Joe

As far as the over-renditioned "Knockin' On Heaven's Door Goes" -- for me, the definitive version is Television's (hear THE BLOW-UP).

I have an old VHS copy. If you are a Tristano-phile like myself, its essential viewing. Its a rather short concert (29 minutes or so [?]) but watching Tristano freely improvise several of these pieces in his inimitable manner, at perhaps the very height of the "free jazz" explosion -- 1965 was the year of ASCENSION, after all -- is just fascinating. For those further interested... http://www.lennietristano.com/

My budding musical career was cut tragically short the day my sister grew exasperated with the incessant rehearsing and put her foot through my

Ah, yes, the fond, fond memories this one conjures up...

Of the Fairport versions, I'm most fond of "Percy's Song".

They aren't showing STALAG 17, LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON, SABRINA and ACE IN THE HOLE (aka THE BIG CARNIVAL)? Hmmmm... Agreed that both ONE, TWO, THREE and THE LOST WEEKEND are among the best of his output. The former is one of the most relentless comedies I've ever seen. Ed Sikov's ON SUNSET BOULEVARD is a fine bio of Wilder. Several compendiums of Wilder interviews have also been published, inlcuding Cameron Crowe's CONVERSATIONS WITH BILLY WILDER.

Didn't Hot Lips Page record some trio sides with Teddy Bunn and Leonard Feather in the late 30's? Though recorded in the early 1960's, this is rather much in the idiom Chuck mentions...

Lynn Hope was black power before there was Black Power...

Seriously, what's the story behind the man's sky piece / topper / lid / bonnet? Is it a form of homage to Hammond organ pioneer Korla Pandit? http://www.spaceagepop.com/pandit.htm

I'll stump for: | Frank Gratkowski Quartet, SPECTRAL REFLECTIONS (Leo) | Fathead Newman, THE GIFT (Highnote) | Jeff Parker, LIKE-COPING (Delmark) | Charles Davis, BLUE GARDENIA (Reade Street Records) | Julius Hemphill, ONE ATMOSPHERE (Tzadik) | Wadada Leo Smith / Anthony Braxton, ORGANIC RESONANCE (Pi Recordings) Re-issues: | Bobby Bradford, LOVE'S DREAM (Emanem) | Cecil Taylor, STUDENT STUDIES (Fuel 2000) | the Bud Freeman sessions on Fantasy (ALL-STAR SWING SESSIONS) | Elmo Hope, SOUNDS FROM RIKERS' ISLAND (Audio Fidelity / Fresh Sounds)

I have the Novak Quartet readings on Phillips. The Amazon reader isn't too fond of them, but I find their slightly clinical, Boulez-esque interpretations make it easier to really examine the architecture of the work. The recording I heard most often growing up was this one: but its been ages since I heard it. I do know the Juilliard Quartet built their legacy in part on their performances of these quartets, and that my father never gave up his old Juilliard LPs, including those 1963 recording of the Quartets.

Thanks for the plug, all.

Paul Desmond also recorded a couple of fugue pieces for fantasy in the mid-50's.

I believe a Shelly Manne group recorded a very brief fugue for Contemporary in the early 1950's. In fact, I'm pretty sure its a Jimmy Giuffre piece -- the first of several such pieces he wrote over the course of that decade.

I'm rather fond of the Antilles quartet date with Anthony Davis, Mark Helias and Ed Blackwell, a record that seems hardly ever to get discussed. Though I don't usually go in for such things, and I think it is abundantly clear that Braxton's own music is more rewarding for those who answers the unusual challenges it presents, there is something to be said for the man's "songbook" recordings: THE CHARLIE PARKER PROJECT and THE EIGHT (+3) TRISTANO COMPOSITIONS: FOR WARNE MARSH (both on Hat); the recent Andrew Hill recording on CIMP; the Monk date with Mal Waldron on Black Saint; and the SOLO PIANO (STANDARDS) on No More. The Delmark Quartet release from earlier this year is very, very strong; listeners who have complained about the Glass-ism of earlier Ghost Trane Music performances have even liked it.

I believe John Handy played that solo, not Hadi. Guy Guy -- that's right, it was Handy. Therefore, I submit into evidence Hadi's solo on "Reincarnation of a Lovebird" from THE CLOWN.

