montg

The boomy bass on the Burrell/Coltrane is characteristic of the K2 also. I was hoping RVG could improve it some.

No Ornette. No Bix. I'm missing some of the newer all stars, like Kenny Garrett. No Keith Jarrett. I'm not sure what underlying thread connects those holes, it's an odd mix. For those sans big band leaders, how about "First Time!" which combines the Basie and Ellington bands? You could fill two holes at once

Another vote for the Vanguard sessions. The adjective that always comes to my mind when I think of Buck's playing is balance. The phrases seem to tumble out in a right-sounding order, his intonation and control are right on. And of course he's swinging. Vic Dickenson--who's a little more gritty--makes a perfect foil and the Vanguard sides that feature the two are priceless. I would rate 'Way down yonder' with Lester is one of my top 10 favorite cuts in all of jazz. For some reason I've never warmed to the Columbia jam sessions--I mean they're great and all, but I don't listen to them all that much. maybe it's the sound/recording--for me it has always sounded cavernous and distant.

Has anyone had a chance to compare these with the K2s (or other remasters)? I'm not a real big fan of the K2s (the bass just doesn't seems as defined as the RVGs for Blue Note), so I'm hoping the Prestige RVGs are an improvement. Miles Davis Quintet Relaxin' With [Rudy Van Gelder Remaster] PRCD-8104-2 Kenny Dorham Quiet Kenny [Rudy Van Gelder Remaster] PRCD-8108-2 Modern Jazz Quartet Django [Rudy Van Gelder Remaster] PRCD-8110-2 March 21, 2006 John Coltrane Lush Life [Rudy Van Gelder Remaster] PRCD-8103-2 Kenny Burrell/John Coltrane Kenny Burrell&John Coltrane [Rudy Van Gelder Remaster] PRCD-8107-2 Gene Ammons Boss Tenor [Rudy Van Gelder Remaster] PRCD-8102-2 $11.98 Eric Dolphy Out There [Rudy Van Gelder Remaster] PRCD-8101-2 $11.98 Red Garland Red Garland's Piano [Rudy Van Gelder Remaster] PRCD-8109-2 $11.98 Coleman Hawkins The Hawk Relaxes [Rudy Van Gelder Remaster] PRCD-8106-2 $11.98 Sonny Rollins Saxophone Colossus

I recently picked up Arthur Blythe's "Lenox Avenue Breakdown" and gave it a spin tonight for the first time. Very nice! A great "inside/outside" session. Really cool instrumentation, with James Newton's flute, the tuba, and Blood Ulmer comping on electric guitar. It's a shame that Columbia didn't stick with Blythe.

The Chu Berry has been pushed back to 2007.

'Free' is the right term, imo. One of the first jazz CDs I ever bought was Hines live at the Village Vanguard (Limelight recording with Hawk and Eldridge). Exciting stuff. I think I would rather listen to Hines than just about any other pianist--those tremolos, the unpredictable rhythmic shifts etc. I love it all. Where Art Tatum sounds cold and stiff to me, Hines just brims with spontanaity (even though he must have played Honeysuckle Rose a thousand times, he's still digging into it like it's brand new).

I'm giving this a spin right now--first time I've heard the material. NIce sound. I'm really digging Mabern. What more can you say about HIggins? That beautiful cymbal work makes so many mid 60s BN sessions glow!

Thank you for the link. There are more live recordings than I figured.

One of my favorite live recordings is the Red Clay bonus track recorded for CTI and released on the 2002 reissue of Red Clay. Something about the era, the energy that really moves me (btw, does anyone have any familiarity with the Southgate Palace in LA, where the Red Clay recording was made in 1971?). Anyway, I'm curious about how much live stuff from the CTI roster in the early 70s (Turrentine, Hubbard etc) is available in one form or another.

Check out Walt Weiskop's 'Anytown' on Criss Cross (with Joe Locke) for some more great playing by RR. Is she still recording for Blue Note? It seems like it's been awhile.

This looks like a winner to me. The genesis of Louis Armstrong is bound to be a fascinating story. It's forthcoming at the end of the month. Book description from publisher (Norton) book home page In the early twentieth century, New Orleans was a place of colliding identities and histories, and Louis Armstrong was a gifted young man of psychological nimbleness. A dark-skinned, impoverished child, he grew up under low expectations, Jim Crow legislation, and vigilante terrorism. Yet he also grew up at the center of African American vernacular traditions from the Deep South, learning the ecstatic music of the Sanctified Church, blues played by street musicians, and the plantation tradition of ragging a tune. Louis Armstrong's New Orleans interweaves a searching account of early twentieth-century New Orleans with a narrative of the first twenty-one years of Armstrong's life. Drawing on a stunning body of first-person accounts, this book tells the rags-to-riches tale of Armstrong's early life and the social and musical forces that shaped him. The city and the musician are both extraordinary, their relationship unique, and their impact on American culture incalculable. 16 pages of illustrations.

