Late

Well, that sounds like my kind of place. Thanks for the tip, Al. I'd be there in a heartbeat, and paying for your beer () were you to make the haul ... and were April 10th not my mother's 65th birthday. AAAARRRRRGH! I'll keep you posted on what actually plays out. I gots your e-mail location 'n stuff. Serisously.

It looks like hat's will be the Mini-Me of Mosaics. Simply get the ones you want before they go OOP. As far as reissues, I hope Werner can stay in the game long enough to get more Braxton out, Cecil Taylor's One Too Many, the remaining Lacy's, and perhaps more Franz Koglmann. Certainly looks to be a waiting game. But, in the meantime, there's plenty of new releases ...

I've been on a McKusick kick recently (which only means listening repeatedly to the two discs that I have McKusick on), and was thinking about future purchases (ugh — but in a good way). I have the RCA Jazz Workshop at the top of my list, and was wondering what you all thought about this one: McKusick and Russell together ... what a combination. It bothers me that this music is often referred to as "cool chamber jazz," but, what the hell, I can forget about that and enjoy the music. I don't hear any chambers.

Somewhat encouraging, no? I see that you edited out Werner's mad laughter after "Dates not known." The guy is sitting on some prime material for reissue ... but I'd agree that it all (or most, I hope) will eventually see the hatOLOGY light. Getting more of the Braxton Quartet material with Marilyn Crispell out would be nice. At one time, hat's site listed Braxton's '79 Willisau performance, with Ray Anderson, as a pending reissue. It's seems to have since received the boot.

Strange, I like Pott's soprano playing better than his alto playing. That said, I've warmed up to his approach (on alto) a fair amount in just the last couple of months — thanks, in no small part, to a generous board member here who hooked me up with a copy of The Way. That live album, along with Blinks, gives a pretty good look at Potts' playing. As a result, I'm usually inclined to give the more often than not. You're right, Clifford, about Lacy's precision. Potts' articulation often seems less sure to me, and his intonation is at times very iffy (— just check his Eb, which goes all over the place, from "Multidimensional" on Vespers. Kind of embarrassing, as everyone in the band plays this very same pitch one after another without problem.) Jackie McLean's idiosyncratic sense of intonation somehow (for me) escapes the ... pitfalls that Potts falls ... into. Still — what's most important to me are his improvisational ideas, and these are often of the highest order. Anyone have Futurities, Part I? If so, care to comment on how it compares to Part II? (I love Part II.)

Sound Samples

Aha! I knew I had another version of that standard! I have that track on a Keepnews comp entitled Hal McKusick: Now's the Time (1957-58). Yanow nails it when he says this: "The decision to include just seven of the twelve numbers from Hal McKusick's Isn't It Romantic recording and eight of the ten from Cross Section Saxes on this CD reissue is unfortunate, making this a so-called "best of" set; why not reissue three McKusick dates (including Jazz & the Academy) complete on two CDs so valuable music is not lost?" Orrin, that rascal. Here's what Ken Dryden says about Cross Section Saxes: "Hal McKusick's final recording as a leader mixes three separate sessions with contributions by four great arrangers. The cast of musicians varies from onedate to the next, although McKusick and pianist Bill Evans are present on every track, while Art Farmer, Milt Hinton, and Barry Galbraith also make strong impressions. This music has held up extremely well over the decades, especially George Russell's forward-thinking treatment of "You're My Thrill" and his sauntering, somewhat atonal, blues "Stratusphunk." Also valuable are the charts by Jimmy Giuffre, George Handy, and Ernie Wilkins. The blend of the saxophones in Handy's upbeat "The Last Day of Fall" almost sound like an accordion. Most of this music was reissued on the CD Now's the Time (1957-1958), although two brilliant arrangements by Jimmy Giuffre ("Yesterdays" and his own "Sing Song") were, unfortunately, omitted from that compilation, making it worth the effort to search for this elusive Decca LP."