I went with Hadi, and not just because of his great "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" solo. Hadi was somehow able to put an Ellingtonian spin (timbral variation, understanding of ensemble dynamics) to a very set of quintessentially hard bop ideas (some original funk in his ideas; an almost caustic articualtion of bop phrasing). INSERT: Damn, Chuck said almost this very same thing, only much more succinctly. END The little bit of mystery that surrounds Hadi doesn't hurt either. The Bobby Jones HILL COUNTRY SUITE is an excellent date, though Jones' clarinet is slightly more in evidence than his tenor sax.

Absolutely! And I've been looking for the Muse record for a long time.

One of my favorites in this "style" (if you can call it that): Some lyrical, joyous playing by all involved, including Walter Bishop, Jr., who is anything but a sore thumb here. Contains what is for me the finest, most aching interpretation of "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" I've ever heard.

Excellent choice, great session. PJJ indeed makes a huge difference; AB these performances with those on the Blue Note INTRODUCING JOHNNY GRIFFIN (aka CHICAGO CALLING), with the more disciplinary Max Roach in the drum chair. Larry, from your final description, it may be fair to dub Griff the Robert Rauschenberg of the tenor saxophone.

Long-awaited... Get it while you can... A blues and R&B legend, Percy Mayfield is known both as a singer and as a songwriter for other artists, most notably Ray Charles. His singing career took off in the late '40s, when he tried to get Jimmy Witherspoon to record some of his material. Spoon's Supreme Records signed Mayfield as an artist instead, releasing "Two Years Of Torture" b/w "You're Still A Square," songs that were recorded years later by Brother Ray and B.B. King, respectively. The hits began to flow, including his signature 1950 #1 for Specialty Records, "Please Send Me Someone To Love." Then, in 1952, Mayfield was involved in a horrible car accident, leaving his famously handsome face disfigured. He struggled through the '50s, releasing unsuccessful singles for Chess, Cash, Imperial, and 7 Arts before leaving Los Angeles for his Louisiana home. During this time Mayfield wrote one of Ray Charles signature songs, "Hit The Road Jack," and the two reconnected. Ray had broken big with "Sticks And Stones," "Georgia On My Mind," and "One Mint Julep," and his success brought him his own label, Tangerine. Mayfield found his way onto its roster, along with other Charles favorites like Jimmy Scott, Louis Jordan, and Lula Reed. He wrote custom material for his legendary label boss ("Hide Nor Hair," "The Danger Zone," "My Baby Don't Dig Me") and also recorded the songs on this release, considered some of his finest. Among the gems on this collection are "River's Invitation" (1963), whose funked-up Gerald Wilson arrangement helped Mayfield back onto the R&B charts at #25. "Stranger In My Own Home Town" (1964) was subsequently recorded by both Elvis and Mose Allison. The harrowing "My Bottle Is My Companion" (1968) chronicles the artist's bouts with alcoholism in the period following his accident. "Ha Ha In The Daytime" (1968) was his last Tangerine side, a remake of a previously unreleased 1962 number also included here. His Tangerine & Atlantic Sides is available as an individually numbered limited edition of 2,500 copies. TRACK LISTING HA HA IN THE DAYTIME (???) NEVER NO MORE (2:05) I REACHED FOR A TEAR (2:28) MEMORY PAIN (2:24) NEVER SAY NAW (2:52) LIFE IS SUICIDE (2:16) BABY PLEASE (LOST LOVE) (2:59) RIVER'S INVITATION (2:18) COOKIN' IN STYLE (1:57) THE HUNT IS ON (1:57) YOU DON'T EXIST NO MORE (2:42) MY JUG AND I (2:58) STRANGER IN MY OWN HOME TOWN (2:38) WAY DOWN HOME ON THE FARM () MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE OF LOVE (3:20) STAND BY (2:13) FADING LOVE (2:18) GIVE ME TIME TO EXPLAIN (1:44) MY BOTTLE IS MY COMPANION (2:47) IT'S TIME TO MAKE A CHANGE (2:40) WE BOTH MUST CRY (2:38) MY LOVE (2:06) DON'T START LYING TO ME (3:09) LONG AS YOU'RE MINE (2:52) HA HA IN THE DAYTIME (2:56) PRETTY-EYED BABY (2:41) I DON'T WANT TO BE PRESIDENT (3:19) NOTHIN' STAYS THE SAME FOREVER (4:32) http://www.rhinohandmade.com/browse/Produc...sso?Number=7828

For the Steve Lacy fans here: Bruce Ackley Trio, THE HEARING Finally, a record that is crying out for re-issue, the Joe Daley trio from Newport '63.