John Tapscott

A very swinging version of "As Long As I Live" by Richard Wyands from the CD "Half and Half" (Criss Cross)

Thanks GA for posting this. I just ordered one. While this type of jazz is often not my cup of tea, I do have a soft spot for the trombone, plus the samples sounded quite interesting, actually.

No, I haven't heard it. I think it was only briefly available. Lots of four letter words and off-color jokes which would have been unseemly for the younger audience Kenton was aiming at in the Creative World years. "Hey mom and dad, just listen to this Stan Kenton album I bought at the high school concert!" Not the public image he wanted. But I'll talk to a friend of mine who is really the "go to guy" for Kenton. I'm sure he has a copy and will make a CDR for me.

Jim: I believe there were really only two major concert recordings of the Innovations Orchestra generally available: This one: recorded Oct 19, 20, 1951 and this one recorded Oct 14, 1951 I own the Cornell concert CD but not the Carnegie CD. Listening to the samples at amg, I'm almost certain your posting is from the Carnegie concert. What tips me off is the the sound quality which is I think is better at Carnegie than Cornell.

Anita O'Day June Christy Ella Fitzgerald

Dexter Gordon - The Complete Columbia Albums Collection

I read that one of Ellington's players in the 1940s left the band and slept for a year! I know it's an exaggeration, but still. I am tired after a week on the road, I can't imagine 3 years! When Lawrence Brown got close to 65, he retired from the Ellington band (around 1970 or '71, I believe), went home, put his trombone behind his sofa, and apparently never played it again.

Two very intriguing releases. The Dexter doesn't look like it will have any great surprises, though it will be great listening, I'm sure. Hank's tenor seems massive in that nice cover photo, makes Hank look rather small.

I enjoy this set a great deal, thoguh like a few others, I haven't listened to it lately. The first studio album, sessions A,B,C Presenting the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra is my favorite. I had the LP originally. Now the set kind of turns your head around a bit because the tracks are issued in recorded order rather than LP order (the latter was and is better IMO, but perhaps that's only because I was used to the original). I believe Mosaic changed it's policy on that after some complaints, so that on current sets they issue the tracks in LP order. In any case, I consider Bob Brookmeyer ABC Blues a true big band jazz classic, indispensible.

I use an H.P. printer. I'm no computer guru, but I will say that I've had only moderate success with the ink refill services. Sometimes a refilled cartridge works Ok, but other times when I re-install the cartridges the computer doesn't recognize them (though it was fine before the refill, go figure). I then have to buy new replacement cartridges. I tend not to buy originals, but the knock-offs. They have always worked fine.

Sad news. RIP. The only Jodie Christian CD I own is this one and it's a good one. I will listen to it later in his honor.

Yep, some guys are just made for the road. Wille Maiden was another. Steve Marcus, too. Frank Tiberi. In whatever world they're in now, it would only be just if Stan and Dick are back together again, riding the front seats of the bus to "Nowhere", making up a set list for the night's gig, talking about how the new saxophonist is fitting in or not, and having a little taste of vodka from the band's infamous "blue cup". They were like father and son, actually closer perhaps.

