Christiern

Don't worry, Chuck. Spotted owls don't swing.

The question of who is and who isn't a "jazz" vocalist was never solved. I would not label Harry Connick, Jr. a "jazz" vocalist any more than I would seriously regard him as a jazz pianist. Kurt Elling, like Mark Murphy, always tried too hard to sound "hep" and, later, "hip", but neither could really hop—at least they never convinced me. Quite a different matter is/was Louis (daddy of the genre), and—to name a few—Joe Williams, Bill Henderson, Mel Tormé, Jimmy Rushing, and Eddie Vinson... and a slew of blues singers (that line between them is very thin and sometimes invisible)... Endangered? I guess so, they are no longer available for booking. I have yet to hear a current male vocalist who not a steamed up mirror of the past, even a fun house mirror. Never mind!

Tandberg was a very good brand. My friend, Danny D'imperio (DEEP) occasionally transfers 7" reels to disc for me and I am amazed that the tape hasn't disintegrated or lost the magnetic oxide—some of these tapes have been in my closet for close to 50 years, and they were 5 to 10 years old when I put them there!

Thanks for that advice, Shrdlu. I have a USB turntable that I never really hooked up, but most of my old interviews, etc. is on cassettes. I do have a cassette player, so I guess I can figure that out. The real problem I have is with the reel to reel, especially the 10 1/2" reels. My reel-to-reel is so old that I think the belts have turned to dust! I use a Mac, so I have just purchased WavePad, which is super easy to use, much more so than Audacity.

In case anyone is interested, I have posted a 36-minute phone interviewe that I did with Teo Macero in October of 1970, when I was gathering material for a Miles cover story in Saturday Review. You can get to it here.

I still think that "Nothing but a Man," the 1964 film she starred in with Ivan Dixon, is one of the best black films made in the U.S. I also wish they had written an intelligent script and cast Abbey as Billie Holliday, instead of the Ross woman. Floating around somewhere, not in any of my closets, is a 1-hour TV interview I did with Abbey some 30 years ago.

I had several of Parnell's records back in my early 78rpm days. I didn't know that he moved to Sesame Street.

I saw a report tonight that it takes 3 years to obtain a patent in the U.S.. That doesn't exactly encourage invention or manufacture. We deserve this kind of nonsense because we vote greedy, self-centered idiots into office. People who think the internet is a series of tubes, that weather conditions can be changed by prayer, that a book of fiction written by unenlightened people in an unenlightened age is really the work of some mystical entity and should be followed. We are largely governed by ignoramuses who were put there by other ignoramuses. That is an underlying reason why we no longer manufacture consumer goods.

I am very sorry to hear the sad news that this thread brings. I hope I don't see George in the described condition—very sad. This was George in December of 1961, when I did a Howard McGhee session.

Thanks for pointing that out, Ted. You are absolutely right and I have just slowed it down. I don't know if I got it right, but it sounds better.

And is known in some circles as the Mother of Ring Tones. "She turned a simple single-note repeat into a pocket symphony." — National Geographic

Sorry to dig up a 3-year-old, but anyone interested in Duke and Strayhorn might also be interested in the interview I posted on my blog. It is Duke interviewing Stray—all in fun. An interesting private moment that say a lot about these great artists. Here is a direct link.

Frank Haynes passed away a couple of years after helping us out at WBAI. I will be posting that soon, in the meantime, I have just posted an unusual interview. It's Duke, posing as a rep for Ralph J. Gleason, interviewing Billy Strayhorn.

There is no rule that says a night show host has to like jazz. Letterman can do as he wishes and we should really not care. His heroin "joke" was not funny. As so often, he should have kept his mouth hut. I hardly ever watch tht show because I find organ grinder Paul whatshisname super annoying. My only point was that you can come up with mile long lists of people who have in some way been connected with jazz, but that means absolutely nothing. Most of the names on that list are people whose appeal goes beyond jazz and that is why many of them get booked by Letterman's people. No big thing. I recall seeing jazz people on Dick Cavett's show and wishing they weren't there, because his questions were dumb to the point of being embarrassing.

"Another example why hardly anybody gives a fuck about either New York City or jazz anymore. " A meaningless statement, Him. As for the list. One thing to bear in mind is that because a guest is regarded as a jazz artist, his/her appearance on a show like Letterman's does not necessarily point to a jazz interested host. Herbie Hancock (to take an example twisted by donz5) is certainly a jazz pianist, and a damn good one, but he has also delved into pop and had a measure of success with it. In other words, he might have been on the show for reasons other than his jazz talent. That goes for many people on the list. Does anybody think George Benson was there for his jazz playing? Harry Connick, Tom Waits, Earl Klugh, Lyle Lovette—gimme a break! How about Sam Rivers, Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon, Jimmy Heath, Toshiko, Art Blakey, and the list could ho on. Are you sure that Letterman's talent coordinator isn't Ken Burns?

Thank you, mjzee. I forgot to mention that I will also be posting some of my interviews, raw—in the unpolished sense—encounters with people like Jimmy Rushing, Cannonball, Miles, Lil Armstrong, Billie Holiday (if I can find it), and many others.

I have just added a solo performance by pianist Ronnie Matthews.

I have finally found out how to post audio to my blog, so I went into my closet and came out with some stuff that hasn't met any pair of ears in decades. My first audio post is 18 minutes of a Lonnie Johnson and Elmer Snowden appearance on my Philadelphia show, April 10, 1960. There is more to come from Lonnie and Elmer, also some jazz from the first WBAI marathon, including performances by Walter Bishop, Jr., Frank Haynes, Ronnie Matthews, Clifford Jordan, and Roy Burrows. I might even post "Blue Moon," as sung by A. B. Spellman. Y'all know how to Stomp off! I would appreciate comments, either here or there.

George was a wonderful character and intellect, but I think the letter would have to contain something noteworthy, perhaps shocking, for it to bring in any money. Why don't you just keep it as a memento of someone who obviously impressed you. I, too, received letters from George, but they ain't going anywhere but to my blog.

There was a time when Garner seemed to record for half the labels around.

They will upload a new set every two weeks until all 1600 images are there.

Bill B: "Chris, you speak of Martha in the past tense.Is there something we don't know ?" Sorry about that. As far as I know, Martha is still around, it is my contact with her that has slipped into past tense.

Allan is right about Martin's preference....and, sorta kinda, about Martha, but she was only "crazy" in that she was overly protective—a reissue producer's nightmare. I have no idea why we got along, but we did.

"...equating jazz fans to heroin addicts continues an unfortunate stereotype which is unnecessarily hateful and harmful to the art form. " Thank you.

But sonnymax, take another look at your list. If that's the best you can do to show that Letterman has an interest in jazz, I think you may have supported dalemcfarland's claim. For someone who is on 5 nights a week, year after year, that is a pathetic list. Add to that the show's location—New York City! You shouldn't have had to stretch like that to come up with a handful of jazz guests.