HutchFan

Would love to see one of those shows, Michael. Unfortunately, New England is a LONG way from Georgia. By the way, a few years ago when I was in NYC, I saw you perform at the Vanguard with the VJO. Your playing knocked me out! I've been a fan ever since. If you ever make it down South...

I like it too.

Just read some of the poems in your preview here. Wonderfully evocative stuff. One line that caught my eye: I dug how you used the image of a hi-hat cymbal closing to convey disappointment, disapproval, pain. Nice. Never would have thought of that.

Yeah, those two albums are fantastic also -- and quite different from the records with Byard. I particularly dig Consciousness. I guess it's sorta inevitable that Kloss sounds a little Wayne-ish while playing with that rhythm section.

Congrats, Joe! Looks & sounds fascinating.

Yep, I know that these and several other Xanadu records have been reissued on CD earlier. In this case, I was just talking about the timelines for Elemental's "Xanadu Master Edition" series.

Life Force features some nice Jimmy Owens trumpet work. ... and I need to listen to Essence again. Been a long while.

Hmm. I looked and didn't have any luck finding them. Will give it another go.

Would love to hear what you think, Jim -- when you have a chance to give 'em a listen.

This CD may be old news for many of you -- but I was just giving it a listen and was struck by its power. Thought I'd share here. A few years ago, I went on a Jaki Byard bender. That's what prompted me to track down this CD. It compiles two Eric Kloss Prestige LPs, both featuring Byard, recorded in 1969: Sky Shadows and Land of Giants. Kloss was only 19 (!) when he made this music, but his playing is remarkably assured. While he didn't necessarily break new ground, Kloss was an excellent musician and made some fine music. I've now heard most of Kloss' recordings; I think these two LPs are his strongest. Also, they are required listening if you're a Jaki Byard fan. As usual, he is BRILLIANT. Along with Byard, both LPs feature sensational bands. Here are the line-ups: Sky Shadows: Eric Kloss - alto saxophone, tenor saxophone Jaki Byard - piano Pat Martino - guitar Bob Cranshaw - bass Jack DeJohnette - drums In the Land of the Giants: Eric Kloss - alto saxophone Booker Ervin - tenor saxophone Jaki Byard - piano Richard Davis - bass Alan Dawson - drums If you like Booker's Space Book and Freedom Book sessions, In the Land of Giants uses the same Byard/Davis/Dawson rhythm section with a Ervin/Kloss two-horn front line. Have you heard this music? If so, what say you?

I think it's one of Lacy's finest -- regardless of era.

I made a quick run up to McKay's Bookstore in Chattanooga this afternoon. I traded in a few books, so I only needed to spend a few bucks to come away with these CDs: - Gene Ammons - The Gene Ammons Story: The Organ Combos (Prestige) - Ray Baretto - My Summertime (Owl / Blue Note) - Donald Brown - French Kiss (Space Time Records) - Woody Herman - Giant Steps (Fantasy); already had the vinyl; wanted a version for "on the go" listening - Illinois Jacquet - The Blues: That's Me (Prestige)

Bump. No one has heard these, eh?

Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 9 / Bernard Haitink, LPO and Concertgebouw Orchestra (Decca)

Looks like the next batch of Xanadu reissues is due to come out April 22nd: Frank Butler - The Stepper Sonny Criss - Saturday Morning Bob Berg - New Birth I'll definitely be getting Saturday Morning. It's one of Criss' very best, imho. I have the download from emusic, but I'm looking forward to hearing it in higher fidelity. Not so sure about the others. EDIT: I just noticed that Charles McPherson's Beautiful! is also now available -- as an import. Doesn't seem to have been released here in the USA yet. I guess there are different release schedules for different markets. EDIT 2: Kenny Drew's Home Is Where the Soul Is is available too. This CD and the McPherson disc were released in the UK market in January.

Yeah, I saw that thread, T.D. I noticed that Mark Stryker said he really liked A Being Such as You. But otherwise, I didn't see any mention of these LPs.

During the last two months of 1979, Walter Davis, Jr. made three solo albums, all issued on European labels. (I assume that he took advantage of the opportunity to record them while on a European tour.) The records are: Uranus (Paloscenio) A Being Such as You (Red) 400 Years Ago, Tomorrow (Owl) I haven't heard any of them, and none are in print. My question: If you've heard any of these, what do you think? BTW: I like Davis' playing elsewhere; for example, on Sonny's Horn Culture and Jackie's New Soil, with Sonny Criss, Art Blakey, etc. But I've never heard him play solo.

I completely agree with you Jim. There's an amazing number of incredibly knowledgeable people here -- but the overall vibe is very open and inquisitive and chilled. You don't find that sort of combination often, especially on the intranet. I'm not a BNB vet like many of you. Relatively speaking, I'm still a newbie here at organissimo. But I'm glad to be a part of it.

Disc 5: Prokofiev - Sym. No. 1 "Classical" & Violin Cto. No. 2 (I. Stern); Scriabin - Poem of Ecstacy; Rimsky-Korsakov - Capriccio espagnol

BIG thumbs up for Brian Moore. Haven't read that one yet. What do you think?

Yeah, I was happy to see that.

Yep. "YMMV" is ALWAYS true.

I wish Jerry Dodgion had made more records in a small group setting. I think he's an interesting musician -- but you usually only hear him in big bands. One exception that I've really enjoyed: Portrait of Marian McPartland (Concord). It's a quartet record with MM, Dodgion, Brian Torff and Jake Hanna. IMHO, it's a beautiful record and super-easy to overlook. I've not heard Dodgion's one record as a leader, Jerry Dodgion & the Joy of Sax. Any thoughts on that one? Sorry to digress from the theme of the thread. Back to Thad & Mel!

Can't say that I do. I really dig it. Dance with Death and Passing Ships, from the following year, are some of my favorite Andrew Hill records. I really like Joe Farrell. And his presence on both of those records is one of the reasons that I enjoy them both so much.

Eugene Ormandy Conducts Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 1 "Winter Dreams" / Philadelphia Orchestra