JSngry

Yeah, but if the best has already happened... I can't afford to go there, I just can't. I WANT to a lot of times, especially in the dark times, but I can't. I shouldn't. It's wrong. I'm only 47. Oh shit - that means my life is probably moe than half over, doesn't it? DEFINITELY can't afford to go there... Anywayz.. Boy that Stitt sure could play, couldn't he!

It's this Argo 1957 single by somebody named T.V. Slim. Great tenor solo by Robert Parker, and some DEFINITIVE drumming by the great Charles "Hungry" Williams. I've had it for 20+ years on various anthologies, but last night I put on the CHESS NEW ORLEANS set at work, and when that song came on, I just looped it for over TWO HOURS. That's how strong the groove is on this badboy! We can only use headphones, or else I'd have had the whole crew jammin'! Flatfoot Sam bought an automobile. No money down, got a heck of deal. Didn't wanna work, just ride around town. Finance cumpny put his feets on the ground. Flatfoot sam, you're always in a jam. Sure, it's not "you are the promised kiss of springtime that makes the lonely winter seem long", but hey - IT WORKS! And DAMN was Hungry a BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDD Muthaphukkah! "Flatfoot Sam" - ask for it by name.

Sax is better.

I'll take a McGriddle, thanks! (the syrup's baked in, ya'know)

One might be tempted to ask if it's the magazine that's gotten worse or the jazz scene in general if one did not fear being prematurely nostalgic...

I meant that Adams, at least the recordings I've heard him on, tended to be a bit "undisciplined" in his playing before his encounter with Kirk. Kirk basically plays him his whole solo back in, what, 4 bars?, and then moves on. And on. That's a "lesson", believe me, one that any musician would find impossible to miss. Coincidentally or not, Adams became a GREATLY more disciplined and focused player afterwards. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the cat, but early on, he coulda used some self-editing, or whatever you want to call it, which he certainly developed late on. As for Mingus's energy level, you gotta remember that the guy was pretty heavily medicated at the time, and began getting ill shortly after he came off the meds.. And aside from that, the edition of the band that had Hamiett Bluiett in it along with Adams & Pullen cast Mingus for the first time in the role of "musical conservative" in is own band! His comments at the time seem to indicate a mixture of feelings about the "wilder" elements being brought to his music. Crazy, eh?

Nope. It's a late-60s date w/Marvin Stamm, Garnett Brown, Richard Wyands, Bob Cranshaw, and Mickey Roker. It's a "good" record, nothing more. Or less.

No, dude - YOU imagine it.

I know you're out there, I can hear you seething...

Garry Giddins' 5-Star review of CONSTELLATION from down beat, 5-10-73, reviewed in conjunction w/MADE FOR EACH OTHER. a Delmark album w/the Patterson/James duo. CONSTELLATION is a bitch! The year is still young, but for saxophonists, this is the record to get in the ring with. I've never heard Stitt sound more alive, energetic, or inventive. If last years TUNE UP! presented him at his most exciting, this disc has him at his most intellectually stirring. You have to dig it repeatedly to hear how MUCH music Stitt can play. Undoubtedly, one of the main reasons this session maintained so dazzling a level is that it was profoundly a group effort. Barry Harris, whose music seems to grow more deeply into himself than outwward into the world, solos imaginatively and with verve, but equally important is the perfect accompanist. The ever-dependable Sam Jones is solid; his huge tone seems to make it easier for Stitt. And Roy Brooks is a model of the listening drummer. One never feels that he is only keeping time, and his sensitive, pushing work has rarely been better sampled. On the title cut, Stitt is a fire-breather. This Charlie Parker riff inspired its composer to a stunning flight, and Stitt's version rivals it. With the exception of one hesitation, he tears through chorus after chorus with undaunted pace and imagination. "Ghost" recieves definitive treatment. The Stitt tenor is as warm and caressing as any you can name. Every line is handled with an alertness that proscribes cliche and repetition. The same can be said for "Casbah", the too rarely heard Tadd Dameron re-working of "Out Of Nowhere". But each track is notable. At the risk of merely revealing my own limitations in listening capacity, I'd suggest you listen to only a couple of tracks at a time. It would be a shame to miss the fireworks that close each side because your mind is still reeling from the opening ones. No one took an easy ride here; the more you listen, the more surprises there are. This is a priceless example of devoted artists celebrating their music. ...review of the Delmark follows, basically "nice, but eh..."... In conclusion, Giddins writes: Comparing the albums reveals the difference between a great player displaying the obvious aspects of his talents and the same man going for broke in fast company. Also in the same issue: News about Atlantic Records 25th aniversary & Dexter Gordon's 50th birthday bash; a brief profile of Columbia Records Vice-President of Marketing, Bruce Lundvall, in conjunction with the release of CLIFFORD BROWN: THE BEGINNING AND THE END, the JAZZ AT THE PLAZA albums, the Byas/Powell date produced by Cannonball, and a few other things, including a "Stan Getz LP made up of both previously released and unreleased stuff from a Bob Brookmeyer date that also included Herbie Hancock, Gary Burton, Ron Carter, Elvin Jones, and guest vocalist Tony Bennett." When did THAT one ever come out? Interviews with Gato Barbieri (who had just signed to but not yet recorded anything for Impulse!) and a roundtable discussion with Jimmy smith, Terry Gibbs, Ahmad Jamal, Hampton Hawes, and John Klemmer; "The Function Of An Artist, PArt 2", an articvle written by Chick Corea, a long article by Giddins about a Mingus Philharmonic Hall concert (he mentions being surprised to see Don Pullen who he "hadn't heard since the record with Milford Graves. He tells me he's been musical director for Nina Simone for a year, picked up a variety of gigs, worked with Mingus for about a week and can't seem to get recorded." Giddins also raves about the performance of trumpeter Joe Gardner, and a new Mingus piece, "Portrait Of Dizzy", performed by Gillespie his ownself. (WAS THIS CONCERT RECORDED???). Record reviews of Von Freeman's DOIN IT RIGHT NOW. a NEW album by The New McKinney Cotton Pickers, Lucky Thompson's I OFFER YOU, Horace Silver's IN PURSUIT OF THE 27th Man, and the first two waves of Roullette 2-fer reissues. Blindfold Test with Stan Getz, Caught In The Act (performancereviews) of the Herbie Hancock MWANDISHI-era band, the Chuck Mangione Quartet, & Don Cherry with the Jazz Composers Orchestra performing RELATIVITY SUITE, and a transcription of Freddie Hubbard's "Killer Joe" solo from WALKING IN SPACE. The various city notes include mention of Gene Roland sitting in on tenor with Roy Eldridge; a group lead by drummer Al Drears that included Howard McGhee, Dave Hubbard (Shrugs!), Richard Wyands, Richard Davis, and vocalist Stella Williams; news of Candy Finch taking over Larry Gales' after-hours club in L.A.; a report from San Francisco of Roland Hanna replacing "an ailing Thelonious Monk" for a Giants Of Jazz concert that also saw Max Roach on drums; and finally a report (more of a note, really - fine print at the bottom of page 43 - from Denmark thatt "Jackie McLean recorded his first LP in six years during his stay in Copenhagen last summer. It was done live at cafe Montmarte with pianist Kenny Drew, who also wrote the poetic liner notes, bassist Bo Steif, and drummer Alex Riel." All this (and more!) for 50 cents. Hell yeah.