Those two UCCM's are the ones I picked up as well. They're very nicely done. To get the full Mulligan Sextet impact from them, I burned them onto one disc, and then slipped in, from another disc, the alternate of "La Plus Que Lente" (which I think is much stronger than the master take) and the master of "Sweet and Lovely." 14 tracks of good fun. Organizing the chronology for these recordings can be something of a mess though. Rather than being done at two separate sessions, they come from multiple visits (no less than five) to the studio. Then you have to figure out if it's Jon Eardley or Don Ferrara on trumpet ... or Peck Morrison or Bill Crow on bass.

The only version that (I think) I have of this is Chet Baker's from the soundtrack to Let's Get Lost, and I like it a lot. What other versions do you recommend Brownie? A standard I never tire of is "The Song is You" — one to add to Connie's "you" medley!

The Mulligan sextet recordings make up some great music — at least the two albums that I have. Brookmeyer and Zoot often get a chance to take off their gloves and lay into the proceedings. I'd buy a Mosaic or Select ... even though I already have some Japanese pressings. Gulp. Now ... what happened to Cuscuna's decision to release the Mulligan PJ California Concerts? I received an e-mail from him about a year ago saying that these might be out by February 2004. He also said the Japanese transfers came out well, and that he'd probably use them for the U.S. reissue. Did anyone pick up the two Japanese California Concert reissues from about a year back?

I've been exploring, and re-exploring, the music of Franz Koglmann. Four recordings lately: • Make Believe • An Affair with Strauss • A White Line • Orte der Geometrie Then, for some reason, I pulled out Lee Morgan's Indeed! as a sort of tonic. That opening solo on "Roccus" is a gem. Do you remember when you were 18? The kid is 18 here, just ripping up those chord changes.

I don't get it. The guy behind Ms. Lopez looks the same, now and then. I mean, he's still wearing the same blue shirt, still looks a little constipated, and is still (I think) reaching for Mr. P-Diddly's hand. Weird thread.

Lee Morgan in 1995. Followed a couple months later by McLean and Chaloff.

Looking forward to it. Out of curiosity, are all Gebbia's discs in paper sleeves, or just Arcana Major?

Good to hear you're liking it, Hans. You'll probably like Ein Sof, too. (No growling! I think that's Kaveman Kowald, incidentally.) Ibarra gives that set quite a bit more space than Ali's (admittedly fine) pulse machine.

Hey, that's about what I spent! Now Hiroshi's retiring (sorry guys), and my wife gave me something called "divorce papers." OK, I exaggerate. Still, I won't be doing any shopping for a while. And Ramen really doesn't taste so bad, right? And ... maybe I'll stop reading all these damn posts that make me want to seek out new music! Time to listen for a while as it is. Digesting the Taylor New World discs recently. As my friend, imitating his aunt from Minnesota, would say (with a positive connotation): Ooch!

Up with reduced price.

Never? Well, I hear you. I was just curious, as Cook & Morton's statement had me conjuring up all sorts of perverse and demented covers. Maybe as a practical joke, someone slipped Bley's LP into a Loni Anderson Sings Wagner jacket. That might be unpleasant.

That makes sense. Curiously enough, even with the $9 extra that PayPal's "exchange" rate charged me, my parcel will still be $30 less than if I purchased the same goods through Dusty Groove! Edit: Missed your post, Golden Arm. That makes sense, too. Still, one wonders ...

Up, to see if anyone new has heard this title. Looks good on paper ...

I just made a payment through PayPal in yen (guess what that was for!), and I was wondering if, for whatever reasons, PayPal uses a conversion rate that is slightly higher (at least for U.S. buyers)? I usually use this Currency Converter to figure out exchange rates, and it doesn't match up with PayPal's exchange rates. Food for thought. Hopefully my question's clear! What experience do you all have with PayPal's exchange rate?

I still don't get it. "One of the most unpleasant covers in the history of recorded music." I thought it would be a picture of a vivisected monkey or something. Or maybe the inside of Nixon's left nostril. The covers that Couw's posted are tame I tell ya! Edit: Ah, they're referring to the Arista/Freedom pressing cover. Couw?

Tom, as you're a "progressive trumpet" fan, you might want to order the new Wadada Leo Smith box on Tzadik. 1971-1979.

What's wrong with that? Hmmm, I wonder if perhaps Cook & Morton got their copy mixed up with a 70's porn stars Sings the Blues and You Do Too compilation.