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Ken Dryden
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Posts posted by Ken Dryden
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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.
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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.
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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...
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I second the motion on the crappy, irrelevant liner notes in the Benny Goodman Jazz Unlimited title mentioned earlier in the thread. If you have to issue a disclaimer, it's better to pay off the author and then hire a real writer to contribute notes in his/her place.
Any number of Stanley Crouch liner notes is worthy of condemnation, but especially the ridiuclous praise of The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra's butchering of the music of Charles Mingus, inlcuding the unintended laugh line: "Lovers of Charles Mingus, lovers of jazz, and lovers of truly superior musicianship will find this an instant classic that lives up to that name." Compare any of these renditions to Mingus' own recordings and they will come up woefully inadequate, especially "Meditations on Integration." Only LCJO could manage to render this moving piece in a boring fashion.
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I enjoyed watching the Atlanta Braves repeatedly intentionally walk Barry Bonilla to face Barry Bonds during the 1991 playoffs, where he almost inevitably was retired. I have long been sick of this arrogant player, whose sullen attitude is hardly a good example for kids playing sports. He ought to be grateful to have the opportunities that he has had.
Bonds' miracle improvement in his mid-30s almost has to be steroid related. As a result, his hitting records will always be somewhat tainted. He had the potential to reach the Hall of Fame on his own natural talent, before he chose the Dark Side and unnatural enhancement.
Bonds will pass Babe Ruth, he may still pass Hank Aaron's lifetime record, but he will never be regarded as the equal of either of them.
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Just got a review copy--great stuff!
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Sorry, I wasn't that impressed with Michelle Mercer's bio of Wayne Shorter. She seemed too in awe of him.
I especially found the statement comparing the output of Shorter and Joe Zawinul to Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn to be ridiculous.
But one of the most amateurish gaffs occurred in the photo spread. Lew Tabackin and Jaco Pastorious are listed as "unknown" while Denny Zeitlin (standing behind Toshiko Akiyoshi, Tabackin's wife) is misidentified as Tabackin. Although they both have beards and moustaches and wear glasses, Tabackin and Zeitlin really don't resemble one another, while Zeitlin is also a good bit taller. What's particularly amusing is that the photo came from a backstage shot from the Jazz at the Opera House concert, which was commercially issued and includes this very same photo, with all parties correctly identified. It would have taken a minimal amount of effort checking with any knowledgable jazz journalist to get this information.
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I think that Blue Note suffered not in comparison to avant-garde, but when visionary and founder Alfred Lion sold the business and the new owners started concentrating too much on jazz funk. Some of the recordings from the 1970s are embarassing. The late Gene Harris once told me "When I saw myself in platform shoes and playing electric keyboards, I realized that I was on the wrong path." (A bit of a paraphrase, as I don't have the tape handy to play).
Lion had a great ear. Who else would take chances on Thelonious Monk and Herbie Nichols (though the latter never caught on with jazz audience during his lifetime)?
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Listening in the car definitely isn't the same experience as listening at home, as my Miata lets
in lots of outside noise. But I can tell the difference between downloads and manufactured CDs
(on my home system...not in the car, I needed to edit that point to be clear!).
JRM has been easy for me to deal with the few times I've made purchases from them, though I usually
spend a hundred or two when I shop with them. The internet site needs some work (something true for
many retail stores) but their phone service has been excellent, prices reasonable and shipping has been speedy.
I think most of us would like to know the personnel and songs on a CD prior to buying on line without having to cross check with an outside reference site.
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No one is going to convince me that any download is going to approach the sound quality and the durability of a commercially manufactured CD of the same music.
Download fans, I hope you aren't too disappointed when your hard drive, Ipod or CDRs no longer function.
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A best of collection on a Top Seven of All Time list? No way. I also don't believe in ranking incomplete "Best of" anthologies for "Reissue of the Year" (Complete Collections are another story).
The vastly overrated A Love Supreme is also undeserving of such a ranking.
this list is an okay starting point for discussion, but trying to create a list so narrow is an object in frustration, much like trying to pick my favorite recording out of my sizable jazz collection.
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I have the following CDs available for trade, exclusively to US & Canadian addresses>
If you're interested, please send me a list of CDs you have available.
