Ken Dryden

I was present for both sets, Bill Charlap joined them on piano for set 2. Lots of fun, the audience at set 1 included George Wein, Rachel Domber (Arbors Records), Gwen Kelley (Hot House publisher), i had great fun. My first night in NYC I saw Kendra Shank wtth Frank Kimbrough and Dean Johnson at Mezzrow. Great music, though two airheads kept talking midway back in spite of several requests to shush. Kendra even left the band stand to address the issue. If Spike Wilner had been there he would have thrown those two airhead women out, the guy on duty was either clueless or lazy. I saw Dan Tepfer at an unusual midday session centered on meditation where he played several Bach inventions then improvised on them. The mediation was difficult, as the hard shell plastic chairs were uncomfortable and the leader was so soft spoken I could barely hear him, but I was there for the music. It's a shame that Dan didn't record the brief set, as one improvisation really stood out. My last light in town I was back at Dizzy's for both sets by Rufus Reid's big band. Reid's oriignals were a treat and the band was superb including: Vic Juris, Steve Allee, Scott Robinson, Steve Wilson, Ryan Keberle, Tim Hagans, Freddie Hendrix, Ingrid Jensen, Chris Beck and conductor Dennis Mackrel (the names that I remember). Too short a trip, but lots of stuff needing to be done back home. An added bonus: I was first in line and ended up with a front and center table, then I was joined by Joe Lovano, Judi Silvano and Kate Baker (vocalist and Vic Juris' wife) during the first set.

It was a part of my last Jazz Messengers order but I've yet to hear it, as it was a big order.

Happy birthday, Terry Gibbs! Hope you are still having fun playing drums in your backyard studio.

I am aware...

That 2 CD set looks suspiciously like a compilation of earlier LaserLight CDs, though I haven't compared them yet.

I don't know how many people would be interested, but if this set has recording dates that would help, as would a catalog number or a link to a page with detailed info.

Dan: And I already made my first Medicare claim.... Thanks!

Anyone that stupid needs to be banned from the venue for good.

This aritcle came about from my September phone interview with Dick Hyman. I plan to air some of the interview on Timeless Jazz in the coming weeks (not yet scheduled) and I will be at Dizzy's for both of his sets on October 16. It can be viewed on line at Hothousejazz dot com.

Bill Mays shared a story about Alfred Marx, ("the lost Marx Brother, Cheapo") in his memoir. He was recording live with Marx sitting nearby and after a song that Mays thought turned out great, the producer leaned over and said, "Great take," then announced the time from his stopwatch. Orrin Keepnews may have been crusty, but he produced a lot of great music in his long career, even if you excluded everything after Riverside.

Good luck trying to photocopy the book, it would be a challenge to flatten it enough to get a good scan, let alone get readable text. I hope the designer was fired and banned from the music industry for the overall horrible design.

It was one of the first jazz books I reviewed when it was first published. Unfortunately an editor at the newspaper shortened my review, leaving it with a transition that made absolutely no sense. I was embarrassed to send a tearsheet of it to Oxford University Press.

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.