Milestones

Wayne sounds like one of the few people worth following on Twitter.

I glanced at the current DB to see that Mobley is now in the Hall of Fame. I know many have been calling for his election for quite some time. I came a bit late to full appreciation of Mobely, perhaps in part to Miles' rather disparaging remarks. But I can't see the argument against him as an important figure and one of the central players/composers on Blue Note in the 50s and 60s. Besides your own ears, think about the ears of Max Roach, Horace Silver, Art Blakey, Lee Morgan, Kenny Dorham, Herbie Hancock, et al.

#13, Jean Luc Ponty? Just a shot in the dark.

Out of all the countless playlists I have created, I've never done one with a Halloween theme. I've seen some short jazz playlist out there on the Internet, mostly singers, mostly songs like "Witchcraft" and "That Old Black Magic." But I'm looking for instrumentals with spooky title and more importantly spooky sound. I'm not able to come up with much. "Ghost Town" by Jackie McLean "Evolution" by Grachan Moncur (not a spooky title, but it sure sounds eerie) "Witch Hunt" and "Dance Cadaverous" by Wayne Shorter "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down"-- Miles Davis There must be a lot more out there...maybe some stuff on ECM...there's sometimes that whispery, tense, even menacing sound.

RIP, Mr. Baker. I'm not that deeply into rock drumming (much more into jazz drumming), but he was a major figure. And it's cool that he had a major interest in jazz. I quite enjoy his two records with jazz heavyweights Bill Frisell and Charlie Haden.

Well, Lou Donaldson was in the Messengers back when Blakey and Silver were together. A little borrowing from Horace?

R.I.P., Uli.

That's a serious collaboration!

I have heard some nice work by Mr. Wyands on several Kenny Burrell albums.

Mjzee: "Once you recognize the tune, you will kick yourself." Yes, I'm quite sure I will. I know that I know this piece.

Wow, I was more certain of the Silver part. Guess I need to listen again.

Count me as among those really enjoying track #8, although I have no guesses. I had never heard (or heard of) Rufus Harley. I've since read that he is the ONLY jazz bagpipe player. Track #12 would someone from the British Invasion doing up this easy listening piece--and all the better for it. Track #15 is a Horace Silver tune. Herbie Mann? Track #16 is "Summertime." Weirdly reverberating solo guitar. No idea. Track #17...anyone not recognizing Elvin should be banned from this website.

Mostly quite obscure stuff to me, although the My Friend Louis album is in my collection.

I haven't been quite as much into Lovano since Cross Culture, the last of the Us Five records. There is some nice stuff on the second Sound Prints album, with Dave Douglas. But with his new home at ECM, I didn't much care for Trio Tapestry (by far the most low-key Lovano I have ever heard). There's a new record coming with Enrico Rava, or maybe it's already out.

I would say rock, pop, rap, etc. from about 1990 to the present is generally plain bad, no matter how you slice it. Hardly anything sticks out to me other than some of the work of very grizzled veterans such as Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and John Fogerty.

Count me among those enjoying #14. I like the groove and the soloists. It doesn't seem that far "out," and I would even say it is a bit in the vein of the Dave Holland groups--though if it were that, it would most likely be vibes in place of the pounding piano. Getting deeper in now,and the tenor is going pretty wild--more into David Murray territory. I'm not proposing any names for identification.

Willie may very well be a titan, though it took me a long time to realize it.

I like that original list a lot. I see that our interests cross a good deal. I favor most of these musicians (if not always the particular choice of record), the majority being veterans and some no longer with us. I would certainly add something by Frisell: Beautiful Dreamers or the Frisell-Carter-Motian disc. And Abercrombie, probably Class Trip.

Obviously Tom Brady never gave this a thought.

I had a listen to the title track, "Blue World," which bears inspiration from "Out of this World." It's probably the most intriguing track from the set and does sound quite good. But at this point you're not going to have any surprise factor from Trane, at least from the stuff recently unearthed.

The issue of royalties from the film and records is interesting too. I've never seen/heard Woodstock performances by BS&T or CCR. Maybe that too was a money issue. Actually, with all the talk of peace, love, etc--you'd think everyone would play for free.

Jimi and BS&T made our rather well, didn't they?

I have to say that "Angel" (The Jimi Hendrix song) is among the moving and effective closing tracks of a jazz album I have ever heard.

She was a great writer, and will be a long remembered--though there's not much respect for novelists anymore. I was close to Morrison a couple of times, first when she gave a stunning reading from Beloved at Cleveland Stat University (I was in the Master's program then) and later when she appeared at the Toni Morrison conference at Lorain County Community College, where I teach. But she was low-key there and I had no chance to talk to her or shake her hand. I have long taught The Bluest Eye, which is favored around here since it's the only one with a Lorain setting. A very good book, but not her best. I think everyone should read Sula, Song of Solomon, and Beloved. Among later novels, A Mercy is quite good.

OK, I definitely had a few of those Blue Note twofers (or brown bags), though not as many as the Prestige. The best one featured Randy Weston's Little Niles, the live set with Hawkins and Dorham, and some other stuff. By that time I had been seriously collecting Weston on CD for years, and I always wanted to hear Little Niles (given the reputation), on CD, vinyl, anything. Absolutely a great record.