Christiern

Sonymax asks: "What about Wynton Marsalis, Tito Puente, Quincy Jones, Fathead Newman, David Sanborn, David Amram, Melody Gardot, Diana Krall, Esperanza Spaulding...? Now tell me about the scores of jazz artists appearing on Leno, Kimmel, and the others." Wynton Marsalis - Let's be real, this guy has contributed more to his ego than he has to jazz. Booking him as a guest is hardly an indication of jazz interest. Tito Puente - Great band, but better known for his contributions to another idiom. Quincy Jones - A lousy trumpet player turned exploiter. Like Wynton, this guy knows how to do the hype. Fathead Newman - I'll buy that one. David Sanborn - This one, too, but why not Sonny Rollins or Sam Rivers. David Amram - David loves jazz and knows how to play it, but he is also known for his film scores, books, etc. David can do no wrong, as far as I am concerned (I once recorded him giving a memorable performance as Ladybird Johnson). Melody Gardot - Now that is a stretch. Was it her music or her survival instinct that made Letterman interested? Diana Krall - Well, she looks good, emulates well, and has a familiar repertoire. She is no Bridgewater. She is no Toshiko. Esperanza Spaulding - She has the looks and the blandness people like when they aren't into jazz but feel compelled to flirt with it. Only kidding re Herbie. But he did stray a couple of times

Herbie plays jazz? When did he resume?

And I bet his obnoxious little musical director laughed.

This is an easier way to get from here to where you want us to go. Why did you not use the link feature? All you have to do is highlight whatever you want to link button to be (in this case, I chose where you want us to go) and click on the link symbol. bTW I think I recognizes at least half of the films, including Eisenstein's Potemkin.

The folks at BP are not as slick as their oil. Check out their amateur Photoshop work.

Ditto Lon's praise for Blu-Ray version of "The Shining." Not only did the vastly improve video, they also got rid of the overhead rotors seen in the memorable original opening.

I am very pleased with my Blu-Ray, it really makes a difference, not the least of which is the audio. I also see a difference on my conventional DVDs, but that may simply be because my Blu-Ray player is better than the one I had before. I believe the conversion to Blu-Ray is too costly for every disc to undergo the change, but I may be wrong. What the hell, Blu-Ray players are very affordable now (I have seen them under $100, even brand names), so who hesitate. When I move this one to one of my other TV sets, I will get a Blu-Ray with wireless streaming, Roku-ish capabilities.

Now I am even more curious. I'll have to get the CD and lend it an ear. I'll get back to this thread when I know something. Do I say anything about the circumstances regarding this recording in the '87 liner notes? The notes are not on any of my hard disks.

Just consider these opinions as reiteration of what was said before he croaked.

And I thought it was just me

Well, sonnymax, this is a session around which much misinformation has been generated. Do the notes really say that I managed The Free Music Store? I have read that I engineered the session while serving as General Manager of WBAI, I have also read that I produced it. Needless to say, this has made me rather curious to hear it! Much of what I have read has Scott Yanow's byline, so it is to be taken with a sizable grain of salt. I know he is ultra pushy and overly productive (in a Leslie Gourse sort of way), but I still wonder how he managed to get his hastily assembled little bios and "reviews" into every hole in the internet! His stated goal is to listen to every jazz recording ever made, so that accounts for the fact that his reviews often don't indicate his having actually heard the music. Ok, be that as it may. I tried to call Joe McPhee but he isn't home tonight—this is the time of year when he does the European festivals, so he's probably over there, somewhere. Joe and I have been friends since the Sixties, when I was running WBAI, but the Free Music Store came after I left. If memory serves me right, it was started by my good friend, Eric Saltzman, or it might have been Ann McMillan. I hired Ann to replace John Corigliano when John asked me to fire him so that he could write a violin concerto while getting unemployment compensation. We had a little disagreement of his scheduling John Cage's "Cartridge Music" for the morning concert. John was finally approved for unemployment (we told the Employment Board that ours was an untenable situation), and he wrote his concerto (I have the first album). Of course, John later went on to win at least one Oscar for his film scores, etc. Be that as it may, we broadcast a lot of jazz during my tenure at WBAI, including a live late evening hour dedicated to the more adventurous approach. Archie Shepp wanted to play in the dark, so we just cut off the lights in the studio and told Archie when he was on. He and his group then went at it for an hour. I believe Joe and Clifford (Thornton) did the same thing, at least once, and I probably manned the board in the control room. When there is as much great stuff going on as there was in those days, an event, no matter how well it turned out, does not so readily find a place in one's memory. There's always the tape, but I'm afraid much of what we did was not recorded. So, the Joe McPhee session that was released by Hat may or may not be mine, and it may or may not have been recorded as stated in the liner notes. I have come across albums of sessions that I produced in a recording studio and forgot about until I spotted my credit and, eventually, heard it. I know this does not answer your question, but you did get a story, didn't you?

