Ken Dryden

I wouldn't write off Till Brönner entirely. Bob Brookmeyer was very impressed with him and you might want to check his CD Generations of Jazz on Minor Music. But I'll pass on the smooth stuff.

In the south, a Copenhagen convert is one who switched brands of snuff... just a pinch between cheek and gum... Yuck...

How about "McCoy Turner" listed on piano on one of John Coltrane's early Impulse LPs... My favorite typo, evidently since corrected in later editions, was on Will Calhoun's Live at the Blue Note. McCoy Tyner's "Passion Dance" was listed as Herbie Hancock's "Dolphin Dance." And the poor guy who covered it in a Jazz Times corner piece evidently didn't know the difference. Another huge blooper was on The Paris All Stars: Homage to Charlie Parker. The opening track was labeled "Birks' Works" and it was actually "Steeplechase." Nearly every review I've seen of this release catches this error.

I don't think that management at most stations take format changes lightly. It is a major disruption and there obviously will be a degree of support lost. But in our market, the jazz numbers never were what we expected them to be. The jazz programming during the week is long gone, with a couple of syndicated shows still hanging on. NPR isn't the only network available, though it is the major dog. But all of the networks had better be careful about offering too many of their most popular programs on satellite services, or stations will be wondering why they're paying tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars while people in their markets can get the same shows elsewhere. Let's face it, for some markets, underwriting and membership received a huge boost once NPR news programming was added to the mix.

I obviously don't have insider's information as to what pledge levels, underwriting support and Arbitron ratings have been for WBEZ's jazz programming. But I doubt that the management's decision was made without serious review of these matters, vs. potential opportunities with alternative programming. Again, I'd rather be listening to jazz myself than any talk show you can name, though my time is spent listening to new CDs, both in the car and at home. I don't have the time for anything else.

If you want to go crazy with creating a wish list, just look through a copy of any edition of Tom Lord's Jazz Discography on CD-Rom. You'll discovering recording sessions, labels and releases that you've never heard of. One obscure 2 LP set issued under Fats Waller's name was on a label called Ristic. I recently learned that this was a John R. T. Davies production and only 99 copies were made. Fortunately, my informant is sending me a CDR dub of it in exchange for some broadcast recordings of salutes to Fats. BTW, I still have at least two editions of the Lord Discography CD-Rom for sale or trade. PM me if interested, a part cash, part CD trade is also possible.

True, NPR shows aren't cheap. Some changes, like extending the hours for drive time news programming, don't cost a station anything extra if it already carries the programs. But don't forget there is a considerable amount of overhead in running a public radio station, even if the programming is "free." Equipment upgrades and maintainance (including conversion to digital studios and transmitters), salaries & benefits (though the cost of benefits is likely to rise more quickly than salaries in most public stations) and webcasting-related expenses are just a few of the items in addition to network membership fees, satellite access fees and carriage fees for syndicated programming. If the numbers for listenership and fundraising drop sufficiently during local programming, they have to be reviewed by station management. They may very well determine that paying for syndicated shows is more beneficial to the bottom line than continuing to air local programming in the same daypart. Be clear, I am a jazz fan first, but if jazz programming isn't paying the bills for a station, I understand the desire to make a change. I would personally prefer to hear jazz as I drive around any city.

As a long time public radio professional and former jazz show host (15 years on WUTC-FM), I understand the disappointment about WBEZ's dropping of jazz from their format. But I can also tell you that the financial pressure on public radio stations is intense. Funding can no longer be taken for granted, as community stations that may be funded in part by local governments or university stations must continuously re-evaluate their support of public radio stations. If underwriting and individual listener gifts are not growing substantially and listenership is stagnant, then increased costs may force management to make changes. I miss the annual Labor Day weekend broadcasts that WBEZ hosted for years (that were also fed live on selected NPR stations until a few years ago). I'm afraid that jazz may be on its way to disappearing from many of the larger stations, though I hope that other stations will attempt to pick up the slack.

I almost immediately edited out my description of Clive Davis as "moronic," but evidently my server problems never got my update through to the website. (I'm firing my internet service at the end of my contract, far too many untimely disconnects). There's little sense in editing my comment now, since it has been copied into another post. Chuck: I don't know what you would consider "better information" but at that point in Thelonious Monk's career, I would have thought it very insensitive to suggest that he record an album of 1960s pop songs, any more than any other long time Columbia jazz recording artist of that time. I know that every record company executive has the responsibility of getting the maximum exposure and profit out of each release, but jazz is a funny animal, since bestsellers are extremely rare. Why did they sign him in the first place? Tom: As far as Joe Pass, I'm sure his extensive exposure through numerous releases on Norman Granz's Pablo label (as a soloist, leader and sideman) helped fuel interest in his concert bookings and made him financially comfortable. It would be interesting to compare his typical income from a Pablo album vs. those for Pacific Jazz or World Pacific, but that's not in the cards.

Fred told me that the one the one LP set he reissued with Sue Mingus' assistance was that Music Written For Monterey (Not the one reissued by Fantasy, but the rarer one sold only through mailorder by Mingus). The last time we discussed it he had them available for $40 new, while the reissue readily goes for much higher sums on ebay.

