JSngry

The Teddy Hair Bear Bunch. To know him is to groom him.

Bob Feller Herb Geller Laraine Day

River deep, hair higher.

That hair! Looks like he's been walking in the rain...

Bub Uncle Charlie Jimme Demaret

Peter Graves Count Chocula Roy Eldridge

Howie Morris did a helluva lot more than play Ernest T. Bass! A great career, and a significant contributor to the earliest Golden Age of Television. R.I.P., and thanks.

The AK Salim album I mentioned earlier has a front line of Johnny Coles, Yusef Lateef, & Pat Patrick blowing in front of an African drum choir. That's it - no ersatx attempts at "fusion" or anything like that. Pretty strong stuff, imo. As a trivial note, did you know that Louis Satterfield went on to play with Earth, Wind & Fire in the 1970s? That band's ties to the Chicago jazz scene of the late 1960s/early 1970s weren't fully eradicated for quite some time!

http://www.dustygroove.com/vocalscd.htm#44699 Dodo Greene -- Ain't What You Do . . . CD . . . $22.99 Canyon/Time (Japan), 1959 Condition: New Copy One of the rare few albums cut by vocalist Dodo Greene -- best known for her obscure Blue Note session -- and even that one's pretty darn rare! The album features Dodo singing over some larger backings by Slide Hampton -- in a style that hearkens back to earlier swing years, but which also features some extremely fresh vocals from Dodo -- sung in the unique phrasing that still made her a treat to see in recent live sets. Titles include "Manhattan", "Ain't What You Do", "Don't Cry Baby", "Black Coffee", "The Breeze", and "It's A Pity To Say Goodnight". CD also features material from a bonus rare single -- "Tell Me" and "Hold On". Anybody ever heard this? I also like her BN side, andd arrangements by Slide Hampton pique the interest further. But that price is too rich for by blood at this time.

That the herd attempts to thin itself?

Gave this one several relistens last night, and came away still digging it muchly, as much, if not more, for the inside of the music as what's on the surface. A few observations from last night's encounters: Tony Williams on cowbell? Is there anything like that anywhere else? Butch Warren on the title track is just plain lame! The only time he comes alive is during Herbie's solo, and by then it's too late. But he's fine on the rest of the album. What's up w/KD's handclapping during Joe's solo on "Straight Ahead" when Herbie lays out? Is he groovin' or is he trying to get something out of the rhythm section? I certainly hope it's the former, because that thing is burnin'! Speaking of the possibilty of "controlling", there's a mometn if KD's solo on the title tune where things start to heat up and you can hear Tony start to really bump it up a notch, threatening to go all Tony-ish on everybody. Full-fledged BASHING is a distinct and imminent possibility. But something happens, and by the time the bridge rolls around, he's back to where he was before. Did somebody (KD? Lion? Rudy?) shoot him a "WHOA! WTF is THIS?" look (this was pre-Miles Tony, remember, so who knows how much of the Tony-to-shortly-come anybody was familiar with?), or was it just a natural pull-back on Tony's part? "If Ever I Should Leave You" was rightly omitted from the original album imo (nice enough, but hey...), But Herbie's intro on that thing is a BITCH! Check it out! Worthy of orchestration, if you ask me. It's a trip listening to Joe & Herbie interact. This was Joe's debut, so who knows how much, if at all, Herbie had checked him out. Joe's already playing some really hip shit harmonically, and Herbie, possessor of one of the quickest-reacting harmonic accompanying set of ears ever, seems to be treading cautiously so as not to "overguess" Joe. But there's a moment in "Sao Paolo" where Herbie stops his comp behind Joe just for a second, as if to wait and see if Joe's going to play what he thinks he's going to play. Joe does, and Herbie is right on it with the perfect substitution. Priceless! Although the harmonic interplay between Herbie & Joe is a little bit restrained (Warren's plodding bass on "Una Mas" certainly necessitates that Herbie keep the focus on the groove first & foremost), the rhythmic interplay between them is magical. They feed each other throughout, and listening to their interplay (and how Tony subtly but surely colors it, is one of the grooviest things about this album. Check out how KD gets into a Dizzy bag for a few seconds in "Una Mas". WAY cool! And speaking of the leader, his playing throughout is very personal. His tone is no longer melloly beautiful like it was in earlier times, probably a combination of changng chops and changing conception, but his ideas are more specific (i.e. - less "lick" oriented) than they were in olden days, so it's a fair trade if you ask me. "Sao Paolo" is a freakin' great tune. Very provocative in both content and arrangement. Wouldn't be at all out of place on Our Thing (still my favorite Dorham/Henderson collaboration) and a great album closer (which it was, as originally released), the kind of thing that leaves you with a sense of having heard something other than just another blowing date. And that last note is, I think, why I dig this album so much - there's stories being told in the playing, it's not just another blowing date. Sure, everybody involved has made more "important" music elsewhere, but whoopty-damn-do. This album is full of moments where the sense of everybody listening and reacting to each other is palpable. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that this album is one such moment from start to finish. Whatever flaws there are (and there definitely are some) are more than overridden for me by that sense of immediacy and realness in the playing, the delivery of music being created, not just being made. Not all creations are going to be "great", but for me, even the least creation is at least as worthy as the greatest "product". Probably even more worthy, truth be told. It's Joe's recording debut, it's Herbie & Tony playing together before Miles, nobody's coasting, and everybody's dealing with the moment (even Warren on the title tune - at times, I swear I can feel him thinking in combined desperation/boredom "Dammit, there's GOT be something else I can do besides play this thuddy-ass line over and over...") honestly and sponaneously. For me, that's the conquering the main obstacle roght there. Any "greatness" that results is icing on the cake. Una Mas probably isn't a "Great Album". But it's one I can listen to repeatedly (at once, and over the years) and never fail to get engaged in and by. That may be a "simple pleasure", but, as with so many other things, if it were really that simple, everybody would do it. Everybody doesn't do it.

