Ken Dryden

A guy who did publicity in the early years told me that Carl E. Jefferson, who helped launch the Concord Jazz Festival and founded Concord Jazz, gave him soundboard copies of numerous sets from the festival. One of them was Duke Ellington sitting in with Woody Herman and his band. Sadly, he discarded them and evidently Jefferson’s widow likely disposed of her husband’s copies.

One of the greatest losses was the second cassette with the remainder of Milt Jackson’s appearance on Billy Taylor’s Jazz at the Kennedy Center. Evidently I failed to label the second cassette and taped over it.

Some stuff is lost in my house, mainly cassettes and CDRs of jazz broadcasts. Hopefully still in a box somewhere…

When the bio/discography of bassist George Duvivier was published after his death, I learned that his final recording session consisted of duos with pianist James Williams, which were unissued. I asked Williams about them and he said that he (Williams) didn’t play well enough. I have no idea if he discarded the tapes or not. An inquiry to William Paterson University, which holds the pianist’s archives, was unanswered.

Jean-Luc Ponty told me during a phone interview a few years ago that he had recently discarded a number of concert recordings because he felt that he had released the best of them. I wonder how many artists discard unused material to prevent its later release. I believe that false starts and partial takes usually aren’t worth hearing a second time, with rare exceptions.

She was always a great competitor on Password, the game show hosted by her husband Allen Ludden.

Steve Allen is underrated as a songwriter. I have an extensive collection of his recordings. I got to hear him perform in a pops concert with the Atlanta Symphony in the earlhy 1980s, it was a fun evening and we heard some great music, too. On a personal note I was surprised to get a letter from him. When Terry Gibbs and Buddy DeFranco recorded a CD of Allen compositions, I reviewed it for the local newspaper. Gibbs sent a photocopy of the review to Allen, who surprised we with a nice thank you letter and several CDs and cassettes of his music. I wish that I had taken time to do a phone interview with him, I'm sure he would have had me laughing throughout it. There was one last joke in him on the day he died. Allen had a minor car wreck on the way to visit his son, he died later that day of a heart attack. After the wreck, he quipped, "Some people will do anything to get my autograph." Marian McPartland shared a story about sharing the bill with him and George Shearing in Kalamazoo, three solo sets and a trio finale. Evidently he took too long by telling jokes during his set, so without saying anything, she and Shearing ganged up on him in the finale and "wasted him."

I bought ithe Dave Liebman Opal Heart import in October from importCDs, not Dusty Groove.

Yes, that’s true.

Eddie Costa, like Clifford Brown and Scott LaFaro, died in a car wreck, he was 31.

I think I got this Japanese import reissue from Dusty Groove, I will have to check my purchase file. I would have included tracks from the Roy Brooks and Lee Morgan Lighthouse set, but the tracks were a bit long for my show.

I recorded a Timeless Jazz show focusing on Best Historical Releases and Reissues on December 16, scheduled to air on January 2, 2022. There are a number of Japanese reissues included. Unfortunately, The new Mosaic Records Lennie Tristano Sessions arrived 11 days after the show was recorded, as I had no studio access from December 18-January 2 due to holiday closing of the station. Here's the link to the 2 hour show: https://archive.org/details/timeless-jazz-1-2-2022-best-historical-and-reissued-cds Here is the playlist: Louis Armstrong & Dave Brubeck The Complete Columbia + RCA Victor Studio Sessions 1946-1966 They Say I Look Like God (Take 1) Mosaic Records - Bill Evans Behind the Dikes: The 1969 Netherlands Recordings (Live) Turn Out the Stars (Live) Elemental Music Aki Takase & Rudi Mahall Duet For Eric Dolphy Hat And Beard Solid/Enja - Hal Galper Quintet with Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Wayne Dockery & Bob Moses Live at the Berlin Philharmonic, 1977 Now Hear This Origin Records Joe Henderson The Complete Joe Henderson Blue Note Studio Sessions Our Thing (alternate take) Mosaic Records Roy Hargrove & Mulgrew Miller In Harmony (Live) Invitation (Live) Resonance Records Lee Konitz & Martial Solal Live at the Berlin Jazz Days 1980 Subconciously MPS Johnny Hodges 13 Mars 1961 Live in Paris Jeep's Blues Fremeaux & Associes Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers First Flight To Tokyo: The Lost 1961 Recordings Moanin' Blue Note Roseanna Vitro - Listen Here (feat. Kenny Barron) Listen Here Skyline Red Rodney-Herman Schoonderwalt Quintet Scrapple From the Apple - Live at Nick Vollebregt's Jazzcafe in Laren Jordu Solid/Timeless Sheila Jordan Comes Love: Lost Session 1960 A Sleepin' Bee Capri Records Ltd. Erroll Garner Symphony Hall Concert I Can't Get Started With You Mack Avenue Oscar Peterson - A Time for Love: The Oscar Peterson Quartet Live in Helsinki, 1987 A Time for Love: The Oscar Peterson Quartet Live in Helsinki, 1987 Blues Etude Mack Avenue Art Farmer Soul Eyes Cherokee Sketches Solid/Enja David Liebman Quartet featuring Mike Nock Open Heart The Star Crossed Lovers Solid/Enja

