Joe

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?

Yes , keyboard duties in that band were handled by Ray Santisi . Thanks. Very curious to hear this Pomeroy session...

Maybe the best time I saw him was at Columbia University, right before "Stone Blue" came out. It was billed as a reunion of his Joyous Lake band, but it was more like a reunion of his Philly band. IIRC, the band was Tyrone Brown and Sherman Ferguson, plus some piano player. Around 2 hours of solid, churning, thick jazz; just wonderful music. My point is, Pat's playing was so low that I swear, I wasn't hearing his notes, I was just feeling them in my stomach. Doesn't Martino also play electric 12-string on DESPERADO and (parts of) the Prestige session he made with Eric Kloss and the Corea / Holland / DeJohnette rhtym section?

Geez, Joe, that's kinda like wanting to take seconds on the Immaculate Conception... Hey, nobody says those takes would have to be released...

Sitting in? Any of the Buck Clayton Columbia jam sessions. If I were a pianist -- Lee Konitz's MOTION. Coltrane's OM or KULU SE MAMA.

Spun this again last night, after letting it sit dormant (again, unaccountably) for several years, and it's still a glorious session. I hear less Joe Henderson in Mitchell's work here than before, but he still sounds like the missing link between Lima, OH's finest (phrasing, rhythm) and Lucky Thompson (tone, sub-tone, ballad attitude): a link I did not suspect was waiting to be uncovered. But they were all, at one time or another, Detroit cats. And, damn, but has Herman Wright ever sound better than he does here? His motor is really running hot here.

Spun this again last night, after letting it sit dormant (again) for several years, and it's still a glorious session. I hear less Joe in Mitchell's work here than before, but he still sounds like the missing link between Henderson (phrasing, rhythm) and Lucky Thompson (tone, sub-tone, ballad attitude): a link I did not suspect was waiting to be uncovered. And did Herman Wright ever sound better than he does here?

According to AMG, Jaki Byard plays tenor sax throughout on Herb Pomeroy's LIFE IS A MANY SPLENDORED GIG... can anyone here confirm?

I would have liked to have been at the infamous HARD DRIVIN' JAZZ session, just to see if it was as tense as Cecil Taylor described in Spellman's FOUR LIVES.

Lee Konitz, TENORLEE John Benson Brooks, FOLK JAZZ U.S.A., with Zoot Sims on alto and Al Cohn on (rhyming) baritone Charles Gayle, JAZZ SOLO PIANO and TIME ZONES Yusef Lateef, keyboards throughout on NOCTURNES Joe Chambers, keyboards on DOUBLE EXPOSURE

They also retitled the session IDOL OF THE FLIES for that re-release... I actually once saw a copy at a local Half-Price Books.

What's this one about? Art school, Japan, continental post-modernism, sex and name-dropping. Full disclosure: the author and I attended the same graduate writing program and have many friends and colleagues in common -- many of them referenced / fictionalized in this book.

Maxi Kim: ONE BREAK, A THOUSAND BLOWS!

Evans does appear on JAZZ IN THE SPACE AGE, playing alongside Paul Bley... terrible title, fascinating LP.

A Hipgnosis design, BTW. And, according to Wikipedia (anyway)... "The models photographed were actually Genesis P Orridge - of Throbbing Gristle - and girlfriend Cosey Fanni Tutti."

A fine idea... 1) Enrico Rava / Lee Konitz, L'AGE MUR (Philology) -- worth it for the playing of both principals, which is up and often above what one would expect... but the Italian rhythm section (Rosario Bonaccorso on bass, and Massimo Manzi on drums) here is equally wonderful, pushing / pulling / stretching at will, and with subtle inventiveness. 2) Frank Lowe, EXOTIC HEARTBREAK (Black Saint) -- I've been singing the praises of this record for years. A brilliant statement on "the jazz life", if you know what I mean. With Butch Morris, the fabulous Amina Claudine Myers, the late Wilber Morris and one Tim Pleasant on drums. 3) Jerome Harris, RENDEZVOUS (Stereophile) -- very OOP (AFAIK), but worth tracking down. Here, Harris plays acoustic bass guitar (as opposed to string bass), with support from Marty Ehrlich, Art Baron, Steve Nelson and Billy Drummond; also a great showcase for Harris the composer (a pleasant surprise if all you know is his work with Rollins). 4) Shorty Baker & Doc Cheatham, SHORTY & DOC (Prestige Swingville / OJC) -- Baker being one of the classic Ellingtonians, of course, and here's a rare opportunity to hear him stretch out and show off those qualities that made such an impression on a young Mile Davis. 5) George Garzone / Jeff Palmer / Richard Poole, OPPOSITE VOLTAGE (Music Artists Co.) -- a organ / tenor / drums combo playing in almost entirely "free" style. 6) Jay Hoggard, IN THE SPIRIT (Muse) -- for all intents and purposes, a tribute to Eric Dolphy, but one that avoids being obvious / derivative. With James Newton, Dwight Andrews, Mark Helias and Ed Blackwell. Bonus: a fine reading of Anthony Davis' "Andrew", dedicated to Andrew Hill (IIRC) 7) Ralph Pena, MASTER OF THE BASS (VSOP) -- vintage informal recordings, featuring the former Giuffre associate in duets and trios with Pete Jolly, Joe Albany and Herb Geller. 8) Susie Ibarra, RADIANCE (Hopscotch) -- Charles Burnham lights it up; killer version of Hendrix's "Up From The Skies". 9) James Carter / Cyrus Chestnut / Ali Jackson / Reginald Veal, GOLD SOUNDS (Brown Brothers) -- A "Pavement Songbook"? Should be just a novelty record, shouldn't work, but it isn't, and it does... 10) Gerry Hemingway, THE WHIMBLER (Clean Feed) -- Herb Robertson; get to know him...

Funny... was listening to Krivda's work earlier today on a date issued as LEE'S KEYS, PLEASE (and attributed to the "Cadence All-Stars"... recommended, BTW) and wondered about the status of those Inner City records. Excited to see that they might be available again.

IIRC, Dorham also wrote semi-regularly for DOWNBEAT in his latter years. Record reviews, mostly, but I believe he also penned an autobiographical sketch for the magazine as well. I for one would love to have all that material collected.

"Blues Eleganté" by Kenny Dorham and The Jazz Prophets, from their eponymous 1956 ABC / Paramount session. Because it is just so very, very decidedly hip.