Shrdlu

There are many that I like a lot, including Paul Desmond (my first hero on the instrument when I began on the horn), Johnny Hodges, Cannonball Adderley and lots of others, but if forced to name a favorite, I'd go with Bird. That's partly because Bird was not just an alto player, but also a fantastic innovator. Bird satisfies me more than any other jazz artist. In the 50s and 60s, there were several alto players on the major labels with lousy intonation. I won't mention any names, but playing out of tune is not acceptable for a professional musician, and the record producers should have clamped down on it. As an example, I can think of one Blue Note session that was not issued until the CD days because the alto's intonation was painfully off. Move the mouthpiece on the neck, baby! A problem with the alto, versus the tenor, is that there is less variety amongst the players. That's obviously because Bird's influence is so strong. As Trane said, there was no one tenor player who dominated the field as much as Bird did on alto. For lead alto, in a section, I'd go for Hymie Schertzer in Benny Goodman's band when there was no baritone. That's far and away my favorite sax section sound, one of the greatest sounds in music. That story about Duke's band in Leeds was great. I recently saw a photo of Duke in Leeds with the Queen, by the way. It was probably taken on the same visit. My uncle also had a great Duke story, also set in Yorkshire. In the 30s, he went to see the band in Wakefield. Duke was already a major icon, of course. At one point, a guy sitting in front of my uncle proclaimed loudly "Eeh, they're not bad for niggers!"

I went to Ronnie's in 1972 to see Roland Kirk and Bill Evans, and then, in 1974, to see Zoot Sims and Jackie Caine and Roy Kral. (All excellent.) I don't remember the admission price, but it was very reasonable, and there was no requirement to join the club. I didn't need to order any food, and I don't recall any restrictions on serving drinks while the club was open. Of course, the U.K. still had some rather antiquated drinking hours back then (these have only fairly recently been extended), but clubs such as Ronnie's must have had some kind of late license. The new U.K. fascist government (and the previous Labor administration) seems to be planning more strict laws, using the excuse of pretending that they care about kids hanging out in the streets drinking. You know, the "nanny state" stuff. Minimum prices for booze are in the pipeline. This won't stop kids getting booze. All it will do is penalize adults, and, above all, make more money for the greedy government - that is the real reason for the plans. One place that was bad back then was Ontario, Canada. I was in Toronto in 1977, and, the licensing laws forced an early close. I was at a Jack de Johnette concert, and Jack announced a new set, but was told that they had to close. He was surprised by that.

Thanks a lot for posting that, Chris. Very interesting. By the way, it's easy to transfer any analog source (tape, LP etc.) to the hard drive, and thence onto a CDr. Get Musicmatch Jukebox and plug the sound source into the computer's line-in jack. After the content is uploaded onto the hard drive, you can edit with Nero (or similar software) and burn it to CDr. If it's an LP, you need an intermediate little amplifier in line, to boost the turntable's output to "line level". And you need to connect a ground wire from the turntable to the computer chassis, to get rid of hum. The results, with several LPs that I have transferred to digital, sound better than any of the CD reissues, because you get the original LP mix, with none of the much-discussed issues that some people don't like (McMaster, RVG and so on).

Even a soprano sax (in case) is too large as carry-on luggage.

Milt's Limelight album, "In a New Setting" is top quality, too. Jimmy Heath once again, plus McCoy Tyner. It makes a nice matchmeet for the "Jazz 'N' Samba" album.

And, as Raymond Huntley said in a Peter Sellers movie, I trust that that clarifies the matter.

I think that what others meant in their comments about Jewish people is that they have a number of people that are gifted (in all sorts of areas) that is way out of proportion to their total numbers. Musicians, scientists, and so on. This is not at all derogatory. It's good stuff. The reason is that the Jews are God's chosen people. Their achievements are a sign of God's blessing.

The Jamal will be great! I hope all you guys can also hear the "Chamber Music of the New Jazz" album, and the early 50s tracks that were released on the Okeh and Epic labels (labels under the Columbia umbrella). They are fantastic. That material is the stuff that influenced Miles and others. The influence on Miles showed up on (Miles') recordings in 1956, so the Mosaic description applies to these earlier recordings, made before the items in the forthcoming set, and so it is not really accurate.

Yes, it's the same album. Both of these are great albums.

Unaaaaaaa, mas!

I have all the McFarland and most of the Szabo on vinyl. "Simpatico" isn't really all that good. I don't think you are missing much - though, yes, the photo is good. It was one of Bob Thiele's more commercial ventures.

By contrast, Gran Canaria was very cheap when I was there in February (apart from permanent accommodation, which I wasn't looking for). You could get an excellent evening meal for 8 of those euro thingys, a cab ride of about 5 miles was 5, and the buses were only 1.20, as a few examples. I was in a self-catering hotel, and found all the food and drink cheap too, and i noticed that smokes went for 1.75. Some good news for a change.

Routers are a real pain. They are awkward to set up initially, and they frequently go off and have to be reset. They are handy, but many's the time I wish my computer was just hard-wired into a modem again.

