Harold_Z

I was in the car on my way to a gig at "Frankie's Playpen" in Paterson NJ when I heard the news. A few months later I was coming home from a gig at the "Metropole" in NYC when I heard the news about RFK. Thinking about either incident still saddens me.

Wurlitzers were kind of on the scene by '63 or '64 if not earlier. Another band where the wurlitzer was a regular was King Curtis. George Stubbs was the player. It's no news to anybody that the pianos in most venues were shot out.

I dug it. Harry had incredilble chops - Buddy had incredible chops - and they're playing the right thing. I dunno - I was born in 1946 and it seems that I was in the window of opportunity to see and hear a lot of this type of thing on tv when I was growing up. It kind of led me to a concept of everything blending together and a dislike (to a degree and with exceptions) of things that were SO rock that the chops and musicianship were out the window. I viewed it as a rejection by the rock guys of any music they were incapable of playing. And I didn't like the opposing attitude of rejecting anything rock. Another copout.

Wow, I've never seen Buddy clowning before. WTF? Yeah...but his drumming is kind of......INCREDIBLE!

Another flick where Richard Widmark was a good guy was "Destination Gobi". Kind of obscure now, but I remember seeing when I was kid in the movies and on late night tv in the 70s and 80s.

I asked the clerk straight out if they were downsizing the cds. He said "It wouldn't surprise me at all. I know they're enlarging the DVDs and bringing in a blu-ray section. I guess I'll know next week. If they replenish the cds or not."

I heard the 78 of Bessie's St. Louis Blues played on WKCR. There were times I could hear Louis' breath around the mouthpiece. The (what I would call) presence was remarkable.

In the last chorus you can distinguish the notes Clarence Williams is playing with his left hand. Pretty amazing.

OK - I did get it to work. It sounds really great!

When I click the link the "ok" button is not operable.

Right, follow Route 7 (King Street which becomes Leesburg Pike) over to Falls Church. The jazz section at that location is also in serious shrink down mode but there's still a better selection than the other. I was there a couple of weeks ago....found a Buster Williams sacd which was surprising. I hope it's worth the drive next time. Old Town Olsen's hasn't much anymore. Even less than it used to, and there was a used vinyl store on King Street that banged up a couple of years ago. Slim pickin's.

I'm familiar with that Borders - I visit relatives in Alexandria at least once or twice a year. How about the one off of King Street near the Madeleine's? Not sure what town that is, but if you drive out of Old Town Alexandria it's on the right maybe 3 or 4 miles from Old Town.

Thanks Jim - that's funny! It puts me in mind of Steve Allen reciting the lyrics to "Get On The Good Foot".

Jones' was a neighborhood bar with the bandstand behind the bar. I was working some private parties with (how's this for unusual) with a jazz group led by Ernie Scott - a great pianist and singer. The other band members were Yusef Ali and Herbie Morgan. Ernie lived in Plainfield and would suggest stopping by Jones' to hangout whenever we were near enough to get there before closing. So this particular night we made the last set. I remember it was Jimmy A., Big John, Geary Moore and a drummer whose name I don't recall. I think it was the drummer's gig and he didn't particularly impress me... The rest of the band was smokin'!! Big John was literally smokin'. He had a cigarette going constantly. I once read that my father was called the bulldozer of Jazz. Anyone have any comments on that???!! Love to hear it. I hadn't heard that before but I would speculate that it is a reference to your father's ability to play through a "not happening" rhythm section or drummer. Your father's rhythm was strong and he would just sail right through. Gene Phipps Sr. was like that too. Strong.

I'm from Passaic NJ and in the 70s and 80s I would occasionally find myself on a gig that your father was on. Usually around Newark. I remember the both of us gigging with a big band that Joe Thomas had. Some of the other guys on that band were Gene Phipps Sr, Billy Phipps, Leo Johnson, Al Paterson, Herb Robertson, Phillip Harper, etc. He was always ready to play when a club would have a jam night or he could sit in. I remember him at Gulliver's and The Three Sisters in West Paterson, The Small World when it was in Ironbound and any of the joints on Branford Place. He was always a beautiful guy and a beautiful burnin' player. Last time I saw him was sometime in the 80s with Big John Patton at Jones' Chateau in Plainfield. He was a world class player. No exageration.

Smokin' ! !

Not surprised. Those guys are both extremely technically accomplished players. Virtuosos. The issues that people may have with their playing have more to do with personal taste. Eubie, and I would bet Willie the Lion also, is responding to that technique.

He's often mentioned as the first or (more to my way of thinking) one of the first. Knowing the vagaries of the recording industry to a certain extent my belief is more like - Nobody really knows who is the first. Records are produced and one producer (or company, or arranger) doesn't know what an another is doing. Then most records sink like rocks. There really is no way of determining who is first.

Don't think there is one. We had a good thread on the old Blue Note Board about those three Decca lps. Kansas City Jazz, Chicago Jazz and New Orleans Jazz. Picture a small Mosaic set with alternate takes. Ahhhh.

The ending was good. One I could live with. I would have liked to see Marlo get his but I was glad to see McNulty and Lester NOT end up going to prison or something. Any of the of dope dealers and there cohorts who were killed or otherwise put out the business will only be replaced by those waiting in the wings. Dope dealing will go on and on and so will phony politicians. A symbiotic relationship - the gangsters give the politicians something to make believe they are doing something about. I'm sorry to see this show go. As Chris pointed out - it was a consistently great show. It never suffered from the "treading water" that the Sopranos eventually did.

I like that one also. It's on the Mosaic Louis Decca box. I've had it on a ep since the movie came out. Bud Freeman. Kenny John's drum solo. Great stuff.

It's true. T. is talking about the "Won't you come along with me" chorus, a part that is not on Louis Armstrong's Hot 5 or Savoy Ballroom five (it's the group with Zutty and Earl Hines) or the early 30s Victor Basin St. T. is talking about a Charleston Chaser's date from 1931. His intro was incorporated pretty much into all subsequent versions, becoming in effect, a part of the tune. You can hear the Charleston Chaser's version at Red Hot Jazz website. I also love Miles' version and also pretty much any of the many Louis or Teagarden versions. And I also dig the hell out Miles' "Baby Won't You Please Come Home", another vintage tune that is Miles does on Seven Steps.

About 4 bars from the end?

A couple of very good versions of I'm Coming Virginia that have never made it to cd as far as I know are on the Jimmy McPartland Shades Of Bix lp and also the Lawson-Haggart Jazz Band's South Of The Mason-Dixon Line. Jimmy plays the Bix solo verbatim, while Yank doesn't. The bands are pretty similar - the NYC guys associated with New York Dixieland and Eddie Condon (although he's not on these. I think George Barnes is on both dates (I'm too lazy to go look, so I'm going on memory), Cliff Leeman, George Wettling, McGarity, Cutty, etc. These recordings SHOULD be reissued. Interesting sidebar- Jimmy McPartland, Bobby Hackett (in 1938 BG Carnegie Hall anyway) and trumpeters/cornetists on any number of other versions play the Bix solo verbatim. Wild Bill plays a couple of licks - enough to let you know he's heard and knows the original, but otherwise pretty much goes his own way. Same thing on any number of versions of Dippermouth that I've heard by Wild Bill. He lets you know he knows the classic solo at hand---but he's going for himself. (edit for lousy grammar and typing.)

There was a Verve Hodges/Davis Compact Jazz compilation that had a few of the tunes with GG. Those usually aren't too hard to find.