Teasing the Korean

I would rank the Peter Gunn LP up there with any of the great jazz albums from 1958. The arrangements are brilliant. You have to hear the mono album, though. The stereo is slathered in reverb.

Isn't there a version of Bird playing "White Christmas" as a ballad, or am I misremembering?

I hope they address the influence of Raymond Scott's "Powerhouse" on "Epistrophy." Too many sloppy researchers have overlooked this connection.

May I ask: Would anyone have been disappointed if the album had not included the control room chatter? Why not also include audio of the band unpacking their gear, lighting up cigarettes, and flushing the toilet? Henry Mancini did more than soundtracks, incidentally.

OK, well that explains it. My wife and I share our musical tastes in common, and as we all know, the main purpose of music is to complement one's choice of cocktails and decor. Jazz for us is conversational cocktail music, and as such, we expect it to have style, allure, and a certain sexiness. Nothing can spoil the mood more quickly than when an uninvited recording engineer barges into the proceedings. It is kind of like when Henry Mancini ruins an otherwise good album with a ragtime or parade track thrown in. Presentation is everything, and if I hear the voice of an engineer on a jazz record, that suggests a lazy-ass producer. I can only imagine his taste in clothing and furniture. May I ask: Would anyone have been disappointed if the album had not included the control room chatter? Why not also include audio of the band unpacking their gear, lighting up cigarettes, and flushing the toilet?

Does your wife or signifiant other also enjoy the studio chatter, when you are having drinks together and listening to jazz?

Well, you are absolutely correct in that regard. I am imagining one of their wordless graphic instruction sheets showing the Ziggy-like character trimming the annoying banter using digital software.

Nonsense. IKEA is all about style and presentation, and they would have much better taste than to include the mood-busting control room banter. The square celibate who compiled this album could learn a thing or two from IKEA.

Who was the dumbass who thought it would be a good idea to include the control booth chatter before every track? Way to screw up an otherwise decent album. (I already forgave the producer for the bad cover art and lack of Couperin and Vivaldi.) Now I have to load this into Audacity and get rid of the engineer. It should not be the listener's job to finish someone else's album.

By the early 1970s, musical artists of the Les Baxter and Nelson Riddle vintage were growing mutton chop sideburns and turning on to the moods, styles, and vibrations of today. During this time, both Nelson and Les arranged albums that were released under the 101 Strings imprint. Baxter did at least two. One of these is completely disposable, but the gem is Que Mango. This album finds Les updating his classic 1950s exotica sound with a drum kit, electric bass, and electric guitar, along with his signature string sound. This album just exudes international jet-set decadence. Drop your keys in the bowl in the foyer, and waddle over to the bar. Nelson Riddle recorded an equally deliciously decadent album for 101 Strings at around the same time. Here it is:

Yeah, but at those prices, who's complaining?

One of my all-time favorite albums prominently features the bass clarinet. Here it is, in its entirety, and you're welcome!

I have that Nelson101 Strings. It is excellent, save for the lame, bombastic Paul Simon cover. But you should hear that Les Baxter Que Mango album all the way through. It is on the InterTubes. But we are getting off topic. What did you think about my Oscar Peterson experience?

Nelson was good, but nowhere near as great as Les Baxter. Les never did an MPS album, but his 1970 album with 101 Strings gives a taste of what one might have sounded like. Dig the passage at around 1:22 where Les includes a "rock" version of the riff from his classic "Simba" from Tamboo! (1955):

Oh, but some of those records are on the noisy side!

Here is TTK's humble experience with Oscar Peterson: I was first exposed to jazz as a kid via my Dad. He had in his collection such amazing albums as Mundell Lowe's TV Action Jazz! and the Double Six of Paris U.S. debut on Capitol, but he did not have any Oscar Peterson. When I hit junior high, I started to really explore jazz. Dave Brubeck's Time Out was a gateway of sorts. I had somehow formed this idea - either through research, conversation, or my own observations - that Oscar Peterson was kind of a Liberace or Peter Nero of jazz - a recognizable figure that may be found in the record collections of people who had a few jazz albums, but not one who was rated very highly among the jazz crowd. In high school, I bought one Oscar Peterson album - a double LP compilation of his Verve tracks. The only track that really stood out was his version of "On Green Dolphin Street," mostly because of Milt Jackson's vibes. When I was in my late 20s, I was getting serious about my own piano playing and buying almost everyone's solo jazz piano album, just to hear how they approached playing solo. I picked up Oscar's My Favorite Instrument on MPS. While I was taken by Oscar's touch and technical command, I did not find this album as compelling as other solo piano albums by Roland Hanna, Hank Jones, or Randy Weston. In the 1990s, during the Great Vinyl Purge, I was dragging home dollar albums by the armload. I picked up basically any Oscar Peterson album on Verve, Norgran, or Clef that I stumbled upon. I would generally play these once and file them. If I revisited them, I might pull one out if we were having guests over for cocktails. I eventually ended up with about 20 Oscar Peterson albums. The only two I routinely revisit are his woefully mistitled Soul Espagnole on Limelight, a strange mashup of Brazilian tunes with Afro-Cuban percussion; and Motions and Emotions on MPS, which I adore not for the piano, but rather for that decadent Euro 1970s fondue sound, courtesy of Claus Ogerman. I also have Oscar's soundtrack album to the 1978 thriller The Silent Partner, starring Elliott Gould, Christopher Plummer, and Susannah York. I should revisit this one. While I would not be too eager to unload any of these albums, I also don't feel compelled to spin them very often. As for Oscar's influence on my own modest piano playing, I did cop his solo coda to "East of the Sun" by Billie Holiday, which I use in my arrangement of "All the Way."

In case anyone is interested, the score for this film is not by Wynton, but by Daniel Pemberton: https://www.amazon.com/Motherless-Brooklyn-Original-Motion-Picture/dp/B07Z9N4WBT/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=pemberton+motherless+brooklyn&qid=1576274951&s=dmusic&sr=1-1 Wynton and his cronies play some tunes that are presumably used as source music, but as I have not yet seen the film, I can't confirm.

Will the 60s Quintet Plugged Nickel box ever be reissued?

Is it possible that Cal didn't like the track and wanted it buried after the 45 came out?

No, unfortunately, can't help you there. Is "I Waited So Long" presumably the same tune as "I've Waited So Long" on the Black Orchid album? (I realize it may be a different recording.)

OK, happy to help. I think I have more Cal Tjader than any other artist, with the exception of Sun Ra and Ennio Morricone.

OK, I have a ton of Cal Tjader. Let me know if I can help.

What are you looking for? LPs, track listings, catalog numbers, or something more?

I have wondered this too. It is so obviously bad, how did no one in the chain catch this? Even if the multi-track masters exist, would there be enough of an audience to buy this album even if it were fixed?

It was there and so I played it. If there had been another instrument there, I would have played that other one instead.