That book was one of the first books about jazz that I ever read, too. I was very grateful to get a copy, having been brought up from a very young age on Waller 78s. Great photo, Chris.

A couple of years ago, I had a problem with a seller on eBay. The item was a spare cellphone charger, which went for a measly $2.00 or so. I paid for it promptly, using Paypal. The seller, a real nasty bitch, ignored many emails, and claimed that I had not paid for the item. Eventually, she got eBay to give me a "negative strike". This was particularly annoying, as my eBay rating was 100% positive. Fortunately, I had kept the email that Paypal had sent me, confirming the payment. It took a long time to clear my eBay record, but by persisting, I got them to do so. They later kicked the seller off the site. I hope this encourages anyone who has problems like Dan's and mine. It was a very unpleasant and time-consuming experience though, especially when you consider the tiny price of the item in question. I am glad to say that no other buyer or seller has caused me problems.

I'm very glad to hear this, for the sake of those who don't know these two albums. They are both excllent. They are very different, and shouldn't really be lumped together though.

Hugh Laurie is certainly an excellent Bertie Wooster (Steven Fry being a great Jeeves too), but there was an excellent early 60s version, in which Ian Carmichael was also superb as Bertie, Dennis Price doing a fine job as Jeeves. I Googled these earlier versions recently, and read that no copies of any of those episodes still exist. Wodehouse's Blandings Castle books are also superb. There are about 15 of them. My Dad put me onto them when I was about 15, and I read the lot. For those who don't know this series, the principal scene is a large country home inhabited by the dopey Earl of Emsworth, his imperious sister, Lady Constance, and his brother, The Hon Galahad Threepwood, together with servants (butler etc.) and the Earl's prize sow, The Empress of Blandings. There are various younger members of the family, with the usual romantic entanglements. Classic Wodehouse.

Very sad to hear. Many of us have known his name for years, as Gil Evans used him such a lot. Who could ever forget his bass clarinet work on "Miles Ahead"? That Marc Meyers blogsite is very interesting! There are a large number of musician interviews, and Meyers includes many excellent pics and links to recordings.

I've enjoyed countless alternate takes, for many years, beginning with Bird. I think they are usually very valuable and enjoyable in the case of superbly creative artists such as Parker. Very often, they are not inferior to the originally issued versions, and include solos by some that are better, or at least as good. Most alternates that I have heard include no mistakes. Even if there is a breakdown, it's nice to hear the track if there are some good solos. I wouldn't want to be without such alternates as the Parker Dials. As a quick example, the first take of "Out of Nowhere" is superb from start to finish. It was only rejected because it went on too long (this being the 78 era). They shortened it by not having a piano solo on the two other takes; pianist Duke Jordan plays a delightful solo on take A that I would not like to be without. I'd never thought of the payment to the musicians, but is that really worth worrying about in the case of sessions that took place decades ago? Besides, weren't the sidemen just paid to play at the session, regardless of the number of complete takes? Various books, such as the one about the making of "A Love Supreme", state that there was a fixed session fee for a sideman, (about $100 at that time), with payment for overtime where a session went beyond the planned length.

"The Dave Brubeck Quartet In Europe" is another excellent album. Recorded in Copenhagen in 1958, with the Quartet in their prime (with new bassist Gene Wright), it and the venue have a great ambiance. Well worth a reissue. Parts of it have been put out on CD, but not the entire set. There are no dud tracks and it makes a fine package.

Nero also has a volume equalization facilty. You have to make sure that you click "apply", or it ignores the setting. I did use this once, and it worked.

I forgot to add that "Jazz Goes To Junior College" has a lovely, rather quiet, version of St Louis Blues. Dave retained that in his playlist for several years. "Southern Scene" (with "Peter Gunn") was my first LP, and it's a great album that seems to have been ignored for years.

I've seen these banner ads for a long time, not to mention the teeth whitening one and the one about Acia berry pills. The pill one entitles you to a "free" bottle, and then you get charged about $80!! There ought to be some way to stamp out all this.

The MVCJ 20 bit Impulses that I have heard sound excellent. They could possibly be described as the definitive Impulse CD reissues, much as the "Blue Note Works" series are often thought to be the best Blue Notes. One in particular, Milt Jackson's "Jazz 'N' Samba", deliberately passed over by Michael Cuscuna when he was reissuing Impulse, has an absolutely stunning sound.

I've often wondered whether "Dave Digs Disney" was recorded in stereo. It was 1957, and Columbia had begun to use stereo by then, as witness the last reissues of "Miles Ahead". It's a fine album, of course. Dave was way ahead of Miles in recording "Someday My Prince Will Come". Miles liked some of Dave's stuff, and maybe he recorded it because he had heard the Brubeck version. I love "The Riddle" with Bill Smith. Not sure whether they put out a CD of that, but I have an LP. The Bernstein is well worth hearing, and you should be able to pick up an LP while you are waiting for a CD. I especially like Joe Morello on that. His cymbal work is outstanding in one of the quiet sections.