Joe

A) A lovely reminder that there was a time in this nation's history when one could claim "soul singer" as one's occupation. (See http://classicshowbiz.blogspot.com/2009/03...t-stevie.html... just one year later and "rock star" has supplanted all other descriptors for "popular musician", and shifted the emphasis from the music itself to the levels of success and renown achieved by the individual. These clips don't show how that change occurred [maybe in part because Stevie toured with the Stones around this time], but it fascinating to see that twinge passing through the vocabulary.) B) Four Caucasians, blindfolded, sitting and trying to guess at the identity of a black man... did audiences of 1972 get what a heavy metaphor the whole set-up is? C) Of course Soupy Sales was hip, but its nice to have further confirmation.

Brilliant. Are there more recordings out there like this? http://www.thestandard.com.hk/stdn/std/Weekend/FK06Jp05.html

Xhosa?

The more you watch, the more Dada it becomes...

I wonder if it has ever been played. As these albums are in sleeves containing the Presidential seal, imagine what they would bring if they suddenly starting popping up on ebay. Carter loved his be-bop, Clinton his greazze. But I could see both or either being invested enough in jazz to give AIR TIME a spin.

I've always prized this record because of what it reveals about Wayne's tenor playing post-SUPERNOVA, post-Miles, pre-Weather report (though isn't there some dispute on the actual recording date for both this and the session released as MOTO GROSSO FEIO?)... though I think of it more as a "tone poem" -- maybe I'm unduly influenced by the titles he gave the pieces -- but a tone poem with a strong narrative, one explicitly concerned with birth, becoming, being embodied.

I used to have IN THE TOWNSHIPS on disc; exact details escape me, but I believe the issue I owned was on Earthworks (a Virgin subsidiary?). You've heard Pukwana's work on Johnny Dyani's run of Steeplechase sessions? If not. by all means, track down copies of WITCHDOCTOR'S SON and SONG FOR BIKO.

Interested parties may care to track down THEREMIN NOIR, a collaborative venture between Rob Schwimmer, Uri Caine and Mark Feldman. A track-by-track review of this album may be found here. In a more purely experimental, "non-idiomatic improvisation" idiom, there's also James Coleman's ZUIHITSU on Sedimental. For more info... http://www.sedimental.com/catalog/james_coleman_zuihitsu/

Eric -- just a guess, but you might look into the work of Bob Kaufman. And even if these lines don't belong to Bob, I think you'll dig his work (assuming you don't know it already. CRANIAL GUITAR: SELECTED POEMS

Some fine Joe Venuti from this era, including... Venuti / Hines, HOT SONATAS Venuti with Zoot Sims 4 Giants Of Swing, S'WONDERFUL -- probably my favorite of the bunch, simply because of the unusual instrumentation (violin, mandolin, steel guitar, guitar + rhythm) Also highly recommended are all 3 of the ROOSEVELT GRILL albums recorded by the Bobby Hackett / Vic Dickenson group.

It seems to me that the distinctive rhythm of Newhart's comedy is key to how that show operates. The "jokes", especially in those early episodes, are all about Bob's reactions to what's swirling around him (the sit in the com), so that the audience is often put in the odd position of observing Bob observing, and find his inability to engage or successfully negotiate the non-straight world itself absurd. So that there are all these constantly shifting distances in any given Newhart performance, let alone show. He definitely learned things from Jack Benny -- silence as punchline, e.g. -- but certainly contributed his own sense of quietly outraged-but-too-polite-to-show-it (as opposed to the Benny blow-up) Midwestern decency. And that characteristic Newhart hesitation, that stammer. To make that stammer work in this context, I think, you have to give it space, and time to roll out. Certainly in those early episodes where Bob is the center of attention. I think later episodes of the old Newhart show become less and less about Bob and more and more about the ensemble itself, and those episodes feel more like the MTM show in that the latter was always about the ensemble -- something that the series finale plays up brilliantly. It occurs to me that it just took the BN show a bit longer to hit its ensemble stride, as "the ensemble" was not the original premise of the program. To use a hard bop analogy... So maybe those early BN episodes are more like the old Prestige "blowing dates", in which soloists dominate the proceedings and a particular form emerges, one that reflects the aptitudes and attitudes of one particularly strong personality. And those later BN episodes are more carefully arranged in the manner of a Alfred Lion-produced affair.

We have a name now for the "hero" of that song: stalker.

Two Dickerson albums right Joe? Tell Us Only The Beautiful Things and 1976? I would absolutely love to hear these. Yep yep. Superb work by Wilbur Ware on both recordings as well.

24-bit remasters of many (if not all of these) were released in Japan several years ago. Nice to see them made more widely available again, and at domestic prices. Perhaps Candid will eventually get around to all of these (more Dickerson, a nice Ted Curson session, Muhal's AFRISONG...)

According to the DALLAS OBSERVER, Fathead's granddaughter Talibah is currently at work on a documentary film about her grandfather. Something to look forward to... LINK: "Fathead" Newman's Granddaughter Reveals Plans for Two Dallas Memorials

Hog Cooper can be heard to advantage on THE LEGENDARY BUSTER SMITH record, as well as RETURN TO THE WIDE OPEN SPACES, which documents one of those Caravan Of Dreams gigs mentioned earlier in this thread.

On a slightly more "experimental" trip... key tracks from Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi band fit the bill... "Ostinato (Suite For Angela)" from MWANDISHI; "Hornets" from SEXTANT...

I've heard -- long ago -- his compositions (IIRC) and tenor sax work on a session led by pianist Paul Salomone (QUICKSTEP), though my memory of said date is while happy also rather vague. But I just learned that Gryce issued a record under how own name about 7 - 8 years ago: OUR DAY WILL COME, featuring Radam Schwartz on organ and possibly others (?). Any board members heard this session and have any commentary on it? Or thoughts on Tommy's work in general? Thanks in advance. Joe

Fans of Bobby Hutcherson's mid- to late 70's BN output should definitely check out drummer Eddie Marshall's DANCE OF THE SUN. BEYOND THE BLUEBIRD is one of my favorite Tommy Flanagan leader dates; wonderful interplay with Kenny Burrell. Finally, LEE'S KEYS PLEASE by the Cadence All-Stars. You might not recognize many -- or all -- of the principals, but its an excellent session that's creative without being beholden to any one "style".

This one? http://cdbaby.com/cd/pucillo2

In The Light

Absolutely. Just listen to what he's doing on pedals on the rendition of "Spill The Wine" from SPARKS!

Killer -- that would have been not long after their opening / back when CoD actually booked live music. Makes me wonder how "local" Spencer was at that time. Surely this was not a pick-up band?

Was just driving back from dinner and after-coffee, happened to have Melvin Sparks' rendition of Sly Stone's "Thank You [etc.]" spinning on the car stereo, and was reminded again what a unique master of the groove Spencer was (is?). Not that I'm keeping track, but, for me, Spencer remains the trippiest / most "acid" of that third generation of Hammond B-3 players to come to notice in the mid- to late 60's. Sure, no one ever got quite as interstellar as Larry Young -- cf., LOVE CRY WANT -- but Spencer's work is pretty "spacey". To me, his solos areoften alternately menacing and blissed-out. Profoundly heavy-lidded stuff, if you know what I mean. (Finest example of this? The title track from LOUISIANA SLIM.) And it still swings, like... well, insert your analogy here. Any other fans of Spencer's work? Any idea what happened to him after his run of Prestige sessions came to an end?