Thanks.
Boxed set:
Herbie Hancock: The Herbie Hancock Box Columiba/Legacy
4 CD retrospective in a plastic cube, still factory sealed
CDs;
Harry Allen/Joe Cohn Quartet Hey, Look Me Over Arbors
Blue Bop LDB3 & Friends Chicken Coop
Randy & Michael Brecker Some Skunk Funk: Live at the Leverkusener Jazztage Telarc
Alan Broadbent 'Round Midnight Artistry
Eugene Chadbourne The Hills Have Jazz Boxholder
Clayton-Hamilton Orchestra Live at MCCG MCG
Freddy Cole This Love of Mine High Note
Stanley Cowell Regeneration Charly/Strata East
Jim Cullum Jazz Band Chasin' the Blues Riverwalk
Kris Defoort Conversations/Conservations W.E.R.F.
Kenny Dorhham Quiet Kenny OJC/Prestige
Bob Dorough Sunday at Irridium great stuff! Arbors
xTal Farlow & Lenny Breau Chance Meeting Guitararchives on hold
Art Farmer Art (Japanese Paper sleeve, no OBI)
Dizzy Gillespie: Dizzy-The Music of John Birks Gillespie Verve
Dizzy Gillespie Have Trumpet, Will Excite Verve
Dizzy Gillespie Night In Tunisia-The Very Best of...Bluebird/Legacy
Gordon Goodwin Big Phat Band The Phat Pack Immergent
Haze Greenfield w/Tom Harrell Five for the City Owl
Russell Gunn Young Gunn Plus 32 Jazz out of print
Roy Hargrove/The RH Factor Distractions Verve
Earl Hines Jazz Classics Aurophon
Billie Holiday God Bless the Child-The Very Best of... Columbia/Legacy
xWayne Horvitz Gravitas Quartet Way Out East Songlines on hold
Jason Kao Hwang Edge Asian Improv
Solomon Ilori African High Life Blue Note 24 bit remaster
Jay Leonhart Life Out on the Road Prestige Jazz (English)
Joe Lovano Streams of Expression Blue Note
Junior Mance Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise Enja
Pete Malinverni Joyful! Artistshare
John McLaughlin Industrial Zen Verve
Marian McPartland Piano Jazz w/John Medeski Jazz Alliance
Rale Micic (w/Tom Harrell) Serbia CTA
Red Mitchell/George Cables Live at Port Townsend Challenge
Hank Mobley Dippin’ Blue Note (non-RVG)
Lee Morgan Tom Cat Blue Note (non-RVG)
Jelly Roll Morton The Pearls Rounder
Jelly Roll Morton Winin' Boy Blues Rounder
Gerry Mulligan The Gerry Mulligan Songbook Pacific Jazz
Gerry Mulligan & Concert Jazz Band Live at the Village Vanguard Verve
David Murray Quartet +1 DIW/Columiba
Francois Pais Quintet Not Afraid of Color Fresh Sound New Talent
Leo Parker Let Me Tell You 'Bout It Blue Note (Spain)
Jean-Luc Ponty In Concert JLP
Frank Potenza & Shelly Berg First Takes Azica
Samo Saloman Quartet Two Hours Fresh Sound New Talent
Mark Sherman One Step Closer CAP
Travis Shook Plays Kurt Weill Dead Horse
Horace Silver Silver's Serenade Blue Note non-RVG
Nina Simone Broadway-Ballads-Blues Verve 2006 reissue
Nina Simone In Concert Verve 2006 reissue
Jimmy Smith Soft As in a Summer Breeze Blue Note non-RVG
Jamie Stewardson Jhaptal Fresh Sound New Talent
Martin Taylor The Best of Martin Taylor P3 Music (a 2 CD compilation of tracks
issued by P3 Music, Linn and Sony/Legacy)
Jack Teagarden 1944-45 Big T Jump Jass (long out of print)
Ike Turner Risin' the Blues Zoho
Miscellaneous compilations:
V.A. Blues, Boogie & Bop-The Best of the 1940s Mercury Sessions Verve
(Albert Ammons, Jay McShann, Eddie Cleanhead Vinson & others)
V.A. The Illustrious Clarinetists of Jazz 1927-1949 Jazz Legends...includes
many pre-bop greats, a good cross-section with 21 tracks
DVD:
Marcus Miller Master of All Trades Koch (2 discs)
VHS:
Clark Terry Quartet (concert with the Duke Jordan Trio)
Ruby Braff Trio in Concert (with Howard Alden + Frank Tate)
Book:
Django (paperback, Oxford University Press)
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With Strings is one of my favorite Jaki Byard records.
