Ken Dryden

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.

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.

Just got a review copy--great stuff!

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.

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)?

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.

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.

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.

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)

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.

Most wives might reply to a request for "extra storage space for backup copies" with "Fine, I don't have to live here!"

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 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Be aware that the Tatum Group Masterpieces CD boxed set has some bonus tracks not available on the vinyl set.

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.

They are!

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.

That's not completely fiction. The Modern Jazz Quartet + Paul Desmond played the theme from "Jesus Christ Superstar" on the posthumously issued LP recorded at Town Hall on Dec. 25, 1971.

I guess many of you know that Jim Hall did jam on Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" with a string quartet on a live CD. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:0l6zefrk1gfn

Frankly, I would like to hear more of Fats Waller's early recordings on pipe organ, as they have generally been overlooked by reissue labels. The only one I have is Fats at the Organ, Vol. 3. Too bad that he didn't live another 3-4 decades.

Waller fans should purchase Stephen Taylor's excellent book Fats on the Air: The Radio Broadcasts and Discography. http://www.scarecrowpress.com/Catalog/Sing...data=0810856565