Late

Listening to this one right now: It's been a couple of months since I spun it, and I'm liking it even more now. Apparently, this group (Wyands, DeHaas, Haynes) was a working trio, having put in stints at The Five Spot and The Prelude. It really shows — they're tight. This isn't just another "piano trio" recording — it's truly a "drum trio" recording. Beautiful Van Gelder recording, too. The liners (by Nat Hentoff) on DeHaas, I thought, were interesting. I'll retype them here: "Eddie De Haas may be the only full-fledged jazzman so far to have been born in Bandoeng, Java, Indonesia (February 21, 1930). When was ten, he started on ukulele. From 1942-45, he played guitar in Hawaiian groups during the Japanese occupation. He went to the Netherlands, and started playing bass in 1951. There weren't many records available, but from those that were, Oscar Pettiford became the first formative influence on De Haas' playing, to be followed by Ray Brown and then, years later, by Percy Heath and George Duvivier. De Haas ranged the continent, working with Pia Beck, Wally Bishop, Martial Solal, Bill Coleman, Henri Renaud, and Chet Baker. He came to America in 1957, and has since worked with Terry Gibbs, Sal Salvador, Miles Davis, Bernard Peiffer, Kai Winding, Benny Goodman, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Blossom Dearie, and Chris Connor. In 1957, Miles Davis heard him with Blossom Dearie, and offered De Haas a long-term engagement with his group. Eddie, however, had already promised to go on the road with Sal Salvador, and his sense of honor forced him (and I use the word literally) to fulfill his promise. He's had a few calls since from Miles to fill in when Paul Chambers was unavailable, and De Haas is gratified that, at least, he's still on Miles' list." Had anyone heard of this De Haas-Davis connection before? Interesting, to say the least ...

B. Clugston — where does your avatar come from? Any way we can see an enlarged version? I think it's interesting that, this time around, Werner decided to put Clifford Thornton's name on the cover of the package. Poor Byron Morris — he was there too! I rather liked the original cover ... but I'm not going to complain ... the music's out again!

Nice photo, Mark! (Thanks for the information, Margaret!) I wish the prices of new hatOLOGY discs weren't so prohibitive. That, and the only local retailer who would carry them has closed shop. Do you guys use jazzloft to purchase hat titles?

Thanks for all the information, Claude! I remember, back in college, my roommate buying a commerically packaged 3" Art Blakey disc — I believe it was the band right before Wynton. I know it had Bobby Watson on it, and I want to say David Schnitter as well, but that's probably off. At any rate, I remember that it was 17 minutes long — I thought it was ridiculous. Now I wish I could remember more about that disc — at least what label it was on, and what the tunes were (I think there were at least two).

Anyone picked this one up yet? How is it? I'm slobbering to get it.

Listened to this one today. Damn! While the album isn't the greatest, Haynes' drumming is spectactular. His unaccompanied solos are a thing of beauty ... I still can't quite get over how, in the annals of jazz music, Haynes seems to take a backseat (as far as recognition) to Blakey, Roach, et al. He was easily their equal.

I know, why bother — but I was just curious. Miles' Blue Moods, for instance, would fit entirely on a 3" disc. And a lot of 78 r.p.m. recording dates, in their entirety, would fit. Sometimes all I want to (or have the time to) listen to is around 20 minutes. Just made me think of that somewhat obsolete format ...

I especially like the Kokomo Arnold sides on the disc Joe pictures above. Also, this disc should not be passed by — fabulous music:

The documentary is entitled "Last Date" — which has the dramatization that you mention — but it doesn't have motion picture footage of Dolphy with Mengelberg. Instead, it contains photographic stills from their performance together — the one that made its way onto the LP (and then CD) also (and originally) entitled "Last Date." The documentary does have some amazing footage of Dolphy in concert with Mingus, as well as some rare German television footage.