Check out the still out of print Ray Nance LPs listed under his All Music Guide discography.
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Most wives might reply to a request for "extra storage space for backup copies" with
"Fine, I don't have to live here!"
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This CD compilation is enjoyable, but not essential unless you are a completist when it comes to collecting Thelonious Monk or Herbie Nichols (I am):
Gigi Gryce Quartet:
Gigi Gryce (as) Thelonious Monk (p) Percy Heath (b) Art Blakey (d)
New York, October 15, 1955
Brake's sake
Gallop's gallop
Shuffle boil
Nica's tempo
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Herbie Nichols (p) Danny Barker (g) Chocolate Williams (b,vcl) Shadow Wilson (d)
New York, March 6, 1952
My lady gingersnap (cw vcl)
Good story blues (cw vcl)
Who's blues ?
'S wonderful
'S wonderful (alt)
Nichols and dimes
Nichols and dimes (alt)
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I came close to predicting the future....
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=17066
Seriously, I despised Debbie Boone's hit song of the 1970s, but her Concord CD tribute to her late mother-in-law, Rosemary Clooney was a decent effort.
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I came across this quote in the May issue of Jazz Times and thought it was kind of bizarre. From Ron Goldstein, CEO of Verve:
"I realized three or four years ago that if we stuck with jazz, we would be out of business. I just knew it. It's not that we want to be out of the jazz business. It's just that there is nothing that is coming along that is exciting. There was a blip with Joshua Redman, Nicholas Payton, Christian Mcbride 10 years ago, but it seemed to dry up very quickly"
An odd statment, I think. First, nothing against these guys, but is the mid 90s output of Redman et al. the standard by which jazz today should be measured? And it's failing to meet that standard?? What strikes me as odd (even perverse) is that the CEO of Verve, with all of its resources and potential influence, seems so disinterested and out of touch with jazz. "nothing is coming along that is exciting"
So that's why Verve has let go of artists the caliber of Kenny Barron and Geri Allen and signed such "exciting" artists as Jamie Cullum and other lightweights...
Major labels like Verve are overlooking too many jazz veterans that have plenty to offer if they were only promoted seriously.
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The pitch on the piano is inconsistent on Jackpot: Live in Las Vegas, you might enjoy it because of the performances. There aren't any sound problems on The Last Time We Saw Paris and I think it merits being reissued.
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I forgot to mention that at least one unissued Columbia session with Bill Smith remains in the vaults. It was tentatively titled "Witches' Brew" (long before Miles Davis' "Bitches Brew") but it seems unlikely to appear anytime soon.
There was also a live recording made in India, but numerous brownouts evidently made this tape unusable.
I am not clear whether this concert was recorded for Columbia, but that seems likely.
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There are two specific Columbia LPs that Dave Brubeck has told me that he doesn't want to see reissued:
Jackpot: Live in Las Vegas--This live date was recorded on a brand new baby grand that had problems holding its pitch in the polar air conditioning of the nightclub where it was taped.
The Last Time We Saw Paris--Brubeck won't go into details about this one, although Paul Desmond is missing from some tracks.
I have enjoyed both of these LPs.
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Be aware that the Tatum Group Masterpieces CD boxed set has some bonus tracks not available on the vinyl set.
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I lucked into the opportunity to do liner notes for The Last From Lennie's because of a passing remark that Jaki Byard made during a conversation with me circa 1990. Regardless of its perceived flaws, including Farrell's drumming or his fluff on sax in the introduction to "Dolphy" (version 2), I think it adds an important chapter to Byard's legacy.
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I had that problem with a set that were around 18 years
old, I trashed them and bought new speakers, as the
technology had improved over time.
Hilton Ruiz dies
in Artists
Posted
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.