John Tapscott

Not sure I get your reference to the Salvador "fusion" dates, Jim. They're pretty straight ahead IIRC.

Yes, it is good news. A real bonanza for bop fans. I don't know what the unidentified sessions are but I have 5 or 6 of theses sessions on LP. On the other hand, I didn't know there were so many releases. This looks like a 9 or 10 CD set. Wow!

Calgary - 55 points

The man likes it and wants it - nothing wrong with that. Dan, I would personally put it the other way around. Another studio date I might not be interested in, but a live date would be of interest to me. For instance Scott's new Smalls Live date is one I would like to hear at least, if not add to my collection. And just taking a glance at the info. available on Stardust Live in Tokyo 1993, I notice it has Gerald Wiggins on piano. Now considering that Scott's best ever CD is arguably Radio City with Wiggins, Dennis Irwin and Connie Kay, I can see how this live date might be of considerable interest to Hamilton aficionados.

Hope you had a good birthday Don. Best wishes.

Would seem appropriate to the moment:

Ellington's Mount Harissa from

I suppose we could always post some pictorial examples; however, they would likely be deleted by the mods.

I thought it was in the spring, maybe the long weekend in May. But no matter, I remember seeing the trio sometime that year in Basin Street, above the old Bourbon St. club. Crowd was noisy and it was uncomfortably hot weather wise; not sure they had the A/C on. Evans seemed a little perturbed or frustrated by the whole scene. But yes, it was intense. Evans must have known his time was short.

Evans was at his best, IMO, with Philly Joe Jones on drums. I enjoy recordings by many of Evans' trios. I think Marty Morell was a good drummer for Evans. But my favorite Evans recordings are with Philly Joe. He always gave Evans the necessary kick in the a$$.

I wouldn't say that the clip Moms Mobley posted above of the Kenton Band is an example of slick.The road bands (Ellington, Basie, Herman, Rich, etc) played together so much that they went beyond slick to something else, I don't know - the heart of the music perhaps? Yes, they were together but their togetherness went beyond slick and became somewhat loose again. IMO slick comes from the bands that don't play together all the time, but are made up of musicians who can read "fly sh*% on paper" as they say, who go into studios for one off type projects. It's great to be able to play that way and pull off some really difficult music at short notice, but more slickness comes from that kind of scenario than from the true road bands (of which there really aren't any there days). The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra is somewhere in the middle of this I think, not quite a true road band, but certainly far from a studio band, and if I had to take a few of their recordings to a desert island, I think I would choose the live dates.

If he had been only "lost", it would have been much more than I witnessed. When I saw the band (Thad Jones-Mel Lewis) around 1978, Thad Jones didn´t even have his trumpet. He just "conducted", a big disappointment for me, since I was a young guy, already had heard Thad Jones´ trumpet on records and was lookin forward hearing him with HIS Big Band. Well , after so many years, naturally my musical insight grew, and now I understand what it means to conduct, but then I didn´t understand what´s about music if you don´t play your instrument.... IIRC, Thad had an accident around '77-78 in which he crashed through a plate glass window and cut his lip badly. He couldn't play for a while and that's probably when you saw him without his trumpet. During the recovery he even took up valve trombone to ease the pressure on his lip. But I really don't think he played all that much from the time of his accident until he died some 8 years later.

, later I noticed there must have been something about his conducting, because after he died and Mel Lewis continued the band for a short time, nothing was happening. Sad, because Mel Lewis was a helluva drummer, but the band without Thad wasn´t the band anymore. My point of view is significantly different.

Thad is in great form on this one. Lots of solo space.

Yes, the Mosaic is a splendid set. This will be much cheaper.

Thad's Little Rascal on a Rock from Great chart of course, and this version includes a remarkable piano solo by Jim McNeely.

Happy Birthday GA! Interesting CFL season, eh?

Likely both.

Bill: This one if you can find it- Straight Ahead, The Story of Stan Kenton by Carol Easton Quite different than Sparke's book (though they complement each other quite nicely). Easton tells you all you need to know (and sometimes more) about Stan the Man. Kenton hated the book and apparently refused to autograph it, but a friend of mine who knew Kenton says it is pretty much spot-on. (I hate this cover, the original was much better, but I couldn't find an image that would fit). Thanks John. Have put in an order for a used a copy at 48p from an Atlanta supplier. Even with the shipping charge of £2.80, it's still peanuts! P.S. Atlanta supplier can't supply. Too good to be true, I suppose. Bill: I'll bet the U.K. library system has it somewhere. Kenton was quite popular in England.

Bill: This one if you can find it- Straight Ahead, The Story of Stan Kenton by Carol Easton Quite different than Sparke's book (though they complement each other quite nicely). Easton tells you all you need to know (and sometimes more) about Stan the Man. Kenton hated the book and apparently refused to autograph it, but a friend of mine who knew Kenton says it is pretty much spot-on. (I hate this cover, the original was much better, but I couldn't find an image that would fit).

I love Doug Watkins. The way he digs in on "Blues for Philly Joe" is, for me, the epitome of gutsy, swinging, big bottom bass playing. (I see that Paul Secor mentioned him above). But yes, you should check him out.

Happy 60th. Have a great day!