Ken Dryden

Happy Birthday, Ronald! Make it a fun day!

When I didscovered that the dreaded Bill Evans metal rust box was spreading rust to the CDs adjacent to it, I mentioned it to my father and he suggested cleaning it with Comet. I think that halted the progress, though I haven't checked it in awhile. It is easily one of the worst designed boxed sets, along with that pathetic 4 CD Charlie Christian set where the CDs rested in a ceramic like base.

I've had this CD sitting on my desk for a while and I haven't been in a hurry to play it. I got rid of all of my Neil Young albums some time back and I'm having a hard time thinking of some of these songs being viable at all in a jazz setting.

I only remember seeing Harold Mabern perform twice, once as a sideman with George Coleman around the time that Harold's CD The Leading Man was issued, the other was here in Chattanooga, where we had two sets by a group of all stars including Harold Mabern, who was joined by Tom Harrell. A terrific evening for those who attended.

I have a live recording of drummer Joe Farnsworth, who shared a story about getting a gig as a leader after being a Mabern student at William Paterson. He called the pianist to ask if he was available, Mabern responded, "Who?...What does it pay?" When Farnsworth discussed the money, the pianist replied, "I'll need $500 more" then hung up. Farnsworth called his mom to borrow the money, a great investment. Harold Mabern's sound was always readily identifiable. Mabern was very enthusiastic when he discussed his students and the last time I saw him a few years back at Kitano, he was in the audience for a set led by Helen Sung.

There is an article in the Memphis paper The Commercial Appeal, though my computer won't show the link for some reason. He will be missed, Harold Mabern was delightful in concert and a fun interview.

Jill Goodwin told me at the Deer Head Inn a couple of years ago that they were seeking to publish Phil's memoir as an e-book. Ted Panken was doing the editing. No word on its status, it deserves to be published in a hardbound edition! Phil's "Phil in the Gap" columns were always a highlight of The Al Cohn Memorial Newsletter.

Both albums were combined in the Moon Gas compilation issued in 2015, which I own. One of the things I shared with Dick Hyman was an incomplete broadcast of his 1998 set at the Brecon Jazz Festival in Wales with Howard Alden and Michael Moore. He really enjoyed it and has been looking for the full broadcasts, which were done over two nights on the BBC.

The latter album came up, there were so many releases to possibly cover, I couldn't get to them all and I have a large, though by no means complete, collection of Dick Hyman's recordings.

Dick was kind enough to send that CD to me around the time it was issued.

You would think that the library would accept the donated CDs then mix any unwanted titles with donated books and books being cleared from the stacks in an annual sale like the local friends of the library here has done for years. No library guarantees that donated books will become a part of their circulated collection forever.

I wish that I remembered to record the audio as they happen, too bad they don't seem to be archived.

I interviewed Dick Hyman for a Hot House article today and will also likely air a broadcast or two focusing on his long career. At 92 years young, the NEA Jazz Master is still going strong, though he isn't performing much outside his Florida home these days. His new duo CD with Ken Peplowski, Counterpoint (The Music of Lerner & Lowe), is due to be released by Arbors Records next month. I hope to make at least one, if not both, of the concerts at Dizzy's on October 16.

A recent acquisition and a great one.

I am interviewing Dick Hyman on Monday and he is trying to get the music to me prior to our chat.

I saw an ad in downbeat and ordered it, by privately issued I meant this was likely a one off release by Shearing’s widow, though I didn’t take the time to confirm that before posting.

It will be a memorable Mosaic set. I've long been a fan of Ed Bickert and Don Thompson, in addition to Paul Desmond. If you haven't picked up the privately issued home recordings of George Shearing, which features duets with Thompson (along with a few Shearing solos), it is worth acquiring.

Ed Thigpen John Marshall John Goldsby Richie Beirach Dena DeRose Sir Charles Thompson Scott Hamilton Randy Weston

It's a safe bet that is the liner note project that Doug Ramsey mentioned but couldn't reveal in an earlier Rifftides blog post. No one else is better suited for the job, given his excellent biography of his friend.

All the best, Noj!

There were two concerts on November 9, 1971 with slightly different set lists. This CD evidently comes from the second show, though the final number, Black Swan, was omitted.

I will have to check to see if the Ellingtonia Discography lists this concert. I hope they didn't leave out any tracks when they could have easily deleted "One More Time For The People" and the usual medley of hits (often called the "Dread Medley" by critics).

They make it appear that Johnny Mercer was co-writer of "Things Ain't What They Used To Be," the song that Mercer Ellington supposedly won from Johnny Hodges in a card game.

Just acquired yesterday.

I've had more than one musician discuss his problems with alcohol but I never saw fit to either broadcast that information or include it in an article.