I've had the opportunity to listen to this most of the way through on a couple of occasions. A lot of beautiful music here. As others have said, Tardy and Tolliver etc appear to be pretty much in synch with Hill's vision and there's an organic, meditative feel to a lot of what I heard. Anybody who enjoys Hill's music can't possibly be disappointed. Tardy does evoke Dolphy at times, I think. Have to disagree about the recording quality. The piano sounds good, but nothing special with the sound of the horns. The bass is mixed in a very muddy way, a lot of times it's lost in the drums (at least that's how I hear it on my system). No clear & defined bass, like Richard Davis on the 60s RVG recordings. It's astonishing to me that the recording/engineering of jazz often seems to be no better than it was 45 years ago and sometimes things seem to have even regressed. Minor complaint in the overall scheme, however--the music is as wonderful as I hoped it would be. I look forward to hearing more informed opinions.

Pit bulls should be outlawed. they're not dumb, they're just tenaciously aggressive to the point of pathology sometimes.

Mine came in the mail today from CD Universe--because of President's day on Monday things are probably off a day. I'm looking forward to getting home from work and listening this evening to Dippin' and Andrew Hill's new one

That's a sweet cover--I think read somewhere that Pee Wee painted it.

Has anyone heard the Pee Wee Russell set? That's one of the sessions I'm most intrigued by.

I heard some cuts from this at the website of the record label a few weeks ago. For me, the absence of non-swing rhythms was a definite drawback. Whatever was going on rhythmically struck me as more tiring and boring than interesting. I would hope swing rhythms would still be a part of my world--the contemporary world. They may have been invented by our grandfathers, but that doesn't mean we can't use them, right? As long as it's done with love and sincerity.

You must not have watched much Mr Rogers in the 70s! Joe Negri was probably the first real jazz I heard as a child (though I didn't know it was jazz at the time)

Verve, I believe

From the booklet (not verified with my own ears, not that I'd be very accurate anyway): DISC FOUR Roy Eldridge, Dizzy Gillespie (tp) Johnny Hodges (as) Illinois Jacquet, Flip Phillips, Ben Webster (ts) Lionel Hampton (vib) Oscar Peterson (p) Ray Brown (b) Buddy Rich (d) NYC, September 2, 1953 1) Blue Lou Eldridge, Webster, Hampton, Phillips, HOdges, Peterson, Jacquet, Gillespie (or as symp sid says, Ja-lesspie) 2) Just You, Just Me phillips, web, jacq, gillespie, eldridge, hodges, Peterson, hampton 3) Jam Blues hamp,peterson,hodges,webs,eldridge,phillips,gillesp,jacq,hampton again 4) Ballad Medley: Tenderly / I've Got The World On A String / What's New? / I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good) / Don't Blame Me / Imagination / Someone To Watch Over Me / Body And Soul / She's Funny That Way hamp,phillips,gill,hodges, jacq,peterson,web,brown,eldridge DISC FIVE Roy Eldridge, Dizzy Gillespie (tp) Bill Harris (tb) Buddy DeFranco (cl) Flip Phillips (ts) Oscar Peterson (p) Herb Ellis (g) Ray Brown (b) Louis Bellson (d) NYC, October 30, 1954 1) Funky Blues Eldridge, Phillips, Harris, Ellis, Gilllespie, Peterson, Defranco, Eldridge 2) Lullaby In Rhythm peterson,harris,phillips,ellis,bellson,defranco,eldridge,gillespie,bellson again

The Super Bowl years. You probably remember Joe Negri if you were in Pittsburgh in the 70s. I forgot Dodo Marmarosa comes from Pittsburgh too

I picked up 'Tain Watts' 'Detained CD--my first entry into this series. This CD really smokes. Not just Kenny Garrett, but 'Tain also. 'Like the rose' is one weird song...sort of like a '70s prog rock anthem mutated into a serious jazz form and bookended by Tain's odd sounding vocals. I love it!

Some props for my hometown (growing up)--the city of champions. Lincoln Center is having a live tribute Saturday evening (2/18) to Pittsburgh. You can catch it on WBGO or XM sattelite. wbgo Man, how many greats have come from Pittsburgh? Mary Lou Williams, Roy Eldridge, Art Blakey, Earl Hines, Erroll Garner, the Turrentines, 'Tain Watts, Kenny Clarke.....

Thanks Lon. Some of that Living stereo stuff sounds like it was recorded in an empty gymnasium. This looks like a good CD, with Teagarden and Pee Wee Russell, among others.