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Everything posted by John Tapscott
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Yes, some days I say that. Other days I say it was Ernie Wilkins or Thad Jones or Frank Foster or Sammy Nestico. Depends on what I'm listening to at the time. I read somewhere that the band really liked Ernie's stuff. "16 Men Swingin' " - of course that could apply to most of Basie's book. A couple of my favorites: plus "Basie at Birdland" (Roulette)
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Just heard it for the first time ever. Musically . I love Lee's solo on "Trapped." The sound is OK, though I think I've heard better Blue Notes. It's going to take me a few spins to get used to the sound of Higgins' drums. Sounds to me like RVG mic'd the drums too hot, then had to back them off a bit in the mix, and as a result, gave the drums a bit of a "muddy" sound, especially for Higgins. This is some of the "heaviest" (I'm speaking literally here) drumming I've heard from Higgins. Very Blakey-esque. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but a few degrees removed from the crispness I usually expect from Billy.
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Just ordered the new CD by Phil Woods and the Los Angeles Jazz Orchestra -"Unheard Herd" http://www.jazzedmedia.com/
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Strangely enough I have never heard "The Gigolo" in any form, but after all the raves about it on this Board, how could anyone not want it? The RVG is now making its way towards me from cduniverse. Thanks for the discussion, but I'm afraid it's somewhat dampening my anticipation of hearing this disc. When I listen to it for the first time (and subsequently) there will be something in the back of my mind telling me that I'm not really hearing it at its best, or in all its glory, so to speak.
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Which Mosaic Are You Enjoying Right Now?
John Tapscott replied to Soulstation1's topic in Mosaic and other box sets...
Disc 1 -
I will admit that if that was all the response you received, you should not be pleased. Most vendors will send another order immediately if you call after a reasonable period, say a month, and tell them your order has not arrived. Very occasionally orders get lost in the mail - it's part of the cost of doing business. OTOH, "lost in the mail" is a relative term. In all my years of ordering recordings, I could only recall one time (there may have been another time) when something I ordered was truly "lost", ie. never arrived. In the case I mentioned I phoned the company and they had another CD in the mail immediately. No questions asked. Overseas orders can take anywhere from 4 days to 4 months. You never know. I know it's frustrating, but I would advise waiting until the end of February before taking any action.
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How many times a week?
John Tapscott replied to Hardbopjazz's topic in Miscellaneous - Non-Political
Ok. I'll admit - once a week at a fast food place like McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, Wendy's or Harvey's (a Canadian chain, which along with Burger King has the best burgers). And you know what - I like it!! -
Don Menza - Jack Rabbitt (Cadence Jazz Records)
John Tapscott replied to JSngry's topic in Recommendations
This is a Menza big band date from 2004, and all the qualities Jim describes are heard on this CD, both in Don's playing and writing. A very nice session IMO. http://www.jazzedmedia.com/ -
Let me add my final comment. I actually think "The Freedom Principle" is that kind of book. The comment about Herman is arguable. I would certainly agree with the "eclectic" part, but mediocre? Perhaps he was occasionally, but for the most part, Herman's Herds were pretty top-of-the heap as far as big bands, (esp. road bands) go, and on one occasion in the 70's Herman's band played the most exhilrating and memorable big band concert I have ever heard to this day. But don't just focus on the Herman comment. Look at what he says about Bill Evans. Look, my point is that there is an undertying theme of "testiness" towards earlier forms of jazz and jazz musicians in that book which I think detracts from his goal of opening listeners to giving freer froms of jazz a fair listen. I am not the only one to think this. Evonce noticed it too, and said so as much in his review.
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OK. Here's the quote. It's on p. 297 in the chapter entitled "Free Jazz Today." Litweiler is talking about the efforts of Horace Tapscott's UGMAA group to teach music to inner-city young people. He says this kind of education is important because the days of informal jam session and music lessons are over. Then "The explosion in high school and college jazz bands during the Free era is an illusion; those bands are the heritage of the cheap thrills of Stan Kenton and of mediocre eclectics like Woody Herman."
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Sure. It was very good Getz for its time ( '77, I think). In the recording studio Getz was making some less than totally satisfactory (in my view) LP's for Columbia around that time. So for fans of straight-ahead Getz this was like a breath of fresh air. I just think he made several more memorable recordings later on.
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I have the double LP. Just another good set of music, I would say. Brackeen plays elp on some tracks. It's a good night club performance by a very good group. Recording quality is decent, though not excellent, as I recall. Sort of a middling session in Getz' discography. Not a Getz session I listen to that often. The electric piano is a drawback for me. I prefer Kenny Barron (though I do like some Brackeen recordings I own).
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I hear you Jim. I've read "Freedom Principle" and benefitted from some if Litweiler's insights, and listened to some music as a result. But I would have enjoyed it more and taken it more seriously, if there had not been so many (in my view) gratuitous "cheap shots' at "non-free" musicians. We should ask "Free For All" if he considers Woody Herman a "hack?" (That's not the exact word. I'll look it up when I go home and post it later).
