Late

Spaulding, at least in his Blue Note sideman days, often relied on favorite licks to move his solos forward. Most notable, I think, is a descending chromatic pattern that you'll hear in nearly every session for Blue Note that he appeared on. It's not a bad little lick, but its repetition over the years does start to make one wonder if he didn't reach some kind of improvisatory plateau. Bear in mind, I'm a Spaulding fan myself. I love his sound on alto, and I especially like the way he bends notes to add that "human" quality to his playing. I just find that on Dimensions & Extensions, Rivers' charts seem to push Spaulding, in a good way, out of his comfort zone. I think the same thing happened to Freddie Hubbard on Contours, too. Sam Rivers' writing seems to have that effect! I actually really like Ellington's playing here, as busy as it sometimes is, though I do hear what you're saying about the mix. That's part of the reason I'd love to hear that JRVG. Too bad this recording never made it onto the TOCJ format. I wonder why not? Some day, I suppose, it will find its way into the Connoisseur line-up.

For the past five days, I've listened to this album every morning. Something about it just keeps me coming back. Rivers is in incredible form here. Even Rivers aside, I think this album has some of James Spaulding's finest solos that he ever waxed for Blue Note — almost fully clear of the usual Spaulding clichés. I'm still not sure about Donald Byrd's contributions, though. I don't dislike them, but I do keep wanting to hear Woody Shaw. And Cecil McBee's bass playing! What do you think of this one? Share your thoughts! (Does anyone here have the ultra-rare Blue Note Japan Club-only JRVG pressing of this album? I'd love to hear that one.)

Now available at Dusty Groove (who bumped their prices up on this series by a $1 ) ... Comments/reflections?

See, you didn't even have to use words at all. I propose a ban on words. Smilies only.

Now now, you know better than to speak all in blue.

... and I just raided my local organic foods store for all their hibiscus green tea inventory! (Still waiting on the Ellis, though.)

Now seems the perfect time to add this:

These seem to speak for themselves ... And of course:

Thanks Sidewinder and Bev. Yesterday I listened to the B-side of Celebration, and really enjoyed it. I do hear that choral (or brass choir) reference you mention, Sidewinder. I know that I'm going to return to this album frequently! (Bev — the recommendations have been duly noted! Thanks.) Dusty Groove sells Impressed Vol. 1 for $22.99, and Vol. 2 for $24.99! Egad! Any posters here in the States know a way to acquire these for a more reasonable price? I'd pounce on both were they in the $13-$15 range. Since this is a British Jazz thread, let me throw out a few more questions at random: • Anyone hear pick up Michael Garrick's Promises? Joe Harriot with Tony Coe? What's it like? • How about all those Jimmy Deuchar albums reissued by Jasmine? Relatively standard fare bebop? (Not that that's a bad thing ... ) Or more "chamber jazz"? • What happened to the UK Columbia series? The Howard Riley and Tony Oxley reissues were great, and then, to my knowledge, the series seemed to evaporate. (A side note: Have any of you noticed that Riley's compositions often sound a lot like Annette Peacock's compositions? I wonder if the two knew of each other. When Riley plays, say on The Day Will Come, I often think of Paul Bley playing Annette Peacock tunes.)

Any comments on the McFarland with Evans album? That one's new to me.

Green tea, my friend. The antioxidants will pull us through!

Mentioned already by Joe and Bruce, but I wanted to bring attention back to this particular two-fer. Not only is the music great (particularly Starting Time), but the original recording by Ray Fowler (and subsequent remastering by Kirk Felton) is fairly amazing. The horns are dramatically up-front — right there on your lap — but somehow they don't drown out the contributions of the rhythm section. (If you're a Wilbur Ware fan, you need to add this to your collection!) Both albums, originally on Jazzland, are some of the best-sounding I have on compact disc. And, sonics aside, Jordan's solos ... like your favorite slice of cheesecake and cappuccino: scrumptious. (And I didn't even get started on Dorham's contributions ... )

Alfred (Michael?), Just watched Zelig last weekend. One of my favorites by Allen. Did you know that period motion picture cameras were used for that film? Part of the reason that 20's/30's look is so authentic. OK, back to Clare. First Time Out actually was reissued on disc, but only in Japan, and I'll be 98 before I ever find an actual copy.

Just received this one in the mail yesterday, and had a chance to listen closely to the first half of the album. This is my first exposure to Westbrook, and, while I certainly have no definitive impression of the music yet (and know this is relatively early in Westbrook's career), I like what's being played here, with John Surman making the most positive impression so far. Westbrook, at least in this point in time, seems fairly strongly influenced by Gil Evans and Charles Mingus, but one can already hear an original voice taking root. I've heard Mike Osborne before, and he improved immensely down the road, as at this juncture (1967), his intonation and melodic ideas, at least to me, sound a little unsure. Still, this doesn't take away from the creativity of the band as a whole. Also very interesting to hear Harry Miller on bass this early on. Is there a complete list anywhere of the "Re-Pressed Impressed" series? And, any guesses as to why the two Peterson comps (which I'm eager to explore) are so expensive?

It is a good album, and I bet that vinyl sounds fine. Fischer denies ever having heard Bill Evans up to the point of this particular recording, but that's very hard to believe ... at least for me. The album, to some, I suppose could sound derivative, but it still pays ample dividends. Besides, you get to hear more early 60's Gary Peacock! This one and Don Ellis's Essence will be properly reissued on compact disc ... when I'm 97, and near-deaf.

Just a note — the Koch reissue sounds just as good as the 20-bit French RCA reissue. (I have both.) The only difference is that the French reissue uses the original cover art. The Koch cover art is slightly modified. The French reissue also makes sure to use the band's full name ("George Russell's Smalltet") on the spine of the disc. This is a truly great album. An easy 5 stars in my book, and a session that seems to always get overlooked in favor of more conventional "5 stars" albums. Without this recording, I don't think we'd have Kind of Blue as we know it today. Mark, if you can't find it, send me a PM, and we'll work something out. Everyone here should have a copy, in some form or another, of this disc!

Any more news on the Andrew Hill Mosaic Select? This is the one I'm most eager about. Spring 2005, Fall 2005? I hope Addey takes up the remastering job on this one. (And, for that matter, I hope he's assigned remastering duties for Dance With Death).

Yes, but Dusty Groove is only offering them on vinyl, though for a fairly reasonable price. They did come out on disc in Japan, however, and I think sold for around 1830¥. I would imagine the playing time is quite short. Reinier, or Hans ... did you pick these up? Would be interesting to hear Julius Watkins with Jerome Richardson. I'm not familiar with a lot of the other musicians, but that never stopped me!

Couw, or anyone else, do you have these? (I don't, but have always wondered about them. Don't know if they're really "obscure" or "underrated," but I suppose they qualify, to some degree, as being jazz recorded in Eastern Europe.) Recordings I'd list as at least being "under-remarked" (but that probably aren't "obscure") are: • Marilyn Crispell: nothing ever was, anyway. • Howard Riley: The Day Will Come • Albert Mangelsdorff: Diggin': Live in Tokyo • Bill Holman: In a Jazz Orbit • Roland Kirk: Slightly Latin • Von Freeman: Doin' It Right Now • Hal McKusick: Now's the Time (as first mentioned by Tony J.) • Randy Weston: With These Hands • Al Cohn: Cohn on the Saxophone

Maybe Water will eventually look into reissuing these: And maybe Blue Mitchell's Bantu Village?

If you're a Bill Perkins fan, you'll eventually want The Five. Except for the first track (a saccharine version of "Whistle While You Work"), a very tasty album. Nice contribution from Conte Candoli, too.