mhatta

I have the Japanese CD release. The personnel besides Ammons and McGhee seem to be Jake Fisher (g), Barney Richmond (b), Willie Mashburn (ds), and Waco (bongos). There's no information available about the sidemen, but they were likely Chicago locals active in the Soul, R&B, or Blues scene. Since it was released on Argo under the name Howard McGhee & The Blazers, perhaps there was a plan to market it similarly to The Aces (and not really about Ammons & McGhee?)

I didn't know there is another famous musician, Sam Rivers, though the name might not be as rare as Ella Speed. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj3z0pypnpro

Great news! Since Resonance reissued Albert Ayler's Foundation Maeght recording a few years ago, they should have access to Cecil Taylor's tapes too. Andrew Cyrille is in top form here, so I hope they release it while he's still alive. The Great Concert of Cecil Taylor aka Second Act of A is my favorite Cecil Taylor. Recordings from his quartet around that time, as far as I know, are: 1969/2/8 Grinnell College, IA 1969/7/29 Foundation Maeght, France aka “Second Act of A” 1969/11/4 Copenhagen, Denmark (w/ color video!) 1969/11/5 Stockholm, Sweden 1969/11/6 Berlin, Germany 1969/11/9 Rotterdam, Netherlands aka “Cecil Taylor Quartet In Europe” 1969/11/10 Stuttgart, Germany aka “Fragments of a Dedication to Duke Ellington” Are there any others?

Clifford Jordan's piano-less trio (featuring Philly Joe in his final days) is fascinating, yet it's never been released on CD, nor is it available for streaming or on YouTube. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rotterdam_Session

That's right, I'm one of the administrators of jazzdisco.org. If you want to create a discography for Steve Lacy, you're welcome to do so.

I was REALLY surprised to learn that Hal Galper (born April 18, 1938) was actually older than McCoy Tyner (born December 11, 1938). I somehow thought Hal was part of the next generation influenced by McCoy.

I was personally a little surprised that he was 87 years old. I had the impression that he was mainly active in the 1970s, so I had assumed he was born in the late 1940s or early 1950s (for example, his one-time bandmate Michael Brecker was born in 1949), but he was actually a generation older than them. It makes sense, considering he was active in Chet Baker's band in the 1960s. Personally, I think Now Hear This, featuring the powerful lineup of Japanese-born Terumasa Hino, Cecil McBee, and Tony Williams, is his masterpiece. Galper, despite being the leader, doesn't stand out much in a way, which might be disappointing for him, but it's wonderful jazz. RIP.

Personally, I feel that George Coleman seems somewhat inhibited or self-conscious in Miles' band. He displays his monstrous playing in live performances with Wynton Kelly at the Left Bank Jazz Society and at Ronnie Scott's in London, but in these performances, the drummers are more conservative. Perhaps he was not well suited to Tony Williams' rhythm conception.

They may be a bit short for box sets, but recently released important archives of Japanese jazz. Well worth searching for. Great 3 Complete Sessions 1994 (4 CDs) / Masabumi Kikuchi, Gary Peacock & Masahiko Togashi Complete Tohoku Sessions 1971 (3 CDs) / Kaoru Abe Masayuki Takayanagi: Archive I (5 CDs) Love Dance: Solo Live at Galerie de Café Den Tokyo 1987-1997 / Mototeru Takagi (5 CDs)

Buddy Collette? He used to be in Heinie Beau's band, and although he is known for playing flute, he is also a versatile (and can be gritty) tenorman.

Wow! I know Coltrane toured with Dizzy's band, and there are many bootlegs from his European tour, but there are none of his (only) UK tour just before. Anywise, there may be some who disagree, but personally, while Dizzy Gillespie has many excellent works, I don't think any of them can be considered "definitive". The closest I can think of is Dizzy On The French Riviera. When summer comes around, I always remember Chega De Saudade from that album. Lalo Shifrin's piano really stands out (I wonder if he also arranged it). RIP.

In 2007, I saw Louis Moholo perform in Japan with Japanese pianist Yoriyuki Harada and Henry Grimes, and it was an incredible performance. I also saw him perform with Tristan Honsinger. Grimes, Honsinger and now Moholo all have passed away now. RIP.

A bit off-topic... Bud Powell recorded “That Old Black Magic” several times. The 1954 recording for Norgran/Verve was terrible, possibly he was drunk. However, the 1955 live recording from Birdland is a wonderful performance (it was issued in Francis Paudras' massive box set of Powell archive). Unfortunately, it seems to have been recorded via a TV speaker (possibly from Bob Andrews' collection?), resulting in terrible sound quality. It is basically unlistenable. However, the 1956 version recently unearthed by Lewis Porter has excellent sound quality (some mess in the middle), and the drums are played by Roy Haynes! While the performance lacks the same grandeur as the 1955 version, it's still quite good. https://lewisporter.substack.com/p/bud-powell-unissued-live-recording

I don't remember it clearly, but I think I read about it in Bill Crow's From Birdland To Broadway. I think it was Jerry Newman, who was a recording enginee on those sessions, who released it on his own label, Esoteric without permissions.

Joe Lovano's live recording at Village Vanguard (that was 30 years ago) wasn't bad. But on other recordings, I don't like his tone and phrasing, and I feel like he's sort of half-hearted. But that's probably his style, so there's no point in complaining about it. BTW I saw Julian Lage at a live performance in Tokyo recently, and it wasn't bad, either. But it wasn't quite my cup of tea.