Christiern

Harold Land (Karen Miller) Fred Wesley (Susan Ragan) Steve Turre (Benoît Peverelli) Don Braden (Peter Gabriel) Stephen Scott (John Sann) Abraham Burton (Arne Reimer) Did photographer Gabriel tell Mr. Braden to pose for a mug shot?

The first Friday the 16th folio... Otis Redding (Stax) Red Holloway (John Abbott) Jason Marsalis (Lloyd Dennis) Jesse Jones, Jr. (C. W. Griffin - 1996) Bobby Short (Catanzaro & Mahdessian) George Mraz (Milestone) Looks like Jesse Jones, Jr. is saying, "No, you can't have it!"

Here's yet another half dozen... Susannah McCorkle (Photographer unknown) Take 6* (Norman Seefe) Tito Puente (David Lubarsky) Miles Davis (Kan Persson) Victoria Spivey (Photographer unknown) Lew Soloff (John Abbott) * Joey Kibble, Alvin Chea, Claude McKnight, Mark Kibble, Cedric Dent, David Thomas.

Old friend and wonderful person about whom you will learn more here.

Norman Brown (Kate Garner) LL Cool J (Danny Clinch) Chico Banks (Mark Castle) Al Dimeola, John McLaughlin, Paco DeLucia (Christian Rose) André Previn (Christian Steiner) Danilo Perez, Roy Haynes, John Patitucci (Michael Halsband)

Here's what I wrote about Barbee.. One of the many artists who cited Broonzy as an influence was John Henry Barbee, whose birth name was William George Tucker. Born in Henning, Tennessee, in 1905, he was a contemporary of the other singers featured in this set, but not as well known. His musical career was, at best, sporadic and almost covert, but not for lack of talent, as we shall see. His childhood years pretty much followed the familiar scenario: the family farmed and he was put to work in the field at an early age. The hard work was not to his liking, so young William sought a way out through music. Having learned to play guitar he began accompanying himself as a singer and performing locally at whatever venue he could find. Hemming was a very small rural community, so he began to take his music farther afield, roaming in neighboring states. It is said that he adopted the performing name, “John Henry,” because he liked and often sang that song, but an incident would eventually make the name change fortuitous and the pseudonym permanent. In the early Thirties, his path sometimes crossed that of fellow wandering minstrels like Big Joe Williams, Sunnyland Slim, and Sleepy John Estes—a childhood neighbor—and they occasionally worked together. In 1938, when he was living with his girlfriend in Luxora, Arkansas, Tucker received an offer to come to Chicago and make records for Vocalion. Four sides were cut, but only one coupling was issued. Still, that debut bode well, so the label wanted more John Henry Barbee recordings, but when they attempted to contact him, the young artist was nowhere to be found. It is at this juncture that George William Tucker’s life breaks out of the aforementioned familiar mold. Returning home to Luxora, he caught his girlfriend in a compromising situation with a romeo, “Mr. Charlie.” Tucker grabbed his shotgun and fired. Certain that he had killed a white man, it seemed a no-brainer to make a hasty exit and go on the lam. It also made sense to leave William George Tucker behind and run under the new identity, so it was “John Henry Barbee” who eventually made it back to Chicago and kept a very low, career-impairing, profile there. Ironically, “Mr. Charlie” had only been shot in the leg and another eleven years would pass before he actually died and Barbee learned that he was not a killer. With encouragement from Willie Dixon, Barbee resurfaced at an opportune time and was soon off to Europe with a star-studded blues package, the 1964 American Negro Blues Festival (“Negro” was later changed to “Folk”). During a stop in Copenhagen, he made the present recordings, which are considered by many to be his best. He also made a handful for a small Brooklyn label (Spivey), but fate again interfered when an English doctor detected a cancerous growth and Barbee was flown home, prematurely, with little chance for recovery. Convinced that he could fight the odds, he used some of his tour earnings for a down payment on the first car he had ever owned. It was a tragic decision. A week later, he was in jail on a manslaughter charge, having accidentally run over and killed a man. Unable to contact anybody or arrange for bail, John Henry Barbee languished in jail until November 3, 1964, when, less than a month after making these recordings and ten days before his 59th birthday, he had a fatal heart attack. The few recordings that are his legacy, including the six selections performed here, are a sad reminder of how fate—twisted and unmerciful—gave us but a taste of an extraordinary talent.

Yes, Carmen and Geoffrey lived on Broadway (apartment adjoining Wayne Shorter's) in the upper 90s, but they moved to a loft in Soho, where Geoffrey's sculptures and paintings dominate, but in a wonderful way. Here are more glossies... Ralph Petersen (Enid Farber - 1992] Steve Lacy and Roswell Rudd (guy Le Querrec - 1999) Marcus Printup (Lisa Peardon - 1998) The Headhunters. Mike Clark, Paul Jackson, Herbie Hancock, Bennie Maupin, Bill Summers (Beth Herzhaft) Courtney Pine (Kwaku Alston) David Amram (Photographer unknown)

This six-pack starts with another photo from Elmer's wall, continues with another stunning pose by Carmen DeLavallade, modulates into photos from 3 of my own sessions, and ends as we come full circle and return to the 8 x 10 glossies pile with Roy Hargrove. Cab Calloway (Photographer unknown) Carmen DeLavallade (Photographer unknown) Percy Humphrey, Emanuel Sayles and Louis James - New Orleans, January 24, 1961 (Florence Mars) Elmer Snowden, Abe Bolar, Rudy Powell and Floyd Casey at Van Gelder's studio July 20, 1961 (Chris Albertson) Junior Mance and George Tucker at Howard McGhee session - NYC Dec. 8, 1961 (Charles Nadell) Roy Hargrove (Novus)

