DrJ

I agree with you he fits in quite well on SO NEAR, SO FAR, outstanding outing for everyone involved there...but I have problems with his fit on the STATE OF THE TENOR discs, I just don't hear him as the best bet in that kind of wide open pianoless trio setting.

No bunsen burner flames here! Disagree, but civilly! It could be my tastes - I like my (non trap set) percussion with a lot of air and space, it feels less cluttered to me that way. Smith just does it so perfectly to me. But I could certainly see where to folks with different taste the percussion passages on the first disc could be considered TOO sparse/boring.

For sideman gigs, I DO very much enjoy his playing with Andrew Hill on ANDREW. The LaRoca disc is a beauty too, Gilmore's all over that.

I would agree that it's earlier Chick that established his legacy. I like RTF, but I truly and deeply love TONES (I have the INNER SPACE comp that also includes a couple other rarities from the same time period from a Hubert Laws Atlantic album), and his Solid State recordings (particularly SONG OF SINGING and NOW HE SINGS...utterly amazing trio work). He was also one HELL of an accompaniest around then - those tracks with Blue Mitchell ("Straight Up and Down" and "Tones for Joan's Bones") are some of my favorite little big group arrangements of the 60's, and Corea just steals the show on both. I'm not a fan of most compilations, but I have to say that Blue Note did a remarkable job picking the selections for the BEST OF CHICK COREA collection. If you're bit by that, you'll ultimately want to get all the original albums, but I can't think of a finer introduction to his vintage work as a leader, pre-RTF. I NEED to explore Circle...huge gap in my listening experience. Having been delving into Braxton more recently, it can't be much longer before I do. While more recent Chick isn't quite as earthshaking or adventurous, I have to say that I was pretty knocked out by CHANGE, with Origin. His playing certainly has not lost one bit of its luster, and the level of group musicianship and interplay is pretty remarkable. Guilty pleasure: INSIDE OUT, which is one of those Elektrik Band CDs. Realizing objectively that it's pretty dorky stuff in many ways and that it's nowhere near in the same league as his best work, I still think Chick gets in some nice playing and the tunes have their interesting twists and turns. The problem lies in the horrendous 80's-rock type production and with some of his partners in crime (Dave Weckl and Frank Gambale in particular).

I'm still eagerly looking forward to hearing BARCELONA based on your recs, Jim. My guess is that I'll be more stoked by that one than MONTREAL TAPES. A good example of what I'm talking about on this new release is the first track, ROUND MIDNIGHT (I just re-listened in the car on the short drive in to work). Joe plays a long and what I'd consider utterly brilliant 2+ minute unaccompanied introduction to this one - smart, dramatic, challenging - but then once Haden and Foster come in, not only do they plod through it, but Joe's playing goes several notches down in the quality department. There's a good 2-3 minutes' time that goes by where he's quite clearly treading water, clearly kind of lost for anything new to say - for a while he just sidles up and down and then he starts falling back on some of his pet licks (not used in a particularly creative way - much as I love Joe, he DEFINITELY was susceptible to this habit). Joe does seem to eventually pull out of it much later in the track, but it's kind of too little too late, and taken as a whole things are disjointed and herky-jerky. To me this is the "bad news" side of having such wide open space for improvisation - on a good night, the best musicians do everything but speak in tongues, but on a middling night, there's lots of cold pockets. So all I'm saying here is that I'm not convinced this was one of Henderson's top gigs that they captured. Merely good (nice to know he was mortal just like the rest of us!), which is less than what I have come to expect based on so many of his other recordings. I think Jim's on to something about Foster, and I'd broaden it to include Haden - both fine, fine musicians but I'm not sure either would be the person I'd pick to accompany Joe in this type of setting. Would love to have heard him in this type of situation reunited with Elvin Jones - one of the great little talked-about partnerships of the 60's - with someone like Cecil McBee on bass.

