Christiern

I am now a reformed trouble maker, berigan. (note the absence of quotation marks)

Never been arrested. That's a photo taken for my ID when I worked for Armed Forces Radio & TV on a U.S. military base.

That's really interesting--which scanner do you have, mmilovan?

Good point.

Sorry Jim, but when posters routinely make an effort to disrupt threads, call other posters names, and deliberately make a nuisance of themselves, I don't see any reason why they should not be severely criticized. Heaney is a troll, plain and simple.

I've never seen the un-photoshopped image! Are you sure that there is one?

Guess which one is ...

This is how I have always pictured you, Guy.

Is he[Heaney] really this significant? Struck me as a nonentity. I think he is only significant because he has managed to intrude upon more so than contribute to various bulletin boards. He is significant in the way that a pesky fly is: you want it to go away but you can't ignore it when it's buzzing around you.

What always amazes me is that he seems (claims?) to read everything, yet he apparently learns nothing--except trivia, of course. He also tends to "review" performances he never heard and books he never read. If Crouch ever pops back at JC, as Lois promised, I think those people had better brace themselves for regular visits by Heaney--not to mention that other one, the one who borrows his handle from a Dutch film actor.

I listened to both these CDs last night and I highly recommend them. I prefer the Wilson, because he is in excellent form, but the Webster is not to be readily dismissed--I have heard him in more inspiring company, however.

Chuck, Michael tells me that the problem has been corrected. Your account had mistakenly been set to "unregistered." You are now "registered."

Thanks, GregK. I just had a good phone conversation with Michael Ricci. Chuck, you have not been barred, but there have been times when people couldn't sign on. Michael is going to check your access today. I won't go into details re our conversation, but I think I have a good understanding of what Michael and Marc are up against, and I will try to help, if I can. We tend to forget that the BBS is but a small part of AAJ, a terrific site that just keeps getting better, and keeping it all together is a time-consuming task. Part of the job is, of course, to see that we who post on the BBS don't get out of hand (and I'm guilty here, too), but that problem would be eliminated if we all made an effort to abide by the board's rules--doing so while maintaining civility will not restrict our freedom of expression. I am not saying anything here that we all don't already know, so let's just call it a reflection on the obvious.

Will do.

For the edification of anyone who might have caught my little rift with AAJ (more accurately a prominent troll at that site), you should know that Michael Ricci and I are in touch. While they have been a bit heavy-handed over there, they also have far more than a bulletin board to maintain. It is still a losing proposition (money-wise), supported by Michael's other business venture. It is easy for us to criticize, as I have done, but not always fair. Every board has its trolls and Heaney is a particularly pesky one--it would be easy to simply ban him, but he is also capable of contributing positively. The fact is that there [i[have been intelligent discussions on a Wynton thread, but Heaney inevitably pops in and tries to disrupt--so far, he has succeeded, but I think Michael and Marc simply need to tell him to lay off the personal insults and discuss Wynton and the J@LC operation rather than fawn beyond all reason upon them. The communication between Michael and I will not make me rush back to AAJ, but I hope it can at least clear the air. I think we all want to see the jazz boards succeed and our difference discussed amicably.

I always knew that my admiration for Sam Rivers went beyond his music. BTW Does anyone know if Stanley ever returned to Lois' lap at Jazz Corner?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! und eine lange Lebensdauer Are we celebrating a birthday or did deus62's waistline increase?

It was the first network TV show hosted by a black person. The year was 1956 and the show was eventually pulled because too many sponsors dropped out. It was not the quality of the show that lost them the sponsorship, it was plain old racism--in an effort to save the show, many of the day's top stars made appearances, but Madison Avenue myopia prevailed.

Tell us, AB, what BBSs have you been frequenting?

J.A.W.: "I'm amazed the Harlem.org site still exists" It's been in hibernation for a couple of years, I think. Too bad, because there are some serious jazz posters, especially of the historically-minded variety.

