Late

I've put my ear up to liner notes before, and I still don't hear anything. Incomplete, yes.

Lon, you have to rent/buy/find the documentary The Brute and The Beautiful! In it, Webster's cousin discusses how Lee and Lester Young — back in 1929 — took Webster under their collective wing for a while. Webster himself, in fact, credits his first saxophone "lessons" to Pres! (Long before he was dubbed Pres, of course.)

Thanks! Hey, better than nuttin'.

Did the 30%-off coupons grind to a halt?

Aha — strategically timed for Ben Webster's birthday! Chu would be honored.

Up for air. Watched "Manhattan Murder Mystery" last night for the ja-billionth time. Still entertaining, and I noticed, for the first time, that this is one of Zach Braff's (from the television show "Scrubs") first roles. He plays Allen's son. Also, Aida Turturro (Tony Soprano's sister) is in this. (She's been in two Allen films.) When Allen's character tips Turturro (a cleaning lady in the film) a dollar bill, he delivers one of the film's classic lines: "What are you making a face for? That's the father of our country." There have been a few other Allen films out since this thread was started. "Scoop" has yet to be discussed. It was passable, and Allen drives (and crashes!) a Smart Car. To me, "Matchpoint" is the film that people who don't like Woody Allen films love. Allen is now being underwritten in some form by Spielberg, and, in my opinion, this film shows it. Unusually mainstream. Still, it's a competent movie that's well-acted. It just doesn't seem like a Woody Allen film to me. (Maybe my take on it will change over time.)

... and here I thought that the only set Montoliu made with Webster was Gentle Ben. By the way — this might be of significance to U.S. posters here — The Holland Sessions can be purchased from a place out of Tacoma, WA called Dandylion Records. They had the title up at eBay, but are/were also selling it directly from their website. (Still looking for the & Associates cover. -_- )

Wardell's first few notes on "Twisted" sound like a baritone saxophone. Great stuff all around. The vinyl has three different covers - 2 for the 12" and 1 for the 10". I like the 10", because then it wasn't a "Memorial," but rather "Tenor Sax Favorites."

Let us not forget and continue to pine for: COLTRANE: The Unrelenting Explorer — Unissued Accordion Sessions, 1961-62

This one was just added at eMusic, under the title "Hawk Swings." I'll hit it when my account refreshes.

"Where you at, where's your natural habi-tat, where you at, I wanna go there ..." (With lots of musical notes jumping around.)

You won't dance the tango for dinner with poor loser RVG?

And on the 27th, this will get some air time ...

Oops — thanks for the catch. I meant March 27th! Webster's dates are: Born: March 27, 1909 in Kansas City, Missouri Died: September 20, 1973 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands Ben would have been 98. Let's all celebrate on Big Ben's day by spinning our favorite Webster LP/CD!

Zoot was a giant.

Whoa — that one wasn't even on my radar. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. Also, John Tapscott's recommendation: that one looks good too. Discs on Storyville seem more readily available in Europe, I'm guessing? I never see them locally at least, but haven't scoured all the online options. March 21st is BEN WEBSTER day. In preparation, I watched the wonderful documentary entitled The Brute and The Beautiful. Rhapsody put it out on VHS way back in 1989. It's one of the best jazz documentaries I've ever seen. Anyone else here seen it? Some of the footage, particularly a live set with Benny Carter circa 1970, is stunning. No Webster fan — even if you have to give up buying a few CDs — should be without this show. It's that good.

Ok Late, now you are talking about a damn fine recording. This was originally on the Storyville label, and is now on a Black Lion CD. This one has Bob Brookmeyer, Hank Jones, Wyatt Ruther and Gus Johnson along with Zoot. It's a winner. I also dig Zoots vocal here. Another one to get from the same period that was also on Stroryville, and is now on Black Lion, is "Morning Fun". Bill Crow and Jo Jones are on bass and drums on this one with Zoot, Brookmeyer, and Hank Jones. Yup, got that one. I like it. Say, here's the original cover to Tonite's Music (attached below). The small print is hilarious. It says: "You've heard Barrymore recite Hamlet, and seen Parlova dance, now hear Zoot Sims sing the blues." I didn't know Drew Barrymore was into Shakespeare.

The 20th is here. Anyone already picked up the newest batch? I admit: I'm excited about picking up Compulsion!, even though I already have the music. Will probably pick up the Byrd, too. "Say You're Mine" is such a beautiful piece of music.

Ralph Burns' intro to "Almost Like Being in Love" from Ben Webster with Strings. (Except there are no "strings" on that track.) The intro doesn't seem to fit the song itself, but I like it. Hmmm ... maybe Burns didn't write it. Will have to check. Anywaaaay ...

This is one (though the Penguin Guide is lukewarm about -- whatevuh) is nice. (Attached below. Dig the original cover!) Could anyone direct me to a decent cover scan of Ben Webster and Associates? I hate how Verve miniaturized (and put a meaningless border around) the cover of the VME disc.

I thought Revenant was actually trying to do this, but I haven't heard anything new for some time ...

And with Nonaah and Saga of the Outlaws first on deck! A nerd can dream --> .

B&N — those three you mention are all indeed very good. And as already mentioned above, anything with Jimmy Rowles is going to sound good. The Pablos (I have all except the Duke and Holiday sets, which I'll get to eventually) are a uniformly excellent lot. My favorite is probably still Warm Tenor, but maybe that's because it was my first Zoot Pablo. And I really like Plays Alto, Tenor, and Baritone! I wish the Plays Four Altos set would see reissue. I think it will, and probably not too far off, courtesy of some mystical place in Andorra ... Next on the hunt: Plays Tonite's Music Today. Anyone care to comment? (I like Zoot's singing.)

Late, That's not one I would recommend. It is a recording that I would place very far down on the list of Zoot Sims sessions. It veers heavily toward the commercial side. I had it some time ago on LP and disposed of it. I have no interest to acquire it on CD. There are numerous good to excellent recordings by Zoot out there you should get that are clearly better than "The New Beat Bossa Nova". Good to know. I'll bump it down on the list. Strangely enough, I just picked up the album that new poster "beerandnuts" just recommended. Welcome!

Is Sims' New Beat Bossa Nova worth picking up? On paper, it looks good ...