Ken Dryden

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...

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.