John Tapscott

I could hardly believe the score when I saw it. Wow! Glad to see Hamilton finally win a game. Hope they catch and pass the Argos. I'm really cheesed off right now with the Argos. And it's good to see our Canadian lad Lumsden doing so well. The Ti-Cats, unlike the Argos, realize that you need a running game to succeed in the CFL.

Yeah, but only if you're getting Keith Jarrett money! Then you can afford to. And make sure you throw in the part about "leaving the city," not just the stage, but the city. That part really cracks me up.

A friend of mine said Keith did the same thing at the Montreal Jazz Festival this year - twice apparently - before and after the show. Flash photos - all I can say is - big friggin' deal! Keith really thinks he somebody, doesn't he? Pompous, arrogant, no class - you name it. No audience should be treated like this. But I guess when your trio gets $80,000 a concert, you figure you can say anything you want.

My prediction that the Argos will not win another game until Michael Bishop returns is holding fast. Seems that Damon Allen's injury might be career ending. Hard to say this, but this may be a good thing. I loved Damon in his prime, but his prime is way past. He should have retired before the season started. And Pinball's motivational skills are wearing a little thin.

Happy Birthday Lon! My thoughts and prayers are with you and Helen. All the best. Knowing how much you like Ellington I'm going to listen to some Duke today in your honor!

The Basie "Live" Roulette set .

Just what I was going to say.

Pre-ordered the Davis and the Jordan. Strange to say, but I've never had (or heard) either of these dates in any format. Thanks for the heads-up.

I wouldn't choose his sides with Miles as the best way to show-off Hank's playing, but I've enjoyed his work with that band on the Blackhawk and Carnegie Hall albums. Just imagine yourself in Hank's shoes. It would be hard to do your best, when your employer didn't appreciate you for who you are but wishing you were someone else. In Hank's case that would be Rollins or 'Trane, and wasn't Miles quite vocal about the fact that he wished he had either of those men rather than Hank? Not the most relaxed setting for doing your best work.

I was away on vacation and didn't see the press. But I did see the Argos at Calgary on TV. McMahon was awful, missing receivers constantly, throwing to the wrong receiver, not able to adjust to blitzes, and so on. The reason the press are coming down on him so heavily is because of his oversized ego. He came in and expected to be handed the starting job, because he played in the NFL. His constant whining over his second-strong status has been very annoying. And when he did get a chance to start, he didn't show a thing. I don't know how this guy ever started in the NFL. I can't imagine the Argos winning another game (well maybe against Hamilton) until Michael Bishop returns. McMahon isn't half the QB that Bishop is. And the way the CFL is, a team can stink at the beginning of the year but still make it to the Grey Cup. Part of the Argos problem for the past few years is that they have no consistent running game. That's not such a big problem for Bishop since he can run the ball himself better than any of their running backs (through that's what led to his injury).

"Live in Tokyo" on Xanadu. (I have the LP, don't know whether it's on CD). There are others, but I think this is a good one to start with.

Wow! Full props to Brian. He sounds like our kinda guy. But I'll bet we have several members here with even larger collections (of course they probably have a few years on Brian). I read somewhere that drummer Kenny Washington has a similar sized or even larger collection.

Bud has just released a new CD on Jazzed Media called "Beyond the Red Door" . It's a duo session with Bill Mays and I'm hoping it will be in my mailbox tomorrow.

Yep, me too.

The Argos announced that the 43 year-old (or is it 44?) Damon Allen will be 3rd string this week, behind starter Michael Bishop and back-up Mike McMahon as the Argos play the Ti-Cats. 'Bout time IMHO. Allen is now too slow to avoid the pass rush, and he can't throw the ball deep anymore. Every move he makes seems to be in slow motion. Last week the Argos gave up five sacks when Allen was at QB and I don't recall that Bishop was sacked at all. Even if Bishop isn't the answer, it's time for Damon to gracefully retire.

I think the original albums averaged 35-40 minutes long. Five of them means 180-190 minutes - that should alllow for about another 40-50 minutes of music to fill 3 Cd's to 78/79 minutes each. I don't know how many unissued tracks there are, but it would seem that they should all fit. This will be a great set!!

