen Lundy & The New Songbook Artists (including Bobby Watson) 7 pm McCoy Tyner Trio 8:30 pm The remainder of the weekend includes Barry Harris, Donald Byrd, Geri Allen and others. This is the best lineup that AJF has featured in some time.

A certain degree of honesty is expected, if discussing performances that have shortcomings. This is more true in historical, previously unissued releases or comprehensive boxed sets, as few artists currently on the scene promoting a new CD would appreciate negative comments about their work. An example: When I composed the liner notes to the Jaki Byard Quartet, featuring Joe Farrell: The Last From Lennie's, Farrell obviously hit a clam during the introduction to one of the takes of the previously unissued Byard composition "Dolphy." I had to mention it, though I didn't make a big deal about it. It was a brand new work that was likely premiered with minimal rehearsal and fans of these musicians can probably tune out one bad note rather than allow this track to be lost forever in Fantasy's vault.

I also found liner notes helpful on occasional during the LP era in making a decision about a purchase. One chain store used to allow customers to open CDs to preview them, but they have gone out of business (their inventory, like most chains, was a joke). I don't automatically read liner notes, especially prior to reviewing a CD myself, as I want to come to my own conclusions rather than parrot someone else's. But I still admire well written notes, especially the work of Nat Hentoff, Bob Blumenthal, Doug Ramsey and other thoughtful writers with much to say. I'm working on a set for an artist at the moment, though I'm following in the footsteps of Hentoff and the late Philip Elwood, who wrote notes for her earlier CDs. That's food for thought...