T.D.

+1 I was born in 1957 and don't recall him as being extremely popular. Always figured I came of age after his peak. Might also have been a regional component: I grew up around Chicago and got the impression Lehrer was bigger on the East Coast (esp. DC to NYC).

This link might be viewable in an "incognito" or "private" tab, but I'm sure there are other stories. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-07-27/tom-lehrer-harvard-s-satiric-melodic-mathematician-dies-at-97

The bookshop sold its copy of the recent (Grasse) book, so I can't research further.

On Verve, which is kind of surprising.

Thanks. Also some website/blog reviews I saw. Next time in the shop I'll leaf through the book (I'm a fast reader) and check...no time today. OTOH, I suspect that Dolphy bio material is really scarce, rendering a detailed biography a la Szwed (for instance) unlikely. By way of comparison, I sprang for Combs's Dameronia, which had the same shortcomings. Tadd was both secretive and prone to dissembling / dissimulation, so there wasn't much to go by. [Sadly, I never managed to get a hold of Ian MacDonald's Dameron book.]

Anyone read the Grasse biography? I just saw it on a bookstore. Wavering on whether to buy, in the process of looking for reviews. Looks like it's a near exhaustive discussion of recordings, but not really a bio. In which case I'll likely pass and hope for interlibrary loan availability.

This is a really good album! Just had a reissue, but I already own so many Yamashita Trio albums that I passed...have to draw the line somewhere...🙁

From what is likely my final BRO order (RIP): The first disc has Josquin Missa "L'homme arme sexti toni" + Machaut Messe Nostre Dame. Second disc is various Chansons and Estampies by notable composers.

I like CCR when I hear them on the oldies radio. But (like a lot of the stuff that comes off well on radio) one tune at a time is kind of the limit...a whole album or even LP side gets monotonous.

Thanks for correcting that. I read your original and (having dim memories of the John Fogarty brouhaha) thought I was losing my mind. 🤪

I used to be a big customer and receive their weekly e-mails. Last week I placed my first order in four years. [No longer buy as much classical.] Today I got the following email. Kind of sad, like the end of an era. A Note from Berkshire Record Outlet Dear fellow music-lovers, The time has come to announce our closure within the next sixty days. In the interim, we have a backlog of new and restocked titles that we plan to offer you via our usual updates, in preparation for the subsequent sale of the entire inventory to a consortium of wholesalers. With one exception, we’re all well past retirement age, and the challenges of running a niche business in the year 2025 are more than this near octogenarian is willing to confront. In short, after fifty-one years, we bid you farewell. Thank you all for your patronage. Best wishes, Joe Eckstein

Of course there's some overlap with the Hindemith thread: The original Amar Quartet was assembled out of necessity in 1921 at the first Donaueschingen chamber music performances in order to play the premiere of Hindemith's String Quartet, Op. 16. The sensational success of this premiere encouraged the musicians to continue performing together as a quartet. This was a stroke of luck for the contemporary art of the quartet, for the musicians intensively devoted themselves to the cultivation of modern chamber music, including Bartók's Opp. 7 and 17 and Schönberg's Opp. 7 and 10. The ensemble was named after its first violinist Licco Amar; the second violinist was Walter Caspar, Paul Hindemith played the viola, with the composer's brother Rudolf Hindemith or Maurits Frank on the cello part.