flat5

Charles Julian Konitz

Thanks. Thought somebody should comment. Sonny is so down to earth and completely honest, even when talking about heroin. I think the interviewer was very good.

It's a bit frightening how subjective music is.

So many of the jazz people I care about were born in the 1920s. Flippant or not, the inevitable is happening. I, for one, don't like it.

Is it just me or does Joe look like Andy Kaufman in this video?

Oh well, death is going around. Thanks for the interview links! A very nice read. Hope he had been comfortable till then.

I consider Herbie Mann to be the most over rated jazz musician. I hate his flute "playing". He has no sound on the albums I've been forced to hear him. Like the one he did with Clifford Brown. He may be a great organizer or band leader...I actually like his bass clarinet playing more than his flute. Ok, enough. I don't listen to Scott Hamilton either. He can play, of course, and is a good tenor saxophonist, but I find him passionless and very "pre-thought-out". I can't think of a word for that :-) I could bore you with more.

Yes, two minutes quicker but what impressed me was you found a Blue Note icon, uploaded it and wrote the post in 4 minutes. Yea You :-)

That was quick :-) (if in response to my post) What floor(s) were Blue Note on?

What is the significance of 767 Lex?

Thanks for your reply, Allen.

Wait...I made espresso. Allen, you should listen to the record "Pete Fountain Day" to hear his best jazz work. He's better than you give him credit for. Do you like jazz that doesn't try to be innovative?

Sure, Sonny Rollins. I just listened to Nutty (Misterioso 1958) and Griffin played just enough notes :-) He was great with Monk. I will admit years ago I thought Johnny was playing like Stan Freeberg was standing behind him with a pointy stick :-)

Great Bird discography site! Thank you bichos.

It takes too much technique to copy Dizzy, Monk or Bird. People play Bird's licks but nobody approaches his rhythmic freedom while playing Bird's style. IMO, Dizzy has many good records both musically and sound wise. Good enough to enjoy the music.

This is his latest general thread so I'll post here. So professional, so entertaining, so inventive trumpet solo.

I'm not a big fan of Rouse or Booker Ervin. Rouse usually tunes sharp and uses a growl. Ervin blows LOUD and whiny. On "Ask Me Now" on "5 By Monk By 5" Rouse does not really know the tune. Plays wrong notes on his solo. Actually Thad had a little trouble with it too but overall did a good (pleasing) job.

Harry Carney Steve Lacy Art Pepper Lester Young Pepper Addams Jimmy Knepper Ruby Braff etc.

Miles Davis thought Al Hurt was a fine trumpet player too.

and just a short moment to thank Jesse Drakes for his contributions to Lester's music... Jesse Drakes (born October 22, 1926, New York) is an American jazz trumpeter. Drakes hung out at Minton's Playhouse in his youth, and attended Juilliard in the 1940s. He played in the 1940s with Al Cooper's Savoy Sultans, Sid Catlett, J.C. Heard, Eddie Heywood, Deke Watson, and Sarah Vaughan (1947). He worked extensively with Lester Young; the pair collaborated on and off between 1948 and 1956. Alongside this Drakes played with Harry Belafonte, Gene Ammons, Sonny Stitt, (1953), Louie Bellson, (1955), and Duke Ellington (1956). In the late 1950s he played less jazz and more R&B music, touring with King Curtis and playing at the Motown studios in the 1960s. From 1969 he was based out of New York, leading dance ensembles and singing. He gave an interview with Cadence in 1984.

I've sent an email to someone who works (or did) at the Dutch Jazz Archive in Amsterdam. Edit: He never responded to my email.

Good arranger too. Billie Holiday was very impressed with his looks.

Just ordered "Coup de Graas" CD on Ebay for less than eleven Euros including shipping to Europe.

He was the first "jazz" musician I met. In LA. I was 13. He, my father and I had dinner in a bar. First time for that too :-) After rehearsal, before the concert. He was a pleasant guy but that's all I remember. 1961.