Ken Dryden

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...

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.

It worked when I used the link provided earlier in the thread. The search engine must have had a momentary glitch. One warning: the various live recordings made at the long defunct E.J.'s in Atlanta are condensed from 2 CD sets released on the EJS label.

Can't find any trace of the Storyville sale on Allegro's site. What's the link? They're not listed at all in their Cybermusic Surplus page. Webster's No Fool, No Fun isn't all that essential. Fortunately I already own most of the Storyville stuff that I coveted.

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.