Ken Dryden

This program honor tenor saxophonist Ben Webster, born March 27, 1909, died September 20, 1973. Most of the music is from dates he led or co-lead ranging from the 1940s to his last years in the early 1970s, including a lot of live tracks. Here's the link where it can be streamed or downloaded at any time: https://archive.org/details/timeless-jazz-3-27-2022-ben-webster

They seemed a little fishy to me, though I have acquired several of the CDs. Now that I have looked at the website, I think they are legit. There are so many European labels of shady backgrounds, but there have been plenty of "legit" US and European jazz labels that shafted artists on royalties.

Housework never killed anyone, but why take the risk? I never dust, it might be someone I know. Phyllis Diller

This new release arrived today, a review is in the works. I remember finding a used copy of that LP decades ago, with a lush version of "Take the A Train." Glad that Might Quinn reissued it on CD before ceasing operations.

Hot Ptah was a valuable poster on this board. RIP, 65 is far too young to die.

My wife's spending iso much that I'm able to itemize the sales tax paid last year to save on income tax. Hope she doesn't get the idea that it is even better to save more by spending even more in 2022.

Verve bears little red to a jazz label, that’s what conglomerates do. It is like replacing a gourmet restaurant with greasy fast food.

The dud guests were inevitably from outside of jazz, though Marian deliberately invited some non musicians like Nat Hentoff. There was a bit too much talk on some shows, while it is fun to imagine how much music was recorded but never aired.

This article shows how little respect the Braves gave to Freeman, they didn't even respond to the counteroffer made to their proposed contract at the end of the season. He put in too much time with them to be ignored like this, I hope he has a long productive career and makes them see the error of their decision. https://www.mlb.com/news/freddie-freeman-on-matt-olson-braves-trade?partnerId=zh-20220319-566205-mlb-1-A&qid=1026&utm_id=zh-20220319-566205-mlb-1-A&bt_ee=tXQET7EeqwCfwKZSp1OXRYIdzmaqTlXmZE8E4AskLFLpEodbO4JM8pj38ZCQUmtc&bt_ts=1647694621177

Michael Franks wrote a lot of lame lyrics, in addition to the insipid "Popsicle Toes," there was a song with "When the cookie jar is empty." It really annoyed me everytime I heard that crap on the air at my station. Lame, lightweight and forgettable...

The Mancini Piano Jazz was released on CD.

Not that any training Michael Franks had helped him to create a valuable legacy…

With so many real crimes that need investigating, anyone who goes to such great lengths and expense to become a phony victim of a non-existent hate crime deserves the full weight of the law.

😆

Of course it doesn’t, it was written before anybody heard of Ben Sidran.

My older cousin served three years in the Army during the Vietnam war. He described a situation in boot camp where the drill sargeant was harassing the men excessively. He got into one soldier's face and said with a grin, "I bet you'd like to piss on my grave." The recruit responded, "No sir! After I get out of the Army, I'm never standing in line for anything!" Patient to psychiatrist: "My doctor sent me to see you, he thinks I have kleptomania." Psychiatrist to patient: "What are you taking for it?"

I remember Sidran pointing that out in a broadcast. I also remember his book of interview transcriptions, with Denny Zeitlin spelled Denny Zeitland throughout the hardback edition. I guess he didn't have any time or interest in reading the galley proofs...

There were a few duds ammong the many guests, the worst of which was Paul Shaffer. McPartland told me that when invited, he said he was familiar with the program, but they only played one duet and Marian had to carry the music alone the rest of the way. Dick Phips, the show's original producer, was bad about pushing his friends to be on the show, regardless of their playing chops. She declined to invite them. At one point there were some Piano Jazz shows that were downloadable, but that seems to be in the past. One problem with the online versions is that some of them have been truncated. The Ruby Braff program was ruined by an unnecessary voiceover added by the modern announcer on the last song that was not present in the original program, it seem all of the digitized shows available online have been truncated to around 57 minutes, whereas they could be up to but not over 59 minutes for NPR. PIano Jazz might have the artists accidentally comment over the intro or outro to a song, or respond verbally to something the other played, but voiceover on top of performances has always pissed me off. No one tunes into a jazz show to hear an announcer interupting music.

That reminds me of a joke about a woman in an ice cream shop that will be appreciated by anyone who has ever worked in retail. i used to joke that people didn’t or wouldn’t read signs unless they contained one of three words: Free, nude or sex.

No love for the many Ruby Braff collaborations with Dick Hyman?

I found the pdf database of Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz artists, which include most recording dates, initial broadcast date and some repeated schedules by quarter only. The database is neither 100% accurate or inclusive of every show, but it is very thorough for the most part. Thanks to McPartland's biographer Paul de Barros for sharing this information with me. Please note there are no music files within this link, just the schedule by artist. Among the shows omitted are the special fundraising shows with a single artist that were not compilations or repeats of previously broadcast music. Feel free to ask any questions, I'll try to be of help. https://archive.org/details/piano-jazz-index It seems to be both viewable on line and downloadable.

At the Jazz Journalist Awards show one year, Soupy Sales was a guest host. He said he was in a self-help group, “Sex Without Partners.”

I recently posted the Piano Jazz database that gives recording dates, some broadcast scheduling and guest artists with anyone who wants it. There are some errors and omissions as I checked off my collection against it. None of the fundraising shows featuring a single artist seem to be listed. There is a separate header with the link to archive.org.

I was introduced to her music through the Maybeck solo CD. Over time I've acquired a lot of her discography, while her Jazz Focus CDs are getting harder to find. I think she had to give up performing due to health issues, one of which was back problems.