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cduniverse Harris' take on some Ellington suites (including the Queen's Suite and the New Orleans Suite) as well as Harris' own compositions. Due out on Blue Note October 3. It features Harris' regular quartet along with an expanded ensemble. Gregory Tardy and Steve Turre are among the guests. A further description of the CD is here: african tarantella excerpt: Indeed, the key to African Tarantella's artistic transcendence is Harris' unique ability to manifest his identity within Ellington's sound. "I re-orchestrated the instrumentation and changed a few voices, but I was hoping to maintain the core character of Ellington. I wanted to create a different sound but with the same vibrations. “ Instead of assembling a standard big band in Duke’s image, Harris opted for a unique chamber jazz ensemble. Built upon Harris’ acoustic quartet (pianist Xavier Davis, bassist Derrick Hodge, drummer Terreon Gully), the ensemble also features clarinet (Greg Tardy), trombone (Steve Turre), flute (Anne Drummond), viola (Junah Chung), and cello (Louise Dubin). Looking forward to it.

Red Clay would be at the top of my list. Along with Dexter Gordon. There's an impressive list of favorite recordings from the 70s and 80s on the Bad Plus blog: badplus

As I said, I haven't read through this enitre thread so my earlier post was more or less out of context. I didn't use the phrase 'old coot' to refer in even the remotest sense to anyone on this board. I know that's not what your're saying--you apparently object to the term, which seems reasonable enough--but I wanted to clarify that I intended no disrespect to any individual. But I did want to give a little love to SY because I found his work in the AMG helpful to me.

I don't think I'll like this thread, so rather than read it, I'll make like an old coot and say whatever I feel--regardless of how on-task it is. Yanow's All Music Guide was the first jazz guide I really used when I was first learning about this music in the mid 90s. He steered this neophyte (at the time) toward some mighty fine music, and I'm thankful for that.

Ghost, you and I appear to have similar reading interests. I've been reading a ton of Hammet, Raymond Chandler etc this summer. I can hardly get enough of it! Lately, I've been reading Ross MacDonald (the Lew Archer stuff). I just finished the Galton Case. Have you read Paul Elie's biography of Merton, Dorothy Day, Walker Percy, and Flannery O'Connor? Really enjoyable and interesting to see the intersections among those great lives.

Lately I've been really, really, digging Worktime (from the 50s) and Alfie (from the mid 60s).

I'm listening to Time Out, for the first time in ages, and I think I'm finally beginning to appreciate it (and Brubeck). In the past, when Dave would seem to be stuck on one of those repeated figures I just felt like shouting "MOVE". Now, maybe I'm just letting Brubeck be Brubeck rather than expecting him to be Red Garland or whatever. The locked hands thing has kind of an orchestral quality to it, maybe...like he's trying to build up tension or something. Anyway, Time Out's working for me today. Maybe it's time to check out the boxed set. Hard to beat the BMG price.

I was curious about those too. Any stand outs (aside from Red Clay perhaps)?

Generally I have a preference for Dylan albums that have a rough, sort of impromptu quality to them--an 'in the moment' feel. The mid sixties stuff, John Wesley Harding, street legal, shot of love (perhaps may favorite) all have this quality. It's always astonished me that someone as famous as Bob Dylan would allow himself to be overwhelmed in the studio by a slick-sounding producer (Arthur Baker's automatized hand claps on Empire Burlesque perhaps being the nadir). Even though stuff like Slow Train and Oh Mercy is 'critically acclaimed', it has never connected with me, it just sounds too slick. Modern Times is produced by Dylan and is all the better for it. Sorry Lon, I'm usually right there with you when it comes to likes and dislikes in music, but BOTT, though not overproduced perhaps, sounds a little too note-perfect and pretty and a little unreal to me (I know most think just the opposite--that BOTT is very real, reflecting the marriage breakup and all). To each his own, at least when it comes to music

High praise for this by Doug Ramsey this morning: artsjournal blog It reads in part: Hart's compositions are as hip as his playing. I see no reason why his ballads "Charvez" (with allusions to Rachmaninoff) and "Lullaby For Imke" should not become jazz standards. Taken together, his four tunes, those by Iverson, Turner, John Coltrane and Charlie Parker, and resourceful playing by all hands, add up to one of the freshest albums I've heard this year. Does Joe Fields run Highnote (the label for this recording)? Is he the same one that owned Muse at one point?

Another vote for Art Hodes.

I have the Birks Works CD and I find it pretty enjoyable. There are just a few vocals and only one that I recall that was pretty dire. These are 3 complete LPs--it's not a compilation: "Dizzy in Greece", "World Statesman", and "Birks' Works".

I thought the sound was sort of off too. Too bright, kind of like the saxes were out of pitch. It wasn't enough to detract from the music, but something certainly sounded off center to me.

