Christiern

Easter hunt in Heresfordshire?

This will not be the first time that the Olympics are held in a country with flawed human rights (Los Angeles, Moscow, etc.), but China has so many negatives that I think it was a mistake to even consider it. The boycott should have taken place a long time ago, and it should have been aimed at the Olympic Committee.

Weizy, you looked better without the glasses and green wig.

Yes, Randy, Carlos was good on the show, and all too rarely seen on TV. Wish I had a copy of that show. Weizy, the séance only produced the eBay offerings, co-mingling with mine.

Performers of Blake's generation (and the one that followed) had a civility about them. One rarely heard them put a fellow artist down when speaking to a member of the press, or in public. I'm sure that Eubie heard for himself that Hyman could play all the notes in a variety of pleasant sequences, but only as others had played them before.

I wonder if it still has his DNA on it.... In case you wander what is printed on that white strip, it reads: Irregular

I wouldn't say that we hung out together, but I did see him on many occasions. I may have mentioned this here before, but I will never forget walking into an all-night deli with Gene Krupa and Willie during a Verve session at Webster Hall. Priceless: the look on the faces of the elderly Jewish men behind the counter when Willie walked in and addressed them in Yiddish! Once we were discussing musical talent and I asked him if he thought it was genetic. He said it definitely was, pointing out that his wife had no musical talent, so there was not much to expect from their children. His girlfriend, on the other hand, was an opera singer, so their children were set.

Rita Weinstock, Bob's aunt, left me her Down Beat collection when she died. It pretty much covered the mid- or late-thirties and forties. I gave the bulk of it to my friend, Karl Knudsen, who was going to have it scanned, but I haven't heard what happened to the magazines after his death. I still have some early issues, in very fragile condition, and a bunch of '60s and '70s ones. Keep 'em coming, Jim!

Love your Down Beat scans, but could we have the date on these things. May 24, 19?? Apropos Willie the Lion, I interviewed him for my radio show in 1960--He was a great talker, I'll have to look for that tape. I also spent the good part of an evening in one of his two Harlem apartments (the one to which his wife did not have access) in preparation for a Prestige session ("Songs We Taught Your Mother") where he was to accompany Lucille Hegamin. We were getting together a band and he insisted that all the musicians be born under the same sign (Sagitarius, I think), so arrived armed with the Encyclopædia of Jazz. I think Cecil Scott was the only one who fit the astronomy requirements, but we got it together. The Willie turned to me and asked, "What's your sign?" When I told him that I was a Libra, he thought about it for a moment, then nodded his head, "That'll be alright." He had a marvelous ebony walking stick with an elephant's head on it. The head came off and allowed him to pour the booze. It was a Prohibition relic.

It all begins to make sense now--it's Jim who's smiling. Scan-dinavian...never mind.

Jim, did someone lay a pile of old Down Beats on you?

Here are a couple of photos I took in Perugia during the '84 Umbria Festival: Terence, Ray Mantilla, and (partially hidden) Frank Strozier Terence watching the Brecker Brothers perform at outdoor concert

...and that's just the half of it!

If you read my book on Bessie, you will know the answer to that one.

Bill, I also did a 1-hour special w. Sam Wooding, where we recreated the living room of his Harlem apartment (with actual borrowd furniture an stuff of his, and sat at the table for a chicken dinner--as we so often did sans cameras. I wonder what happened to the tape of that show. Joe McPhee is an old friend and I had gotten to know Clifford Thornton well (through Joe) by the time he died. To answer your question, TtK, I believe that New Jersey Television, where the show originated, reused the tapes, but that the Library of Congress has either originals (or copies of originals) for the 13 shows that aired on the PBS network. Parts of the Mingus show were used in the documentary, "Triumph of the Underdog" and--since clips pop up on YouTube, there obviously are obviously good copies of some of the shows around. How that Evans show got Japanese subtitles is a mystery to me--I was not aware of any of these shows having been shown overseas. Also, the people who post clips from the Jazz Set seem to be European. Go figure. I was stupid not to demand copies for myself, which--as co-producer and host--I probably could have gotten, at least on U-matic cassettes. BTW, we also did a show with Randy Weston--I was sick, so Dan Morgenstern sat in for me on that one. I also want to say the having Bobbi Humphrey as a guest was aa bad mistake, but she at least brought with her musicians who could play.

Thanks for finding that, it had escaped me! I notice that the "iPod" reference always pertains to the case. Very slick and I bet Apple will stop them. Wonder how they can be so bold? Had me fooled. Sorry

This place has the iPod Shuffle for $27!! Their Nanos are only $55 ...and free shipping!