So far I'd take the Japan stuff over the Montreal tapes any day. The music on Montreal tapes is frustrating in the extreme - some flashes of brilliance but then long long passages where the pace lags and the tension sags. I'm glad it was issued but so far I'm a little disappointed and can understand why it sat in the vaults for a while.

The LEE KONITZ MEETS JIMMY GIUFFRE album. Holy cow, what a session! Inspired to check it out based on Anthony Braxton's comments in the FORCES IN MOTION book.

Blue Note certainly seems to sneak their Benny Carter reissues out with minimum fanfare (read: promotion). ASPECTS was another UA date from 1958 that came and went VERY quickly on CD a few years ago. I stumbled on it by accident long after it was OOP (at a Fry's Electronics store, no less) and have thoroughly enjoyed it. BN's "regular" reissues - e.g. not part of any special series - seem to disappear very quickly and sometimes get kind of limited distribution, so I definitely won't be hesitating in picking SAX A LA CARTER up. It does seem true that the man never made a truly bad album.

The Weston is essential...heavenly. Outstanding music and stellar remastering job by Malcolm Addey. The Jones is real good, but I frankly don't think it's quite as hot as some others here. Jones was a very fine trumpeter, and there's some really strong dates here but some others are not as good, and ultimately this is music that's firmly rooted within the conventions of the era and a little on the generic side. That sounds more negative than I mean it to - it's a great box. But the Weston is a cut above, you get to hear the beginnings of a true original. Sure there's some Monk and Ellington influence but ultimately he carved a very distinctive niche out for himself. Anyway, congratulations, you'll love both of these fine sets.

Happy Birthday, Jim!

Wow, I couldn't disagree more. First of all, Namyslowski is a favorite of mine - certainly there were influences but he's got his own sound, and always has had. This one to me is just as seamless and perfectly-conceived as some of the best contemporary outer bop sessions from the U.S. that seem to have far more cache and fashionability (read: many of the much ballyhooed avant-garde tinged BNs). No offense meant, but I think what you're perpetuating is the orthodox "party line" viewpoint about European jazz, and I think it's a way too narrow and one-sided a view in that it doesn't allow for the possibilities of parallel development or even (gasp!) reciprocal influence.

I remember The Alarm being compared to the Clash, but never really heard that at all - I guess the vocals were a bit Joe Strummer-ish, but I always heard them as more in the Big Country/early U2/Waterboys camp, the "big sound," heart on the sleeve crowd from the UK. Obviously all these bands had their own sound and were far superior to The Alarm, mind you, but I tend to view them as operating within similar territory. In another bag altogether: oh yeah, SPECIAL BEAT SERVICE is a fine album, all the English Beat's (few) albums were really good. General Public was all good fun but I was always deeply disappointed at how much of a comedown that gig was after the Beat. Probably my favorite, oddly enough, is still WHA'PPEN? - probably their most maligned. The first one is of course a party classic, hard to beat in that regard but not necessarily what I sit and listen to these days. SPECIAL BEAT SERVICE has probably their best tunes but also quite a bit of filler. WHA'PPEN? just has a weird, other-worldly vibe, more of a reggae than ska feeling, and I think Wakeling's lyrics are remarkably rich within the confines of 2-3 minute pop tunes. It was also the Beat album that was the least overplayed/overexposed on the college stations, so it still sounds fresh to me. David, I also saw the Furs on the MIRROR MOVES tour, at the Greek Theater in Berkeley. That was an excellent show...by that point their albums were becoming overproduced in the worst 80's pop way, but the songs were still quite strong and they had a lot more room to breathe (and a great deal more intensity) in a live setting. Butler was quite a front man. Excellent band, particularly their first three albums.

I like her, most of the time. Sometimes pushed it over the top, no question, but there was a method to her mannerisms most of the time. FINALLY is a great album... "The Sun Died," well whoah doggies, that's the vocal jazz STUFF.

Wow, didn't know about this one...will look for the vinyl for now and hope for CD some day.

