Brad

This was one of the first jazz cds I ever heard (after becoming a jazz fan) and it's a great choice. What colors and sounds!

I don't know if these got overlooked but a bunch of these were released yesterday, among them: Sonny Stitt - The Last Sessions Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis - The Heavy Hitter Houston Person - Talk of the Town Cedar Walton - Naima: Night at Boomers David Newman - Lone Star Legend Jack McDuff - Another Real Good'un Sonny Criss - Crisscraft I have the Criss and the Stitt (I hope to be that good at my job before I go as he was on these) and am going to get the Newman. Any views on the others?

I picked up a few of the Roulettes. The Baker I picked up principally for Phil Urso, who is way underrated. This was a worthy pickup. The only criticism I have are the Chet Baker vocals. They take a bit getting used to but I suppose are mildly inoffensive. I find his falsetto type of singing odd but this is my first experience with it. However, the whole group is strong. Besides Urso, Galper deserves special praise, IMHO. The Dameron arrangements are very, very good. I also picked up the Jimmy Rushing. If you like someone belting out the songs, this is worth it. There's some soloing instrumentations but Mr. Five By Five is obviously the star here. Another good reissue.

Not that my wife might be the perfect model here, but she has a limited appetite for jazz but enjoys anything that is melody based or is relaxed swing. I'd recommend starting out with some Ellington, perhaps a best of kind of cd. I think KOB might be a little too much. Actually, not a bad place to start would be of one of those Ken Burns Jazz show sampler. If you can get her to be more adventurous, my wife liked Trane's My Favorite Things. After that, who know. Hope this is helpful.

I've tried to grab as many James Clay as I can and haven't heard a bad one yet. Both Antilles are good although "Cooking" is better. BTW, he's on one of the cuts on the Rein de Graaff cd Now is the Time from Timeless that's distributed by Stateside. Good cd, incidentally. I remember from the old Board that Jim knew him and had posted some reminiscences abut him. I'd hate to ask him to do it again but if he has time time, maybe he could.

I have to take a general exception to the comment made about the Proper sets. They are a very affordable way to get a lot of music, some of which is unavailable elsewhere and a very good introduction to a particular artist. The Keynotes on the Coleman Hawkins are not that easy to get, even if you have a turntable. They're a stepping stone and a damn good one in my opinion. They're by no means the be all and end all but the booklets are quite well done. The sound is decent, no better and probably no worse thant the original. If you don't have a lot of Lester or a turntable and you're not sure how to go, these are a good jumping off point.

I'm sort of on the Dan Gould side. I'm much closer musically to Gene Harris than Andrew Hill and I'd describe myself much more in the school of Bud Powell, Sonny Clark and Wynton Kelly. I'm closer to that school. He doesn't do much for me. So, if I had to rank the pianists, he wouldn't be up there but after a couple of listenings I did enjoy Grass Roots and I'll take a chance on the reissue that's coming out later this year. Just because others may feel differently, you shouldn't let that affect how you feel about him.

Well, looks like I'm the only one who voted for Sir Charles. I bow (humbly) to the will of the majority. I only have only one cd by Charles Kynard but a good one, Soul Brotherhood that came out a couple of years ago.

That's why, if you can, you try to buy a house!

Yowza, I think I'm feeling feverish today

Assuming that Ty is really doing a war beanie babie, from my point of view, it's quite offensive. I always thought Beanies were supposed to represent some neutral animal type or something like that was generally inoffensive. This, to me, is offensive. I think it was Stephen Decatur who said something like "patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel." That's what that represents to me. I'm sure others in this country where criticism or dissent doesn't seem to be encouraged anymore might disagree.

These are some weird stories, especially Dan's. I had an experience with a horse or a pony but it was all my fault. When we lived in Uruguay when I was around 7, there was an empty lot next store, where the father of the 3 girls I used to play with kept a pony. Well, one day, bored, with nothing to do, I wandered over and decided to pet the pony's behind. What do you think it did? It did whatever animal bothered would do. It kicked me from behind right in the solar plexus. The funny thing was that I didn't feel a thing, just sort of surprised. Needless to say, I found something else to do.