I no longer visit AAJ--It appears to me that Michael and Clifton have a bad, arrogant attitude that tends to alienate posters. They also have itchy delete-button fingers that go beyond maintaining decorum and into the realm of censorship. AAJ has become a rather unpleasant place to be and it is increasingly attracting a trollish element. There has been a lot of confusion and conjecture surrounding my decision to totally abandon Jazz Corner, a BBS I formerly championed. Contrary to what some believe, my decision was not made because Stanley Crouch was coming aboard--in fact, I think his presence might have generated some interesting discussion--but it was Lois' modus operandi that I found offensive. She obviously decided to lure Stanley to JC by sending him a link to threads containing criticism of him. This was clearly an attempt to kiss ass and stir up some controversy--ok, so luring people to her BBS is a part of her job, but I don't think she should do it at the expense of others; I don't think she should invite animus, these boards create enough of that without prompting from administrators. If Stanley decided to check out JC, fine, but let him do it when he feels the need. As it turned out, he posted a letter addressed to Lois (this is how we discovered what she had been up to). I think the letter is a rambling, self-righteous glorification of the Lincoln Center jazz operation, and we all know how disingenuous Stanley is when the subject is Marsalis. His letter did, indeed, generate criticism on the board, and may still be doing so, but I am told that Stanley never returned to answer that criticism, so Lois' maneuver would appear to have been a bust (someone please correct me if I'm wrong). I have added Stanley's letter to the bottom of this post--it would interest me to hear what my fellow Organissimo posters think of it. My decision to leave JC was only indirectly related to Stanley, it was triggered by a post Lois made in which she for some odd reason decided to weigh my "contribution" to jazz against Stanley. First of all, I really don't think that a comparison of that nature was relevant, but I also saw no need for Lois to belittle my past efforts on behalf of jazz in order to make her recruit look better. Indeed, some of my fellow posters seemed to agree. Organissimo has always been high on my list of jazz BBSs to frequent, but it has become the only place where I feel at home. Yes, I have had some run-ins with "berigan," mainly because he hides behind a noble name while distributing less than noble propaganda , but this place wouldn't be the same without a little of that. One thing I really like about Organissimo is that its operators don't see themselves as the cyber-SS, and because even holders of the most diametric views can become cyber friends--I think that has a lot to do with the general atmosphere at the board, and that--in turn--is to a large degree determined by the attitude of people like Jim. Before leaving AAJ, I suggested to Michael and Clifton that they pay attention to the way Jim, et al handle the administration of Organissimo--I think it is exemplary. I should also, in fairness, mention that I think Michael's decision to allow Organissimo discussions and updates on AAJ during emergencies deserves applause. Here's Stanley's letter--Lois liked it so much that she re-posted it in another thread, so I'm sure she won't mind it being popped in here (the lead-in is Lois'): Stanley originaly posted this in the news thread, but I thought it was worth reiterating here. Stanley sent me a short email before he posted that he will be gone till next week.... Dear Lois Given all the hysteria that I became accustomed to as well as the dearth of serious questions at JazzTimes, I had no intention of responding to any of these sour letters, which I would not have known about if you hadn’t emailed them to me. But I changed my mind only because I was inspired by one of the letter writers. So I want, first, to commend Rob Damen for bringing something to the Jazz At Lincoln Center argument which we rarely see from its opponents: facts. I think he put a mute in Chris Albertson's mouth through detailed thought and close examination. Mr. Marsalis is hated by those who are jealous of him or who resent his position of power in the music. He is even blamed for decisions separate from him, such as Ken Burns and Geoffrey Ward choosing to close out jazz when they did. That can be easily checked. It is not hard to contact either Burns or Ward. Personally, I would have put in another two hours, but Jazz still stands quite tall for the uncontested amount of time that was given to this art form. One particularly scathing review was written by a middle brow whose interview was found dull and worthy of the cutting room floor, yet neither he nor any of the carping contingent thought to propose a documentary focusing on the aspects of jazz they, perhaps quite rightfully, felt were left out. The success of Jazz meant that there was a very good chance of getting the funding for another project about the music. That, however would take something beyond talk. It would take work, which seems a foreign conception to the ongoing complainers. Mr. Marsalis’s detractors have tried to bring him down with every accusation they could push into the air or onto the page. Dozens upon dozens of articles have been written with this intent in mind. The late Ralph Wiley was always ready to say that a commissioned piece for a men’s fashion magazine was rejected when he refused to “cut Marsalis down” or make him seem “arrogant.” Jervis Anderson bitterly recalled, in the restrained music of his educated West Indian manner, how he left the New Yorker after many years because his new editor refused to consider any new ideas he proposed. According to him, the reason for becoming alienated at the New Yorker after so many years was that he wrote a piece about Mr. Marsalis that did not do the demolition job that was expected. There is nothing like disappointment. Yet none of the campaigns have worked, sad to say. All have failed, resoundingly, painfully, completely--though not silently. Mr. Marsalis has contined to rise and those resentfully squeaking from their gathering place in the bed pan have maintained their positions in an ongoing "pity party," as Mr. Damen so accurately describes the reunions. They and jazz are the victims of a conservative tyrant from New Orleans, a sub-talent and mere technician. If there are "many" more talented musicians than Mr. Marsalis I would advise would advise those who believe that to talk with Greg Osby. I think he might put something on their minds, if they want something on them other than ad hominem bitchery. Mr. Osby can go into some detail about Mr. Marsalis’s musicianship. He can even give him some serious analysis of Mr. Marsalis's compositions (e.g. "Jazz" written for New York City Ballet). Mr. Osby could also easily provide some thorough pointers about Mr. Marsalis’s playing ability, which the saxophonist experienced on the bandstand last year and found quite illuminating. Disbelievers might also ask Peter Washington, a first call bassist who has performed with almost everyone. He can supply them some bandstand observations about Mr. Marsalis's melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic skills. If they want to know. As for the Daily News piece, I wasn’t writng about the well known integration in jazz clubs or at jazz concerts or discussing ticket prices (the expense of which does not keep black audiences from rap concerts, by the way; think about that). The jazz world as we know and have