Late

Hat Hut's catalog of recordings, most of them now unfortunately out-of-print, makes up a great label — (usually) pristine sound, adventurous music, and tasteful artwork and packaging. What albums on this label do you recommend? And what albums, still LP-only, would you like to see make it onto compact disc? One note that many of you are already aware of: Hat Hut has been running monthly sales on select titles, which sell for $8.50 through Cadence (or $11.99 through Jazz Loft). Cadence is currently listing the Vienna Art Orchestra's Erik Satie disc on sale — when initially it was reported out-of-print! This is one to pick up if you haven't already. Have any of you tried the hat(now)ART titles, or the hatNOIR titles? Which ones, and which ones do you recommend?

I finally landed a copy of Blinks, and am really enjoying it. I've never been a huge fan of Steve Potts, largely due to his intonation and sense of rhythm, but this record might just now have changed my view of his playing. His solo on "Blinks" is indeed fine. I'm still looking for a copy of The Way. If anybody knows where I might locate a copy, or if you're interested in some kind of trade, fire off a PM to me, and hopefully we can work something out! Oh yes — the more I hear Aëbi on cello, the more I like her playing. Certainly not Abdul Wadud, but her work blends nicely with Avenel's bass playing.

I'll start this thread by listing an out-of-print McPhee disc that Tower currently is carrying. (I'll have to edit this when it gets snatched up!) Quite a lot of McPhee out there. What titles do you find yourself returning to most? I've really been enjoying McPhee's CjR recordings, reissued by Atavistic. ____________________ Edit (2/8/05): I left the link up for Sweet Freedom above, as at least you can still access sound samples (even though the disc is long gone). Good album!

I'll second the vote for a DVD release of Let's Get Lost. Though I've always found the film more a self-portrait (of Weber) than a portrait of Baker, I still love it. Why it couldn't have come out the same time as the recent biography ... I guess we can only speculate. Has Paris, Texas come out on DVD? I'd like to own that. Love Harry Dean Stanton. And I wish Straight, No Chaser would have been released with extras. Wasn't that documentary culled from 17 hours of footage? Good gracious!

Mike, what did the original edit look like? Does the new "edit" actually give more time to the proceedings (meaning, the time in between tunes)? Trying to figure out what you're meaning. These Idem DVD's look to be a pretty good deal, even if they're priced just a bit high. I wouldn't be surprised if, in a short time, they become very scarce — at least in America, where estates and existing copyright laws may eventually prohibit their distribution. Just a guess, but that's what happened to the Art Farmer Jazz Casual set. For more jazz on DVD shopping fun, Tower is currently having a 25%-off DVD sale. Good time to pick up those Jazz Scene USA and Jazz Casual discs, and Sun Ra's A Joyful Noise — all for a pretty reasonable price. If you haven't seen/heard the Teddy Edwards/Cannonball Adderley Jazz Scene USA DVD, you're in a for a treat. Sound is certainly not the best, but the music (especially Edwards' group) is .

Dusty Groove has this in stock again, along with a DVD that includes performances by the Gerry Mulligan Quartet, Art Pepper Quartet, and rare footage ("rare" because it was withdrawn from American distribution) of Art Farmer's quartet with Jim Hall.

I have the first TOCJ and the 2-disc RVG. The TOCJ sounds very fine, but the RVG, to me, is just as good if not, at times, "better" (more presence, air, etc.). The RVG gets the vote from me due, strangely enough, to the included stage banter and the not-ridiculous price. Case closed: Buy the RVG and enter into the debate over Kiss Me Kate, no, Finnian's Rainbow, no, West Side Story, no, Star Trek. I love Theodore "Uncle Don" Rollins' playing on this whole set.

Thanks for posting that, Larry. Could you point me to any other articles/interviews that further discuss Blake's approach to ear-training? I find this aspect of his role as an educator the most intriguing.

1984. Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers. That they came to my (relatively) small hometown at all now seems fairly amazing. Somewhere between 60-80 people crammed into this small performance hall, and the band were crammed on the stage. The messengers at that time were: Donald Harrison Terence Blanchard Mulgrew Miller Lonnie Plaxico I was 14 and missed the second set because of my curfew. I didn't know exactly what I was hearing, but I did know that the musicians up there had paid some dues. It would take about 2 more years before I finally got it and started buying records.

I thought Gilmore also briefly played with Mingus, c. 1965, the year he took a sabbatical from Ra's band. I think that's Gilmore on tenor, along with Charles McPherson and Lonnie Hilyer on the bandstand, in some of the live footage in the Mingus, 1968 documentary. How is that Blakey Limelight record (S'Make It)? I've thought about picking that one up from time to time.

Images Gallery.

Little did you know — Mr. Braxton is actually 2'3". The horn pictured is an alto saxophone. (Neck placement modified.)

