Late

Gots it! (I just happened to have been listening to Vol. 2. Both are very nice.) In a way, Hal McKusick's Bethlehem record could be considered a Manny Albam album ...

Oops. OK. I was thinking of this one: Great disc!

Listening to this one right now and really enjoying it ~ Does Albam ever play on his records? (I'm guessing yes ... on some?) What Albam albums do you like / would you recommend?

The JRVG of Takin' Off is very nice. Dexter's sound comes through in all its rich loveliness. (Some — well, a lot of — JRVGs drive me batty, but others really hit the mark. The current JRVG I'm loving is Spring.)

I'm excited about the Bechet-Solal session, and the Williams session as well (— didn't even know about the existence of the latter). The others, strangely enough, I have through Vogue (BMG) Japan, except for the Bebop disc, which, if I'm not mistaken, I have at least in part (without the Royal session, that is) in the Jazz in Paris series. Love that disc. Just played it last night, in fact.

Ahh ... OK. Kerning it is — that's what I was thinking of. (Why did I spell it "querning"? Too much Scrabble, maybe.) Miles' kerning is usually tighter, and this seems (at least to me) a good path to follow to cop his lovely style. Not a diss on Roques, mind you. His stuff is very nice.

Or ... give Keane his own trumpet section! I've actually never heard any trumpet player perform this way, and would be interested in checking it out. Any good examples out there? (Sidewinder, don't change your current avatar — at least for a while! I'm liking it.) Sorry for derailing somewhat ...

Am I thinking leading or querning? (I guess I should just go and look it up.) Another Jackie cover I'd like to see a "new" version of, for purely selfish reasons, is Demon's Dance. There's nothing wrong with the cover, I guess I'd just like to see a "Reid Miles" version of it. Another observation: I think Reid was fond of pink! The shades of pink and purple he uses I've actually found very tasteful. If you look at Roques' covers to (using Jackie as an example) Vertigo and Jacknife, I don't think you would have seen Miles use those choices (red and yellow). Miles did use red a fair amount, but I think this was generally with a duotone. (Could be wrong about that.) Anyway, just some food for thought. Maybe I should be posting this in a Reid Miles thread. There probably is one!

A (typographical) comment in general ~ Have any of you ever noticed how Reid Miles almost consistently tended to make his leading (I think that's the right word) tight, whereas Patrick Roques' leading is looser? It seems a "give away" that it's a Roques' cover (which I still like) as a result.

... and, along those lines, maybe we'll get to hear Buddy Bolden some day!

Very nice, John! Maybe Kevin can e-mail it to Cuscuna ...

An understatement — and great idea! Imagine: Tony Coe: tenor saxophone, clarinet Shake Keane: trumpet Joe Harriott: alto saxophone Jaki Byard: piano Charles Mingus: bass Dannie Richmond: drums Late '65? Early '66? The forgotten "British" sextet?

Hey John and Jeff ~ Wanna try a cover for Jackie's Tippin' the Scales? There's already a fantastic Japanese cover, but the American one is godawful. Just a thought ...

When you've had some time to go over it, could someone post a mini-review of The Best from the West here? Thanks in advance! (I'm sure the music is top-notch.) One point of interest: the Japanese Decca reissues of the "Jazz Studio" sets, while expensive, sound pristine (well, at least those I have). Jazz Studio 6 is especially nice. Lonehill's much cheaper, but the Japanese seem to have had access to the original tapes? If Lonehill's going to exercise the leniency (?) of copyright law in Spain, why don't they just wait for the Japanese remasters, and use those for their discs? I guess I don't really know enough about the situation here to speculate in any educated fashion. Thoughts?

Kari, I'm not familiar with the Massey Hall disc, so the compositions Quincy and I heard may already be in Hancock's "book." It didn't seem like it, however, as the whole band was often reading from sheet music (namely Hancock). Hargrove appeared to have most of the heads memorized, but even Carrington was reading a chart at times. Hard to tell ... but one thing's for sure — some good writing for that set! Looks like Hancock was just in Davis, California, or is about to be. Did anyone go?

Nice notes Eric (Quincy)! Good to have another impression of the same show. For an opening night, I'd agree, that was a pretty impressive performance. The woman to my left (in her early 60's I'd say) actually fell asleep! Meanwhile, a little girl (about 11) on my right appeared to bop her head through nearly the entire show. (Now watch, that girl was your daughter, and we were actually sitting next to each other ... )

I like it better than the "original" Japanese cover. Nice hair!

Frank, I can't place that scene, but it sounds like an earlier Allen film. Bananas maybe? That was one of Sylvester Stallone's first roles (though not the first). (Maybe easy) trivia: • In which Allen film did Sharon Stone have her film debut? • What was the last Allen film Tony Roberts was in? • How many Allen films has David Ogden Stiers been in? • Who was worse in their respective Allen film role — Madonna or Demi Moore? Quincy, I think Brecker was playing a modified EWI (electronic wind instrument). Wanna post your thoughts on the show in the New Directions thread? Maybe you had a different take than I did ...

