gmonahan

"The Spy Who Loved Me" "Patriot Games" gregmo

Coleman Hawkins, "The Essential Sides Remastered, 1934-36, Disc C. Some of Hawk's interesting European recordings, including some with Django. gregmo

I'm reading (and mostly enjoying) Herbie Hancock's autobiography right now. Thinking of getting hold of Clark Terry's next. Both from the library. gregmo

Just want to point out a silly claim by Mosaic - "Thanks to Mosaic's ability to bundle collections from numerous labels and archives..." - Universal/MCA/Decca own Commodore. It is one company, one license. Well, they were half right, Chuck. One company, but I think they did draw recordings from a variety of sources, i.e., archives. gregmo

I'm bumping this one to respond to this query. I just saw "Keep on Keepin' On," and besides the fact that it had me in tears half the time, what struck me was that this film is the almost perfect "anti-Whiplash." In the great Clark Terry, we see a master teacher and mentor who loves his students, works hard with them, encourages them and thereby makes them find whatever greatness is in them. He does not torture them or abuse them or cheat them, and the music comes out of this particular film as an act of creativity, love, and genius. His students come out of the experience of working with him unbelievably better musicians AND human beings than they were when they started. Certainly, the movie has its maudlin moments, but it sure makes a great antidote for the sterile, mean, regimented view of the music in the *very* fictional "Whiplash." gregmo

That would be very, very hard. It reissues "Sketches on Standards" and "Contemporary Concepts" whole, but it draws various pieces from a bewildering array of singles, EPs, and albums. Because this was a fairly early set, the booklet does not list the LPs the way later Mosaic booklets have done. The only way one would be able to trace them is to go track by track in the discography, note the numbers (like "T462" or "H525") and then figure out what albums correspond to all the numbers! gregmo

Many thanks for the responses! gregmo

Has this one ever been reissued on cd? I have it on an ancient Alamac LP. gregmo Yes. It was available briefly. Details? gregmo

Has this one ever been reissued on cd? I have it on an ancient Alamac LP. gregmo

GRP issued some of the music. A good selection of the best of the Commodore material was issued on the 2-cd "The Commodore Story" (with a really fine essay on the label by Dan Morganstern, who has apparently also done the notes for this set). More of the Eddie Condon Commodores could be found, also on GRP, on Pee Wee Russell, "Jazz Original." A selection of the Condon Decca material is on GRP Decca Jazz, "Dixieland All-Stars," and I have a chunk of the Bud Freeman Deccas on Classics, "Bud Freeman, 1939-1940." I imagine there are other Classics releases with more. All of these are out of print, but you can often find them used for not too much money. All that said, having all of this great music in one set will be wonderful, and I've already preordered it. You can see the complete discography on the mosaic records site, but here it is, anyway: http://www.mosaicrecords.com/discography.asp?number=259-MD-CD&price=$136.00&copies=8%20CDs gregmo

I once heard him compared to a fine liqueur. Sublime when taken in luxuriously small sips. gregmo

BS&T was THE "rock" band of my jazz-oriented youth. I'm saddened by this news. RIP

Vocalion reissued some Phase 4's by big bands. I've got at least three can think of, "Stan Kenton Today," "The Golden Trumpet of Harry James," and "Benny Goodman Today." They're all pretty good records. gregmo

Brown always led high-quality outfits. I have the old Time-Life compilation. I like this version of "Love," but for my money, the best was the hit version by Red Norvo and Mildred Bailey! You're right about Capitol, though. The Mosaic Harry James/Gene Krupa Capitol set is further evidence of the expertise of that label's engineers from the period. gregmo

Nice piece. Thanks for posting it! gregmo

I like OP too. As for that last bit, well, that sounds kinda painful. Think I'll forego that. gregmo

Didn't Keepnews blame Grauer for signing Chet Baker? It seems like I remember seeing that somewhere. Keepnews had *no* time for Chet Baker and considered him nothing but a hustler. My issues with Keepnews have nothing to do with the people he recorded. He seems to have been honest with them and deeply devoted to the music. Rather, I always objected to how he did reissues. He wasn't always as sensitive to sound issues as he should have been, and he could be pretty odd in the choices of what he chose to reissue. That said, there is a LOT of great music on my shelves because of him, so I gratefully wish him a peaceful rest. gregmo

As one who taught at the college level for many years, I found this post on the mark. This guy wouldn't have lasted five minutes before he was "drummed" out of a job. I love J. K. Simmons, and he was very good in the role, but the notion that someone as verbally and physically abusive as this would actually be allowed to teach is ludicrous. I haven't seen such a silly representation of teaching on screen since Robin Williams in "Dead Poets Society" (though in his case, the silliness was a polar opposite of Fletcher in this flick). As for the fixation on Rich, that actually made some sense to me. I could easily see a young drummer fixating on a particular role model, and Rich was a great drummer. All the race stuff strikes me as nonsense. The "next" movie in which the music will figure is "Miles Ahead" directed and starring Don Cheadle. Hope springs eternal. gregmo

He took a role some would have run from, enhanced it, and gave it grace. A sad loss. gregmo

Did you put this together Jim?! Well, many thanks! It was great fun! gregmo

gregmo

Thanks for posting this. I've never been a huge Dylan fan, but I plan to listen to this record. I thought his answer to this question was really very good--honest and insightful: I noticed that Frank Sinatra recorded every one of these songs. Was he on your mind? A: When you start doing these songs, Frank’s got to be on your mind. Because he is the mountain. That’s the mountain you have to climb, even if you only get part of the way there. And it’s hard to find a song he did not do. He’d be the guy you got to check with. People talk about Frank all the time. He had this ability to get inside of the song in a sort of a conversational way. Frank sang to you — not at you. I never wanted to be a singer that sings at somebody. I’ve always wanted to sing to somebody. I myself never bought any Frank Sinatra records back then. But you’d hear him anyway — in a car or a jukebox. Certainly nobody worshipped Sinatra in the ’60s like they did in the ’40s. But he never went away — all those other things that we thought were here to stay, they did go away. But he never did.

I thought the first season of TNG was a bit derivative and stiff, but not terrible. And I liked the movies! Well, except for V, which was really, *really* bad! gregmo

Yeah, Carlin could get really mean as he got older. I knew a guy who scheduled acts at Indiana U in Bloomington, and I asked him once who was the worst jerk he ever had to deal with. "George Carlin, hands down" was the answer. I was disappointed (loved some of his midlife comedy a lot) but not too surprised. gregmo

This has brought back to me some of the interesting discussions we've had on the Board about the connection between the often-problematic personalities/personal lives of some jazz musicians and their art. I think what makes Cosby different is that a lot of his public persona came to be tied up with a moral and ethical mission. He made a lot of his study of child psychology, of the importance of family life, of working hard and all that, and these charges just blast a lot of that out of the water as hopeless hypocrisy. If his humor had been more like that of, say, Redd Fox, would people be more likely to give him a pass? Probably not, but it's an interesting question. gregmo