If you live long enough and make a pile of money.

:tdown :tdown :tdown :tdown Ok, the man died (he was 80), but the NYC TV stations are absolutely ridiculous. They have spent almost the entire first hour of their newscast on Steinbrenner, and promising even more! Many people who have truly made a positive contribution (not just done well financially) hardly get a mention—if at all. I know that sports people probably love this sort of thing, but to most of us this was a man of minor importance—and he was kinda nasty and crooked, too. Okay, let me have it.

I always liked that clip. I met Martha Raye once, in the Seventies. She came into a Greenwich Village bar, wearing Army fatigues with a "RAYE" name label. Very down-to-earth. She married several times, but Alberta Hunter told me she was actually gay.

I took this one a couple of days ago, from a moving car going north on Manhattan's West Side Highway. Nothing special about the photo itself, but I always thought this was an interesting looking building.

We had a little rain today, but this has been a hot summer—I just took this photo from my window, it's Central Park, across the street from me, but one would never know that the photo was taken July 13th!

I would imagine that it was Bu Pleasant, who also played wit Ray Draper.

That was the album with which John claimed to "introduce" his new find. Like so many other Hammond "discoveries," it was not so.

Randy, it's great to have you back. I really missed your posts and various newspaper clips. As I read your post, it struck me that there is a way around the one-hand keyboard entry. I don't have your physical problem, but I often use a program that lets me talk instead of type. I use a Mac and the program is MacSpeech Dictate. It really works amazingly well and I know that there is a PC equivalent, if that's the platform you use. What you said about being fooled by how we feel into thinking that we are in top shape is something we all should be aware of. Thanks for the reminder. Take good care of yourself, and please keep posting here. Chris

Oh, you mean the album George Benson did before John Hammond "discovered" him? As I recall, Montego Joe was born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, hence the moniker. His name is Joseph Sanders, which doesn't sound quite as interesting. I haven't read them since I wrote them, but Fred Nurdley's liner notes for the 1964 Prestige album may contain some information. Fred was not a good writer, more in the Francis Squibb league, but he did not Schaap anybody—he never made things up. Well, other than his name. So did Francis Squibb. Of course, if you wnt a story, you know where to go

I did that deliberately, BM—just to see how alert you are! I'm impressed. Actually, Miami is not a place I have ever wanted to visit, ditto Las Vegas and, for that matter, the town of Velingrad (in Pazardzhikt, at the foot of the Rhodope mountains). The latter does not have any neon signs, but too many grubby tourists,

I don't watch basketball, nor do I really give a damn who plays where, who wins, who loses, etc. That said, I think LeBron has a perfect right to go with any team that wants him, I also believe it is naïve to think that he might have stayed in Cleveland, with a team that is very unlikely to get him that coveted ring. So, Cleveland fans should have known what to expect and tried to see it from his perspective, as well. Turning their love into hate in a split second tells me that it never was real love—he brought a lot of money to a somewhat dumpy city (I've been there) and it's really all about money, isn't it? I don't know why anyone would want to live in Miami, a gaudy city full of very gross people, but This was a business decision. Finally, I think LeBron and his handlers come out looking just as bad as the soured Clevelanders, because there was really no need for that brief televised drama on the outskirts of NYC. That whole thing was embarrassing and showed very poor judgement. One thing I can quietly be thankful for: he did not choose New York. We have enough circuses in town.

When he visited my apartment earlier this year, I showed him my iMac...but I guess he didn't take the hint A delightful person with a wide range of knowledge. We all need that occasional break and he has a garden to tend to. He'll be back.

I believe his former wife still posts here, so I'm sure she will know the album and give you whatever info she can.