Thanks, Valerie. No, I have never heard Monheit, just thought the photo was interesting. In general, I'm being somewhat indiscriminate in my choices here. That said, here we go with 4 faded oldies from Elmer Snowden's wall, a shot of Bobby Brown (Columbia never released his album, but I used 1 track on my Stars of the Apollo compilation), and a dim but dear photo of my recently departed friend, Odetta. Big Sid Catlett (associated Booking) Billy Kyle (Kriegsmann) Louis Jordan (Kriegsmann) Velma Middleton (Photographer unknown) Bobby Brown at Apollo Theater (Photographer unknown) Odetta in Israel - September, 1965 (Photographer unknown)

Roy Hargrove (Novus) Miles Davis (Don Hunstein) Richie Beirach (Jacqueline Kim) Ronny Jordan (Brian Cross) Thorbjørn Sunde, Sveinung Hovensjø, Terje Rypdal, Svein Christiansen, Brynjulf Blix (ECM) McCoy Tyner (Milestone)

"...entire page is tainted though with Ms. Monheit! yuck!" That sounds serious, Valerie. Is it her singing or is it her personality? The gallery continues....this way... Joe Pass (Takao Miyakaku) Joe Simon (Kliman) Les McCann (Alan Abrams) Joni Mitchell (Jay Blakesberg) Hendrik Meurkens (John Clifford) Marcus Johnson (Danny Miller)

A few more ... Carl Weathersby (James Fraher) Doc Cheatham and Nicholas Payton (Herman Leonard) Gary Bartz (Capitol) Franco Zeffirelli, Diana Ross and Lionel Richie at opening of Endless Night (Kragen) Claudio Roditi (David Gahrl) Chico O'Farrill (César Vera)

Here's another Eclectic Batch, MG. Anthony Braxton (Arista) Edward R. Murrow and Louis Armstrong (CBS) Jane Monheit (Allan Titmuss) Howard and The White Boys (Dan Machnik) Don Grolnick (Darryl Pitt) David Sancious (Epic)

Well, this just arrived in my mail box... Seven CDs, one DVD, and a 40-page illustrated booklet that I wrote when not posting on the Big O. There are 29 featured artists, all of whom resurfaced in the 1960s.

Quincy finally has an original idea? And it turns out to be a very bad one!

To state a case for Global Warming, a Danish group in Thailand built a replica of a McDonald's franchise and flooded it here is brief footage from the longer film. I'm not sure what the exact message is, but water-soaked burgers are always interesting.

Thanks, Allen, I just ordered Genya's book. I haven't spoken to her in a while, but I'll give her a call when I get the book. I hope she tells all about her music business experiences. Knowing Genya, she does. We first met when she came here for an interview. We did a long interviews and when I said, "well, guess that about covers it all," her response was: "Except that my period starts tomorrow." I knew we would be friends/

Thanks for pointing that out, Aggie—I have only gone through about 1000 of these photos, so far (a mere dent) and was struck by how many of them include Haden. Somebody must really like that particular shot! Yes, Dan, that is his ICU group. I should have made a note of that. What does ICU stand for (I see you?). Jacky Terrasson and Cassandra Wilson - 1997 (William Claxton) Danilo Perez (Michael Halsband) Les McCann (Alan Abrahams) Ron Holloway (Steve Manuta) Joe Pass (Takao Miyakaku)

Thanks for the IDs. This batch starts of with another old friend of mine, Genya, who first recorded under her birth name, Genyusha "Goldie" Zelkowitz. She has a fascinating story to tell, and I hope she gets it down. Genya Ravan (20th Century Fox) Walter Vinson (when I recorded him w. The Mississippi Sheiks in Chicago, 1961) (Steve Schapiro) Jack DeJohnette, Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock (Rose Ann Colavito) Ornette Coleman (Art Maillet) Christian McBride, Nicholas Payton, Mark Whitfield (Jimmy Katz)

I wodered about that,Valerie. The photo does not identify anyone other than James Wiliams, so I looked around and found only scant info. Do you recognize any of the other guys? Sorry, can't resist adding photos to this reply... Buddy DeFranco (Vern Miller) Eric Dolphy (Prestige Records) Irene Reid (PBS) Charlie Haden in Montreal (Jan-Henri Thijs) The Irene Reid photo is from The Jazz Set, a weekly PBS show I did in 1971.

I think the Charlie Chan movies were offensive, slbeit not intentionally so. In this case, however, I agree with Chuck. the intent is to show admiration.

And still more... Wayne Shorter (Francis Wolff) James Williams, Javon Jackson, John Lockwood, Steve Wilson, Bill Pierce, Tony Reedus, Yoron Israel (R. Andrew Lepley) Didier Lockwood, John Blake, Michal Urbanial (Angie Coqueran) Red Rodney (Continuum) Hank Mobley and Grant Green (Francis Wolff) Dave McKenna (Janet Sommer)

And more... Hank Jones (Jimmy Katz) Lena Horne (John Abbott) Louie Bellson (Remo Drums) Ron Carter (Yakehiko Tokiwa) Herbie Hancock (James Minchin) Duke Ellington (Don Hunstein)

Because it's Tuesday, here's another batch ... Duke Ellington at Columbia (Don Hunstein) Marian McPartland (Barbara Bordnick) Jason Marsalis (Lloyd Dennis) Ornette Coleman (Austin Trevett) James Blood Ulmer (B. Diemannoberger) Howard Johnson (Ralf Brinkhoff) Buster Williams, Kenny Barron, Ben Riley, Gary Bartz (Phoebe Ferguson)

I don't think so, I would have remembered seeing her without one. But, again, I didn't make this up—There is a limit to my imagination and that dream really stretched it!