I know DJ Lounge is one that Jim loves. It was discussed pretty extensively at the old you know where. Not sure if it fits into the second category because that date really swings. I thought he was on that night. Even if he's coasting some, his coasting is a let better than most people's on. He had a lot of talent but I think the big disappointment is that he probably could have been better. There's something to say about what he did he did very well. And for that I love his stuff. But you just wonder what he would have been like had he embraced the times. Look at Dexter. He tried to incorporate what Sonny Rollins and Coltrane were doing to a certain extent but Sonny S never wanted to seem to go there. That's probably part of the reason why Alfred had the conniption at the Dexter "session." But you can still love Sonny for what he does (and I do), there's just that nagging thought in the back of your mind.

Does that mean vote early and often?

I've used it for a long time and never had a problem. Changing emails is pretty easy. I sell although not that much and frankly it's easier to take it. Don't have to worry about checks or worrying if I'll get payment. I don't like paying for the fees but hey, nothing is for free. And I'm quite happy that Hiroshi takes it. It's a hassle to go the post office and have to get one of those m.o.s. I remember Tod (Out to Lunch) telling me a few years ago that he had to troop to a few offices before he could find one of those money orders. It's a great system. Wish I'd bought some of their stock when it first came out.

I thought it was supposed to be better than the first, which I caught on HBO last year some time.

My wife really got into those and we've got tons. We put them away. I took that room over as a music room. While they're sort of cute, it was a big waste of money. Anybody want to buy some?

To further elaborate, not all of the Verves have been released here or in Japan, to my knowledge. Notable examples are Sonny Stitt Plays Jimmy Giuffre Arrangements (1959), Previously Unreleased Recordings (1960; one song is on that Verve Jazz Masters), an unissued 1961 date (according to Lord). Others are not that easy to find: The Sensual Sound of Sonny Stitt (1961; the Ralph Burns Orchestra date), two untitled sessions but released in Japan as Saxophone Supremacy and Sonny Stitt Swings the Most, and the Hard Swing. Yes, a Mosaic would be welcome but since they just did one and it's still in print, I'm not holding my breath.

Voted for Montana but as a Jets and AFL fan, no Namath?

I wasn't much of a Sonny Stitt fan (just hadn't heard that much, no other reason) until I picked up the Mosaic. After that I became a total nut and picked up everything in sight. The Mosaic was a real revelation for me as to how good he was, especially the Quincy Jones material. He obviously doesn't get the credit because of the Bird comparison and because he never had a set band most of the time but his tone is just so beautiful, especially on alto. Even when bored, he probably sounded better that 90% of other people. Another great discovery from that session was Jimmy Jones, someone I had never heard of until then. What would be great is if Verve would come out with a box of his 50s materia. It'd be a great companion to the Roost material. Besides this session, there's the well known Only the Blues and Sonny Side Up, the Oscar Peterson record (fantastic as well), For Musicians Only (with Diz and Getz). Also on Roost but not on the Mosaic cause it's live is At the High Hat dates. Fantastic. Sonny even plays bari. Can't recommend the Mosaic enough, as you can tell. If you're on the fence, go for it.

Scott, When it's my birthday, do you think your wife would give me a gift certificate? It'd be really appreciated.

For those of you who are on the fence about this cd, jump off that fence right now and run (don't walk!) to your nearest store and grab it. It's very good. I think the organ work here is great. Everybody is top rate on this but Dave Burns on trumpet deserves some praise here. Bobby Hutcherson and Mitchell work very well together.

Berigan, do you actually mean the cd broke in two pieces? I'm planning to start listening to that disc tonight. Thanks for the warning.

You're probably right about this but I think your earlier post said it best. This was the music of the times and it being the depression, one probably couldn't be too choosy so you took what you could and tried to leave a mark that way, while waiting for better times and opportunities. I think if you listen to them in that context, you can get by some of these songs.

What does it mean if they have a Hodges set at $80? Does it mean that Mosaic has sold it to them for a cheap price. I can't see that but anything is possible or does it mean that they've gotten outside of the normal channels of trade? If so, is there a question of it's legality?