The MAN. Happy Birthday, hope Dex is celebrating "very saxily" somewhere. Just listened to DOIN' ALRIGHT recently, still my favorite Dex. So full of good humor, relaxed yet still with an edge to the improvisations...and one of the greatest jazz ballads of all time in his rendition of "You've Changed." Will be listening to THE SQUIRREL this weekend, far too long since I've dug that one out.

Like my wife always says: "Yeah, maybe you COULD get $300 for that 4 disc Mosaic set, but it's not like you'd ACTUALLY EVER SELL IT!!!" She's on to me...

Patton and Bennie Green Mosaic Selects Complete Verve Anita O'Day (fantastic!)

Sorry, but I can't stomach Gibson's personal politics or religious views. He's fully entitled to 'em, of course, but that don't mean I want to be repeatedly assaulted by them in the form of a lengthy, over-the-top religious fanatic's vision. The graphic depiction of Jesus' torture/suffering isn't the issue for me - though I don't particularly want to watch that, either - but rather the not so subtle underlying messages that the movie (and the surrounding press hysteria, much of it stoked by Gibson himself) is sending us. Lon's interpretation is right on target here, I'm afraid. Just to prove I'm fairhanded here as pertaining to Gibson the "artiste" - I actually love the LETHAL WEAPON movies, normally loathe "car chase/explosion" movies but will watch these over and over, a total guilty pleasure. Big, over the top, stupid, violent, you name it - but loads of fun. That's where someone with the lightweight talent Gibson has thrives. He was pretty good in the (totally implausible and equally inane) CONSPIRACY THEORY too, another guilty pleasure. But he's unbearable when he tries to get all "serious," laughably so.

It's a personal preference thing to me, Shrdlu - cool that you like the TOCJ's, but I have over the past few years traded many of the TOCJ's in for US RVG's as I much prefer their sound. Way more detail and separation, greater sense of presence. Maybe a little less "warm" than the TOCJ's but not harsh sounding to me at all. They're cheaper, too!

Haven't yet had a chance to grab it - but WILL BE soon. Can't wait.

Must admit I could never stand The Alarm the first time around, though can't comment on this recent development since I haven't heard it. They made my teeth ache - always struck me as having all the pseudo-political pretentions of U2, but without any of U2's gift for anthemic pop craft.

I had preordered my KABELL YEARS box from CD Universe, and mine arrived last night already! Listened some in the car this AM...wow, this is really great music, at least Disc 1, not just good, GREAT. According to All Music Guide, the original LPs weren't well pressed and so the recordings sounded lo-fi...well, that's not an issue here. Tzadik has done a remarkable remastering job, this stuff sounds fresh and very "true," lots of overtones on the percussion instruments that are supposed to have overtones for example. Great sound. I hadn't had time to even glance at the liners, and I'm listening to Disc 1 in the car on the freeway, bathing in Smith's huge, enveloping trumpet tone, basically in heaven...then this incredible percussion passage begins and just keeps going and going, building momentum, layering on sounds, really unique. I'm racking my brain trying to figure out who the percussionist is, but can't come up with who it might be...well, a bad mother whoever. Finally I get to my destination and finally safely dig out the CD notes to find out and...geez, it's WADADA LEO SMITH! What a musician. It's like that old Warner Brothers cartoon - "Bugs Bunny, first base; Bugs Bunny, second base; Bugs Bunny, third base..." Wadada is everywhere! Seriously, this is some of the most riveting percussion work I've ever heard, in a jazz context or otherwise, totally and utterly musical. I cannot wait to hear discs 2-4. Those of you waiting for this box are in for one big treat.

Whoah, what's the Chambers book? Nice anecdote, I'd like to read more!