Earma Thompson from Chicago. Sirens Records has recorded her. I heard her live last spring, she has an Earl Hines type of thing going. sirens records

I was really disappointed in this disc. When you consider the band--Hutcherson, Sanders, Blade etc-- and the greatness of KG, high expectations are in order. But after the first two songs, the disc takes a wretched turn. I found the vocal refrains to be annnoying and intrusive. On Qing Wen (the third song), the vocal refrain basically cuts in whenever a soloist is starting to build a statement after a few measures. Qing wen must be Chinese for 'interruption' And it's not like the refrain is interesting. Allthough the voice is good, the refrain is simple and it just repeats over and over and over. I know, it's probably an Eastern thing, but I found it annoying. Unfortunately, the vocals intrude on many of the remaining songs. I read somewhere where this was compared to Byrd's 'New Perspective'. Not even close. The chorale parts on Byrd's album frame the soloist and complement the music. Sorry to be negative, I'm just disappointed. I sold the CD the same day I bought it. I'd recommend just buying the 4 or 5 decent cuts on itunes or whatever

Are there any single or double CD sets of Bix that have comparable sound quality to the Mosaic? I'd like to have some Bix in my collection, but I'm not sure I want to go the Mosaic route on this one

I love Edmond Hall and the Petite Fleur CD is great. The Condon Mob set is kind of variable in terms of style. There are some great sessions with COndon and with Hall that are superb. But there's some other stuff that's less swing and more dixieland (Dick Cary and Jimmy Dorsey sessions, for instance). I enjoy the Dixieland stuff on teh COndon set, but there's no Edmond Hall on those sessions. If you're looking for something similiar to Petite Fleur , try VIc Dickenson w/ Edmond Hall on Vanguard ("Nice work if you can get it"):

Thanks for reviving this thread. I've been on a real Sonny kick lately--Alfie and Worktime in particular. This thread will make some fun reading, especially later tonight when the kids get to bed and and I spin some Sonny

There are a lot of Teagarden vocals on the v-disc sides he cut with his big band in the mid 40s (Big T Jump). The focus of the big band stuff seems to be primarily on his singing, so if that's what you're looking for it would be a good place to start. Big t jump Some vocals and good playing by Tea are also on the Bud Freeman disc that's part of the Mosaic singles series.

I haven't heard any of these but I'm curious about them. The formula seems to be to have three youngish players on the same instruement joined by a rhythm section. A lot of top notch players...plus, the number of volumes (20 and counting) suggests that the series has been successful. Opinions? Do any stand out as a good places to start? (Below, I've tried to list the sessions and some of the featured players) Catalog No. CD Title Artist SCCD 31522 Jam Session Vol. 1 Larry Schneider Chris Potter SCCD 31523 Jam Session Vol. 2 Vic Juris Dave Stryker SCCD 31526 Jam Session Vol. 3 Dick Oatts Don Braden SCCD 31527 Jam Session Vol. 4 Ingrid Jensen Mark Turner SCCD 31536 Jam Session Vol. 5 Scott Wendholt Dave Ballou SCCD 31537 Jam Session Vol. 6 Alex Norris Ari Ambrose SCCD 31546 Jam Session Vol. 7 Louis Smith Mark Turner SCCD 31547 Jam Session Vol. 8 Ryan Kisor Jimmy Greene SCCD 31554 Jam Session Vol. 9 Mark Turner Don Braden SCCD 31555 Jam Session Vol. 10 Doug Raney Dave Stryker SCCD 31566 Jam Session Vol. 11 Charles Sullivan Conrad Herwig SCCD 31567 Jam Session Vol. 12 Rich Perry Larry Schneider SCCD 31574 Jam Session Vol. 13 Dick Oatts Jon Gordon SCCD 31575 Jam Session Vol. 14 Gregory Tardy Mark Turner SCCD 31581 Jam Session Vol. 15 Loren Stillman Chris Byars SCCD 31582 Jam Session Vol. 16 Ron McClure Jay Anderson SCCD 31593 Jam Session Vol. 17 Ryan Kisor Brad Goode SCCD 31594 Jam Session Vol. 18 Dick Oatts Walt Weiskopf SCCD 31601 Jam Session Vol. 19 Rich Perry, Rick Margitza, Joshua Smith SCCD 31602 Jam Session Vol. 20 Vincent Gardner, Andre Hayward,

I have a preference for the Capitol sides over the Roulette if only because I'd MUCH rather hear Bobby Hackett playing the obligatos than Don Goldie. Listening toTeagarden sing 'Hundred Years from Today' never fails to move me.

I have 'Somethin' Else' spinning at this very moment--for me, this may be the jazz album closest to perfection. It's well above #31 on my list. A lot of jazz greats from the 20s & 30s made albums in the 50s. I think the absence of early jazz stars on this list just reflects a contemporary indifference toward pre-Bird jazz. Too bad.