Joe Christmas

thanks, errrrbody! Chris, that was awesome. I'm touched.

happy birthday, Jon.

this thread is the debbil.

word.

I thought so too. It's one of those Fresh Sound discs, not a twofer per se, but a collection of like sounds from the period. One date is a quartet, led by either Kamuca or LaFaro. The other is one of the Manne incarnations of the time. Russ Freeman on piano.

Forgive me for not searching the archives before starting a new topic. So if there is a pre-existing discussion about Gordon... now you have two! The kickoff... Listening to this after some long deliberation on the purchase. Amazing record. The liners naturally discuss items like this being Gordon's final recording, influences, etc. What I hear of influences lean heavily toward his time with Shelly Manne. All of the tunes on this record are original, and they are consistently, astoundingly good. I don't know that Jimmy Woods has sounded better. I'd probably listen to CONFLICT a lot more if he had stretched out there like he does on the Gordon record. Jimmy Bond I knew through Paul Horn's early group, some time before Horn got all cheesy. The other two... new to me. Milt Turner?? Where did he come from? He's not the most complex of drummers but the dude swings like mad. Dick Whittington, maybe I've heard him before, maybe not, but he stands out here with some beautiful playing, largely resulting from Gordon's writing, particularly Gordon's and Woods' comping a la Farmer or Mulligan. Neat stuff happening all over this record. It's a beaut. I've been listening to WEST COAST DAYS for a year or two now. Style points for all of the badasses here, but no, Gordon and LaFaro do not play together. You do get a double dose of the great Kamuca, fwiw. This is Shelly Manne's group, with some stellar playing from Gordon... easily as imaginative as his stuff on the Blackhawk dates. But the sound leaves a bit to be desired and Budwig may have tuned his bass against a harpsichord in the middle of the Stock Exchange. Either way, it's a fairly strong document that adds to what we already know of Gordon, primarily from the Blackhawk records, and it's there to be studied and make you wonder. Gordon had recorded earlier with Charlie Parker, Blakey, et al. Maybe someone would like to comment on those. And don't forget the Harold Land record. Below is a link to Mike Fitzgerald's comprehensive discography. Hit it. Joe Gordon disco

I was just tipped to this thread and wanted to say thanks for the welcome. More importantly, Lon, I'm very sorry to read what I have read here. I hope all is well on your end.

In his 100 Influential jazz albums (or whatever it's called), Ben Ratliff best explained Coltrane's influence on Cannonball, and particularly the limitations of that influence. I won't attempt to paraphrase because I can't even remember the title of the book, but his take on that relationship made perfect sense, given the direction Cannonball was heading at the time and those areas Coltrane had already covered.

quincy, thanks. I'd heard about that but figured it to be one of those grail things that may or may not have ever existed. g.o.m. - cool, thanks. Let me know if you hear of anything. Not that I'd kill to hear early existing recordings, I'm more curious than anything. Henderson's case would be a rare one where his earliest captures would be readily available on a semi-major label. You'd think something earlier would have to be in circulation, underground or above.

Ahoy. Digging through the Milestone box I just received, reading the liners, and it says that Joe's earliest recording is his sideman date on Dorham's UNA MAS. Thinking about it, that's no surprise considering everything I have of Henderson's. But prior to his army stint ('60-'62), he was coming up on the Detroit scene and had jammed fairly regularly with some big names at the time. Are there any existing recordings of any of these gigs or jams, prior to Henderson aligning himself with Blue Note?

Claxtonola. So the internet says there's a record of the same name on the Nessa label, too. Weird.

Claxtonola. arf?

we watched last night and my family was very excited, except for the cat. We also have a beagle.

After 2 friggin' years Joe posts again. Nice to see ya'. Chuck, hey pal. Your avatar's new to me. What label is that on?