known it was clearly not the subject. The subject was the upper echelons of the supporters of the arts in New York and the events that those PATRONS attend, which are almost always "hot or cold vanilla." Make no mistake, this is the very first time in American culture that the kind of people who have supported the opera, the ballet, the symphony orchestra, and so on and on have come forward and gotten behind jazz. Anyone who claims that bringing that off was a minor accomplishment achieved by a lucky lightweight is, as Mr. Damen observed, willfully lying. All with many years of experience know how difficult it is to get anything new through the complicated briar patch of the Manhattan cultural establishment. Try raising $128 million for jazz on the basis of having lucked up on a job that anyone else could have done. Just for the record, what evolved into Jazz At Lincoln Center began establishing, in 1988, late Duke Ellington as the major body of neglected orchestral jazz music that it is. Presenting "Such Sweet Thunder," "Anatomy of a Murder," and "Suite Thursday" amounted to the first illumination rounds. Many followed. As a whole, they amounted to an innovation in the presentation of Ellington music because so much attention was given to his longer pieces, going back as far as The Liberian Suite and coming all the way up to The Degas Suite. That there was a body of listerners ready to reconsider the width and grandeur of his genius became evident as audiences left sold-out concerts in states of ever greater awe at the peerless compositional talent of that sequoia of this art form. The central goal of JALC was to have jazz appreciated in its entirety, to elevate into plain sight as much of the art’s greatest music as possible, which is why the largely neglected music of Bud Powell and Tadd Dameron were presented, the former in both in trio formats and in commissioned arrangements, the later by Dameronia, with Kenny Washington playing his heart out. The same was true of a concert of Jackie McLean’s music, which featured that great man in varied ensembles and commissioned arrangements for a large ensemble. It was no mistake that Von Freeman, who had never been presented in a major Manhattan concert, was brought to New York where he played opposite Johnny Griffin, then was later presented in a tenor summit with Teddy Edwards and Joe Lovano. Before he died, we were trying to get Stan Getz to perform Eddie Sauter’s Focus again, which he declined to do, saying it was already too well done on record. When reminded that he played much better as a seasoned master than he had as a younger man, the great maestro agreed, began to waver and was considering it when he got sick. Those who attended the Art Farmer concert that featured the trumpeter with Jim Hall and with Gerry Mulligan got a special treat, one of them being the point at which Mulligan got loose on a standard and his baritone saxophone commenced to walk the bar in the air. JALC has continued to commission major pieces such as the one Jimmy Heath penned for Joe Henderson. Because Wyntn Marsalis takes the position that “All jazz is modern,” music across the entire spectrum, from Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver, and Louis Armstrong to Ornette Coleman, Sam Rivers, and Jason Moran has been given concert time. Near the beginning, JALC gave the only major concert he has ever played to Dewey Redman. Redman brought with him such unexceeded masters of fresh directions deeply rooted in the music as Don Cherry and Ed Blackwell. JALC has always presented the music uniquely because musicians have had the rehearsal time to give good performances instead of the traditional kind that were so often descibed as "suffering from a lack of rehearsal." That was an innovative break with the past that no one noticed (other than Jon Pareles of the New York Times). Along the way, JALC has hired, rehearsed, and paid over 1200 musicians since 1987. JALC did a far from insignificant collaboration with the New York Philharmonic in which The Nutcracker Suite was performed with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, alternating the original score for symphony orchestra with Ellington's score for jazz orchestra (almost all of which was arranged by Billy Strayhorn). This was not a minor moment in New York culture because the members of the New York Philharmonic and its traditional audience left with a new and thorough respect for jazz music. The mutual respect that comes of sharing a bandstand resulted in more supporters of JALC. Some who heard that concert were impressed to such an extent that they became financial supporters of JALC. It was perhaps the first time that they realized jazz was a major art whose masters of large ensemble playing could stand up next to anyone and hold their own. The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra has surely developed the largest repertoire in the world, one that stretches from early jazz to big band arrangements of Ornette Coleman music and the orchestration of his classic solo on “Peace.” The LCJO has traveled to every continent on the face of the earth and has met Latin, African, Asian, European, and Russian musicians. Some of them have been commissioned for compositions and performances that have resulted in remarkable collaborations. In terms of outreach, Jazz at Lincoln Center has created and hosted, for ten years, an annual high school big band competition, “Essentially Ellington.” High school bands across this nation are sent Duke Ellington scores to record for demonstration tapes. The chosen finalists come to New York where they are judged by veterans such as Clark Terry, Jimmy Heath, and Herbie Hancock. The winners perform in concert with Wynton Marsalis as guest soloist. The “Jazz for Young People” concerts are always sold out at Alice Tully Hall. Each one provides an opportunity for parents to learn about the music along with their children. Jazz at Lincoln Center has presented many film programs hosted by musicians and has put on panels that are surely representative of what one expects from discussions of jazz. JALC has sent dozens upon dozens of musicians out into the public schools of Manhattan. That doesn't seem to shabby to me, or close-minded. Those who complain about the artists that THEY think should be presented are always welcome to do as Leonard Feather and Barry Ulanov did with bebop musicians in the 1940s: rent Town Hall and present them yourselves. Then we’ll all see what happens. Finally, however, this is not about any of the shrews futilely nipping at the toes of the shoes moving past them. It is about jazz and about the people who make it and who love it and who understand quite well when something of unprecedented significance has been done for this marvelous art. Jazz At Lincoln Center and the complex of the House of Swing, the Dizzy Gillespie Coca Cola Room, and the Allen Room are the result of the work of many, many people, of endless meetings, of sea changes in the world of patrons and of the extraordinary talent of a man with whom I was proud to work and a woman, Alina Bloomgarden, without whose inspired impetus, and the support of Lincoln Center’s former President, Nat Leventhal, we would have nothing to defend or bitch about. Victory Is Assured, Stanley Crouch I wonder what victory Stanley has in mind? BTW, I don't know how many of you are familiar with Rob Damen, but he is pesky, insufferably arrogant poster who only appears at the mention of Wynton (whom he defends with all the ardor of an idolizing school girl). His response to Crouch was: "Bless you, Mr. Crouch."

