Christiern

It was the Jazz Foundation of America. They give support to many older musicians. http://jazzfoundation.org/

That's a lot of verbiage just to demonstrate why Nicholas Payton isn't cool.

"haha, Chris you should write fiction!" Some people think that's what I do.

From what I believed to be a reliable source, I was told that the turban actually hides a smaller, but identical one. It, in turn, conceals a perfectly preserved five-ounce remnant of a ham and cheese sandwich abandoned in a New York studio by trombonist Jack Jenney after a particularly trying 1936 Nat Shilkret session. As the story goes, Toots Mondello picked it up and made an attempt to lob it some 30 feet, into a waste basket, but there was an intercept by Sterling Bose, who stuck it into his pocket. How it moved from Bose's pocket to the top of Lonnie Smith's head is something collectors will probably be arguing about for decades to come. Shortly before his death, in December of 1945, Jenney—who never ceased to claim proprietary rights—told a nephew that Bose dropped the hardened remnant into a Salvation Army money pot, thinking that it might some day have value. That rang a bell, as it were, with pianist Sam Allen, who related a similar experience involving Stuff Smith, who in 1939 found a withered leek in his violin case. "We had just finished a date for Varsity and decided to get a bite to eat at the Turf, you know, that place on Broadway by the Brill," he recalled. "Stuff always kept a couple of Tootsie Rolls in his case, you know, because he loved those things and sometimes rubbed them on his bow. Well, he reached in and came up with that old leek! We all but died from laughing, but Stuff didn't think it was funny. You know what was really funny? One of the tunes we recorded was Sam, the Vegetable Man...thought I'd die! So, we began calling him 'Stuff, the vegetable man"! He didn't appreciate that, either." When Phil Schaap, the noted jazz authority, was asked about Dr. Lonnie Liston Smith and what he might be keeping under his turban, his response was a closed mouth smile. "Phil knows something, but he ain't tellin'," said a friend and confidante who runs trumpeter Wynton Marsalis' autograph concession. "And you know, if Phil ain't tellin', it's got to be really hot—like, maybe the damned sandwich is in his own refrigerator." That would, of course, mean that Dr. Smith has something else under his turban—or, perhaps, just a tangle of braids.

I suspect that it timed out.... Good sound wasn't Norman G's forte and the liner notes left much to be desired.

I have used Safari since it was introduced, many years ago. I will occasionally switch to Firefox or Chrome, but I always end up going back to Safari. One odd thing, however, I posted a Ray Bryant trio video on my blog and the audio kicked in every time I opened my blog in Safari, but Chrome made it wait politely for my click. This became very annoying, much as I like Ray's music, and the strange thing is that none of the other videos I posted—by the very same means—did this. BTW Apple issued an update/fix to Safari yesterday, Nov. 29.

I realize that Rodgers & Hart left some time ago, but wouldn't this be a good time for an update ... and rewrite?

My favorite Ken Russell films are the ones he made when he worked for the BBC—genius biographical gems on such people as Delius, Isadora Duncan and Debussy

It runs in the family, Chuck. Here are their great uncles—they, too, were nabbed, back in '26.

A highly overrated (yet great) label. Blue Note's output was not uniformly notable. The worst of Blue Note could be a boxed set, but such talk is sacrilege.

Sometimes even performers take a breather. Look at Doris Day, she is topping British charts with her first album in 20 years. And, at 87, she's still got it!

Why would anyone pay $425 for a Bessie Smith 78 signed by Wynton Marsalis????? This "collection" has always been a joke.

" The phone company charges you to keep your number unlisted. " For decades, I had to have an unlisted number, because of my visibility as a reviewer and broadcaster, but I had myself listed, sans address, as "Fred Nurdley"—the pseudonym I used when writing liner notes for albums that didn't make me wish to hear more. When I told this to Tasha Thomas, a singer friend of mine, she had herself listed as Freda Nurdley. We were the only Nurdleys in the Manhattan white pages. In Iceland, at least when I was growing up there, the phone book listed everybody by their first name.

Any chance you would write a bio, Chris? I'm afraid not, Greg, but someone will, and I hope that person has access to the manuscript Paul allowed me to read, and to his diaries.

I haven't used a physical phone book in many years. I bet Phil Schaap has the ones Errol Garner used to sit on. Any Guadaynino in the Mansfirld book?

I am very sorry to hear that—he was such a nice guy and an exceptional percussionist. A few years ago, he dropped by my apartment (he lived up the street) and left me a first draft of an autobiography. It needed work, but it had the elements of an absorbing story. I wonder if he did more with it. Anyone know?

Again, 3 years later, thank you for the kind words re Bessie. I am popping in here to point out (if I haven't already) that I put on my blog Dr. Hugh Smith's account of the Bessie Smith accident. He did not witness the crash, but he was on the scene within a minute. You will find the account here. Also, since you mentioned Humphrey Lyttelton, yesterday I added another selection from my 1953 recordings at the Lyttelton Club (Farewell Blues). Here is a direct link to that.

I needed to record an interview with Bob Wilber last month, so—not having initiated a phone interview in quite a while—I looked for a little device that I had bought at Radio Shack a few years back. I couldn't find it, so it occurred to me that this should be easy to do with a computer. I Googled and came up with: http://labnol.blogspot.com/2006/06/how-to-record-skype-conversations.html Then I signed up for a free Skype account and it was a breeze. I could play back, fast forward/rewind and even ran the result through Dragon for a text transcript. Now, if only there was an app/machine that could write my liner notes.

I think there will definitely be jail time—the question is, will it be a token term? The interview with Costa should all but seal Sandusky's fate, Horseplay, indeed! With all the lawsuits this is bound to generate, Penn State faces a bleak future—and deservedly so.

Hey, thanks everyone! Life has steadily improved for me and the kids since this terrible time last year. Kids are doing fine and all at school....and constantly complaining that I'm a nag (gotta love that! ). Chris, coincidentally, a friend is taking me to this show over at George Mason University for my B'day. Looking forward to it! http://cfa.gmu.edu/calendar/711/ I love the coincidence, Rolf. Have a great time!

MAY THIS CONTINUE TO BE AN ANNUAL EVENT FOR A LO-O-ONG TIME!

I recall a time, many moons ago, when new releases grabbed my ears....and it didn't hurt. Well, more often than not.

I have just put up on my blog the third and last part of my 1968 interview with Lil Armstrong.

Kinda says it all, doesn't it?

I am very sorry to hear that Arne passed. I have not seen Arne for many years, but our paths converged in his early years when both of us were making our presence felt on the burgeoning Copenhagen jazz scene. When Storyville recently celebrated his 80th birthday with a boxed set, I was asked to write the notes. I wanted to talk to Arne in connection with that, but was told that it was impossible to get him to the phone. They said he would still go out and want to sit in, but his friends tried to discourage him. He had a long, successful run and left a legacy that isn't everybody's cup of tea, but will have feet stomping for years to come.