John Tapscott

Happy Birthday, Lon! You beat me to 50 by a couple of months. Sounds like you're happily avoiding the mid-life crisis. Hope I will, too. All the best!

Haven't heard any of them, but I did hear Adam Rogers in concert last week ago with the John Patitucci trio. They played one tune from Adam's recent Criss Cross CD (this one you bought) and Patitucci gave the CD a plug. Adam's a very fine player. Throughout the concert his playing often reminded me of Jim Hall's.

Don't know for sure, but maybe they're just waiting for a new pressing. If it was a label problem, wouldn't they just delete it from the site altogether?

I don't have it yet, but I have heard and read that the Charles McPherson Cellar Live CD is very good, too. I think I'll get it along with the Alexander/LeDonne.

My memory may be playing tricks on me, but I don't think Trane solos on this -- he just plays the melody. Guy ← Maybe a "solo" doesn't always have to include improvisation. 'Trane's playing on Naima is beautiful and very moving, at least to me.

"Out of this World" from Coltrane "Naima" from Giant Steps "Afro-Blue" from Live at Birdland "Impressions" from Live at the Village Vanguard (which I've always preferred to "Chasin' the Trane")

I have it. At 52 minutes, it's a little light on the playing time, but it is fine CD, no question. Definitely worth getting if Eric's your man.

Whatever your revisions might be, do not drop that Mingus CD. It is fabulous.

Hey don't overlook Al Cohn's approach. When someone asked Al if he ever played "Giant Steps," he replied, "Sure I play it, BUT WITH MY OWN CHANGES!"

Nate, the rhythm section on this Cd is different than the one you heard in Toronto. Here Mike Wofford and Bill Goodwin are in place of Bill Mays and Joe LaBarbera (who were unavailable for the Yoshi's gig). Part of the problem may be that the live recording doesn't really do justice to the rhythm section. At least that's my initial impression. But don't get me wrong - this a fine CD overall.

Got mine earlier this week and have listened several times. Early impressions. Fine playing from both Shank and Woods with the latter in excellent form and often stealing the show. On the down side, I don't hear the rhythm section really gelling, and the recording quality is Ok but a bit flat. In retrospect, a studio recording the day after the gig might have been preferable. Worth getting, though it doesn't quite reach the heights one might expect.

This new Criss Cross CD is one of my favorite new releases of '05. Smoking rhythm section of Joel Weiskopf (p), Paul Gill (b), and Billy Drummond (d) Highly recommended.

Most likely, indeed. It's a very mediocre article and surprisingly unreflective for someone of Chambers' reputation. I don't think he even bothered to read the liner notes of the Mosaic set. It's the kind of article that might have been written by a second year jounalism student. Blue Note would have paid for making these unreleased sessions (including Tina's leader fees, I presume). So BN would have suffered a hit, too, by leaving them in the vault. Was there a purpose behind it? Probably it was a business decision. I can only guess that the sales of "True Blue" were so low that it just didn't make economic sense to release them. I guess the thinking is that you cover your expenses on these lost sessions by releasing sessions by other musicians with more sales potential. (I believe the Mosaic notes say that the first recording was not released for musical reasons, something Chambers never mentions). Whether the release of the other sessions would have enhanced his career when the one already out there wasn't doing much is debatable. Blue Note was hardly responsible for "killing" Tina. Blame Tina himself and the dope dealers for his untimely demise.

Well, I sure wouldn't hesitate at that price!!!

Another good one is Fresh Sound 5040 "Will You Still be Mine - Celebrating the Music of Matt Dennis" - Jan Lundgren, Tom Warrington, Joe LaBarbera Also good sideman work by Jan on Andy Martin's "It's Fine - It's Andy" CD on Fresh Sound 5037.

Not sure it's hit the stores yet. I believe the first retail mailing went out today. I hope to have it by the end of the week and will report.

Dizzy Reece Select - Disc 2. This is the first time I've heard any of the music on this set, and I think it's wonderful!

BTW, that Mantooth CD is a really good one overall. Paul's a great player. He's a Fontana man, and believe me, for a 'bone player that's a VERY hard style to master. Only the best dare to go down that path. Paul has done some great work with big bands, for example, the Woody Herman Orchestra, before and after Woody's death. Also with the Jim Widner midwestern big band where Paul is often featured. And Paul has a nice CD under his own name - darned if I can remember the title and label off the top of my head.

No, because the CD's I buy I generally listen to within a day or two. Even box sets I listen to in the first week after I've purchased them, usually by listening to one CD of the set per day. But CD's that people lend to me or give me, either as promos (I have a friend in the business) or CD-R's tend to pile up for a while, though I eventually get around to listening to them, too. At the moment I have only two purchased CD's I haven't listened to - the new Dave Holland Big Band CD and Disc 3 of the Bob Brookmeyer Select. They will be listened to tomorrow.

I am definitely among those who likes big jazz bands, and just ordered this one. You've got to listen to the recommendation of someone who can made a CD like "Convergence Zone" (also on Origin and highly recommended). This "SGUD Missile" guy knows his stuff!

Elvin Jones - Disc 1 & 2 - One of my favorite Mosaic sets!

I'm guessing they don't need them anymore, since the Selects seem to be such good sellers and give them a pretty good cash flow. I recently got the Brookmeyer set, #3405. Now I know that we don't get these in order and so on, but I suspect that this relatively high number after only a year indicates that this one is a good seller.

Bob Brookmeyer Select. Another from Mosaic.

Duke Ellington - The Great Paris Concert Count Basie - April in Paris Charles Mingus - Great Concert Stan Kenton - New Concepts Jessica Williams - The Victoria Concert Woody Herman - Woody's Winners Tommy Flanagan - Jazz Poet Kenny Barron - At Maybeck Phil Woods - Rites of Swing Zoot Sims - The Gershwin Brothers Oscar Peterson - Tracks Stan Getz - Focus Sonny Rollins - The Bridge Dizzy Gillespie - Gillespiana

By piano-less jazz, I presume you mean with no other chording instrument, either, like vibes or guitar. Personally, I like it just fine and the sense of openeness it brings, but it really depends on who the players are, especially the horn player(s). Second-rate players couldn't handle it. I really dig those Elvin Jones BN recordings you're referring to. Joe Farrell was a monster player on those recordings. He played tenor, soprano and flute. So along with Jones and Jimmy Garrison, there's lots of variety which really makes those albums work well. I also think it sounds great when the horn player maintains the changes for his solo. That really helps to keep the listener involved and gives some guideposts along the way. I heard Joe Lovano play 2 hours with nothing but his tenor, bass, and drums, and that worked very well, too. It was one of the greatest jazz concerts I've ever attended.