Dave James

I wish I had a picture of this one, but I've only ever seen it once. It's an album by Elliot Lawrence called "Music for Trapping (Tender, That Is)". The cover shows what must've passed for a swinging bachelor pad in the '50's. The centerpiece is a couch and hanging on the wall right above it are three women's heads mounted on plaques. The swinging bachelor shown escorting a fourth woman towards the couch. Truly tasteless. Up over and out.

I view the addition of lyrics to jazz instrumentals a lot like I view most scat singing, i.e. an unnecessary evil. While there are exceptions to every rule (Ross' "Twisted" and Dorough's "Yardbird Suite" are good examples) vocalese generally isn't anything I have any interest in at all. It always sounds to me like someone trying to fit about about six syllables worth of material into a two syllable space. I wouldn't say it's unlistenable, I've found it to be as close to that as just about anything in jazz. Up over and out.

I'm a big fan of Tiger Woods, but I'd love to see ol' D-Cup finally win a major. He's been so close so many times and he's a good guy to boot. Here's an interesting tidbit about Mickelson. As some of you may know, he's quite a gambler. Before the 2001 MLB and NFL seasons, he put down $10,000 apiece on the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Baltimore Ravens to win it all. I can only imagine what that was worth. Who needs golf? Up over and out.

Highly recommended. I just cited Montrose's version of Lover Man from this session as a favorite tenor ballad on another thread. I've had "In Action" for years. It was a freebie. The jazz radio station where I did a volunteer gig used to put demo CD's out on a table for the taking after announcer meetings. I knew nothing of Montrose at the time, but the line up of songs sounded good so I took it. Boy was that the right decision. Do not let this one slip through your fingers. Up over and out.

Late, Have not heard Paul Bley's version. He is poorly represented in my collection. I think I have two of his recordings, both of which are pretty mainstream. I can tell you that the Kuhn version is fine, but I'd sure hate to recommend an entire CD on the basis of one tune, especially at Japanese prices. Up over and out.

I knew nothing of this gentleman until I picked up the recent Impulse reissue of "October Suite" w/ Gary McFarland. To say the least, I was intrigued. I dug a little deeper by picking up a Japanese release called "Three Waves". Also very good. His playing is a bit off plumb, not exactly your standard ranch stash, but to me, very listenable. Was wondering what others think of Mr. Kuhn and if you would be kind enough to perhaps recommend some of his other recordings. I think he warrants some additional exploration. Up over and out.

Call me a dittohead, but I would heartily endorse Kevin's recommendation of Deep in a Dream. Masterful sax and piano work from Ike Quebec and Sonny Clark. Only one word describes it...sublime. Here are a couple of other personal favorites. J.R. Montrose's version of Lover Man from the Bainbridge release "In Action Live with the Joe Abodeely Trio". Also, Stan Getz's rendition of Stairway to the Stars from the Dragon recording "Stockholm Sessions". I've described his sound on this one as liquid. It literally floats, I kid you not. Hands down the best Getz ballad I know. Up over and out.

I have something of a love / hate relationship with Paul Chambers. I love his playing when he sticks to pizzicato and I hate it when he plays arco. His bowing sound reminds me of someone being mugged in an alley. Still, all things considered, easily among the top 5 all time players. My own personal favorite is Leroy Vinnegar. Up over and out.

I've found that I'm not particularly adept at identifying players on the basis of their sound. I would not do very well in a blindfold test. However, of the few I can readily ID, I would include among them Grant Green and Wes Montgomery. Green because he's strictly a single note picker and Montgomery because of those absolutely elegant, full-octave chords. In a non-guitar related context, the one guy I can identify almost as soon as I hear him is Paul Desmond. Chet Baker too. Up over and out.

I just did the math myself and it looks like dalpup took in almost $6,000 for the Mosaic box set auctions that ended yesterday. Not bad. Keep in mind that this is only the first installment. According to the information he included with each of the individual offerings, "hundreds" of Mosaic LP's and CD's were purchased at this estate sale and this was just the first round. Most of the ones I don't already have were way too rich for my blood, but it's still fun to watch the feeding frenzy. Stay tuned. Up over and out.

