John Tapscott

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.

I think Bishop will be the Argos' man this year. He's got so much potential, but it's never really blossomed. I'm not sure what the trouble is but he should be better than he has been thus far. So many talented American QB's have a tough time adjusting to the Canadian game. But this year I see a reversal of roles. I think Bishop will start and Allen will come off the bench when needed. That could be a good combination - Bishop with his speed and his bombs, and the slow as molasses Allen with his smarts and short dump-off passes. It could be tough on opposing defenses.

Obviously, but I don't think Mosaic is going to tell you that. I don't think it's any huge secret. You can figure it out by looking at when sets first came out and when they go out of print. If you look at most sets, it seems like it's for five years, then with (probably) an option to renew for another 5. I think the J.J. was on the market for 10 years. Looks like the Roach has been around for close to 10 now (same with the Hodges). They're timing out (as opposed to selling out the maximum number of copies).

I agree with Matthew. Good observation about Gomez. Does anyone know why Evans considered the Johnson/LaBarbera trio his best since the VV trio? What was there about that group that Evans dug more than the Gomez/Morell trio? I always find it a bit surprising because from a listener's perspective I prefer the latter group - it's looser and more relaxed. To me, the Johnson/LaBarbera trio, while a group of very talented virtuosos never quite hooked up or swung like the earlier group. But maybe I'm missing something. Or perhaps it's because I'm not a big fan of LaBarbera - I find his drumming to be sometimes noisy and his long solos are to me, rather a bore.

Herbie Hancock - The Complete Blue Note Sixities Sessions

The Dave Brubeck Quartet w. Paul Desmond (actually almost ANY of Brubeck's groups).

I picked up this one earlier this month and heartily second Matthew's recommendation, though I must say I enjoy the '66 concert more than the '80 concert. Better camera work on the earlier one in my view, also I sense a more relaxed and natural feeling. I wonder if my slight unease over the '80 concert is that we watch it now knowing that Evans had only a few short weeks left on this planet. Or maybe it's just the fact that I am not quite as big a fan of the Johnson/LaBarbera trio group as some, though Evans himself says in the interview it was his best trio since LaFaro/Motian. But overall the DVD is

Happy B' day Larry!

I agree. Very moving. Don't be too hard on yourself, Allen. People are very skilled at hiding parts of their lives from others. You were young and you're not a psychologist (though you have some very good insights into human behavior - we really are complex beings). You're not responsible for whatever reprehensible actions he undertook. You weren't supporting that part of his life. Everyone needs a friend you were the friend and support Haig needed at that time. Nothing wrong with that.

The Complete Blue Mitchell Blue Note Sessions 1963-67

Yeah, but the Roach is only a seven CD set. That's moderate, at least by the standards of this place.

Sounds like he's taken advantage (or maybe he needs to) of one of the "colon cleanse" products which are a staple infomercial north of the border (by some phony doctor - Dr. Ho, I think his name is). Just the ads themselves will scare the crap out of you, let me tell you!

I'm late to the game on this one. I listened to it a couple of times after I got it, but kind of held off on it. But this weekend, I have given it 5 listens in a row. It's so intense that your brain needs a couple spins to get used to it and to sort out all that's going on, but once this happens, watch out!! I think it's a very fine CD, and very nearly a great one, which not only gets easier to listen to which each spin but reveals more and more with each spin too. And man, the trumpet section. I've never heard anything quite like it. Usually one or two guys may be way up there, but in this case, the four seem to be way up there all the time, with a very narrow spread from top to bottom. This is the kind of strong music I really need to hear once in a while. Makes a lot of other jazz (and much of today's big band jazz) seem rather tame by comparison.