JSngry

Yeah, well, that Buddist stuff is cool and all that, but it's too complicated and wordy for modern needs. To wit: quoth The Chords - "Life could be a dream. Doo do do doot, Sha-Boom". That's more to the point AND there's a tenor solo, which is kinda what it's all about in the end anyway, right?

Bobby Mcferrin's a bad motherfucker. Goofy as hell more often than not, but still...

'Bout the only stuff I'm even a little cold on is the post-"500 Lb. Man" WB material, (not "500 Lb" itself, though, which remains one of my favorite Kirk sides for the superb integration of production and performance, a more fully - and perfectly - realized version of the concepts of "aural theatre" put forth on "Audio Dream", I think) and even then, there's never really a bad album or a bad performance, just some (what are for me, anyway) "questionable" production decisions. And having said that, many of his earlier Atlantic albums are uneven like a mofo, but in the way that a roller coaster ride is uneven. I, for one LOVE roller coaster rides!

I LOVE N.O. funeral dirge music. Haven't heard the Atlantic material (yet), but have heard many other examples. There's a direct line from that stuff to Ayler, with Gospel being that which draws it. This is hardly an "original observation", btw.

That Jordan thing was out on Charlie Parker Records, wasn't it? That stuff had a way of popping up and then disappearing, seemingly at will, for many years. I have an LP reissue of WE INSIST on Amiga (or is it Amigo?), w/a facsimile of the original cover. Is that hte same label that did the Wright thing?

Skunk Baxter, wasn't it?

Yeah, I got that VSOP thing back in the day. Caused a BIG sensation. I'm talking about bootlegs. How many of THOSE are floating around? Not even grey-market, just pure collectors things that have never been made available commercially. What's the deal w/this "Toys" CD?

No shit!

You're welcome! FWIW, I think that Gerald did this kind of thing about as well as it could be done, and I enjoy it in "take it for what it is" mode. Compare his work in this vein to the various Buddy Rich pop covers of the same time and see what you think. Herman's work in this area ranged from preety good to godawful. Basie's was, well, Basie - ANY tune worked with that band by then to one degree or another. Ellington's was, well, Ellington - the tunes might have been pop but that just added ANOTHER layer of subtext to an already mountainous layer of subtext. When Don Ellis did the occasional pop cover, it was clearly done to search and destroy. Kenton in the late 60s was regularly getting it in the back door from Capitol, so don't EVEN go there. And by the time the 70s rolled around/in Maynard's band was sort of redefining the genre, so the chapter ends there afaic. So Gerald's work, for what it is, mind you, holds up pretty nicely if you can take it for/as what it is, I think. It was the times, and they were a-changin'. (sorry.....) OTOH - LOTS of Pacific Jazz/World Pacific artists were doing the pop cover thing REALLY heavily (Bud Shank even had a "hit" w/ a version of "Michelle") so who knows? Either way, though, it was "in the air" all around, or so it seems, and some players seemed to come by it more honestly than others.

More Konitz/Solal on the OJC SATORI, one of my favorite Konitz dates.

ALL the big bands were doing it.

Well, Jim, he was in 1964 http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=U...l=Addtvadskv8wn but this was 1967, so maybe/probably not.

Just curious how well-documented this band is in terms of live tapes that circulate amongst collectors? I remember one bootleg LP in the 70s, but tht's it to my knowledge. Seems like there's GOT to be more stuff out there. This was another band about which a lot of people say that the records only tell a fraction of the story.

Just say, "Hey Billy - really dig this tune. How much you want for a lead sheet?" He doesn't have to know who you are or what you want it for. Hell, he might even GIVE you one. But don't count on that. Plus - how cool would it be to have the REAL lead sheet, straight from the pen (or Xerox) of the composer his ownself? WAY cool, I'd think! I did this w/Zappa back in 1970, wrote & asked for a lead sheet to "America Drinks & Goes Home". This was before email, obviously, so FIRST I had to write Local 47 to get a directory (Noooo problem!). To see the addresses and phone #s of EVERY major musician in L.A. right there for anybody to access was a real mindfuck. Of course, now I realize that some of those contacts were no doubt for personal management, but when you're 14, what do you know about that? Anyway, I wrote a little note saying that I dug the song and would like some music for it. Got a photocopy of Zappa's handwritten lead sheet back from Herb Cohen. VERY minimal, but it was THE REAL DEAL! I think my Mom threw it out w/my baseball cards, though...

Well, what I want to know is why there's not a post-defecatory bidet. You could call it a Boodet. I'd think that there'd be a market...

I was shopped at the Austin Tower before the cuffing began, and let me tell you - it was freakin' GREAT!

Hanny Burundi!

Wasn't Rick Laird the house bassist in those days?

Have you heard Ursula Dudzyak?

I've transcribed some of Billy's tunes, but not this one. I agree it's one of his trickier structures. My mother-in-law is visiting otherwise I'd get on this right away... Those are the only two recordings of it that I know of, but he's got a few things that I haven't gotten yet, earlier things, so maybe he does it on one of those. Why don't you e-mail him? billy@billyharper.com

Yeah, but if you put a drum beat to it. Whacha' gonna play - 4 or 3(ish)? The 6/8 thing comes in handy when writing too - you don't have to write "3" over all the "triplets" that end up in the music, and the other phrases have an almost-swing built in, which is a function of the compound meter business. There's a 3 & a 2 feel happening simultaneously.

The voice.

Not sure, but besides the stuff originally on Atlantic in the 50s there was a 2-LP set of additional material out on Atlantic in the 70s (or early 80s, can't remember) that I picked up on a cutout cassette and have played some of the high frequencies off of over the years. So an upgrade was overdue, for sure!

If you get good players playing good charts, you'll almost always get good music, no matter what the instrumentation. Of course, when it comes to string dates, that's easier said than done, but it's a lot easier now than it was back in the day. Writers and players have both gotten hipper to the trip. But I love me some good string writing.