Though perhaps not very practical, I always enjoyed the 3" format for compact discs — they truly were "compact." I seem to recall that, back in the late 80's, Sony even manufactured a portable disc player exclusively for this format. Two questions: • What music (jazz or otherwise) do you have exclusively in the 3" format? • Are 3" blank music (not just data) CD-R's an actual commodity? I'd like to burn some short sets I have (around 20+ minutes) onto the 3" format for portability, but I don't know if this is actually possible. Just wondering ...

Dunno, WD, but usually with Yazoo their compilations always come close to the 80 minute mark. (Single artist comps tend to vary.) One that's great fun — and that might too easily be passed over is: It's better than I thought it would be!

The West Coast Hot set is one of my desert island discs. I really wish it could make it back into circulation again. (A new remaster probably wouldn't hurt either.) The liner notes are by Stanley Crouch, and they contain some of his most tolerable writing.

I thought I had all of Jaspar's work on Vogue — and then I learned he'd recorded some sessions with David Amram (which BMG France have recently released). Anyone have that disc and care to comment? I had BMG France's "Original Vogue Masters" Jaspar/Renaud disc, but I ended up selling it when I came across the Japanese edition(s). Despite strictly following the original 10" album length (usually somewhere around 23 minutes), the Japanese editions sound considerably better to my ears. They also come in mini-LP format (if you're into that) and with original cover art (which is often quite striking). About six years ago, Tower online was unloading these Vogue mini-LP's for $9.99. I went bonkers and picked up the Martial Solals (only Vol.s 1&2 were available), the Al Haig, Don Byas, Henri Renauds, four Jaspars, and one Roy Haynes. I missed the Wade Legge, though!

Very interesting reading. Thanks for posting that.

I wonder what "including Stablemates" means ... Does it mean: "As written by Benny Golson and as written down by John Coltrane"?

The Redman is a keeper. I like his The Ear of the Behearer even better, but Tarik is a nice complement to that album. Fine Ed Blackwell on it as well.

Could all of Jaspar's 50's work under the BMG umbrella fit onto three discs? As Mosaic now seems to be licensing BMG material, I wonder if this type of set could actually happen. I have most of Jaspar's Vogue stuff already, but I'd probably re-buy for a set like this. What exactly could/would be on it?

Another strong endorsement for the Johnson set. If you're thinking to yourself (as I did before purchasing the set) "I don't know if I can take THAT much trombone" ... you're in for a surprise. Jay Jay's musicianship is really astonishing. This is a landmark box set, and something that, not too far down the road, will likely yield insane prices on e-Bay. Best to plunk down the bucks now. If you end up not liking it, you can always resell and (probably) make a profit.

Listened to all of the first disc last night. The programming is really nice, and the sound (given the sources) is fantastic. I'm usually not that big a fan of "rural" music (or whatever you want to call it), but the selections here, at least on the first disc, are a lot of fun. This package would make a great gift for those interested in this type of music ...

Joe M — what did Matt Wilson say? Heard this for the first time just recently. I think I actually like it best for Wynton's playing — which, while still emotionally reserved to my ears — indicates that the guy really can play just about anything he wants to. (Lester Bowie said something like: "If you could just take Wyton's chops and my ideas — damn!") I can't say I'm crazy about Nash, but he certainly puts forth more than a solid effort.

Something about Keystone really works — it's not just another "Miles Davis 70's period" influenced project. I think it will hold up over time (— but I also like The Infinite for whatever that's worth). One thing I've noticed about Douglas's music: I tend to like the first of his projects with a particular band much more than any follow-up. The first Charms album, for instance, has much more impact for me than its successor. Same, too, with The Magic Triangle band and the string band that produced Parallel Worlds way back.

Has anyone checked out Solal's new album with Dave Douglas? Should be interesting, at the very least.

Had to post the cover — So far, this is an excellent compilation!

Oh yeah — Botti's chops aren't as weak as I would have guessed! Hargrove was in particularly good form, but Botti seemed to acquit himself fair enough ...

Hmmm, I've never seen any motion picture footage. But I presume you already have "Last Date"? That's almost like having film footage. Essential, I'd say, for fans of Dolphy.