Happy Birthday, Kevin! Have a good one.

I believe there was a union-led recording ban in 1948, but surely that would have applied to all types of music, not just big bands. I think there was also some kind of entertainment tax which made attending live venues more expensive (and no doubt providing an early, if unintended, boost for the TV industry). The writing was on the wall for the big band era well before 1948 (though a handful would continue on the road for a few decades).

I think it had a lot to do with money, (most things do). It just became to costly to keep a band on the road playing 6 or 7 nights a week (and the venues just weren't there). As the bands incorporated more advanced arrangements, the broad public interest began to wane. (The public always wants simple). Woody Herman's 2nd Herd (one of the greatest big bands in jazz history, IMHO) was a huge money loser. So too was Stan Kenton's Innovations Orchestra (which reportedly cost Kenton $250,000). Basie broke up for a while. Ellington was able to keep going almost without interruption because of his royalty income. Service men came home from the war and started having families. TV, movies, etc. - there was only so much disposable income for entertainment. Ballroom dancing had a much smaller slice of the pie. Probably the death of the big bands began during the war years, because of the shortages of gas, musicians, tires, etc. The irony is, of course, that the big band is a very resilient and creative musical force. They are definitely not "dead." Check out recent recordings by Bill Holman or Bob Florence (just to name a couple) if you want proof of that. There are a ton of big bands (and big band recordings) out there today. It's just that only 2 or 3 do any travelling any more.

Yeah, feels great, doesn't it? Unfortunately the last time the Cdn$ got this high, a wicked recession followed about 3-4 years later, ('81-'83); the worst since the Depression. This is really not good news, IMHO, at least not this high. Our economy is not productive enough to sustain it.

How stupid is that? Make unreasonable demands and get nothing, rather than negotiate a reasonable "something" based on projected sales of a jazz CD (what might that be - maybe 3,000 worldwide). Must be the lawyer representing the estate! At least someone is beginning to see the light.

One free jazz date that works for me is Cecil Taylor's "Conquistador". It seems to have some structure to it (though not in a formal way, obviously). It is not easy listening by any means, but it has some ebb and flow, some "moods", some degree of logic to it. It might be a place to start.

I enjoy all of Lew's Concord CD's from the late 80's through the mid 90's. Without looking, I believe they are: Desert Lady I'll Be Seeing You What a Little Moonlight Can Do Tenority The first three each have a couple of flute tracks, while the last one is obviously"all tenor" ( or mostly - I don't think it has a flute track). It also has the most variety in group formats (ie, trio and a couple of quartets). I personally don't think you'll notice a whole lot of difference from Lew's earlier recordings, though I think his style may have become a little "smoother" in a way, and not quite so dependant on the typical Roliins-esque exaggerations and mannerisms you have mentioned. FWIW, I am a big fan of Lew Tabakin's playing. I once read a review of Toshiko's big band writing which said that though she was a masterful writer for reeds, she never had the same sense of sureness and skill with the brass. I believe that's right, and one of her last big band CD's called, I think, "Hiroshima - Up From the Abyss" is a confirmation of that observation.

Thad Jones - Mel Lewis Complete Solid State Recordings (mosaic), mainly because it includes their first (and IMO ,best recording). But that's not to put the rest of the set down. This set is certainly among my top five Mosaics and may even be #1.

Just by coincidence, I have just been listening to a couple of Lalama Cd's - "Momentum" and "You Know What I Mean" both on Criss Cross. I think he's a very good and often exciting player, though I have never been and still am not, particulary taken by his "tone" which I find somehat thin. Certainly his tone does have some personality, and when you listen to the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra you never have any doubt whether it's Ralph or Rich Perry soloing. And Ralph can really build a solo, somewhat like Rollins does, though he pushes the beat a lot harder. If Rollins sometimes plays behind the beat to the extent of almost losing the rhythm section, Lalama sometimes goes in the opposite direction. Neither are straight down the middle players, that's for sure. I guess every player has their strengths, and certainly Ralph is a very strong improvisor, but FWIW I find both Tabakin's and Stewart's tenor sounds more attractive than Lalama's.