Some good discussion here on Gilmore, courtesy of AAJ. I know others here are fans, too. Favorite appearances, solos?

What a wonderful, and at times wonderfully odd, record. Discussion-wise, it seems to largely get ignored in favor of albums like Let Freedom Ring or It's Time. Some of the most "out" Jackie on record, with — such a great choice here — Rashied Ali stirring the hell out of the drums behind him. Admission: I almost always start this disc with Track 2. Just never had enough "soul" to take in Barbara Simmons' recitation (... and I'm on record as liking Irene Aëbi). I wish Alfred had decided to record an all-instrumental version of the title tune, and then left the vocal version off for a 45 rpm release. Ah well.

I moved to Texas to go to school, and missed this concert: Luckily, it was recorded. Great saxophone section here, even if they've largely been restricted to that sometimes derogatory phrase local talent.

Up, to go with the Braxton playing at the moment.

Already mentioned, but worth mentioning again. Stan Getz: The Complete Roost Recordings Essential Getz. (You also get to hear very early Horace Silver.)

I always post this cover, and then lament its unavailability — Back to Sonic Temples for a bit. As a double-disc set, I initially found myself not always being able to get my ears around all of the music. It seemed either too long, or not really progressing in any kind of sequential, or narrative, order. So, what the heck, I programmed and burned a single disc from the available two. Now, I find I listen to this single "comp" more than the two-disc set! I wanted something that began with standards, moved to Blake's more noirish tendencies, and then ended up back with standards. Though I had to cut quite a few tunes, here's the order I came up with, at just a hair short of 80 minutes of music: 1. Stormy Weather 2. Black Coffee 3. Laura 4. Tangerine 5. I Can't Get Started 6. The Short Life of Barbara Monk 7. It Don't Mean A Thing 8. Night Music 9. Wende 10. Horace is Blue 11. Arline 12. Nothing or All 13. Spiral Staircase 14. The Only Painting 15. Nature Boy 16. How High the Moon 17. New Moon If anyone tries this order, I'd like to know what you think!

The JRVG of Shorter's Speak No Evil sounds a lot better to my ears than the domestic RVG. It doesn't, however, contain the alternate of "Dance Cadaverous." Just a FYI for Shorter junkies. And, yes, good to have another shot at picking up Trompeta Toccata!

No need to apologize for making a personal post, Chuck. Those are some of my favorite posts on this board. Isn't John Litweiler a member here? Would like to hear his thoughts too. I think I remember that James P story. Wasn't that the first time that Blake heard Johnson's playing? The Penguin guide mentions something about Blake playing with Arthur Blythe. The implication is that the pairing didn't go down so well, and, aside from Ricky Ford, Blake has generally steered away from saxophonists. Any truth to this, or is it just rumor?

Thanks for the pdf, Golden Arm. (I like your new avatar, too. Are those your creations?) Larry Kart, from this board, has a review in there. Time to log-off for a while, and actually listen to Blake.

Another to keep an eye on, and one I don't even have yet (but want to), is the J.J. Johnson set. Whenever I look at its price, I look somewhere else (and end up spending even more on separate discs). Gonna have to bite the bullet and plump for it soon.

I'm sure there are (probably many) reasons to tell against it, but it would seem a no-brainer to sign former Blue Note artists like Andrew Hill and Sam Rivers. What excitement that would generate! Is Greg Tardy signed with anyone now? He might be a good choice for a younger musician to sign to Blue Note. It'd be great to see someone like Ori Kaplan get signed too, but that's probably unlikely.

For those interested in Ulysses, I'd recommend this critical text for complementary reading: Description: For James McMichael, Joyce's Ulysses invites the wide range of interpretations it has received: what it also does is to prod its interpreters to put the book to some just use. If Ulysses were more conventional than it is, McMichael claims, its readers could set more comfortable limits for themselves in their responses to it, limits that did not extend beyond Ulysses into their dealings with persons in the world. But what happens instead is that the singularly unconventional narrative structure of Ulysses keeps reminding them that the story they are being told about any of the characters is the same kind of story they tell themselves whenever they think about a person. It reminds them that every person needs to be responded to justly and that the justice of their response to any person depends on how justly they characterize that person in their thoughts. McMichael insists that it is justice that Joyce himself most wants. Distinguishing Joyce not only from the immature Stephen Dedalus but also from Ulysses' perfectly unresponsive narrator, this study describes Joyce's tacit but discomforting plea that Ulysses be judged not so much for its literary mastery as for the degree to which it is a just response to persons in need.

Sound clips for Sonic Temples here and here. Some sound clips for Short Life of Barbara Monk, a fine quartet recording with Ricky Ford, right here. Some sound clips for Wende right here.