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I didn't, and I don't see "the problem" as being one. Mr. Litweiller has big ears and very broad tastes. That book is a specific look at a specific subject and is best read in that light, not as a manifesto of one man's attitude towards music and musicians in general. Just my opinion. Jim, I guess you and I are going to disagree on several things today. If Mr. Litweiler has such big ears and very broad tastes, why the constant put-down of mainstream or "non-free" musicians? I think it's fine to draw attention to free jazz and free musicians, if that's your thing, but why not just leave it at that? Why was it necessary in that book to refer to Woody Herman as a 'hack" or some such unflattering term (I'll have to look at the specific reference but it's that or worse). Woody Herman made no pretense to be a "free" jazz musician - that wasn't his thing at all. Woody Herman has a pretty solid place in jazz history and didn't even need to be referred to in a book on free jazz. I think it' was pretty typical of "free jazz" proponents in the '60's and '70's to put down other forms of jazz. Why not invite people in by saying, "OK, you've been listening to bebop and big bands and mainstream and whatever. That's great. So why not give some of this a try. You might like some of it?"
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I really liked your review of Litweiler's "Freedom Princlple". You've nailed exactly the problem with that book. It is quite useful in helping people to hear free jazz with open ears, but unfortunately Litweiler can't excape the trap of putting down musicians who play in a different style or an earlier style. I have come to the conclusion that every musican "hears" the music differently and finds their "zone" at a particular spot along the jazz spectrum. A very few can move back and forth. To say that Dan Barrett should become like Roswell Rudd (or vice versa) is like saying a cat should become a dog. Each musician finds their own vaild place on the spectrum of jazz. And I'm not one who thinks music necessarily "evolves" to something better, different yes, but always better, I don't think so. What the free musicians did was extend the spectrum, rather than provide a direction everyone had to follow.
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Which Mosaic Are You Enjoying Right Now?
John Tapscott replied to Soulstation1's topic in Mosaic and other box sets...
I think you're right, but be careful. I said essentially the same thing once on the old BNBB and got flamed big time! -
Which Mosaic Are You Enjoying Right Now?
John Tapscott replied to Soulstation1's topic in Mosaic and other box sets...
Stan Kenton: Complete Holman/Russo Charts - Disc 1 -
Some fabulous music you ordered there, Rooster. As for your last statement, yeah, I ALWAYS tell myself that after I place Mosaic order, large or small! It never works.
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The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra - MILES AHEAD featuring INGRID JENSEN All Music Arranged By Gil Evans Conducted By Tommy Smith This is one that I don't have yet. I'll have to correct that soon. You can get it here for $10.40 directly from Spartacus Records: Miles Ahead - Ingrid Jensen w/SNJO Anyone else get this? My copy arrived yesterday. I like it very much. Very good recording quality. Fine playing by Ingrid in Miles' role. Plays homage to Miles but definitely does her own thing, too. The original is one of my all time favorite jazz recordings and this one won't me forget that one. But I'm going to be playing this one often, too.
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OK. I have a few "burns" and never download music (I still like to have disc in hand so to speak - it's the collector in me, and it's not the same if it's just on my hard drive). But I will admit to giving and receiving CDR-s of a couple of out-of-print Mosaics. They were sets that I meant to buy but the money and the time frame just didn't match up. I suppose the people that's hurting are those who sell out of print Mosaics at inflated prices on e-bay. Not sure whether to lose much sleep over them or not. (As it is, I have bought 50 Mosaic box sets). Plus someone sent me CDR's of Disc 2 & 3 of the Sonny Stitt Mosaic, and because of what I heard it's my next planned Mosaic purchase. I really don't get that many CDR's from anyone (truthfully, I don't have that many jazz friends), and if I've received 20 CDr's of in-print material over the past 4 or 5 years, I've eventually purchased at least 15 of them. So yes, #2 for me, and yes I sleep well at night.
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Another Internet Scam
John Tapscott replied to John Tapscott's topic in Miscellaneous - Non-Political
They apparently already have my email address. What cheeses me off is that it came to my PERSONAL email. Most of this crap comes to my business email, which can be found by the usual fishing practice of scanning websites. -
Another Internet Scam
John Tapscott replied to John Tapscott's topic in Miscellaneous - Non-Political
The point is that I have NEVER used ebay to run an auction. Nor have I ever purchased anything through ebay or even made a bid on anything. In fact, I don't think I've ever visited the ebay site, except maybe ages ago via a link. And the other point is this. Not only has Kimberley L. Coffey has not received payment for the item. Neither have I received the item I allegedly bought from this individual. The whole thing is backward. In most transactions, I pay, then individual sends the item. This reads if if the person sent the item before I paid, which is not the usual practice. -
Today I received what looks like a real message from e-bay, the gist of which is below Hello, Dear user: Kimberly L Coffey has informed us that they have not yet received your payment for the following item: 1915 Amatuer SG Photo BATON ROUGE LA. Capitol Bldg. (#6219911642 It was sent to my personal email, and the ironic thing is that I have NEVER used ebay to sell or purchase anything. The message goes on to say that I will have some kind of strike against me if I do not rectify the situation immediately. Thanks to the warnings of my fellow Organissimo members I did not follow any of the links, but immediately placed it in the spam file. My question is: Do ebay and paypal and other legtimate firms try to track these guys down and put them out of action? Seems to me stuff like this could ultimately harm their business.
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Which Mosaic Are You Enjoying Right Now?
John Tapscott replied to Soulstation1's topic in Mosaic and other box sets...
Today - Disc 1 & 2 -
I just got "The Thang" and I think it's a really fine CD, one of the best Sharp 9's I have. A little better, I think, than the earlier Wonsey Sharp 9 CD (which is pretty good, though). I also have the Tolentino - it 's a fine CD, too. I think you'd be pleased with that one. I don't have the Henderson, but Sharp 9 releases are quite consistently good.