Sometimes I think fashion trends are cruelly designed to make us look foolish a few years later. Some of the clothes I wore a few years back make me cringe--guess that is something most of us have experienced. Something to be said for tuxedos, their look does not age--I mean the standard tuxedo, not those awful wedding/barmitzwah/prom rentals.

To some, I might look out of place, but the important thing is that I never feel out of place. It hadn't even occurred to me that I was the only white person (although John Hammond was somewhere around there)--I guess that's what you are commenting on.

Thank you for the kind words. Well, as to your question--you asked for it! THE JAZZ SET Roy Haynes Hip Ensemble 2/7/72 Roy Haynes (dms); and others. *Larry Johnson 2/15/72 (Air: 7/27/72) Larry Johnson (vcls and gtr). Clifford Jordan 2/22/72 Clifford Jordan (ts); George Coleman (ts); Stanley Cowell (p); Bill Lee (bs); Tootie Heath (dms); Dee Dee Bridgewater & Sheila Jordan (vcls). Joe Lee Wilson 2/29/72 Joe Lee Wilson (vc); Rashied Ali (dms), and others. Jimmy Heath All-Stars 3/6/72 Jimmy Heath (ts); Curtis Fuller (tb); Kenny Barron (p); Bill Lee (bs); Al Heath (dm); Mtume (congas). Rashied Ali 3/14/72 Rashied Ali (dms); Carlos Ward (as, flute); Dave Burrell (p); Sirone Jones (bs). *Ray Draper & the New Island Social Club 3/21/72 Ray Draper (tuba, Bar. horn, vocals, percuss.); Atlee Chapman (valve tb); Clive Stevens (sop & ten sax); Bu Pleasant (organ, vocals); Stu Williamson (bs); Richard Crooks (dms). *Irene Reid 3/28/72 (Air: 7/13/72) Irene Reid (vcls); and others. *Sam Wooding 4/11/72 (Air 8/3/72) Sam Wooding (p); Louis Metcalfe (tp); Jimmy Wright (ts); Jimmy Shirley (g); Al Drears (dm); Rae Harrison (vcl). Charles McGhee and The Gap 4/11/72 Charles McGhee (tp); and others. *Keno Duke 4/18/72 (Air: 7/6/72) Keno Duke (dms); Frank Strozier (ts); and others. Joe McPhee 4/18/72 Joe McPhee (tp, ts); Clifford Thornton (tp); Mike Kull (p); Harold Smith (dms). *Lonnie Liston Smith 4/25/72 (Air: 8/24/72) Lonnie Liston Smith (el & acoustic piano); Jazzbo Alexander (flute); John Gilmore (sax); Cecil McBee (bs); Norman Connors (dms); Ná Ná (congas). *Jeremy Steig 4/25/72 (Air: 8/17/72) Jeremy Steig (flute); Gene Perla (el. bass); Don Alias (dms). *Ted Curson 5/2/72 (Air: 9/7/72) Ted Curson (tp, piccolo horn); Bill Barron (ts); Lee Scippers (vibes); Sam Jones (bs); Freddy Waits (dms). *Charles Mingus 5/9/72 (Air: 8/31/72) Charles Mingus (bs); Lonnie Hillyer (tp); Charles McPherson (as); Bobby Jones (ts); John Foster (p); Roy Brooks (dms). *Ray Bryant Trio 5/16/72 (Air: 8/10/72 Ray Bryant (p); Harold Dodson (bs); Leroy Williams (dms). *Bobbi Humphrey 5/23/72 (Air: 9/21/72) Bobbi Humphrey (flute); Harold Mabern (p); Bob Cranshaw (b); Mickey Roker (dms). *Bill Evans Trio 5/30/72 (Air: 9/14/72) Bill Evans (p); Eddie Gomez (b); Marty Morrel (dms). * PBS Network list is incomplete

Just call me Johnny on the Spot...

Sorry to be a day late with this...

Languages have never been a problem for me, as far as accent goes. I speak Icelandic and Danish with an accent. My Mother lived in Iceland for many years and three of her husbands were Icelandic, my she never lost her Danish accent completely. When I was commuting to England (working with the BBC), I spent alternate months in NY and London and where I was inevitably affected how I spoke. I probably did have a foreign accent at one point, but it was really more a case of mispronouncing words. For example, I would get my "v"s and "w"s mixed up, sipping Wee-o and ginger while watching T-wee, but I corrected that problem. When I was a disc jockey at AFRS and, later in the U.S., I did make an effort to sound more American than British. When people tried to pinpoint my accent, geographically, they often concluded that I was from the Midwest. Forget about all that, what do y'all think of Bill Evan's performance on this show?

When we were saddled with a Fascist mayor (the jerk whose presidential ambitions showed the nation what a fraud he is), it was all about blacks with squeegees.