Late

Monoceros is out on disc, through the Chronoscope label. Damn, that's your favorite Chuck? I certainly like it, but ... whooee. Some of the most intense saxophone playing ever, I'd say. Ear-shredding and transcendental all at the same time. Not for the timid, and even for the adventurous I'd say that it requires the utmost attention to "hear" what Parker's going after. To illuminate: it can fuck a person up. I haven't heard McPhee's As Serious as Your Life, but I'm a big fan of Tenor & Fallen Angels. This was my entry into McPhee's musical world, and I've been continually rewarded ever since. I personally think there should be a listening mandate when it comes to checking out the unaccompanied saxophone: Coleman Hawkins' recording of his self-penned "Picasso." This, I believe, is where the "solo" saxophone begins. Recorded when Charlie Parker was still a teenager, I'd say that this is some of the most essential music in the saxophone canon. Hawk's solo is just gorgeous, and, at least for me, truly beyond description. The best sounding version that I know of is on the two-disc The Jazz Scene, which Verve put some time ago. Pour a glass of red, dim the lights, sit back, and put that puppy on repeat. Changes, with no changes-playing instrument behind him, come pouring out of the tenor's bell.

Count me in as a Roswell Rudd fan. I probably only have about six or seven discs with Rudd on them, but I always enjoy listening to his playing. I particularly like his work on the ESP disc with John Tchicai, and wish the New York Art Quartet's other recordings were more readily available. I haven't heard any of them outside of the ESP disc, but really want to! I also think that some of Archie Shepp's best recordings (and I'm not really a Shepp fan) were made with Rudd. Too, the Liberation Music Orchestra. And then — how could I forget! — Rudd's work with Steve Lacy. Maybe I have more than seven discs with Rudd on them ...

The album that sports your new avatar (Eddie Gale's Ghetto Music) was my first Water acquistion. Wonderful stuff, and certainly an album that I'd recommend to any fan of Sun Ra (or even Cecil Taylor?). It stands on its own, separate of influences, and opened up a new branch of the music to me. I agree with your comments re. the remastering/sound. These guys are doing a great job. For the price, all of these appear worth picking up.

Yup, but a year earlier: • November 4, 1965 Palais de la Mutualité; Paris, France This was a double bill with Ornette! The bootleg on Magnetic has fair sound, but great music. Rollins plays "one" tune for over forty minutes — a medley of at least six different standards. In the process, he loses Rovere and Taylor at times (with Taylor, to me, sounding a little frustrated) and so has some extended a capella cadenzas.

John — I think that first photo may very well be from Paris! It looks like Rollins is with Roach and Jymie Merritt there. The three toured Europe together in 1966. An under-documented period if there ever was one! Here's part of their known schedule: • November 1, 1966; Paris, France • November 6, 1966; Reading University, England (a concert for UK television!) • November 11, 1966; Copenhagen, Denmark • November 12, 1966; Graz, Austria (a bootleg cd exists of this concert)

Thanks for posting that, Bev. It's made me want to check out Bobby Wellins, a player who I'm completely unfamiliar with. Does anyone have Under Milk Wood and care to comment? While I have Hayes, Scott, Harriott, Parker, and Osborne in my collection, I still feel vastly ignorant of this thick branch in improvised music. Parker's solo work on Chronoscope is certainly ear-shredding ... but mind-opening. My favorite recording with Parker on it continues to be Hunting the Snake. A "crown" recording in my book if there ever was one.

I wish I could help out here. I dig both Pell and McKusick. I'm guessing you have all the Pell RCA stuff that's been out on disc? Hadn't even heard of the one you mention. (Sorry about the ebay experience.) ... and I bet that Japanese McKusick does sound good. (My resistance rarely holds up in those kind of situations.)

Those are great, Eke! Did you take Vol.s 1-4? (I forgot to give credit to the photographers for the pics I posted.) One of those photos should have been used for There Will Never Be Another You on Impulse! Very nice. Come to think of it, that double image color photo would have given new meaning to Newk's There Will Never Be Another You — visual pun and fact wrapped up for all! (Now all we need is couw or Africa Brass to create an Impulse! cover for it!)

To go along with the standard Artists thread on Rollins, I thought it might be interesting if we could collect some photos of Rollins in a seperate thread. Post your favorites! (Here is a great link, by the way, for Rollins cover art.) Now, to some photos ... I actually have a print of this one, framed, and in our kitchen!

Maybe the Texas residents here already know about this. I guess it's relatively new.

I think the answers are: 1. Joe Henderson and 2. Charles Lloyd

PM sent!

Anyone heard the Pete Brown album? All I know is that he's an alto saxophonist.

Claude — What are the bonus tracks from Our Man in Jazz? Are they from the Village Gate gig, or are they the (previously issued) studio tracks with Cherry? More of the Village Gate gig would be ... amazing!