Tommy Ann-Margaret Wayne Cochran

And I wonder why he was only on one tune on that Dailey side. It was certainly a strong performance. Maybe there's more in the can?

According to AMG, Rhames recorded on guitar on three R&B albums - two by Slave, and one by former Slave frontamn Steve Arrington. I've heard none of these (at least not recently and knowingly), but I doubt that they show Rhames' full talent, if they show him at all.

Hal Russell Russell Thorne Joe Daley

Right. But I have to say - as impressive as he was, I'm not sure that I get a sense of "core" from his playing. Incredible virtuosity, intense passion, but as far as a deep sense of "who he was", other than an intense virtuoso, I dunno... No slight meant, either. Such matters are a "dilemma" that not everybody has to face, and the cruelty of Rhames' early demise deprived him of the chance to work through it (assuming, of course, that said dilemma actually did exist and does not exist entirely in my perception). Suffice it to say that this was one amazing raw talent that didn't get the chance to fully bloom, and that is a tragedy.

The Rhames/Rahied Ali release on Ayler Records makes a nice complement to the DIW.

Don't overlook these Prestige albums: http://www.dustygroove.com/cgi-sys/cgiwrap...ch&issearch=yes "Different" from the BNs, but very nice.

The people who would be doing the real work already know. It's the suits who make the final call, however. Just a hunch - when "they" run out of "legit" product to sell, they'll start mining this lode.

Details, please.

Russ Hodges Vin Scully David Duchovny

I played a Miles Tribute gig last night, and the sets were divided into KOB, MILES SMILES, & Electric Miles, in that order. While the electric instruments were setting up for the final set, I looked around at the mass of humanity and said to the cat who organized the whole thing and said with a grin, "Why didn't you go ahead and get a French Horn & Tuba? Then we could do BIRTH OF THE COOL too." Pause... And then, with an evil grin. "Or even better - why not use what you already got and do an electric BIRTH OF THE COOL?" Well, we both laughed for about 3 seconds before coming to the same realization simultaneously - that's not a bad idea. It's potentially even a great idea. Those charts are so full of color, but the tempos, the bottom-heavy instrumentation, and the recording capabilities of the time don't necessarily showcase the color of the arrangements to full advantage, at least on not all of them. Think about it - a rendition of those charts, with the same voicings, played with electronic textures. It would require players with extreme sensitivity and musicality, but somebody like Gil Goldstein, whose work on The Manhattan Project displays such qualities in abundance, I think, and whose same work shows a lucid understanding of Gil Evans' methodologies and esthetic, could maybe, maybe, do something really interesting with this concept. And adding accoustic instruments to the mix could make it even more interesting... The opbject wouldn't be to do something "better". or something that was different for the sake of being different. It would be to explore the implications of those arrangements as they relate to the color/textural capabilities/possibilities of today's electronic instruments. In other words - no gimmicks, just music. I think it could be quite an interesting project in the right hands. Now - has it already been done? P.S. - I'm anxiously awaiting Chuck's response.

Johnny Smith tried to do a rip-off of Sun Ra, but it never took, for obvious reasons.

Aunt Bee Queen Latifa William Evans of Chattanooga, Tennessee

Hank Hill Hank Mobley Cuttino Mobley