Isn't she Ravi Shankar's mother's granddaughter?

Since you asked ... Let My Children Hear Music - Classic, Perfect, etc. The CD has a totally unnecessary "bonus" cut and lacks the priceless essay that the early LPs came with. But get this puppy any way you can. It IS that good. Perhaps Mingus' most "fully realized" vision. Mingus Moves - Not my favorite, sounds a little disspirited overall to me. Certainly not a BAD record, just not a great one. Live At Carnegie Hall - more of a jam session than a "Mingus Record", but a good'un, no doubt. Plus, you get to hear the "lesson" that Rahsaan gave Adams that Red alluded to earlier (and I really do think that Adams grew up musically after that, coincidence or not). Changes One, Changes Two - Definitive, simple as that. I much prefer One to Two, but you goota have both. Cumbia Jazz & Fusion - Nice. VERY nice. Ambitious, and successfully so. Three Or Four Shades Of Blues - Three or four shades of ambivalence. Mingus accedes to record company suggetions and makes a record with "contemporary stars" added, also uses pickup on bass for first time (maybe due in part to his devveloping illness), has the best selling record of his career. Just goes to show you... Me, Myself & Eye, Something Like A Bird - a precursor to the Mingus Big Band, I suppose. Mingus is present but does not play. Not essential, but I've always found "Carolyn (Kiki) Mingus" a minor classic, what with Lee Konitz' superb reading of the melody and bittersweet improvisation. Two more from the 70s - MINGUS AND FRIENDS AT CARNEGIE HALL (Columbia). Plenty of good playing on this one, but sloppy recording and editing. Hopefully somebody will make it right (or as right as is possible) someday. The blues duet between Mingus and Gene Ammons alone is worth the cost of admission. And, whatever that Lionel Hampton-sponsored album was, it's pretty good, better to my ears than the last 3 Atlantics, and as far as I can gather, Mingus' last recorded session as a player.

On the old GIGO premise, make sure that your turntable is set up right, your stylus is in good shape, and your cartridge connections all good. And make sure that the vinyl itself is ok. Have you experimented w/different recording levels?

"Duke Ellington's Sound Of Love" knocked me out from Day One, and still does. I transcribed the tune, even used it for an arranging project. The teacher say, "DAMN, Jim - where do you FIND these tunes?" The first year after I heard Adams solo in it , I went around telling any and everybody who would listen that the "next 'Trane" had arrived. Ok, so I was wrong. But that' STILL one helluva solo and one helluvan album.

CHECK IT OUT!!!

At one point, Williams wrote an arrangement of "Scorpio," one of the movements from The Zodiac Suite, to feature three pianos: Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk and herself. This unrecorded arrangement offers moot testimony to Mary Lou Williams' adventurousness as a composer and arranger. http://newarkwww.rutgers.edu/ijs/mlw/modern_1.html

MARY LOU WILLIAMS GIVING DRUM LESSONS

The first jazzman on tv? London, 1938!