Teasing the Korean

Does anyone happen to know how many orchestrations there are of this piece? I don't mean every orchestration ever, but frequently performed or recorded versions. The one I know is by Lucien Cailliet. Is this the main one? Does anyone have more than one orchestration of this, and if so, do you have a favorite?

This is radio clash: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77EAvs4dq0k

When it comes to jazz, larger public (NPR) radio stations don't have any freedom. I think they are expected to play new releases and to "keep jazz alive" through your tax-deductible contribution. If you got a DJ gig at an NPR station and played nothing but classic Prestige and Blue Note LPs, you'd be fired before your first week was out. I agree that non-NPR college stations and smaller community radio stations can play whatever they want, but not the larger NPR public stations. I should add that JSngry's comments above generally reflect where I am.

I do sometimes like the surprise element of radio. The word "passive" generally has a negative connotation, but I think that the "passive listening" experience you get from radio - i.e., hearing only what the DJ wants you to hear - can allow for some surprises, juxtapositions that never would occur to you, and the chance to hear something that you would never buy or choose to put on. I like the idea that someone can turn on a radio and hear jazz, but by now, those same listeners already know how to seek out the music inexpensively from other sources. It will be interesting to see what happens to radio in the next, say, 25 or 30 years. With corporate giants like Disney abandoning the medium, I wonder if it might not revert back to all local programming, free of Clear Channel.

Thanks all. I don't understand the controversy about the Bethlehem version.

I thought this topic may have come up in another thread but I couldn't find it with the search engine. Did Ellington ever revisit this tune after the original recording in the early 1940s? I have tons of Duke Ellington but I have only the one version of this classic. I realize that if Duke kept revisiting everything, he would have no time or space for new tunes, but it is kind of surprising that this one fell through the cracks. Is this a case of something being fully recognized only in retrospect?

Imagine "Artistry in Synth Pop"

Listening now to his Artistry in Bossa Nova album. As bossa goes, the LP is a giant FAIL with a capitol (no pun intended) F. Kenton's formula was that anything "modern" had to be bigger, louder, and more dissonant. As a result, he completely misses the beauty, subtlety and sadness of bossa. But as post-war, futurist hi-fi jazz for modern living, it is pretty good. I might like it even more if I ever get around to getting a new belt for my turntable.

I was listening to some early Peggy Lee with Benny Goodman. She sounds like a completely different singer, much more in a Jo Stafford kind of bag. I realize singers' voices naturally change over time, but with Peggy Lee it sounds like she made a deliberate choice at some point to change her style. Any specific info on this?

This is precisely my reason for asking the question. Because I have primarily played either solo (in whatever the hell key I'm in the mood for) or with singers (based on their ranges), I have forgotten the standard keys of many tunes. Among my very finite number of musical aptitudes, transposing on the fly is one of them. I barely ever use sheet music (although I write charts for my original tunes and arrangements). The downside of this is that, if I"m playing with other pitched musical instruments and tunes are called, I don't remember original keys. If it is a tune that I'm rusty on, I like to have an idea of the key in advance, if possible. The old Real Book that I had in the 1980s was pretty awful - wrong changes throughout, God only knows about the keys. Is the more recent three-volume set more reliable?

But fake books don't always include things in the original keys, do they? "Green Dolphin" is the obvious example. I suppose that fake book keys can become the accepted keys over time.

OK, I'll send you a PM with 2,000+ titles and I'll expect an immediate response. Seriously, I appreciate the offer. There are a number of deep-catalog tunes by the "Great American Songbook" composers that may not be readily attainable. I will ask you about these if I can't find them elsewhere.

These are great, thank you! I will be interested to see how deep into the standard repertoire they extend.

Because I have for the most part played either solo or behind singers over the decades, there are so, so many tunes whose typically accepted keys I've completely forgotten. Is there a decent online resource that includes this information?

Me too. So I'm not crazy.

Thanks for the review. There were some brisk readings of Le Sacre in the 1950s - I'm thinking the Dorati Minneapolis? - but I get what you mean. It's amazing to me that 100+ years later, Le Sacre still shocks audiences. I don't know if that speaks to the inherent power of the piece, or the cluelessness of the audiences. Or both. It just seems that anyone with the wherewithal to buy a ticket to hear an orchestra play might know something about 20th Century music.

How was it?

Tell that to audience audibly drinking during the recording, whose clinking glasses are at least as loud as Paul Motian with the brushes, at least on my copy of the double LP reissue.

Well, I tend to go for rum cocktails. I also like many red wines. But back to the Village Vanguard sessions: The fact that the clinking of glasses is at least as loud as Paul Motian's drumming makes that album a contender for cocktail lounge music.

Well, I like to enjoy a cocktail while I'm listening to jazz, so in my world, nearly all jazz pianists are cocktail pianists by default.

So does anyone know why are we getting the tapes only now? Why weren't they used for the CD reissues in the 1990s?

I'm hearing that some titles are in stereo that were previously released only in mono, so if this is true, they must be taken from a superior source.

Has anyone checked out these Sun Ra reissues remastered for iTunes? The tapes are apparently supplied by a longtime band member, and the source material is supposedly way better than much of what was released during the digital era. I have no idea if they are planning to issue these as CDs or in any other lossless format. I am no fan of mp3s, but based on a few samples that I've heard, I dunno.

It is funny how jazz academics and "serious" jazz guys downplay the contributions of artists like Spike Jones, Louis Prima, Raymond Scott, or anyone else who injected fun and humor into the music.