Christiern

Yowza!!! Yes, but hva sier naboen? Naboen sier och "Yowsa!, men på Svensk.

I produced two sessions with Ida Cox approximately ten years after he obituary appeared in Variety.

Unless I am very much mistaken, there is a boxed set called Kenny G Plays Footlight Favorites that has the same dimensions. Good luck on that one.

Since Ruby Walker (Smith)'s performance, which John said opened the concert (following a recording of African music), is missing, I wonder what else has been left out. As we see in the program, Ruby appeared in the fourth segment rather than the opening. Hammond's autobiography, is, in large part, either deliberate (often blatant) fiction or a reflection of his then dimming/selective memory. That said, I was not impressed by the sound on the 3-CD Vanguard boxed set.

O People?

Marathon runners have no time to take in the scenery. That also applies to a writer bent on writing and hearing it all. If you ask the runner to describe sights along his/her route, the response you get will be just as satisfactory as a Yanow review. I was not aware of his contributions to CODA. I hope that problem has been resolved.

Well, let's see. I didn't see the champagne bottle, but one had barely stepped out of the elevator when a tray of bubbly was moved in one's direction. It was good stuff, no cold duck here. The other wines, from an open table of such, went well with the canapés (smoked salmon and a dab of cream cheese covered a slice of cucumber; the paté and egg fragment coexisted blissfully on a raft of semi-dark pumpernickel; the red caviar looked equally at home on a bread of lighter hue). The dinner, served buffet style, consisted of beef bourguignon, shrimp dipped in something exquisite, an imaginative salad and various gastronomic accouterments that defy description but pleased the palate. There were also rough-shaped balls of ice cream (vanilla and chocolate) with wafers not carried by supermarkets, and coffee. Neither Hank Jones nor the other pianists played. The only CDs I saw were the Bird and Diz Uptowns Ira carried, briefly. It would not surprise me if a copy of National Review had been somewhere nearby, but I didn't even see a copy of Time, Life, or Fortune. One of the paintings does, however, incorporate artistic renderings of these magazines. The red walls? I didn't take a good look, but I don't believe it was fabric. The dining room has a wonderful view of the 57th Street Bridge, but when it comes to window views, I think mine (with the Robert Kennedy, formerly Triboro, Bridge) tops the Luces.

Thanks for the ID, Rolf. Yes, that is his name and he spoke wittily of his long-standing friendship with Ira. As we see here, Mr. Fischler is quite accomplished as a "hockey maven". While I think I can be forgiven for my ignorance of his sports affiliation, Mr. Fischler's NY Subway expertise should not have eluded me!

I had never looked into Carl Orff's personal life, so I am sorry to learn that it was thus flawed. That, however, does not diminish my enjoyment of Carmina Burana. As a responder to this article suggested, we would have to miss out on many great works of art if we allowed its creator's personal behavior or philosophy to guide our artistic judgment.

Of course.

My guess would not include Dan or Charlie.

Yes, Valerie: Hank Jones and Joe Wilder. That also surprised me—I'm sure the invitation list was different. I didn't recognize Lorraine Gordon. Annie Ross asked me if she was there so I looked around, even asked Dan Morgenstern, Charlie Bourgeoise and George Wein, but they said they hadn't seen her—she probably arrived late. Anyone recognize the man with the black beard? I wasn't introduced to him. I should point out that Ira's friends include people from the ice hockey world, who would all be unfamiliar to me—not to mention, white.

Here is a typical clip of the group. It has an album out on the ESP label. Yes, it is chaotic, yes, it is "out there", and yes, some of you will find it to your liking, perhaps even profound. I recall the so-called avant garde movement of the Sixties, which produced some enduring sounds and artists, but—in the main—was a break in the fence through which stormed many a mediocre player. They were, of course, headed straight for deserved obscurity, but not without a small following of tin-eared fans and fumbling-in-the-dark wet-eared writers. Listen and post your opinion. I think this emperor is naked.

Guess I'm a mind reader, Niko.