Lon, Hope you have a wonderful day today spent with those who mean the most. I've enjoyed (and learned) from your posts all the way back to the earliest days of the BNBB. Up over and out.

As of about an hour ago, e-Bay had not posted the final prices of this grouping under their Completed Items summary. Would be interesting to see how much they pulled in. It would be even more interesting to know how much "dalpup" actually paid for all these. I've got a feeling that was a pretty nice return on his investment. Up over and out.

brownie did a nice job of summarizing Auld's "Double Image". A nice introduction to his music if you're not familiar with him. I've been a fan of his for years. He can wrap himself around a ballad as well as anyone I've ever heard. As I've said on another thread, I'd love to see an Auld Mosaic. He's did so many diverse things and played so well in that and so many different genres (including what is purported to be the very first bop recording, Coleman Hawkins' "Rainbow Mist from 1944), I think it would make for a terrific, wide ranging compilation. Just the sort of thing Mosaic does so well. With regard to the Ocium label, I have one other CD from that outfit, a Gene Ammons called "My Foolish Heart." It covers material he recorded for United, Chess, and Decca in the early '50's. Good stuff. Good sound. Up over and out.

As long as we're just wish-listing, here's what I'd like to see. The format can be of Mosaic's choosing, i.e. either the full meal box n' book deal or a Select. I used to call this grouping my ABC's, but the "C" has been taken care of by the annoucement that Mosaic will release the Concert Jazz Band material sometime later this year. Georgie Auld - A tenor player who could do it all. Big band, bop, post-bop...you name it. An absolutley gorgeous tone. He recorded prolifically, so it's not like there's a dearth of material from which to choose. Considering how obscure he's become, I wouldn't think obtaining the rights to his music would be all that difficult. Earl Bostic - Art Blakey once said if you think Bird knows his way around a horn, you should spend some time with Earl Bostic. I know a lot of his recorded output puts down on the R&B side of the fence, but he's another guy who recorded so much that it wouldn't be hard to isolate a reasonably significant selection of straight up jazz material. Up over and out.

I just heard that Bob Hope passed away yesterday. Not that that should come as much of a surprise. I have mixed feelings about the guy. While I love his '40's films, especially the "Road" series, I never cared much for him as a comedian and I never liked his politics. Regardless, you can't help but respect all he did during his career for the soldiers and sailors of the armed forces overseas. No matter what you may think of him, you absolutely have to respect his commitment to that cause. Up over and out.

A dealer who apparently purchased 30 unopened Mosaics, i.e. they were still in the cardboard shipping boxes, from an estate has listed a bunch of them on e-Bay. Lots of early hard-to-find stuff including the CD version of the Hardee/Quebec. Worth checking out. Up over and out.

I have subscribed to both Downbeat and Jazz Times for many years, so I'm pretty much on auto pilot when it comes to re-upping every couple of years. That doesn't mean I haven't noted that the costs are increasing, especially for DB. I wonder if in their case, the recent escalation may at least in part be attributable to the reengineering of their format. DB has recently gone to a Jazz Times type layout, with (not sure what the technical term is here) a more substantial spine, i.e. it's no longer held together with staples. That's got to hike up their production expenses. And, as is usually the case, these costs get passed along to you know who. DB has added some things over the last couple of years I do like, most notably the Vinyl Freak column and the separate section devoted to reissue reviews. One thing I've noticed about both DB and JT I don't like is that they have both apparently made a decision to try to be all things to all people. I realize that jazz is an evolutionary music, and you need to keep up with the changes, but I think I'm gonna dial Earl the next time they do a story on Joni Mitchell of one of those flavor-of-the-month hip-hop outfits I couldn't listen to if you held a gun to my head.. Call me a moldy fig, but what I'd like to see are more articles like the excellent Cannonball Adderley piece DB ran a couple of months ago. I think when you made a decision to move away from the "roots" of the music, you may alienate as many people as you will attract by trying to be more contemporary. In that respect, they may end up shooting themselves in the foot. Another complaint about both DB and JT is that they spend way too much review space on current releases. When the market for jazz is as limited as it is and a substantial portion of that market is occupied by the lunatic fringe, meaning folks like us who love reissues, why can't there be at least an equalized bias for the the old and the new? When it comes to reissue reviews, what I'd really like to see is the original review that ran in either DB or JT juxtaposed with a current review from one of their in-house critics. That would be fun. Frankly, I've often wondered if there's space out there for a magazine that directed at the reissue marketplace. Wish I had a clue how you make something like that happen. Up over and out.

