Christiern

The best track I heard this past week is Mahalia Jackson's original Apollo recording of Silent Night. It stunned me when I first heard it on the Danish radio about 60 years ago, and it continues to take my breath away. Apropos breath, according to the rules, Mahalia's breathing is all "wrong" on this recording, yet it is so right. If you haven't heard this gem, make sure you do so, but skip the Columbia version—they did their best to remove the Mahalia magic, and sometimes they almost succeeded. On the Apollo recording, she is accompanied only by Mildred Falls at the organ. That's really all Mahalia needed.

Flute Fever was it for me, too. I had Jeremy as a guest on my TV show almost ten years later and don't recall being disappointed, but I haven't seen that show since it aired and, as usual , don't have a copy. I do remember John Hammond being polite but not very enthusiastic when I mentioned Flute Fever to him. He was, however, overly enthusiastic when it came to Zeitlin, who always sounded to me as a pianist encumbered by technique.

I was pleasantly surprised when I first heard it. I liked both artists but questioned the wisdom of teaming them up. I shouldn't have.

You are probably talking about Butterbeans (Jodie Edwards) and Susie (Susie Edwards), a very popular husband and wife comedy team that worked on the TOBA theater circuit in the '20s. I included one of their recordings ("I Wanna Hot Dog For My Roll") on a Columbia 2-LP/CD set called Stars of the Apollo, but several dedicated albums are available here.

If the purpose of acquiring a USB turntable i to copy vinyl onto CDs or DVDs, Kevin B's argument is moot. One, even two spins on a inexpensive USB tt is not going to ruin the original.

Merry Christmas to all my friends at Organissimo, regardless of what you believe....or not. Hope this is the best of times, yet a prelude to improvement! DivShare File - Xmas_cards2.mov

That almost ranks with your infamous WMB posts of yore, Dan. Y'all need to keep abreast of ornithological studies.

Has anyone been in touch with Rolf? I'm just wondering how he is doing.

If reposted with tat for tit, would it pass the PC test?

Thanks HP, it is one thing to not get another's sense of humor, quite another to over-react and press the panic button. Frankly, I think Jim's imitation of another board's infamous Gorts was uncalled for. He accepts shit, fuck and whatever, but has a hissyfit when he sees "tits." I think those little birds are kinda cute. Hey, Big Al, did it go limp by midnight?

I know what you mean, Chuck, but what would be the point of creating things if nobody else became aware of them? I don't think I'm rationalizing when I sat that here should be no shame attached to most shameless plugs. Certainly not yours—that was a good and well-deserved writeup, but more is warranted, If you are reluctant to expose yourself, there are others—I include myself—who gladly will do so. Geoffrey Holder once told me that he doesn't really like it when people come up to him in public places, waving a pen or looking like they just found a pot of gold. He doesn't like it, but he would like it even less if they did not recognize him. I understand that, because I am often embarrassed when, in the presence of others, I come across effusive praise for my work (it does happen), but I am never unhappy about it. Ego is like a vitamin pill that we all need but would rather not taste—or something like that. Let's get more NessaNews out there!

If the erection is still there at midnight (Texas time), see your doctor.

Was that a snowbreast I saw flying past my window? Am I the only one who finds this "ado" to be about nothing?

Guess we are on different wavelengths, Larry. I'm sorry for being so terribly new-fashioned. Well, gotta go—there's this mountain, you see, and I feel compelled to go against the PC flow and cut it down to a mole hill.

Larry, are you guys serious? By the way, my next door neighbor, a bird lover, once had this book on his coffee table, in plain sight! It somehow never occurred ti him that he ought hide it when women dropped by. He may still have that book—i had better warn him. We had "freedom fries" in a hot second, I don't think it took long for the republicans to change the spelling of "estate" to d-e-a-t-h, so what is taking so long to rename these little birds? Sorry, Jim. You'd better lock or eliminate this thread before, you know... a lady... sees it.

I ask my fellow members to go to this thread and tell me why Jim locked it. If possible, perhaps we can be shown the forum rules that forbid attempts at humor. Seriously, I really would like to know why this particular thread was locked, especially given many others that were simply overlooked/ Ever heard of flying tits, Jim?

Allan, that is the most uplifting post I have read in all my time on this board. I join those who eagerly await a recording by Mr. Sykes. I hope that more than the five who ever heard of Marion Brown showed up, and I look forward to hearing that your passionate preservation of sounds past has reached the ears of a McArthur scout. Having wasted so much of the Foundation's money on the likes of Crouch, perhaps they are more discriminating (in a good sense) now. That would flag you favorably!

Looks like interest in jazz increased with the arrival of Wynton Marsalis and decreased with the arrival of Ken Burns I think it increased with his arrival and gradually decreased with each album he released.

Hair today, ashes tomorrow.

That piece was written by John McDonough, who saw John through rose-colored glasses and would have kissed his feet if given an opportunity to do so.

Yes, Ferguson captured him pretty well, right down to the inevitable bunch of newspapers John always carried under his arm. One day, as he walked through the lobby at Blackrock, someone popped up and said "John!" Poor John was so startled that he dropped his papers and Screw was suddenly no longer hidden between the WSJ and NY Times! Was it a large room, Chuck?

Don't tell me anything bad about Leonard Feather—I know more than anyone needs to know about that...and then some! John had his faults, but I am hard put to think of anything Leonard left that deserves admiration.

That sounds quite accurate as a description of the younger John Hammond. Much of it was still valid 20 or 30 years later, but there were other sides to John's personality. Leonard Feather alluded to one of them in his WWII era Metronome article, Heil Hammond! It was about John's dictatorial ways. I was left with very mixed feelings about him—they run from great to less than great. He accomplished much, but not as much as he wished us to believe. Hank O'Neal recalled walking out of St. Peter's after a lengthy memorial service for John. Many speeches were made, much greatness was was waved about. As Hank stood at the curb, ready to cross the street, John's secretary came up beside him. Looking straight ahead, as if oblivious to his presence, she muttered: "They bought the story."

John Corigliano and I had a friendly falling out when he was my Music Director at WBAI. One day, he scheduled John Cage's "Cartridge Music" for the morning concert. I don't know if any of you are familiar with that work, but it is generated by dragging live phonograph styli across the studio floor. Imagine it—I know you can. People thought we were off the air and called to find out when our transmitter would be fixed. I told John that I didn't care how acknowledged a composer Cage was, this particular piece was unsuitable for 7 AM broadcast. John told me that he had been planning to resign, because he wanted to write a piano or violin concerto while living on unemployment. We agreed to part amicably, and when the Dept. of Labor turned him down, I went to a meeting there and insisted that he had quit because we had an "unworkable" situation. The bureaucrats were convince, John received his unemployment checks, and—a year or so later—I received an LP of his concerto in the mail. Many years later, as he was preparing to fly west an pick up an Oscar, I told him that he should have dedicated his concerto to Cage. For the love of Ivie, I can't tell you anything about Jourdan Anderson.