B. Clugston

1-4 is from Stanko's Almost Green, recorded in 1978 with Vesala, Palle Danielsson and Tomasz Szukalski. Still stumped on the others.

Really enjoyable selections. Almost all of them have me stumped, but there's some familiarity there with some--just can't put my finger on it. 1-7 sounds like homefromtheforest's favourite soprano player. With Masahiko Togashi? 1-1 sounds like some Finnish dudes. Whoever it is, I really like it. 1-2 My first thought was one of those Japanese pianists from the 1970s (Masahiko Sato?), but also sounds like it could be some of Dave Liebman's buddies. 1-4 Has a bit of a Stanko-Vesala vibe to it with a Komeda influence? I really enjoyed 1-5.

And how about the Nordic obscurity percentage?

Abbey Lincoln, People In Me (Inner City). Nice session from 1974 featuring a few members of Miles Davis' band of the time (Dave Liebman, Al Foster, Mtume).

I have a few classical albums approaching 40 minutes. There's some relevant information on optimal side lengths in this thread:

Leo Parket's two Blue Note dates were mighty fine.

That's a great one. One of my top 5 favourite Lacy records.

The live date Fats Navarro did with Bird two weeks before the trumpeter's death immediately springs to mind.

I really like Baker's playing on "Jazz in the Space Age" but have not heard anything else. Recommendations? My favourite record featuring Baker is George Russell Sextet at "The Five Spot," which, in a continuing theme from Russell's time at Decca, wasn't recorded where the title said it was. Great album, but the other Russells featuring Baker are all very good.

Good idea. I'm going to spin this next. Great record.

George Russell Sextet in K.C. (Decca). Actually they are in New York. Nice session with Dave Baker, Don Ellis and Dave Young. Krystall Klear and the Buells, Ready for the 90's. Marty Krystall and Buell Neidlinger with Warren Gale and Billy Higgins. Excellent date. Includes a stray track with Cecil Taylor from the 60s.

Leo Smith, Creative Music-1 (Kabell).

Horace Tapscott & Arkestra, The Call. Great session--love those massed basses on Side 2. Teddy Charles, 3 For Duke. With Hall Overton and Oscar Pettiford in great form. Seriously underrated record. Dewey Redman, Coincide. Nice latter -day Impulse date.

Pepper Adams' Encounter, Kenny Dorham's Quiet Kenny and Gil Melle's recordings immediately spring to mind.

ROVA, The Crowd (Hat Art)

Another example of an interesting song left of off the box sets. Did Miles perform this with any other bands post 1970? Michael Henderson and Miles toy with the theme on Side 3 of Agharta.

I agree that those later Coltrane live albums can be wearying, but from what I've heard from the Temple University concert, it's really enjoyable. I think it's the best live example of the Alice/Pharoah/Ali era.

Dexter Gordon, Our Man in Paris (nice sounding King reissue).

From Peter Losin's Miles Ahead site: http://www.plosin.com/milesahead/Sessions.aspx?s=680216 ...at the Greek Theater, Berkeley (April 19). They were joined on several numbers by a variation on this version of the Evans Orchestra. The concert may have been recorded by Columbia, but so far it has not surfaced. According to Jan Lohmann, the Quintet performed "Agitation," "Footprints," "'Round Midnight," "Nefertiti," and "Gingerbread Boy," and were joined by the Evans Orchestra for three numbers: an unknown title, "You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman," and "Antigua." After a return to New York, the Quintet played at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis (May 26).

On his website where he keeps updates, Wild has Johnson on it and Garrison listed as possible, but the listing hasn't been updated since the album release. The radio hosts only mention one bassist ("Sonny Jackson") and say Garrison wasn't there.

Strictly for Our Friends is a very atypical performance if I remember it correctly. It's a lot mellower and more pared down (no basset plus Chekasin has a reduced arsenal) than their other recordings. I remember previewing to "Semplice" in a record store trying to decide whether to buy it or not. After 15 minutes of what sounded like one of Tarasov's solo pieces, followed by solo bits from the others, I didn't have much hope, but once the "bass" line kicks in at the half-hour mark, it's a truly remarkable performance.

I'm a huge fan. Catalogue is my favourite followed by ...Old Bottles, which features a really interesting take on "Too Close For Comfort." I saw Ganelin in concert with his more recent trio a few years back and they were stunning. I quite enjoy some of Chekasin's solo work, particularly the big band New Vitality.

That's a great one!

Rapport is a very good one. While it's not at the exalted level of Intents and Purposes or Dogon A.D., it is doggone good. It's a great introduction to Blake because of the variety of tunes and personnel. Not sure how it would sell, since the vinyl is very easy to find, but pairing it with Film Noir would increase the interest.