It comes in fine on Apple's Safari browser (with OS X 10.3.6). Esthetically very pleasing to my eyes (a sense developed by Københavns Akademi For Fri og Merkantil Kunst ). I also find the content interesting and well presented.

I agree that Concord started going downhill after Carl Jefferson's death. He was a very successful car dealer with a passion for jazz and it was his Concord Jazz Festival, a labor of love, that led to his forming the record company. I don't recall the details, but he offered artists a deal in which they maintained part ownership of their own recordings. I had many long conversations with Carl and I will always remember the last call I received. He was in New York to supervise a session. He told me that this might well be his last visit to the city and that he would greatly appreciate it if I could come down to the studio--he'd even pay the cab fare. I would have none of that, of course, but I did hop a cab right away, having sensed some urgency in Carl's voice. What I saw when I walked into the control room was Carl, his wheelchair pulled up to the console (I didn't know he was confined to a wheelchair) and tubes in his face from a large cannister. Carl was close to death, yet he had flown here from California to do what he so enjoyed doing, make another album. It was a two-guitar session, but I can't recall who the artists were. Not long after that last meeting, I learned of Carl's death. I really fear that the people who turned Concord into a "concept" collection assembly line and callously (not to mention, foolishly) dumped my friend, Susannah McCorkle will now treat the Fantasy material with equal insensitivity. Let's hope I'm wrong. BTW, the week of 9/11/01, when my friend Karl Knudsen was staying with me, he received a faxed offer of a million dollars for his Storyville catalog from Fantasy. It was an insulting sum and I was glad to see Karl immediately turn it down. So, at least the Concord "conglomerate" will not get it's hands on that treasure--or will they? One never knows, we are fast heading for one big record industry monopoly, aren't we?

That means money for the estate. Besides, it could also have the effect of drawing attention to Trane's music. So, there are compensations for such commercialism.

Leon Leavitt used to pay me annual visits. He wanted to but my original LPs (Prestige discs with the New York address, etc.). I agreed to sell him any LP that he could replace with a sealed and superior (usually Japanese clone) reissue, which he did in many cases. I knew that he had to be reselling these things at a profit, but I didn't care as long as it did not eliminate any music from my collection. Until this thread appeared, I did not know that he was so widely known; his visits and purchases took place long before the internet came into being.