Heard the "New Directions" Quintet last night, and really enjoyed the show. Now ... "new" directions? New directions? No, not really. In fact, this band conjures up mid-to-late 60's Miles Davis groups more authentically than any other group I've heard live (though I don't get to many live shows). Apparently, the start of their U.S. tour was here — hard to believe in a way — and thus the three days of rehearsing in Eugene. All of the music appears to be new originals by Hancock (no tunes were introduced, but everyone had sheet music), save for a cover of "Pinnochio." If these originals are indeed new, they sound, at least to my ears, heavily under the influence of Wayne Shorter — but in the best way: washes of sound, floating meters, "surprise" meter changes, and then (and this sounds like signature Hancock) some Headhunter-like riffs. Carrington makes a rock beat sound like jazz! She might not have the panache or stage presence of Brian Blade, but she is a damn fine drummer — reminds me more of DeJohnette than Williams given the context — and is rock-steady. Never a flub given the (supposedly) new music. How old is Hancock? 65? I was surprised at how much youth is still in his approach to the keyboard. This must come from sheer love of the music. I did hear quite a few staple Hancock lines in the course of the night, but when he hit it — meaning when the vibe got more intense — he seemed to really come up with something spontaneous. For a few moments during one long piece, his playing was the most "out" I'd ever heard it. This was fantastic. I wanted that vibe to sustain, for him to get even more (Cecil) Taylor-like, but then the tune would shift to something else. He also played a lot of keyboard in addition to piano. At first I didn't think I'd like this so much, but the sounds he had programmed (except for a cheesy steel drum sound) were so reminiscent to me of Sun Ra mini-moog and clavinet sounds that I really got into it. And Hancock has supreme taste: he knows not to overplay, and his comping is just as interesting (if sometimes not more interesting) than his soloing. He did do a lot of fiddling with what seemed a laptop (or some panel of blinking lights), but I'm guessing he'll work out those kinks along the tour. How was Brecker? An aside — when Pat LaBarbera came to North Texas in the late 80's, he said (to us little music students) that one of the worst things about playing with Elvin Jones, which was also one of the best things, was that it was almost impossible not to play like, or want to play like, John Coltrane. Brecker put me in that frame of mind — just with Wayne Shorter substituting in the context of Coltrane. And Brecker can play Shorter damn well. Not until later in the show did "Brecker" seem to appear, and that's when I really started to enjoy his playing. He had one EWI feature (never have been able to get with the EWI), and after that feature, his tenor playing seemed more relaxed. He's a "finger player" in the best way: the clarity of his lines is remarkable. Just as with Hancock, when his playing flirted with being "out," I was the most interested. Brecker taking it (truly) out is a lot of fun. I wish he could have started there with some solos, and then seen where it would have taken him. Hargrove? He's what, 34? I don't know. A solid player, good sound, but — and this is going to sound strange, perhaps — I wanted to hear Wynton instead of Hargrove. It just seemed like Hargrove was trying to play into that late 60's vibe that Wynton seems to have already mastered back in the early 80's. I kept thinking how interesting it would have been to have Wynton there (not my favorite trumpet player, mind you), and to have Herbie and Carrington kick him (musically) in the butt and produce something truly exciting. I guess I just couldn't get excited with Hargrove. He had some great lines, and some sit-up-in-your chair high notes, but I guess I felt like I'd heard it before. I don't want to be too critical, because the guy seems sincere, but my ears just weren't there. (Maybe someone else who was at the show will have a different take.) Scott Colley seemed to play the Ron Carter role to a T. Great lines, a somewhat stringy sound, never intrusive, and one very interesting solo. My eyes tended to gravitate over to Carrington, though, whenever I'd watch Colley play. Well, I guess that's about it. Overall, a lot of fun. I'd recommend seeing this group. I bet, as the tour goes on, they're going to gel even more. (Maybe, for instance, Hargrove wasn't having the best of opening nights.) And I bet Carrington is going to generate even more sparks with each new show. She and Hancock seem to have a special musical exchange going on. Hear this band if you have the chance!

Yes! Did you go? I really enjoyed the show. (Had to stay up late afterward to grade ENG 105 papers, though.) I'll try to post some thoughts tomorrow.

Whoa — what's the title? How long has it been out?

Waldo. (Either him or Goldbug.)

Hey, what's not to like? Here's a scan of the cover of Hub-Tones: Simply brilliant. Look at the detail.

Bringing this one back up. It doesn't look like anyone's mentioned The Purple Rose of Cairo. This one, and Stardust Memories, I believe are listed by Allen himself as his two personal favorites in Stig Bjorkman's biography/interview book. Don't forget Sweet and Low-Down, too. While Sean Penn may not be the most convincing looking guitarist, this one still has its moments. Nat Hentoff (and Ira Gitler?) is in it briefly. At one time, my brother and I had several lines memorized (or we thought we had them memorized) from Manhattan. Lessee, I won't get these verbatim, but they're something like ... "I was just about to throw you down on the lunar surface and commit interstellar perversion." "I was sitting here reading the newspaper. I always get stuck on the lingerie ads — I find them highly erotic." "You know a lot of geniuses. You should meet some stupid people once in a while." There are a ton more from this movie (e.g. The Academy of the Overrated.) And one from Stardust Memories: Allen (watching his edited movie): "What, what is that? That's the silliest thing I've ever seen." Producers: "It's Jazz Heaven." Also, though it's not an Allen film, has anyone seen The Front? Great early Allen in an acting role.