That's the story I've heard too — re. RCA wanting to present a more "commercial" Rollins. The original liner notes to The Standard Sonny Rollins even allude to this. Here's an excerpt of what George Avakian, who penned the liners, had to say: "In a field given to long, spun-out improvisations, some of the performances are surprisingly short. This is in part because Sonny was seeking compactness and brevity of statement in much of the album, and in part because we felt, in editing the performances, that some of the brief bursts of fantastic improvisation (as in "Night and Day," "Three Little Words," and "I'll Be Seeing You") would be best set off it they were presented in this way." Hmmm ... who is the "we" here? And if Sonny really were "seeking compactness," wouldn't he have been able to complete whole tunes — a la The Sound of Sonny — in a short space? I have to say, I'm a little dubious of Avakian's claim here. It's not out of the question, but I think an alternate angle might be that Avakian simply said: Blow, let yourself relax, and we'll keep the best parts. Thank goodness the 14 minute "alternate" take of "Now's the Time" didn't meet this fate. There are some moments on this track where Rollins' improvisation begins to meander, and with not a lot of interest, but then, just when you think you're really not interested, he turns it around and grooves, via some wonderful syncopated figures, the shit out of that song. Another statement by Avakian's liners that seems again to suggest his concern about the public's acceptance of Rollins' work is: "Can the neophyte listener follow all of Sonny's flights of fancy? Many of them seem extraordinarily removed from the original melodies and harmonies." He then goes on, however, to encourage this "neophyte" with: "But it is not as hard as one might feel at first. Try, for example, humming the melody of 'Three Little Words' as Sonny takes off ... You should be able to do it ... [and] quickly learn why jazz improvisation becomes more meaningful when one can relate the source to the improvisation." (The elided parts of the quote simply describe Rollins' playing ... e.g. "rare abandon") I wonder how history would have played out if — when the "secret" balloting went on for Rollins' new contract after his return to recording — Alfred Lion or Bob Thiele had landed some extra dough (well, a lot of extra dough) to "win" the bid for Rollins' contract. In some ways, though I love Rollins' RCA period, I think that Avakian never really knew how to handle Sonny Rollins the artist. It's sensitive terrain, surely, and it would be intriguing to have the opportunity to "revise" history and see how Rollins on Blue Note, or Rollins on Impulse!, for the years 1962-65, would have sounded like. Hell, I haven't even considered how Sonny would have sounded under Teo Macero's production!

Sorry I can't be of help, but I felt like adding that this is a wonderful album. I don't know if it's out-of-print yet, but any here with just a passing interest in Redman would do well to pick up this reissue. I think, the Coltrane sides notwithstanding, it's my favorite from the short-lived "New Thing" reissue series of five years back.

Only 13 right. I guess I should have known Dolphy's favorite sammich.

Red, count me in as a fan of Rollins' RCA work as well. The standards from that box that I'm most attracted to are some of the shortest tracks — "I'll Be Seeing You" and "Autumn Nocturne" come immediately to mind. You just know that there's extra tape (Please don't fade it out Mr. Avakian!) somewhere from some of those tracks. When I first heard Rollins' RCA work (junior in college), I happened to have been dating a 6' tall, quiet, studious, and lovely blonde woman. Hearing this music now, I sometimes get nostalgic. I gave her a postcard of Sonny Rollins ("My idol," I said), and she taped it right above the door to her room.

Ghost — no additional Twardzik tracks on the latest Japanese edition. You're also right about the duplicated master/alternate take of "A Crutch for the Crab" from the original domestic cd. (So, only one version, because there is only one version, appears in this Japanese edition.) One thing that this latest Japanese edition does offer is a reconstructed intro from a "A Crutch for the Crab" — so we have the piece in its entirety without tape stretch damage. The new edition sews on an undamaged version from a vinyl copy, then shifts into digital shortly thereafter. Actually sounds pretty darn good. Ron McMaster did this one, and it may be one of his best efforts around. All said, I think this version (TOCJ 9347) may be the most definitive version we're likely to see ... at least for some time.

Whoa, that is great news! Any other titles of interest in that reissue list? I think I may have missed the last Hans/Hiroshi post.

Jim, do you have Moving Out?

The Japanese edition of this disc has 13 bonus tracks! Unfortunately (depending on how you look at it), these are all Freeman tracks — which is certainly not a bad thing. But it would have been great to get a few unissued Twardzik sides.

Ubu, Yes, a Mosaic Select would be grand! It would give more people a chance to hear the scant appearance of Jean-Louis Chautemps on tenor from these sessions. I know that Chautemps matured into a player with a greater mastery of the horn after these recordings, but the February 1956 date catches him at an awkward, but nevertheless intriguing, angle — loping eighth notes, a dusty tone. I actually quite like it. Dig the short (2:29) "Anticipated Blues" — perfect for putting on one's answering machine, or at the end of a mixed tape. The original 1988 Polygram France cd's of these recordings have always sounded good to me. Has anyone A/B'ed the '88 Volume 1 with this latest edition?

Very cool that the original cover for this session is finally being used. Too bad that a Complete Chet Baker Barclay Recordings package couldn't be put together. Volumes 3 and 4 from this series are exceedingly rare.

John — for what it's worth, I have the JRVG of Volume One, and the text is vertical. I used to have a vinyl copy, and its text was horizontal, however. I actually prefer the veritcal text ... if given a choice. At any rate, I think Moving Out may be one of Rollins' most under-recognized sessions from his so-called "golden period" of 1951-58. On the surface, it seems like any other blowing session (up-tempo meters, bop changes, some bop clichés in the solos), but Rollins is in such good form that his solos — paradoxically — seem to stand outside bop cliché right when he's got his foot in the middle of, say, "Sailor's Hornpipe." Hard to explain, but it's almost as if Rollins was born to play using this language, it comes so naturally out of his horn. Then, when we get to "Silk 'n Satin" — it must have made Coleman Hawkins smile to hear that. The speaking eighth notes that Hawkins plays ... all right here, and with Newk's personalized inflection. The notes can be transcribed, but that feeling is un-transcribable. Just beautiful. If you have this disc, spin it tonight or tomorrow (or whenever), and let me know what you think. And I didn't even get to the fact that Blakey doesn't have his hi-hat (which I actually really like) for this recording, or that Elmo Hope may have been the perfect choice for this session. Or that Kenny Dorham is in a most lovely Diz-like frame of mind. Or ... I could go on!