Dick was Stan Kenton's lead trombonist from about '65-77. In an interview somewhere he said that he felt he was born to play lead trombone for Stan Kenton. From his teenage years he studied all the Kenton lead trombone greats like Winding, Bernhart, Burgess and Fitzpatrick, and so was well-prepared for the chair. When I was a teenage trombonist I admired Dick's sound and approach and tried to sound something like him. Now that was a dumb-a$$ thing to do! There was no chance! Dick was a great lead trombonist who could play loudly, softly, and in-between. He was a fine soloist, especially on ballads and had great control in the upper register, sometimes playing missing mellophonium parts by himself, after those horns were dropped from the band. On ballads, as lead, he actually played more softly than the other 4 horns in the section. You can read about Dick's unique approach to playing lead trombone on ballads and its affect on the band's sound here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Shearer. Here's what else I know. Dick was not only Kenton's lead trombonist and sometime band manager, but also Kenton's friend and drinking partner (the latter would play a big role in Dick's demise). Shearer led the band when Kenton was off the road ill, and the last time was in '77 after Stan suffered brain injury from a fall. The band carried on for a few months under Dick's leadership, then disbanded, mainly because it was hard to get gigs without Kenton present. Early in '78 Kenton, far from being well, decided against doctor's orders to reform the band for another tour. Dick was admantly opposed to the plan, and as I understand it, there was a big scene in Kenton's office, and Dick was fired, not by Stan, but by his partner Audree Coke. The first trombone chair was taken over by Roger Homefield, an excellent young player also steeped in the Kenton trombone tradition. That last tour lasted only 7 months, before Kenton, totally exhausted, had to pack it in. That was the end of the Stan Kenton Orchestra. I don't think Dick ever recovered from being fired or from Kenton's death in '79. He always wanted to be known as Stan Kenton's last lead trombonist and actually turned down two offers from Basie (I would have grabbed them!) He taught at some colleges and made a CD with a 5 trombone and rhythm group he formed in L.A. called "The Stan Kenton Spirits". He participated in Kenton tribute concerts and reunion bands and recordings. However, Dick's propensity for overeating and overdrinking finally got to him and apparently he ballooned to nearly 500 pounds and couldn't fly on airplanes anymore. At the time of his death in 1997, Shearer was teaching at Mt. Hood College in Gresham Oregon. Dick Shearer Sept 21, 1940- Sept 20, 1997.

The Buddy Rich is a really fine set. If you feel drawn to it, I'd grab it now before it goes. Also, I really like the Oliver Nelson set.(It's not piecemeal in my view, but consists, for the most part, of full albums).

My three favorite Getz recordings Voyage (Blackhawk) followed by and

Yes Don, you're right. Things are definitely taking longer to arrive now than just a few years ago (the problem is at the Post Office, on both sides of the border). I used to get orders from New York State and New Jersey to Ontario within a week. No longer. My latest Worlds order arrived in just under 2 weeks which I considered quite good. But when you've always got something coming in from somewhere, you don't seem to notice the delay as much! I should add that Worlds is very fair about shipping rates. They charge the actual cost, and one really can't complain about that.

I like Worlds Records and have ordered a number of CD's from them over the years. They have a great and tempting selection. I have a fairly significant wish-list built up there. Their shipping rates to Canada, at least, seem reasonable. But you do point to a problem with their website. You can never tell whether they have something in stock or not. They usually post CD's as soon as they receive notice of them, weeks or even months before the actual release date. So it looks like they have something in stock ahead of everyone else, but they really don't. And if you order 3 CD's with 2 in stock and 1 not in stock, your whole order can get delayed.

I believe it's the first one you listed. I recall that he made an album of Cole Porter tunes entitled something like "Hod and Cole." That kind of confirms it.

I should probably know -- but were Byard, Davis and Dawson (all three) on any other (non-Ervin) dates together? Phil Woods - Musique du Bois (Muse) - also a Don Schlitten production this is not the original cover (the original was better) A great recording IMO.

What's snow?

When I saw the thread title I immediately thought of this one: I know that's not what you had in mind, but it's still one of my favorites!

Jim: Re Rainy Day - I think so, though the tempo is slightly faster on this early version (not at all fast, mind you), but not quite as dead slow as the later recordings which which I think bring out the beauty of the writing a bit more. It really is Barton's masterpiece, if he has one. I think you would be surprised at the soloists Ray Reed on alto and Jay Daversa on trumpet on this CD. They're pretty darn good. There's also an obscure tenor player named Alan Rowe who's a good soloist, too. And the band is really together. Dee Barton is clumsy as he** on drums (not my description, someone else's), but in some strange way it all works. He really fired up that band. A really good 75 minutes of music.

If you like this music and this era of Kenton, check out this CD. It's an excellent representation of this band in very good live sound. http://www.tantaraproductions.com/roadband67.htm

I've seen it all (1 hr) , and it's pretty much all like this- summarizing the band's tour in early '68 and showing the various venues where they played. It's not so much a biography about Kenton (in fact, not at all really), but more about the band and the ends to which the whole organization goes to play it's music - in clubs, churches, prisons, anywhere really. One of the problems is that there are no full pieces, only segments. In that sense it is disappointing. The band ran the film at school clincs for a while, but it soon became outdated. I cannot watch it without being immediately transported back to 1968 and where I was and who I was at the time. It just evokes a whole era for me. Very much of its time.