My money would be on the moronic Clive Davis coming up with that idea. Anyone ever heard the dreadful Joe Pass World Pacific album The Stones Jazz? I'm sure Pass felt insulted to be asked, but a paycheck was a paycheck at that time and he probably didn't have the luxury of saying no until after he started making some serious money with Norman Granz. As for the typo, oh well, I'm still recovering from a root canal and my eyesight isn't all that great reading the tiny fonts these bulletin boards utilize. I guess I could always increase them, then some folks would think that I was shouting like using all caps.

TS Monk swears that his father was never asked to a do an album of Beatles tunes. But I thought it would make a viable April Fools review at AllAboutJazz.com, since it has long been rumored to have been at least proposed. Whether or not people liked it, I have no idea, but as of today, it was the tenth most read CD review of the past 30 days and it was only posted the day before. I was in stiches last year after a number of people contacted me trying to track down copies of Michael Bolton Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook and Yanni: A Tribute to Art Tatum.

Another hidden recording session by Thelonious Monk has been uncovered: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=21185 Just for laughs...of course.

You can download tunes all day and night, but how long can you guarantee that itunes will remain on your ipod, computer hard drive or burned discs? Unless they are abused, manufactured CDs are a permanent, rather than temporary library. I don't see prices dropping except for CDs that just aren't of much interest. When I try to list stuff on half.com and find titles I have to dispose of listed under $4, it just isn't worth the bother to post mine.

One reason that you might have received an outdated sale catalog in England is because of the slowness of overseas mail delivery. I would hardly expect any seller of CDs to set aside foreign addresses and spend additional postage to get them out faster. As far as their pricing, it is undoubtedly based upon the lmited edition nature of their reissues. They probably pay a certain flat fee for the rights to each CD, yet there is a time limit as to how long they can offer them. Setting a price too low sets a bad precedent and makes it hard to raise them (yeah, I know the Mosaic Selects just went up a few dollars), but they have to cover the eventual disappointing title from time to time.

I hope the idiot that designed the Bill Evans Complete Verve Recordings Boxed set was banished from ever designing another one. Not only are the CDs a pain to take out, but I was tired of getting rust on my hands when handling it. I cleaned mine with Bon Ami and never did get around to rustproofing it. The music, not the stupid box, is what is valuable.

I also caught that time-sensitive goof on p. 97, though I didn't include it in my post. It was something the editor definitely should have caught, if he is as familiar with Silver's music as he states. It makes me think that he sat around recording Horace's commentary, then typed it up himself. That would also explain the misspelling of the names of Eddie Locke, Jon Burr, Charlie Lourie and several other folks. I was surprised that Horace took the time to describe his first exposure to fart-lighting, something that would normally associated with bored 12 year old boys. That's one ritual I'm glad that I missed.

I still have all of the LPs so I haven't invested in the CD reissue set. Didn't some of the other CD reissues in this Carnegie Hall series on Prestige have tracks deleted in order to fit them onto one disc?

I've finished reading it. Silver is generally upbeat throughout most of the book, with his wrath directed mainly at bootleggers and Tyrone Washington (whose actions while in Silver's band may help to explain his obscurity on record). There's a thorough discography, including some bootlegs and at least one broadcast which is circulating among collectors. I wish he had devoted a little more space to discussing some of the folks who worked with him. The editing is generally pretty good, though a number of misspelled names weren't caught. Four and a half stars out of five in my book! Look for my review in an upcoming AAJNY issue and in AllAboutJazz.com afterward.

I just got through with the Sidney Bechet Mosaic Select box, with a review due in the April issue of All About Jazz-New York. Next on the playlist: either the Basie, Nelson, Mulligan (Mosaic Select) or Rich box, depending upon my mood.

My copy of the Nelson set arrived the other day. Haven't had time to hear it yet, but it looks interesting. I already had several of the albums within it, including Fantabulous, Sound Pieces, Kennedy Dream, the Spirit of '67 and Full Nelson.

As a veteran of public radio, no format can be taken for granted. There is an increased pressure on many university-licensed public radio stations to increase their own fundraising to cover expenses, as universities want to route more money from public broadcasting to academics. Classical may have a loyal fan base, but if the demographic is aging in a market and membership income is stagnant, a change may be called for by the local management. Nor should jazz, news or any other format be taken for granted in any market, just because it has been in place for years. Again, I'm not about to judge WUOM about whether it should have changed formats in the first place, but if underwriting and membership gifts increased, along with Arbitron audience estimates, it would seem to me that there were some tough but wise decisions made.

I'm not sure what national politics has to do with the investigation of this station. Obviously WUOM was succeeding in their mission, but an audit possibly spotted some problems. I am not in a position to judge this matter, but universities have to be on top of budgets, due to the problems that can be caused if matching grant money has to be returned after an audit, not to mention that members and underwriters want their gifts to be spent wisely.

Harpist Daphne Hellman led a trio with a weekly gig at the Village Gate for years, but evidently did few recordings. Hellman's Angels: Pop Go the Angels! was issued as a Plug LP around 1989 or 1990 and was quickly out of print after the distributor/parent label (PM Records) ceased operations. Here's a link to my AMG review of it with a track list: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:8i62mpsj9ffo I think that Hellman died in the past few years, but I don't have any definite information.

It may even be the Complete Arista Recordings of Kenny G....