I first heard McCoy Tyner in the 1970s leading his sextet at the Great Southeastern Music Hall on Peachtree in Atlanta. His trio (Avery Sharpe & Aaron Scott) appeared in Chattanooga in 1991 and I heard the same trio a few years later at Just Jazz in St. Louis. Every show was memorable.

This LP compilation of Vladimir Horowitz's solo piano interpretation of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at An Exhibition" and Arturo Toscanini's conducting of Ravel's orchestration of "Pictures at An Exhibition" is over an hour. Time side one: 29:24; side two: 31:30 I bought this LP when it was released in the 1970s, I remember hearing someone else in the dorm who had an earlier mono copy of the Horowitz performance and it sounded far better, since it didn't have the electronic fake stereo added. I had heard the orchestral suite played in concert by Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra circa 1967-8 when they performed in Ft. Lauderdale and my father had long owned the Toscanini original mono LP.

Guitarist John Pisano turned 90 this year and is evidently still playing.

I know that jazz authors rarely sell enough books to spend their own money on proofreaders. If I ever get around to writing a book, I probably know enough people in the jazz world who would be willing to proofread a chapter or two. When I offer to proofread a book, it is as a favor, not to seek compensation. Even the best proofreader will still miss a typo here and there. I don’t look at proofreading as “setting the author” straight. When I have volunteered to help it has been because I am a fan of the author and the subject, in addition to having sufficient knowledge of the subject. I am not about to offer to proofread a bio of Cecil Taylor or Ornette Coleman, as my knowledge is insufficient when compared to some of the artists I have collected extensively for decades and maybe interviewed several times.

Doc Severinsen is 94. Toshiko Akiyoshi is 92.

Dick Hyman is still around at 94 though he may not be performing, I am unsure. I saw him at Dizzy’s in 2019 with Ken Peplowski and Bill Charlap.

Publishing houses used to have in-house editors who worked on books. Jazz authors would benefit from asking fellow jazz journalists to proof read their work. I have done so unofficially for two jazz biographies. One author was surprised when I submitted two pages of corrections the morning after I obtained the advance draft. I did this while being out of town without access to my resources at home. Double-checking names, dates, song titles, songwriters and record labels is bound to find errors that the author missed. This remark is not intended as criticism, anyone who has rewritten numerous drafts of an extended piece finds it harder to spot errors after awhile.

Out January 14, 2022. An enjoyable trio session...

Thank, hope you enjoy the music...

I have uploaded two sets of Jaki Byard, recorded solo, with a quartet and his big band The Apollo Stompers, recorded for NPR's Jazz Alive! at the Public Theatre in New York City on Odtober 19, 1979. Commentary by Dr. Billy Taylor and an interview with Jaki Byard by Michael Cuscuna are included. Note: For some reason, the first set uploaded as FLAC files and the second set as WAV files. https://archive.org/details/Jaki-Byard-Public-Theatre-NYC-October-19-1979

Here is a link to a broadcast I uploaded that was recorded during a December 1996 concert at Lincoln Center. This broadcast includes commentary and interview excerpts. https://archive.org/details/Kenny-Barron-Lincoln-Center-December-1996

My cot is due tomorrow…

I was having fun doing a phone interview with German-American bassist Martin Wind when I got confused about how to pronounce W in German, in spite of 5.5 years of studying the language. We had a good laugh.