JSngry

I've heard Black Cat and frankly think it's one of those "for deep fans only" type things. Certainly not "bad", but...

John Irving Julius Erving Booker Ervin

Uncle Sam W.K. Kellogg Max Kiss

Would've been better w/Rabbit on board.

James "Pookie" Hudson Joe Black Rosa Parks

Vijay Singh Vivian Carter Frankie Valle

If by "talent" we're talking pure instrumental/vocal performing skills, what did Jimmy Lunceford show us in these regards? Of course, he had a whole 'nother talent - that of organization and leadership - and it was nothing to take lightly.

Well, there's only one Wayne, of course, but I think you also gotta look at the fact that none of those players were functioning in an environment that they had had such a direct hand in creating as had Wayne. Which also points to the fact that Miles' post-BB bands were by no means a series of consistant "stylistic" entities. Those bands and their styles were constantly evolving, and it seems that most (if not all) of the evolution was spearheaded entirely by Miles. It's the one period of his career where the true collaborative nature of his other bands' discoveries, before and after, seems to have taken a backseat to Miles taking people to where he them wanted to go. Players came and went, and as they did, so did the style of the music. The difference between the Cellar Door band and the post On The Corner band isn't even two years, but it's not just totally different players, it's totally different music, and different from the ground up. The closest to anything "traditional" the you get is the last, electronically abstracted glimpses of the already abstract last days of The Lost Quintet that the Fillmore band(s) w/Grossman put out. From there on, all ties to the past, at least in terms of things overtly "stylistic", were gone. Wayne came into a set gig and morphed it into his own image (with, of course, help from his bandmates and assent/leadership from Miles). Pretty much everybody else came into a situation constantly in flux and were forced to figure out what the music needed. For a sax player, especially ones with the strong "regular jazz" backgrounds as the ones he used, it must've sometimes been a strange ride, to say the least...

Lamont Cranston?

Danny Thomas Marlo Thomas Phil Donahue

Soul Note was the later-starting label and was originally intended as a label for more "veteran" type players.

Just to clarify, Quartet Out is not "my" band. It's very much a co-operative "venture"... Otherwise, yeah, this should be a great day of music in support of a very worthy cause, Y'all come!

Suzy Creamcheese Jeannie Vassoir Vassar Clements

Eggs-ACT-ly!

No, it's some Michigan boy: http://www.joeygaydosjr.net/ Prepare to be amazed...

Hey - anybody who can make rape jokes, abortion jokes, and still take time out for the little people has GOT to be a faboolous babe who can do no wrong!

Marlowe Morris Greg Morris Bud Collier

Edmond Hall Monty Hall Carroll Merrill

Damn, my PM box IS full! I dig Sarah Silverman. Maybe it's just because she's just a TOTAL babe, and because when I laugh at her, I want her to see me laughing at her and think that anybody who can laugh at her jokes that hard has GOT to be fun in the sack and then...Well, you know the rest. I'm a pig. But I'm a FUN pig!

You've never herd Gerard play, have you...

Max Bialystock George Lucas Papo Lucca

Quique Lucca Kiki Dee Koko Taylor

Boots Brown Shorty Rogers Milton Rajonsky ← Milton Campbell Marion Walter Jacobs Jose Maria DeLeon Hernadez

Arrangers are: Benny Carter, Russ Garcia, Lyn Murray, Pete King, Dick Hazard (sounds like a STD...), Johnny Keating, George Wyle, Sid Feller, Marty Paich, George Cates, Jerry Gray, & Vic Schoen. Liner notes by Stanley Dance. And two piano solos by Gene Harris. One of those statements is not true, btw...

I'll be getting it, just not right away. I know pretty much all the material, and have for quite a while, so there's no real urgency. It's not going to be a "perfect" set by any means, and I know that up front. But hey, it's Oliver Nelson... As for "too many" big-band sets, how many are too many? Did Blue Note make too may hard bop sides? Did Prestige make too many organ sides? Big band jazz is (well, was, anyway) an idiom that spawned, nurtured, and sustained some of the great talents and minds of this music, both writers and players. I can understand and respect not caring too much for the idiom as a matter of personal taste, but there's such a rich legacy there, and in terms of post-Swing Era bands, it's often highly underrated, undervalued, and/or unknown. If that's not right in line with the "Mosaic Mission", then I don't know what is!