Harold_Z

My first Chick album was NOW HE SINGS...NOW HE SOBS and that's usually the first thing I associate with him and (for me) it's still one of the best....and also a great showcase for Miroslav Vitous and Roy Haynes. The LIGHT AS A FEATHER looms large also and I first saw that group live in that configuration. With Joe Farrell, Airto, Flora, Lenny White and Stanley playing mostly acoustic but with a red Gibson hollowbody electric for some tunes. As RTF evolved I tended to be less interested and I was somewhat turned off by Chick's "communicating" with the audience by playing too obvious call and response things with the other band members. I've since moderated that attitude somewhat, but I have a strong tendency to prefer the non electric things...but I still make an occasional effort to get into the things that I passed over....I mean when all is said and done - he IS a phenomenal player.

I thought it was high too. Oh well.

Several years ago I did some gigs with a tenor player who had just come off the road with Jimmy Smith. He referred to the gig as "a circus".

I never met a Basie record I didn't like.....

Weird Beard

There was a third - "The Sound Of New Orleans". I don't remember what order they were released in. Offhand I'd say New Orleans - Chi Town - NY. These were GREAT ! Espescially at the time. They presented a lot of VERY rare stuff that hadn't been around for years and in good sound for the time. Columbia and RCA were tops for sound through the 60s. Now probably everything on these boxes is available on Classics, but a straight reissue of these with the great sound that Sony has been getting lately would really be a treat for me.

Back in the lp era, Riverside used to edit the announcements out and released several lps of material culled from these performances. There were lps by Bechet and Wild Bill Davison. Jazzology added a Muggsy Spanier lp sometime in the 60s. Jazzology still has a few Wild Bill and Sidney Bechet cds that are comprised of this material sans announcements and they make great listening. They came out before the current unedited series came out, but they are still available. When this series came out I immediately started obtaining them as they were released. Rudy Blesh comes off as a cornball and sometimes makes me cringe, but he should be remembered and commended for getting this stuff onto record. There's some VERY strong playing here consistently. These guys were all in their prime when this stuff was done. Also the sound on the Jazzology issues is better than any previous issues I've heard. An English label named Rhapsody released the first four shows on lp and they sounded pretty good, but the Jazzologies are the best issues I've heard.

I did many gigs with Kenny in the late 70s and early 80s. He's GREAT - absolutely GREAT. One of the best pianists I've ever heard or gigged with. He's got it all -chops, taste, knowledge - and in any bag. A great ear, He can hear it and play it. Funny thing tonight. Two of my old cohorts showing up on separate threads - the other being Vic Juris.

Vic is a great guitarist - he's played with Freddie Hubbard , Phil Woods. Jimmy Smith, Don Patterson, Groove Holmes and more. Solid time, solid changes, solid sound. All in all one of the best. PLUS...he's got a great sense of humor. Please tell him hello. He'll know me from my first name and initial. Recordings...he's got a few out under his own name and I know he's recorded as a sideman with the above mentioned. I just picked up a Groove Holmes "32 Jazz" that he's on, but that's probably a couple of years old. Solid musician and jazz player and he knows how to play with an organ group too.

Two things - these make great comparitive listening with the Condon Commodore recordings. They do a lot of the same tunes with similar personnel. The other is there's a LOT of Peewee Russell throughout the series, and it is some of the BEST Peewee you can find.

Not enough Barbara Lea. I did see her sit in with Marty Grosz one night about 15 years ago and enjoyed her and DID dig the Lee influence. I should probably seek out some recordings by her. I do have a very little bit on record.

Count me in too. Big eyes for Lee - great stuff. The big gap in my holdings in regards to Lee are the RCA stuff from the 50s. Think she was into Ethel Waters?

My 2 cents: Miles - great musician, great soloist, great player, great choice of sidemen. I can go on with a few more "greats". Too many "greats" for it to be an accident. The man had the mojo. The negative is that sometimes, for whatever reasons, he layed off the ax for protracted periods, and when he came back and was first getting into it again ( i.e. Plugged Nickel for one example) it showed. To me it didn't matter, the music and the ideas were there. All the stuff about mutes, etc...I can't buy that. It's about music and ideas. Harry Edison (for one) someetimes used a Harmon mute and at the other end of that scene so did Clyde McCoy. It's about the message.

I posted this on the thread about the Euro BNBB, but it's relevant here as well. With all due respect to all the previous goings on, I truly suspect the reason for that thread being dumped AT THIS POINT had more to do with the promotion of non Blue Note products on it than anything else.

I suspect that the actual reason for DEEP's thread getting the scissors was the fact that non Bluenote product was being promoted on the thread.

I'm trying again! I didn't get in on the last one because for me it was to soon on the heels of the one before - which I didn't have time to really analyze as much as I wanted to. That's all my fault, but I'd like to to give these discs more attention. Here's another try.

Yeah..with the collectables you get everything except the live Newport material (one lp side. The other side was Louis Armstrong) and the final (and weakest) date. Either way it's GREAT music and with the Mosaic you also get a very good booklet.

Can't we all get along??

Tell that shit to Jimmy Nolan !

I think Jim means using as the I chord. I always thought of it as a #9 chord.

If it's something I really dig and I think the cd will sound better than the lp. then I will buy a cd issue of something I already have on vinyl. Bonus material sweetens the deal and can make it irrisistable. Usually I find the cd sound IS an improvement - but not always. Used lps are a real crapshoot. I'll only buy them if the price is right.

Just a quick post after one time through and without yer going into the usual track to track detail yet. I recognized the Duke (Hodges), Trane, Betty Carter and I think a couple of others, such as Woody Shaw early on in the disc and Kenny Burrell later on. Overall I liked most of what I heard, including the things I had no idea of. I hope to get back with a more detailed track by track soon. Oh yeah...the opener. Was that Jacquet?

Just back on now for me at 8:30 pm. It's been out all day for me, both at my home pc and at work.

Lon and Muskrat pretty well hit it for my money. I've read several bios AND auto bios, listened HEAVILY to Pops since I was around 10 years old, seen him perform live several times in the early 60s and everything pretty much shakes out to him being a remarkably great personality. A great artist AND a showbiz cat simoultaneously at a time in American pop culture when you coulb truly be both. Tragic figure ? No - I don't see that at all. To the contrary, I think he knew the poverty and social situation he emerged from and I think he took great pride and satisfaction with having triumphed over that situation.

I'm really sorry to hear this news, Rooster. I hope things go well for you and your family and my prayers are with you.