Larry Kart

Clem -- Threadgill would be a fine choice. The point is (or one of the points is) to give the dough (a) to someone who's really good and (b) who probably has ideas/plans that without the dough he/she couldn't realize to the same degree or even at all. Threadgill has (a) in the bag and probably (b) too. 7/4 -- Eaton (b. 1935) is a prominent microtonal composer but from another part of the cultural forest than Partch or Young, so if you dig them, it's not unlikely that you wouldn't know of Eaton. He also made a jazz album for Columbia in his 20s.

I like Al Francis's "Jazz Bohemia Revisited" a lot and reviewed it for the Chicago Tribune when it came out, which led to a friendly phone conversation with Francis. Sadly, I lost track of him.

I'm reviewing it for the Annual of the Institute of Jazz Studies' "Annual Review of Jazz Studies." Upside of that, from my point of view, is that I get all the space I need, and I think I'll need a good deal -- there's a lot about this book, the first time through, that left me with doubts and suspicions. Downside of writing a review for the "Annual" etc. is that it won't appear for more than a year and won't be seen by that many people.

Winter/Spring '62 for Dylan/Zimmerman's visit would fit. Actually, Spider John Koerner and Dave "Snaker" Ray had been around the U. of C. campus (singly or together, I can't be sure) shortly before or after Dylan/Zimmerman arrived. IIRC they made a better impression musically, but because Big Joe Williams was also present fairly often, certain differences were clear.

Top clear up any confusion, I meant that the guys that Dylan played with that night were much better musically than he was IMO.

I heard Dylan play in a University of Chicago dorm room back in 1960 or '61, when he was still Bob Zimmerman. The U. of C. had a very active folky scene back then, which gave rise to the justly celebrated U. of C. Folk Festival, and a lot of those players were very good, doing their personal offshoots of stuff on the famous Harry Smith Folkways label anthology -- much better musically than Dylan-Zimmerman, I thought. On the other hand, the guys he played with that night sounded noticeably better when they played with him than they normally did, which even then I assumed he was somehow responsible for. On the other hand, not one bit of Dylan's own songwriting, lyric writing, playing, and singing that has crept over my transom in all the years since then has appealed to me in the least. In fact, if the CIA wanted to get me to talk, twelve hours of Dylan would do the trick, easy.

Paul, I know that Earl Warren intro, and I think it's being puritanical to call it "corny." For one thing, Warren's '30s lead alto timbre and time-feel work perfectly in the context of the arrangement IMO, in terms of setting up what follows. I doubt that's an accident. I think of Warren's intro as a salute to the vintage of the tune itself and its ballroom dance team associations before Thornton and the band swing it so damn hard. BTW, isn't it great how much rhythm momentum she develops while IIRC never deviating from the long-meter format?

Whittle, who's English, made his name with Ted Heath in the 1950s. I know him from a Johnny Keating record on Dot (Keating was a Heath arranger, the band is mostly Heath's) from about 1957. Whittle IIRC struck me as pleasant but rather faceless; I preferred the album's other tenorman, Duncan Lamont, woud sounded like "Long Island Sound" vintage Getz might have if he were sucking a lemon. Ot to put it another way, not unlike Gil Melle on tenor. Attractively weird.

As further testimony to Teri Thornton's genuine hipness, a composition by her ("Teri's Tune") can be heard on Johnny Griffin's "Way Out" (OJC).

Dave and other Zoot on alto fans -- try to get a copy of John Benson Brooks' "Folk Jazz U.S.A." (VIK), from 1956: http://classicjazzguitar.com/albums/artist....jsp?album=1064 If it's not on Fresh Sound or the like, it's a prime candidate for this thread. It also has Al Cohn on baritone, and Nick Travis on trumpet. Brooks was the composer of "You Came a Long Way from St. Louis" and other pop songs; later wrote "Alabama Concerto" (OJC) for Cannonball, Art Farmer, Barry Galbraith, and Milt Hinton; and was a close associate of George Russell.

2 LPs on 1 CD: Betty Bennett/NOBODY ELSE BUT ME (1956)/Lurlean Hunter/BLUE & SENTIMENTAL (1960). NOBODY ELSE BUT ME: Personnel includes: Betty Bennett (vocals); Shorty Rogers (arranger, trumpet, flugelhorn); Andre Previn (arranger, piano); Jimmy Giuffre (baritone saxophone); Barney Kessel (guitar); Ralph Pena (bass); Shelly Manne (drums). Originally released on Atlantic (1226). BLUE & SENTIMENTAL: Personnel includes: Lurlean Hunter (vocals); Jimmy Giuffre (arranger); Bud Freeman (tenor saxophone); Harry Edison (trumpet); Rudy Rutherford (clarinet); Jimmy Jones (piano); Jim Hall (guitar); George Duvivier, Trigger Alpert (bass); Don Lamond (drums). Originally released on Atlantic (1344).