I dropped by a little Upper West Side club where she was playing, and immediately recognized Elmer Snowden's influence. I gave her a pick that had belonged to Elmer. Last time I saw Cynthia was in my apartment—she and I are in a upcoming documentary on the banjo, and they were shooting an interview. Have you heard Elmer Snowden's "Harlem Banjo" album?

I know Cynthia. Is it the cover you like, or does that also go for her music—have you heard her play?

I was only reporting what I heard from presumably reliable sources last night. Thank you David for proving them less than reliable, and I apologize for the misinformation. It is indeed good news that I was wrong, but I am afraid the outlook is not good—hope I'm wrong about that, too. Valerie, how is deleting my post going to make a difference when others, including you, have perpetuated it?

The fruits of 8 years of incompetence and warped priorities at the helm.

I have modified post #679 by adding two missing pages and rescanning the last two, because they were inadvertently cropped at the top. Page 4 is still missing, I'll have to go through the entire file to see if it simply got misplaced. In the meantime, I have 5 additional sheets pertaining to this album. Will scan and post as soon as I can—no later than tomorrow.

...and many more to the Big O's Posting Master General!

A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, CLARK TERRY! I could have been wishing Clark a Happy 41st when this photo was taken.

I was on an audio panel at RCA a few years back and an engineer confessed that he had lifted a Pavarotti note from another label in order to rescue an otherwise acceptable concert recording by the same singer.

Ah, yes....that big "if." Dan, I'm afraid you don't really understand "how these things were done." I'm not saying that as a criticism of you—most people have a somewhat blurry picture of how things go in the studio. I certainly did until I was actually there and had to learn fast. BTW, previously unissued discards are often released outside of the context (session) in which they were created. I have to confess that I produced a whole 2-disc album that fit this description: Stars of the Apollo.

In the 78 rpm pre-tape era the audio signal was cut into a groove on a disc made of a waxy compound. It was not possible to play these disc back more than once without ruining them. Consequently, it behooved record companies to record safeties. Any number of things could have gone wrong (erratic pitch, foreign matter in the wax substance, etc.) so alternates were made to give the producer/artist/label an alternate if needed. Of course, selections were also recorded over if there was a musical glitch or someone with a say-so thought a performance could be improved upon. Sometimes, but only after acetate discs replaced the waxy kind, a performance was too long to fit on a 78. That was the case with a Billie/Prez take I found on an acetate and included on a Columbia album—it was perfectly good, except for the length. Unless union rules have changed, a "session" is either 15 minutes of acceptable/releasable performance or 3 hours in the studio. Anything beyond those measurements is regarded as overtime (or another session). Since one would need more than 15 minutes for an LP, one session did not suffice. Actually (remember, the rules dated back to pre-LP days) 2 sessions would only give you a half hour, which mades for a short LP, so one really needed 3 sessions to give the customer his/her money's worth. Most producers I know did two discretely stretched sessions and most musicians went along with it, because that ws probably the only way they were going to get a record date, and the end product was most important. Dan: And its foolish to say that artists or their estates are "double victims" if they weren't paid for the alternate recording. We're talking about reissues in the first place. Well, first of all, alternate takes are only "reissues" if they have been released previously. That is usually not the case, so they are, in fact, original issues. And if the musicians worked for scale (which is common in jazz) the fee they received only covered the originally issued material. Scale for leaders is double that of sidemen and performance royalties are rare unless the player is a very marketable artist. I should point out that even when there is a royalty agreement, an artist is fortunate if it is fully honored. So, the artist or estate is a "victim" if proper payment is not made. The performer is a victim again if the released "alternate" does not meet his/her standards. That's why I say they may be "double" victims. There is a common misconception that artist royalties are a given—they are not. Composer royalties stand a better chance of getting into the right pocket, but there, too, short-changing is rampant. Chuck: If the alternates are "originals" the artist/estate gets extra royalties. Chuck, why don't we make that should get extra royalties? I think the rusty Bill Evans box is very good example of "alternates" being used for the wrong reason (i.e. for padding) and without regard for the artist's integrity. Yes, Bill was gone, but that is no excuse, imo.