Joe

Should things turn bad with the Fantasy catalog, I'm going to view Cecil Taylor's LOOKING AHEAD! as the canary in the coal-mine. If it stay in print, I have hope. If it does not... I worry. I would be willing to bet all (or most) of the Shelly Manne and Poll-Winners material stays.

Wow, hard to pick just one. So I won't. I take 4 to start: Louis Cottrell Trio, Bourbon Street New Orleans: The Living Legends OJCCD-1836-2 (Riverside 9385) A nice little surprise disc for those of you who love the classic Giuffre Trios with Hall and Pena (or Atlas) Shorty [baker] & Doc [Cheatham]OJCCD-839-2 (Swingville 2021) One of the few two-trumpet meetings that I can recommend without hesitation. Rene Thomas, Guitar Groove OJCCD-1725-2 (Jazzland 927) With stunning work by both the leader and J.R. Monterose on tenor; one of the most felicitous, "Hmmm, I wonder if that's any good?" purchases I ever made. Charles McPherson, Con Alma! OJCCD-1875-2 (Prestige 7427) Some of Cliff Jordan's finest work on record, IMHO. Plus a Barry Harris / George Tucker / Alan Dawson rhythm section.

Not a bad "jazz arranger", either, IIRC. Didn't he do some work for Cadet in the late 1960's?

LET MY CHILDREN HEAR MUSIC

I deem Sony and Verve the worst offenders by far. Sony's original THE COMPLETE HOT FIVE AND HOT SEVEN RECORDINGS box (odd-shaped book with CD's "plugged" in back) is pretty horrendous. I also think the Verve Pres box is damn unwieldy. Nor am I much into faux wood paneling.

Leave it to Jim to reveal to us the essential poetry of the Frito Pie. Sorry, haven't been struck by this particular bolt of Lou Christie lightnin'...

His latest with Joe McPhee and Donald Robinson on the Boxholder label is pretty nice... Dusted Magazine review (Derek Taylor) One Final Note review (Scott Hreha) Bagatellen review (some other blowhard)

We are the weird, after all.

I thought Celeste may have been his wife or girlfriend ! In which case, we'd be talking about a very intimate session indeed.

Yes, Parlan moves from piano to celeste / celesta for the tunes with Lockjaw. Not quite Monk on the original "Panonica", but not bad, either.

Picked this up a few weeks ago, and only now have had a chance to spin it. Anyone else? Nothing really ground-breaking here, but PISCES isn't exactly conventional either. For one thing, Parlan is on celeste for the Davis tunes. Not only does this lend those performances weird, twinkly, raindrops-on-the-windowpane, early early morning ambiance, it allows for rather large open spaces in the music, spaces which Jaws fills more than capably with that sound of his. Some arrangements, such as "Yesterdays", are almost like tenor-bass duets in this respect. The best pieces are the really slow ones, such as a majestically brooding reading of "Midnight Sun". Anyway, the tune seems made for Jaws' phrasing: right on top of the beat, the sudden eruptions of wide vibrato, his love of snapping notes off. Griffin is Griffin, of course, mixing equal parts tenderness and outré propositions in his solos. Listen to how he handles the theme to "Willow Weep For Me" here: halting here, a tongued flurry there... these are subtle liberties, but liberties all the way. I also like the way they use Parlan's pseudo-modal intro as a tag or further bridge out of the bridge and into the last A section here. Performances average about 4 minutes in length, but the band makes the most of the time allotted. Ballad-fu. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy-fu. Contractual obligation (maybe)-fu. Joe Bob says check it out.

"Jazz": James P. Johnson and two "solo reeds" discs I'm reviewing: Sonny Simmons' JEWELS (Boxholder) Makanda Ken McIntyre's IN THE WIND (Passin' Thru) Other: the Galaxie 500 catalog (even going so far as to throw in the Plexifilm DVD devoted to the band)

http://www.justin-time.com/works/just2062/ Still processing this one, but I thought it was worth mentioning. And I feel pretty confident that there will be some strong opinions on this one. Yes, another Monk recital, but with a difference. Stetch radically re-arranges -- "Green Chimneys" is taken very briskly, a re-harmonized "Little Rootie Tootie", a version of "Ask Me Now" that also interpolates material that would not be out of place in a Bach partitia, a bustling and de-tuned "Evidence" -- or uses prepared instrument techniques ala Cage ("Well You Needn't") to "revive" these pieces. A few of the more memorable ballad melodies are played straight, and the pianist has the good sense to keep the perfomances very compact: the longest tune is "Criss Cross", at 7 + minutes. I was really afraid when I first picked this up that it would be gimmicky or po-faced in the extreme, but I find the results rather pleasing. Yet I don't really feel the results are all that Monkian in spirit. Why I don't find that problematic is one of the things I'm still puzzling through. Check it out.

For me, the pick of Dixon's Soul Notes is still NOVEMBER 1981. With Alan Silva, Mario Pavone on basses and Laurence Cook on drums. Tony Oxley's THE ENCHANTED MESSENGER (1994), with large experimental group featuring Dixon, is also very much worth hearing, IMO. Oddly, no AMG review of this disc.

Thanks Larry. Odd.

Does Giulietta Masina count? If so, I nominate her for work in the title role of Fellini's NIGHTS OF CABIRIA.

Yes, the guitarist most renowned for his contributions to the music of the recently deceased Gil Melle. Apparently there is a recent interview with Mr. Cinderella available online somewhere, but I have been completely unable to locate it using the standard methods (Google etc.). Any help would be most appreciated.

Some "jazz" content here... http://www.bagatellen.com

From the Fantasy website...

Bill O'Reilly a boor? Color me surprised...

Sandy Koufax, Magic Johnson, or Jim Brown. Your pick.

Makaya Ntshoko = superb drummer, originally from South Africa. Best known for his association with Dollar Brand / Abdullah Ibrahim.

Do i. I'm just finally getting around to reading Brion Gysin's THE PROCESS.

That is, when they are not powered by mothers. So, when is BN going to get around to reissuing CONTRASTS?