Here's a good Hunter album, from about 1960, with charts by Jimmy Giuffre and a band that includes Harry Edison, Bud Freeman, and Jim Hall: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...04WJZR?v=glance There's another earlier Hunter on RCA, "Night Life," with charts by Manny Albam and I think Al Cohn, from about three years earlier that's a jot better as I recall, but I believe you'd have to pay a prohibitive price for that one. BTW, the first Hunter album is shared with one Betty Bennett, Andre Previn's first wife, who is not unlike Jeri Southern in vocal quality and manner, though more girlish than worldy-wise. Good West Coast players behind her.

Teri Thornton's "Devil May Care" is a beaut: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00000I8Z...0979942?ie=UTF8 She had a gorgeous voice, deeper than most female singers (reminiscent in this of her Chicago predecessor Lurlean Hunter, whose work is also worth checking out if you can find any), fantastic time, and no "hip jazzy" mannerisms, even though she could reshape a melody at will. I would avoid the "comeback" album Thornton made before her death. Based on what I've heard, it was sadly too late.

Lee Wiley -- Night in Manhattan, etc. (Collectors' Choice) -- Sings Gershwin and Cole Porter (Audiophile) -- As Time Goes By (RCA) Peggy Lee -- Mink Jazz (Capitol) Ruth Price w/ Shelly Manne & His Men (OJC) None of the above is trio stuff, but the settings are small-group jazz. I also endorse much that's been mentioned already. If you try Jeri Southern and like her, ask me about Audrey Morris.

No, it's not a "tome," as someone used to say, but I think eminently sound in its human and (with a few minor cavils) musical judgments and simpatico in tone. Chet isn't given a pass, nor is anyone else, but neither is Chet or anyone judged by standards that a saint might not be able to meet. De Valk knows the scene, its people, and their behavoir (note, for example, the account of the abortive Getz-Baker tour and the distinction that is drawn between their personalities), and he also doesn't presume to know more than he does or what is simply unknowable.

Wouldn't the first on of the list have to be the Bird Dial version from 1946, the one that, as Max Harrison put it, "contains a four-bar break that is an astonishing outburst of virtuosity...."?

Don't know the Webster. Will try to get my hands on a copy.

Finally got my hands on and definitely can recommed De Valk's "Chet Baker: His Life and Music." Fine job in its own right and a needed corrective to James Gavin's "Deep In a Dream" (though De Valk's book, published 2000, came first). Among many things, De Valk's convincingly establishes that there was nothing fishy about Baker's death; Chet was alone in his hotel room behind a locked door and full of heroin and coke; he either fell or jumped from an open window. But that shouldn't be the final note; the book brings us as close to Baker the man and the musician as it seems possible to get. The only drawback for some will be that the emphasis is heavily on Baker's European years, but De Valk (a native of the Netherlands) makes a strong case that these were the years in which Baker's major musical contributions were made.

To paraphrase Mingus, If Adam Mackowicz were a gunslinger...

"Adams' playing carries with it an air of fait accompli that is quite the opposite of Tyrone's" is true, I think, and perfect. You oughta be a jazz critic.

The one that seemed topnotch to me was "Weaver of Dreams."

Dick Wellstood's notes for the James P. set are topnotch too.

I should add that I'm the idiot who reviewed "Natural Essence" for Down Beat way back when (April 3, 1969), in conjunction with the Steve Miller Band's "Sailor." I gave "Sailor" ****, "Natural Essence" ***1/2.

Well, there's Washington's own playing, which is unique IMO -- soulful and in some ways quite "hip" but at times veering toward the Ayler-esque; nobody else had those things going AFAIK. Then there's his writing, which also is special and different. Everybody else on the date plays great, especially Woody Shaw and Joe Chambers. And, finally, the feel of the album is special, too -- kind of "within bounds" in terms of the shared/received musical language but with a sense that things are just about to explode, as they often do, especially during Washington's solos. Also, I'm sure that sound-wise there's a whole lot more to be gotten out of those tapes than made it on to the original LP, which is what I have.

If you get a chance to listen to Levitt's "Vera Cruz," take note of John Beal's bass playing, especially the "pinging" cleanness of the harmonics he hits. When this track was played for Miles in a Blindfold Test, he singled out Beal for praise.