Christiern

Tabloid "news" is for imbeciles.

Guess the initial post went poof!, like a Florida Dem vote!

"As did the first set, Allen Lowe's follow-up release demonstrates that it is possible to compile an extraordinary collection of historic jazz recordings without including the great Wynton Marsalis. --Stanley Crouch

Recommended ... I assume that any similarity between this and RCA Victor covers of the 1950s is purely coincidental.

I could never stomach Michael Feinstein. Sorry to see Concord (or anyone) team him up with Shearing, whose work I do like.

"It was a dark and stormy night when Dudley Fosdick gently rubbed a spot on his mellophone. His thoughts went to ..."

Weizen: "Chris, You forgot to add Mnytime to your 'Cold Case Files' list in that other forum?" That's true, but it is difficult to find or dig up a figment of someone's imagination.

It's a lot like "winning" an election without getting the votes, isn't it? I think Bonds is a disgrace and those who honor his "achievement" are deluding themselves.

In that case, I suggest that we all totally ignore his nonsense.

Sorry, Weizen, I plumb forgot where we were. I guess I'm getting old, but sometimes I just don't sense the presence of the thread police. Pardon me while I slip away and reminisce about the old days of free speech. Remember them days?

You shouldn't have wrecked your brains (how many have you?)--I hope they can be repaired. If so, may I suggest that you wrack them (or the main one) to see if your original CD purchase comes to mind? Sorry, that word used to confuse me, too.

Offer it to him draped in an American flag--or just give him the free flag pin offer and tell him you'll throw in a NeoCondi Rice button. Tell him that not purchasing this set of very American music is tantamount to turning one's back on our country--it could even, albeit somewhat circuitously, be construed as embracing terrorism. Living in D.C. and being so closely connected to the regime, I would be afraid not to own this set of Aural Americana--very afraid.

The very first CD I actually bought was Miles' Sketches Of Spain--which was of very poor audio quality and cost me $35 at The Colony. I already had quite a few CDs, but they were freebies (Warner Bros. sent me about ten and said they wanted them back after I finished reviewing them. Why?, I asked. "We have a CD return policy," the lady told me. I told her that I had a no return policy. She said "okay." BTW this was also my first CD player--Stereo Review sent it to me.

Yes, the bouquets were a bit on the scrawny side, but the ladies were beautiful, and I love that song. Thanks for sharing, Dmitry.

Thanks, John L Definitely a major candidate for the top ten worst--not to mention, most offensive. What was he thinking? I wonder if Shirley remarked on this?

Stanley was a true gentleman who knew his stuff. His taste in jazz was perhaps too limited for some, but he was an honest writer of impeccable integrity. I miss him and his wife, Helen, very much. His liner notes? I always enjoyed them because I knew that they were written with the kind of authority that comes from many years of first-hand encounters and listening. He often shared with us a side of the music that few could relate. I have read criticism of Stanley's notes on these boards and it usually comes from people who thought him to be stuck in time. Well, we all have our favorite periods in jazz, and--quite naturally--they are often a reflection of what we were listening to when the bug first bit us and we began our exploration. The same goes for pop, perhaps even to a higher degree. Stanley had been around for a long time and his taste may have seemed to retro, but it was not as narrow as some would have it. Consider the fact that many of those who wish Stanley had embraced post-bop jazz are people whose taste only goes back so far--that is the same limitation, only in reverse.

Bad, indeed.

So, when's the "Chris Anderson Reader" coming out? You'll have to ask Mr. Anderson. Clunky: "I've been taken aback in the past by liners to a number of Mosaic sets ( Kenton Presents, Woody Shaw ) dissing some of the contents of the box in question." I'm glad to hear that you have come around to understanding the advantage of truth in liner notes. Actually, you wouldn't want it any other way, I think. Due to the concept of presenting "complete" sets, Mosaic's producers cannot separate the wheat from the tare, so one is bound to find some tracks that would have been best if left in the vaul (which they often were, originally). When I wrote the notes for Mosaic's Count Basie's pre-atomic period on Verve, there were mundane dance band tracks (we tend to forget that the big bands were for dancers, too) that I had to describe--in keeping with the label's policy of mentioning every selection. You would not, I suspect, have liked it if I failed to note the blandness of such prom fare as "As I Love You or "Only Forever," to mention two eminently forgettable Basie tracks. I think most liner note readers would prefer the occasional negative (honest) comment to such ludicrous, inflated praise as Stanley Crouch feels compelled to heap upon his friend, Wynton. Addendum: Allen, I see that you sneaked in a comment as I posted. Thanks for the kind words. As for Nat Hentoff, he once showed me a row of filing cabinets in his office that were filled with jazz-related clippings. He told me that--due to demand on his time--he really didn't write notes anymore (this was around 1961), he just compiled them using press clippings as his base. Let me add that I owe Nat a deep debt of gratitude for getting me hired at Riverside Records--he has always been there when I needed his help or advice.

I happen to be a big admirer of Hopkins' work, but if I had been assigned to do notes for a Hopkins album and found some of that work disappointing, I would probably have said so--as gently as possible. I have, in fact, been critical of an album I annotated, but not often. Only once was I "censored" by the record company. That happened when I wrote notes for a Columbia Benny Goodman album. When I interviewed Benny (whom I once worked for), I asked him about that awful film, "The Benny Goodman Story." "I'm afraid," he said, "that's one film I can't identify with." Well, I thought that was funny, so I included it. Columbia's editor called to tell me that we could not criticize an artist's biographical film. I thought that was even funnier, so I used it in subsequent album notes.

mailman: "Of course the notes are intended to help sell the record." That's an assumption. Were it really the case, I don't think the same record companies would be issuing CDs whose liner notes cannot be seen until the purchase has been made.

Mack McCormick was deeply involved in blues and folk music during a time when the South was being scoured for "legends." If memory serves me right, he was associated with the Arhoolie label and I believe he also produced recordings. I know that he knew Lightning Hopkins quite well, at least their names were constantly linked back in the 1960s. Anyway, Mack knew his stuff and, unlike Charters, I don't think he fabricated bios and history, but I may be wrong.

One of the best American-made black films, IMO. The director is not black, but he knew what he was doing, and I love the fact that he uses source music throughout (mostly if not all Motown, as I recall). This film put to shame the higher budget blaxploitation junk that followed.

I usually run into people who are running away from Stanley.

So do I. In 1983 I was helping Barry with one of his concerts over at Nica's and he needed to be alone for a while so he told me to go look at some books or records or something. One of the records he had was a Bill Evans one on Riverside. I can't remember which one but it seemed to be an original pressing. But what was hilarious was that it was one of those that opened up to reveal text, etc. inside and it hadn't been cracked in so long that it was fused shut. It took me a full few minutes to pry it open without tearing the pictures and stuff. When I told Barry this and showed him the album man did we break up. I am obviously missing something here, but why would that break anyone up?

If bad liner notes were rewarded with, say, the portly Crouch statuette, I think I would have a space problem.