Late

To quote Paris: that band is hot. Anyone else excited about the upcoming Octet reissue? I wish Dimensions could have been added. Together, I think, they'd add up to just under 80 minutes. So far, I've been avoiding the Fresh Sounds reissues in hopes of legitimate releases, but they've been a long time coming.

Which seven?

A good read. Wenzel seems to have a considerable influence, based just on the time frame of certain sets, on Mosaic's offerings — which is a good thing. Mosaic Select seems the place nowadays for more "modern" stuff. I sometimes wish that Mosaic would explore more "avant garde" recordings, but am still listening to and enjoying the Andrew Hill and Sam Rivers. What a great thing that Mosaic has grown and prospered over the years, and now decades. I hope there are many more decades to come.

The 1988 edition of Plays just showed up in my mailbox today. I'm on my third spin through. Along with The Soft Swing and the Roost box, I can now say this is one of my favorite Getz recordings. Getz seemed to hit an almost magical zone during these years (approx. '52-'54).

It's a good record, but I could do without LeRoi Jones' contribution (on one track). I wish Tchicai's solos were longer. Anyway, if you like it, you'll definitely want to search out Timo's Message. Of the Tchicai recordings I've heard (I think only about seven or eight), it's my favorite. But I've been spinning Afrodisiaca again, and it's been blowing me away. The first Cadentia Nova Danica record is weird. I like it, but I still can't get my ears around what's going on. Kinda like Ascension, but double the personnel and remove the solos. Something like that.

Thanks guys, and Happy 31 Face. Part of my swim workout this morning was in the same lane as two high school swim team members. Needless to say, they swam me into the ground. I quit my "workout" much sooner than they did. Then I realized: Hey, I'm probably more than 20 years older than these guys (actually, one swimmer was female)! Um, kinda made me feel better. Mainly, it was just great to be swimming in the morning, the Olympic Trials a dozen or so blocks away.

Hey, thank you fellow (if I remember correctly) Oregon poster! What Andrew did you spin? Just out of curiosity — what would you guys consider the most "obscure" or least-known Hill?

"Andrew and I knew each other as kids coming up in Chicago. We are about the same age and we grew up relatively near each other on the South Side. I lived on 47th Street and he lived somewhere in the 30s. He got me one of my first gigs in 1949, maybe 1950 – a duo, piano and bass. It was at a club in some strange neighborhood, I think on the West Side. We started at 10:00. Around 3:00, I asked, “What time are we finished?” And he said, “Whenever they tell us we can go home.” I didn’t realize it until then, but we were working for the Mafia. So, when Andrew wasn’t looking, and the Mafia owners weren’t looking, I took my bass and the cover – I didn’t even put it on the bass – and took it out to my car. I told Andrew, “Never call me again. I can’t work like this.” Fortunately, he didn’t listen to me, because he called me for his next gig. We soon went our separate ways and we didn’t play together until the ‘60s, when we made those recordings, but I didn’t work with him at any clubs then. The only time I worked with him in a club was about five years ago, I think at The Jazz Standard. The records were the first time I played his compositions. I found them to be very, very free, in the sense that I could just about play anything that came to my imagination. It was very open and complex at the same time, I would say, but it was very easy for me to play. I was very comfortable with what some would call the difficult parts of Andrew’s music, the unique ways he put things together. Every time we played one of his pieces it would be different, so sometimes hearing them later was a little strange. I wish I could remember which album it was, but I heard this record on the radio, and the bass player was really good. “Wow. That guy is terrific,” I thought. I had never heard anybody play bass like that. So, when the record was over, the DJ announced who it was. It was Andrew Hill, with Richard Davis on bass. Andrew later told me which record it was and I took it out and played it. I thought that was funny. That could only happen with Andrew. I think Andrew was really a unique composer and performer. I don’t think anyone could ever copy what he was doing." Richard Davis from Point of Departure, an online journal

Andrew Hill would have been 77 today. I started my morning by listening to "Morning Flower" from Invitation on Steeplechase. I'd forgotten how good that album is. Was that Andrew's working trio of the time?

Wow — I'd love to see one of those in my backyard, or anywhere. I took a baby crow to our local wild bird rehabilitation clinic this weekend. A neighbor's cat had gotten to it, but it was still alive. The parents were going wild, dive-bombing the cat (who was simply toying with it) whenever it got closer to the baby. It couldn't seem to fly, and I couldn't bear to watch it suffer, so I scooped it up and drove it to the clinic. The employee there said I'd done the right thing, but that the baby probably wouldn't make it. I felt awful for the parent crows — they hung around that area for the whole day. It made me feel, by intervening, that maybe I hadn't done the right thing.

Isn't Tchicai something like 6' 5" or taller? Taller than Dex or Randy Weston? I thought I read once that he was 6' 8". Maybe I'm making that up.

Thought I'd bump this thread up to ask if anyone here has a decent scan of the New York Contemporary Five's records on Sonet.

An FYI: MPS/Germany has recently reissued the long out-of-print Afrodisiaca on compact disc in mini-LP format. I can't imagine this one will stay around too long. Carpe diem!

The Complete Marte Röling Fontana Series.

Looking for a clean copy at a sane price. Cut-outs not a problem if anyone happens to see this lying in a budget bin covered with dust. Please PM with any leads. Thanks!

Is there overlap with the 1936-1940 Mosaic Small Group Sessions?

Dannie Richmond and Jane Getz:

It is a fun ride. But, you know what? Listening to it last week, it struck me as sounding almost identical to a (or any) Branford Marsalis album (sans the clarinet tracks, which are lovely). I don't know if that's a criticism or not, but it's almost as if, in some secret corner of his practice room (back in the 80's), Branford listened to and absorbed this album. I've heard Branford play "Giant Steps," and it sounds (sounded) just like Daniels' version on This Is New (even though very little on the record was "new" at the time). I don't get much out of Marsalis' saxophone playing, but when he was just out of the Messengers, there seemed a lot of potential. I dunno. Weird observation, I guess. I still like the record.

Entertainers.

The Japanese issue actually came out? I thought it was permanently delayed.

Very true. Everyone should have at least one Blue Note title in their collection that was recorded before, say, 1947. Hodes, Bechet, James P., Earl Hines recorded (just) two great tracks for Blue Note, Edmond Hall, Bennie Morton, Sidney de Paris, the list goes on. I'd love to see the Japanese reissue market re-explore (meaning re-reissue) the earlier Blue Notes.

Yes. Light meaning reissue. Didn't know that they were out in Japan. Early 90's? That would be a nice collection to have.

Damn, what are the chances of those Urso tracks ever seeing CD light. I'd like to hear them.

Did Bock ever use these compilations to issue one-off recordings of groups that never formally made an entire LP for Pacific Jazz? I ask because on this compilation ... there's a track by the "Phil Urso-Bob Burgess Quintet." I didn't think Urso made a record under his name for PJ.