JSngry

This is something I would like very much to hear! On a side note - have any recordings of Sun Ra's time w/Henderson surfaced? Are tehre even any rumors of any existing?

Yes. Daniel, are you saying that the pianist in question played better than Monk 20 years earlier, or that he himself played better 20 years earlier?

Yes, very much so. I definitely heard "the spirit moving" on Davis, but I'd never, EVER, mistake anything on there for Monk, which is how I like it.

Was that with James Reese Europe's Society Orchestra? There was a site (www.redhotjazz.com) that had RealAudio samples of some of that stuff (as well as Europe's Hellfighter's Orchestra, whose output has of course been released in toto, unlike that of the Society Orchestra). Pretty interesting stuff, all of it. Unfortunately, the site does not seem to be available right now, although it was as recently as last week. Hopefully that's just a temporary condition. What kind of a career did Lent have post-Europe (again, if this is the guy I'm thinking of)? Jazz? Shows? Dance orchestras? Nothing? If this is the guy I'm thinking of, he displayed pretty damn good chops, at least for the time (then again, chops is chops no matter the era, right?).

The Metropole Orchestra/Lee Konitz album is a gem. Some of the most relaxed, lyrical Konitz on record, and I think the arrangements for the orchestra make that possible. Highly recommended.

Once you start digging it, you can't stop. This is not "deep" music (and I mean absolutely nothing derogatory or condescending by saying that) that reveals new secrets (or horrors) with time (althoiugh I think I got to where I could hear some digital manipulations to cover tape flaws. But I'm not sure about that and really don't givea dame anyway). Its charms are immediately apparent, and very, VERY real. That's the beauty of it, and why it makes the perfect party record for the perfect party, one where a great time is had by all without undue effort, ugly confrontation, or awkward inappropriateness. Granted, not all of life is a party, or should be, but a life without them is not one I'll be living, thank you very much, so why not have the very best? This side is perfect.

Are you REALLY "out of tune" if you're playing/singing it as you REALLY hear it and it's obvious that your musicality cannot otherwise be questioned? I, for one, don't think so. In or out of tune with WHAT, that's the question...

Just received via e-mail from a good friend. His comment? "Sometimes the jokes write themselves". How true This is an excerpt. of a genuine news article from Reuter's News dated 12/19/2003. Lebanese Says U.S. Troops 'Tortured' Him with Rap By Mariam Karouny BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese Mohammed Jaber said he went to Iraq (news - web sites) on a pilgrimage to Muslim holy sites, he ended up being "tortured" with loud rap music by U.S. troops suspicious he might be a foreign fighter against their occupation. Jaber said an Iraqi taxi driver handed him and three friends over to U.S. troops for $100 each in April apiece as fighters for ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein "They asked us why we were there and if we came to fight them. But we said we came only to visit the holy sites in Kerbala," he told Reuters. "They didn't torture us physically but they did psychologically by raising the volume of rap music all day until it became unbearable and by withholding food," he said. But Jaber said he kept one secret from his captors, fearing the treatment could get worse. "I mean I like rap, just imagine them playing jazz." U.S.-led forces in Iraq freed Jaber and sent him and seven other Arab detainees home on Saturday.

Since you're not going to hunker down until after the first of the year (a wise choice imo, unless there's something waiting to meet you face-to-face now and you just don't know about it yet), howzabout droppin' some science on BFT #4? ')

Yeah, Lorber was one of the guys who lived on the border between "fusion" and "smooth jazz", might even be considered a "transitional figure" between the two. Some of his stuff was pretty nice, some wasn't. But he DID have this saxophone player for a while named Kenny Gorelick, a player who actually showed a little spunk once in a while. To skip about 3 or 4 levels of reasoning, it just goes to show you that we all have choices to make along the way, so choose wisely.

I use "quirkiness" and "perversity" with total affection, btw. The guy just has a heaviness of attack and majes certain note choices that make him stand out form the crowd, and I like that, even if at times it's SO different as to appear willingly, uh, "pererse". But again - I LIKE that!

Actually, I've been waiting all week on Rooster. Dr. J gets a break becasue he's out-of-town. Or so he says... Answers begin Monday. I'll try to get them done all at once, but no promises.

The CD notes list Frank Blair as bassist. Probably NOT the old Today Show newsman...

Wait 'til Jeff Lorber passes!

BUT... I avoided buying the LP for several years because of the butt-ugly color scheme of the cover. I still don't listen to it as often as I should becasue the cover creeps me out in some small way. Strange but true.

I, on the other hand, dig it quite a bit, but I'll freely admit that it's "quirky", which obviously means that it's one of those things that you can get a vast range of opinion about. Leslie displays a musical personality that at times borders on perversity while all the while staying within a pretty conservative hard bopish framework (the totally unique and (for me) riveting version of "Lonely Woman" being the exception). Imagine early Bill Barron in a Fun House... Not in any way a "safe bet", if you get my dee-rift, but if you never go...

You let singers sit in at a session? That's breaking The FIRST Rule right there!

Besides the Litweiler & Wilmer (both essential, I think): Frank Kofsky's "Black Nationalism & the Revolution in Music" covers this era, with a strong political slant to it. Leroi Jones/Amiri Baraka's "Black Music" is a really neat collection of "in the moment", contemporaneous essays, liner notes, etc. that give a good feel of the climate at the time. Edward Jost's "Free Jazz" is worth a look, too. A.B. Spellman's "Four Lives In The Bebop Business" (ca. 1966?) contains in-depth profiles of Cecil & Ornette, as well as Jackie McLean & Herbie Nichols. Some cat named Rob Baccus (sp) wrote a slim volume called "Fire Music" in the 70s, but it's got more enthusiasm than substance, imo.

It musta done got free.

I thought the hole was round so's it would remind us of records...

Just discovering this guy myself, and liking what I'm hearing so far. Really dig what he does with "Hey Joe" on BLOOD SUTRA, among other things.

Does the CD spin, or is it the laser? If it's the former, then I think that answers the question. If not, then I don't know.

Yeah, that one was one side the Sextet session to which you refer (minus LFS) and one side Ascent to the Scaffold soundtrack. Never has been reissued in that form either. Rarer than hen's teeth.

Although, "Love For Sale" didn't come out until DIRECTIONS.

You can do better. Be patient.