I was posting at the same time Jim Sangrey was - so there's some repetition here, but... Well I think you're right there, partly. I do think Miles came up with far more than his fair share of TRUE innovations - one reason why he's in the jazz deity class. But no question he was also a great opportunist as you indicate, and he chose his associations not only based on musical merit but also with an eye toward being on the cutting edge. But still that's ultimately an incredible gift or talent - to be able to get it right in predicting who's going to be one of the movers and shakers in the future, almost without fail, every single time. For example, there were a host of great tenor players in the mid-60's, but Davis didn't choose just anyone, he chose Wayne Shorter - arguably the greatest mind on his instrument to emerge from that era next to Coltrane. It simply CAN'T have been luck or "being in the right place at the right time" that could explain him coming up with so many bandmates who were only later recognized as all-time greats. Again, remember that when Wayne and Herbie and Tony (and Coltrane and Garland and Chambers and Philly Joe and McLaughlin and Holland and Corea and Jarrett and...) joined Miles' groups, they had some regard in the inner most circles of jazz but were certainly not considered giants. That came after, and while it can't all be attributed to Miles, their being associated with his bands not only gave them cache but more importantly kicked their own playing and thinking up many notches. He also had impeccable influences - e.g. the brilliance of being able to listen to someone like Ahmad Jamal and his trios and then pick up on the space thing and incorporate that into the hardbop quintet configuration, which was until then immediately identified by so many as having to always sound "hot." The brilliance of recognizing the distinctiveness of Gil Evans' approach to orchestrations and how complimentary it would be to his own conceptions. So OK, he didn't de novo invent everything - but nobody ever did. Still, these other attributes I mention are typically almost nonexistent except in the most highly regarded. jazzmen. Most jazz players, IMHO, develop a nice technique, but then maybe or maybe not develop any kind of identifiable sound, are marginally successful in finding even one group of people who can play their music in the way they invision, and almost never come up records that sound like records rather than a collection of tunes strung together. In my view, the technique issue is WAY overplayed in the context of these other factors, which are the things that ultimately really compel me to listen to an LP or CD.

I have to add some more: Listen to Miles' unbelievable facility with microdivisions of the beat, with crossing bar lines and making 4/4 sound like freedom. I am 100% sure this is something he never practiced or worked with (at least in later years - maybe woodshedded earlier, and perhaps also a case of learning from "the" master in this realm during his stint with Charlie Parker) but largely just had in him. To put it another way - when you're only playing 2 or 3 notes in a several bar stretch at either a blisteringly fast tempo OR a dead crawl (two notoriously difficult ends of the tempo spectrum at both of which Miles was a flat out master), not only had those notes better be well chosen in terms of harmonic implications but they damn well better be PERFECTLY placed in rhythmic terms if there is going to be a sense of movement and forward propulsion (in the case of slow tempos) or an illusion that one is either playing at or floating above the pulse (in the case of fast tempos). Miles almost never failed to get the placement just right in either case. The "indirect" proof of this is obtained by listening to how his rhythm sections responded reciprocally to his playing. If nothing else, just listen to Tony Williams. Yes, Miles was stoked and reinvigorated by Tony's playing (and all his other musicians' work), but the converse is also true in spades - there are times during the 2nd great quintet years where you can literally hear Tony Williams stop and take notice and turn on a dime in response to some little rhythmic idea of Miles'. Check it out. As a related point - one other reason why Miles' versions of tunes are often still considered definitive has to do with having a knack for selecting perfect tempos. Miles used way more relaxed, mid-tempos (particularly in the 50's/early to mid 60's) than just about any other trumpet leader I can think of - when everyone else was "Off To the Races," Miles was mixing it up, with a good variety of up tempo, mid, and ballads. But "mid-tempo" is a HUGE basket - within that range, one can really fuck things up by choosing a pace that is too hurried or sounds lagging. Miles almost never missed. In fact, I defy anyone to point out an instance in which the tempo he went with was wrong - I'm sure there are some cases, but DAMN few given the size of his discography. Think of it another way - you know how Miles loved that snare "clack" thing that Philly Joe apparently came up with and he later asked Jimmy Cobb to do all the time? Imagine how terrible that would sound if the tempo wasn't right. Never happened. So more examples of his mastery that go WAY beyond tone and the mechanics of fingering and blowing the trumpet but are at least as important in how I view someone's "technique" (if not more so).