Ken Dryden

Being retired doesn't guarantee that I will make significant progress in getting through unheard CDs and LPs on a daily basis. A recent solo drive to Jackson, Mississippi knocked out a fair amount, but I don't spend enough time in my dedicated music library, which is 10 by 30 feet, with 31 feet of floor to ceiling shelving spread over two side walls, prefab units in the center of the room that hold 9,000 CDs (plus DVDs and boxed sets on the top shelves), plus three pieces of furniture that my parents had that I use to store LPs and CDs. I have no idea as to the totals at this time, though I could probably measure using an estimate a friend gave, 3 inches holds around 5 CDs.

John: I am interested in the following CD: Westbrook ,Mike – Mama Chicago (Jazzprint)(2CD) $8 Please ignore the emailed request for the Blue Mitchell, I already have it.

From the Complete Remastered Recordings On Black Saint & Soul Note 10 CD set.

Ken broke a finger when he grabbed a woman who nearly fell down the stairs on a jazz cruise. He sounded great in May when we heard him twice in NYC with Dick Hyman. If anyone is up early this Saturday, you can hear a radio special I produced to promote the concert, which includes part of an interview from earlier this month. The website is WUTC.org.

We (my wife and I) are producing a concert featuring Ken Peplowski with Chattanooga pianist Danny Sample (an old friend, of Donald Brown and most of the famous Memphis jazz pianists). They are reprising their 1993 meeting in Chattanooga, this time as a duo. The concert will take place at New Monumental Baptist Church at 6 pm EDT on Saturday, October 27th. Tickets are available at EventBrite.com and all proceeds benefit Volunteers in Medicine, which supplies no cost health care to uninsured residents below a certain income level. If anyone would like more details, please PM me. I realize that most of the forum participants may be outside of the area, but if you know of any jazz fans in Atlanta, Nashville, Knoxville, or Huntsville, it might be worth the drive for them.

I have nothing but good things to say about Stuart Kremsky, as I contributed liner notes to several CDs which he compiled or was involved in uncovering from the Fantasy vaults. I have no idea why a conglomerate buys a company dominated by jazz then feels the need to delete nearly everything and start recording and issuing almost anything but jazz. It is the equivalent of buying a four star gourmet restaurant and replacing the menu with greasy fast food.

Don't hold your breath waiting for Concord to issue any vault gems, as they have almost entirely abandoned such projects.

I have an obscurity for you: Jimmy Rowles recorded Branislaw Kaper's "Theme From Arrest & Trial" (an early 1960s lawyer drama, i only remember the promos for it back then). It is on his Kokopelli CD Lilac Time. Of course, Clark Terry recorded "Meet the Flinstones" several times....

The worst umpire in my lifetime has to Eric Gregg, who assured the Marlins a playoff victory over the Braves with an ever expanding strike zone that gave Braves hitters two choices: swing at balls a foot off the plate or take them for called strikes. Thankfully this joker took part in a strike and was not among the rehires.

I have it but I don't remember. I've got to go down two flights to my library, fire up the laptop and check it.

Eubie Blake studied the Schillinger system during the 1940s.

I didn't remember the specifics, I got my copy at the beginning when it was first issued. It was a pretty crappy thing for the owners of Verve at the time to do, as the 2 CD Stuff Smith preceded this box set.

The club closed, the label is still active, as I have been sporadically serviced with some of their CDs.

The three year minimum lease came from the Capitol Nat King Cole box, the way I remember it. I was not saying that all leases of music were for three years, just the minimum. I know it is also frustrating for Michael Cuscuna when they don't allow him vault access, then after Mosaic issues a set, new unissued music is found and eventually released by the label after the Mosaic box is out of print.

I think the standard period of time was a minimum of three years, though I believe it varied from one set to the next. Mosaic had to estimate how long it would take to sell 5000 or 7500 units.

Maybe there was a publishing dispute revolving around one or more of the previously unissued tracks. It seemed odd at the time that all legal issues weren't cleared prior to the set being assembled, but there can be some latecomer to the party who adds the turd in the punchbowl to ruin it for everyone instead of negotiating in a reasonable manner.

Mosaic either sent out a mailed notice or an insert in a catalog apologizing for the abrupt withdrawal of the Stuff Smith set for contractual reasons. I don't remember how detailed the notice was.

I thought that wording sounded familiar, it was my post...

It has absolutely lousy packaging. You have to make sure to lay it flat, as the CDs only have flimsy rubber spindles holding them in place> I've had issues with one CD falling off the spindle if I remove the package from the shelf. Obviously designed by someone who doesn't collect CDs, like the badly packaged Bill Evans Verve set or the Charlie Christian 4 CD set with the CDs sitting inside a ceramic like block's slits. Who hires such people?

I just got it from Dusty Groove in the past few weeks. Great stuff.

I asked the producer of the Willie The Lion Smith documentary why there weren't more complete performances in the film and he told me that after Ken Burns' Jazz the asking price for the use of jazz videos skyrocketed.

My time and money will be better invested elsewhere.

Just received this 2 CD set from Dusty Groove. Since they were originally issued on French LPs, it explains why I didn't already have any of this music. It also included conversation between numbers and some music that was not previously released.

I'm going to have to make the trek to Rutgers, one of these days...