Agree 100%. Unfortunately, another jazz guy who put his cue back in the rack way too soon. If Kamuca hadn't ever done anything other than the Manne Blackhawks, I would still hold him in the highest regard. Those 5 CD's are among my very favorites. Not sure I've ever heard a live date that's captured any better than this one. Speaking of his Concord recordings, how is it they haven't been released on CD? I was holding out hope, what with Concord celebrating their 30th anniversary this year, that they'd have occasion to look in their vaults and see what's lying around. It's a travesty that these have never been spiffed up and reissued. Up over and out.

Not sure how many board members took advantage of Chuck Nessa's pre-release offer on the Allen Eager Uptown, but for those who did not, here's one person's enthusiastic endorsement. Eager is a person most everyone has heard of but whose recorded output is limited in the extreme. Kudos to the folks who brought these recordings to light. The material consists of both private recordings and live material. Players include, among others, Charlie Parker, Serge Chaloff and Buddy Rich. Sound-wise, it runs the gamut from very good to, in one case, borderline unlistenable. But, it's not just the music that makes this package so interesting. It's the booklet that's the real coup de theatre. Between the music and the supportive documentation, what you have is a window into the world of a second tier jazz musician in the halcyon days of mid-life bebop. Simply fascinating text and pictures. It puts me very much in mind of a two disc set that came out in limited edition a couple of years ago that chronicled the '50's loft-jazz scene in New York City. I think it was called David X. Young's Loft Jazz or something like that. Anyhow, I highly recommed the Eager recording. Many thanks to Chuck and Uptown for putting it together. Up over and out.

Played baseball in high school. Ice Hockey in local leagues for about 15 years. Softball for 25 years. Serious tennis for about six years. Now it's nothing but golf. The hardest thing I've ever tried to do. I know lots of people don't even think it's a sport, but just try doing it even reasonably well. Very frustrating. Especially for someone with a fairly volatile personality. Up over and out.

Oops. Up over and out.

Here's an interesting little factoid from the filiming of Gone With The Wind. In order to stage the burning of Atlanta, many sets from earlier movies were gathered together to be torched. If you look closely, you can see the gate the natives of Skull Island used to keep the great ape at bay from the 1933 movie, King Kong. Up over and out.

Speaking of an "Idiot's Guide", how about the Damon Stoudamire handbook? Here's a guy who's already been busted for pot two different times within the last year, but who still thinks it's OK to carry a lid wrapped in aluminum foil into the Tucson airport. When he empties the contents of his pants pockets into the little bowl they provide before you go through airport security, they ask him what's in the foil. Displaying no obfuscatory pretense whatsoever, he responds, "you know what it is." My God, this guy has to be dumber than a sack of hammers. Or, as our local rag, The Portland Tribune, put it on their front page headline, "Damon and Damoner". The Blazers, who are in the midst of trying to restore even a semblance of credibility with their local fan base, react by suspending Stoudamire (like in the middle of the Summer it matters) and fining him 250 large. Pocket change for someone who will earn $24 million over the next two years. If the NBA thinks it doesn't have an image problem, they couldn't be any more wrong. I'm shocked that so many people continue to pay attention. Up over and out.

I'm not a bike rider or a fan of any kind of motor sports nor a gear head by any stretch of the imagination. If NASCAR vaporized today, I wouldn't even know it was gone. In spite of that, I've gotten hooked on American Chopper. LIke others, I sometimes wonder how much of the tension between Jr. and Sr. is real and how much is just for show, but it's the craftsmanship that keeps me coming back. This is truly an art form. I watch this show for the same reason I watch Norm Abram's New Yankee Workshop. I couldn't build a box if you held a gun to my head, but I love watching people who have the ability to make things from scratch. Up over and out.

I always thought the picture of Grant Green on the cover of Grant's First Stand looks like Tiger Woods will probably look when he's in his mid-40's. Up over and out.