Niko

https://en.everybodywiki.com/James_Johnson_Jr._(jazz_drummer) I would not put too much trust into every detail of this article (especially not the discography which seems to mix things and the birth date), but: it suggests that the Duke Ellington JJ was from Philly, that he did studio work in NY in the 60s and maybe later and, most likely, was still alive in 2018 when someone who new him made this website (which was then likely rejected by the proper wikipedia for lack of relevance...) what do we know about the one who died in 1979?

I also read a bit through online reviews and I find it hard to decide whom to blame... yes, some solos by sidemen are to be expected in jazz... but some reviewers complain about ridiculously extensive features for the bassist and the drummer... now, I would actually need to see it myself to judge - but I do agree that there is a line here that can be crossed even from a jazz fan's perspective... good for the bassist and the drummer, but if it's the leaders laziness rather than artistic reasons that motivate those solos... then again, in the reviewed concert she had a pianist and a guitar player with her as well so there should have been enough variation

I read somewhere that Wynton himself thought that James Black was the greatest among all of his dad's sidemen and associates

Without Qualities, yes, sorry, was too lazy to gogle the English name or properly remember the German one... (I do find Qualities a weird translation but Properties wouldn't have done either...)

I sure didn't make it to page 100... Glad I still grew up in a world where Robert Musil's Invisible Man was the book to read... I didn't finish that one either but at least I did enjoy the 600 pages I read ... Regarding Macdonald, what I really love about him is that he can be reread so many times... And the challenges in plotting certainly contribute to that ... Chandler and Hammett wrote far fewer novels, and they're far more memorable - but that also means that you can only read Chandler and Hammett so many times...

accidentally saw the announcement of that show yesterday morning (not following things the way I should) and was surprised to see that there were still tickets available, could hardly believe it... guess I should have gone spontaneously nevertheless...

Haven't played this in years... A school friend's recently deceased journalist dad got a review copy even though he never reviewed jazz... So when he asked around whether anyone in the house wanted three jazz albums (this and twice 90s smooth jazz) I was around accidentally and said yes...

That is one interesting album, not a lost masterpiece but not bad at all either.... A really weird idea to couple Murray with a Hungarian gypsy band - then again, he'd recorded pretty much every obvious idea several times by then + he's good at rhapsodies... And trad jazz veteran trumpeter Kovacs Ferenc is doing perhaps surprisingly well as Murray's frontline partner

a few years later, Dutch Cool Jazz pioneers Frans Elsen and Wim Overgaauw would be back to giving Bebop workshops with Barry Harris, but in 1972 their minds were some place else... (as I said before, what I really like about that generation of European jazz musicians is that they were so willing to adapt... after learning bebop from records, fusion can't really scare you.... and growing your hair a bit longer is the easiest exercise if the music demands it... there was a Dutch Jazz Archive cd with that band recently as well)

Cos - Postaeolian Train Robbery from Belgium, not sure if this obscure enough - and it sure is maybe too artrock to qualify... but I like it a lot... even more of a household name are their fellow Belgians from Placebo I just love this video, the visuals show so clearly that this is not a band of hipsters but of seasoned pros another band that I like a lot is Extra Ball from Poland, maybe because of the hints of BNLA that one wouldn't expect to hear from so far east... again, this may not be fusion enough for your question...

That Al Cohn album I've like for many years even though I guess the strings aren't for everyone... Humph in Perspective I got for 1 € a while ago, it's a weird concept, rerecording hits from his Dixieland period 10 years later in Dixieland sound.... "This was a transition record for Lyttleton; he was moving away from trad and towards the swing/jump band sound but hadn't yet recruited Bruce Turner. ". Pretty sure this is wrong, Turner was the first sax player in the band in the early mid 50s, our late member BillF remembered those "go home dirty bopper" signs at concerts in Manchester... By 1958, the clarinet had been replaced by an entire saxophone section and Turner had moved on

It's been a while since I listened to Lamarr, liked what I heard ... I just wanted to say (also to Kevin B) that I am so happy that finally we have some new members again who like all the good stuff!

Funny, didn't know about the birthday but I did play three or four of my Sullivan albums yesterday evening, they're all great...

Wanted to write the same earlier today, start with 7th Hand and not Blues Blood... Actually also for Aldana and Ross, I would recommend their previous BN albums, 12 Stars and Parable of the Poet, but that preference is less strong... Another recent BN album I liked a lot is the most recent Nduduzo Makathini album - but you do need to accept the chanting to appreciate it... Anyway, in terms of new releases by young or middle-aged artists, BN has been doing pretty well in recent years imho

I shared this quote from Denis a few weeks back about how Denis learned playing the drums on Huss's set in the early 50s...

On his excellent substack, Lewis Porter has quite a few essays about Miles the composer, including a three part series about Nardis with the bottom line being that Miles is the likely composer ... https://lewisporter.substack.com/t/miles-davis

Thanks! Even if the gig listing contained the name of a drummer, I would give more credence to what is being said on stage during the concert... Dorham worked with Roger Blank and Huss Charles... So there's a good chance he worked with Denis Charles as well.... But that doesn't mean anything... I am pretty confident that if there been a striking argument justifying the transition from Huss to Denis, the Jazz Detective would have shared it with us... Most likely, they didn't realize Huss Charles was an actual drummer and just asked themselves for a plausible name to fill into "... Charles" in such a way that it might even help sales. This is the usual crap we've come to expect from them, who needs a 20 page booklet if the most basic things (like the list of participating musicians) are lacking.

I'd say that ECM was actually quite broad in all decades ... And it always had great American artists on the label... Pretty sure the biggest seller was Köln Concert... Btw, three non-ECM albums that I played a lot recently is that trilogy of albums with Lee Konitz that Jakob Bro recorded before joining ECM... Imho, those are stronger "ECM albums" than the ones he actually recorded for the label... At least, I'd say that he had the ECM thing down before joining ECM

See, and I find myself wondering wtf Terence Blanchard and Kenny Garrett are so much higher on the list than Tyshawn Sorry and Darius Jones... And then I remember that getting hung up on the ordering of bands on a poster means you're either very young or getting very old ...

Some favorites that haven't been mentioned yet are Break Stuff by Vijay Iyer, the first Vijay Iyer Wadada Leo Smith duo (a cosmic rhythm...) and Mboko by David Virelles... Regarding the Scandinavians of our youth, Bobo Stenson Trio albums are my go-to albums now

Jazz drew greater talents in those legendary years (or, rather, in the decades before) and there were possibly more unexplored avenues... That said, I heard Alexander live a few years back and thought it was an enjoyable evening.... I also heard Lovano and fell asleep mid-set, no judgement beyond that... (And I saw Julian Lage with his trio and thought it was possibly the best live act I've ever seen)

Curious about that one as well... everyone around me seems to love it - despite the cover art which has more to do with "Grey's Anatomy" than with Reid Miles

it's an interesting credit "photo: Tom Jungman". first, I never would have thought that this is a photo (of what? not the British coastline) and second, this is Tom Jungman's only trace in the album cover scene...

their previous duo album, A cosmic rhythm with each stroke, is my favorite album by Iyer... Defiant Life I liked as well, but I still need to get into it more - it's quite different actually

The Brahem album even has an experiment with a different font