gmonahan

Always liked Morganstern, Blumenthal, and Schoenberg. Thought McDonough's notes on the recent Webb set were pretty good. And Larry and Chris, of course. As for Green, I remember really liking him when I was younger because I thought he was sort of profound. He got distinctly less so as I got older. And even though I appreciated his devotion to the music, I never had much time for Stanley Dance's liners. gregmo

Well, this thread has certainly meandered rather far from Crouch's book, hasn't it?! I picked up a copy of Priestley's Chasin' the Bird and have been reading it. The interpretations are pretty solid, but unlike what I've read people say about Crouch's book, the problem with this one (for me) is that it seems too brief. Nice discography at the end, though! Is there a good cd source for the stuff Bird recorded that was eventually released on Roulette? gregmo

I can relate, sadly. Lost my wife to colon cancer at age 43. The first year was tough, but it got better. I know that is weak solace, indeed, but, beyond telling you I am thinking of you and feeling for you and wishing you had not joined this particular club, it's about the best I can do. I am so very sorry. gregmo

The two Max Bennett discs have some primo Carl Fontana on them. A real discovery for me. gregmo

I was amazed during a recent trip to Kyoto to find a Tower Records store in business. I thought the chain had gone belly up world wide. Did my part--bought several cds there. I think I was partly just sentimental about getting hold of one of those yellow bags. The Japanese still seem to like record stores. I found several during the trip, much to the detriment of my wallet. gregmo

By the way, I appreciate the moderators expanding this thread to include Crown. It coincided perfectly for me with that purchase of those P-Vine reissues! Selfishly, gregmo

I was recently in Japan where I bought three Crown discs reissued by the Japanese label P-Vine. As is usually the case with Japanese reissues, these were true to the originals right down to the LP track lineup and cheap looking album covers both front and back. I got one by Woody Herman (The New Swingin' Herman Herd), one by Bob Brookmeyer (Bob Brookmeyer featuring John Williams and Red Mitchell), and one supposedly by Gerry Mulligan (The West Coast Jazz of Gerry Mulligan). Once I got home and was actually able to look them all up, I realized that the Herman was the only one that appeared to be more or less original to Crown. The Brookmeyer was a Pacific Jazz ripoff I already had on the Mosaic Select, and the Mulligan was almost entirely a Gerald Wiggins trio date with a couple of Mulligan things also taken from Pacific Jazz. The Wiggins is pleasant but hardly essential. Has P-Vine been discussed on the Board before? And has anyone else picked up some of these P-Vine Crown reissues? They've reissued both Coleman Hawkins records as well, though, as another poster indicated, Fresh Sound has combined both of those lps on one cd. No idea what the sound is like on those. gregmo

Sorry Moose. You seemed so HAPPY there! :-) Thanks for the birthday greetings. Celebrated my 60th in Japan with a trip to disk union and a lot of sake.

The Monk Bliue Note set for me too. gregmop

Samurai Warrior armor exhibition at Portland Art Museum in Portland, Oregon. Very impressive collection of gorgeous armor. gregmo

And not yet in the Down Beat Hall of Fame. I mean, really. Not only a great, great player, but by all accounts, a gentle and generous guy. Happy Birthday Mr. Konitz! gregmo

"Tony Bennett: The Complete Collection" has three discs from MGM/Verve: "The Good Things in Life" with Robert Farnon and His Orchestra "'Listen Easy' featuring 'Tell Her It's Snowing'" arranged and conducted by Don Costa "Tony Bennett's Greatest Hits Volume 7" which appears to be made up of singles. All are listed as "Tony Bennett Enterpise Productions" but I can't tell if that was original, or whether that was added for the box. My guess is that Tony was freelancing at the time before he started his Improv label. Don't think these albums are available on cd anywhere else. Leastwise, I haven't seen them. Might be some old LP copies around, though. gregmo

That one definitely gets my vote for the most unattractive cover ever, though there may be other competitors. Maybe someone should start a new thread?! Or do we have one already?! gregmo

Sounds to me like Crouch is simply using Bird as a vehicle to ruminate on the culture, much like Leroi Jones used to do, or even Mingus in his sort-of-autobiography. In that sense, it's a pretty well established trope. Provided one doesn't approach it as a straight bio of Bird, then Mark's point is *the* point. I think what people have objected to is the sense of a bait and switch, the sense that this was going to be a definitive biography of Bird (a la Kelley with Monk) rather than a literary foray, and that it really isn't a biography at all. gregmo

That Blue Note reissue series was one of the best ever by any label, IMHO. I had a bunch of those. gregmo

I liked the early books, but as he got famous, his books became somewhat jingoistic, and I found it hard to get past that. I did like his work ethic and his fairly honest take on writing--that it's hard work and one just has to do it. gregmo

I edit reviews for an academic on-line site, and all I can say from reading Larry's excepts is that I would really have *hated* to be Crouch's editor. gregmo

An extraordinary player for a legendary team. 67 is so young, but it seems par for the course with football players, sadly. gregmo

The Armstrong live set box isn't there either. I wouldn't worry. I just think Mosaic has gotten a lot more conservative about what they post on their Upcoming Releases page. gregmo

Damn, JM, $22.50 each for two beers is pretty spendy! gregmo

My only advice: Don't walk to where you're going to walk. If you're going to a museum or the forum, ride there. Otherwise, have a wonderful time, take it easy, see what you see and don't stress over what you don't. Drink wine, eat gelato in Italy and hang out with that wonderful spouse of yours. I mean, she's stayed with you for fifty years of jazz collecting, recording, and producing. She must be really, really special!

Well, ok, if catastrophe struck, and I somehow lost my Mosaics, I guess you'd have to pry my cold, dead hands off of the Teagarden Roulette set. But my feet would be holding on to the Capitols! gregmo

I meant all of 'em. Especially too bad about JSP, which used to be a very, very fine reissue label. gregmo

Must...use...superpowers... gregmo

I'm absolutely with Hans when it comes to the Andorrans ripping off legitimate reissue labels. I think it's nasty, and I won't buy that stuff. I had no idea the Japanese had ever reissued any of those John Graas records. I do wish some of those Japanese reissues didn't require a second mortgage on my house. gregmo