Shrdlu

Thanks for the link! Just checked out the episodes with Jimmy Cobb, Michael Cuscuna and McCoy Tyner.

Count me in! I love Brasilian music. But most of what I've heard was recorded in the U.S. I'd love to catch up on those albums you list, Bluesnik. (Bring them round this weekend!) There never seems to be an end to the list of music that would be good to hear - and that's good.

I started out on hard bop and bebop, and didn't get into Jo until much later, though I did see him at Ronnie Scott's with Milt Buckner in about 1973. When I DID get to hear him properly, with the Count and on those terrific Buck Clayton Columbia jam sessions, well, he just knocked me out. That sound, especially the "All American Rhythm Section", is hard to beat, and very addictive. When you hear some of that, you get to where it's the only rhythm feel that you want to hear, for awhile. He's just one of the incomparable greats! Check out the quartet Basie items for Decca - Red Wagon etc. Those go down real smooth! It kinda teases you, because it's so understated. In the pics for the Mosaic of those Buck Clayton sessions, one thing really struck me: Jo has so little kit there, yet says so much. Compare with some of the megalomanaic rock drummers with a truckload of stuff (their setup looking like a forest) and not saying diddly! I wonder if he really hurled a cymbal at Bird.

It was great when that's all there was. We were very happy with it, including music broadcasts. At night, you could pick up stations from up to 400 miles away, still sounding reasonable. Radio was still pretty big back then. For various reasons, when FM started to take off, I didn't listen to radio stations much anymore, and I still don't. (One reason is my large collection of sounds at home.)

Oh, that's what you meant. We all thought you meant the original (LP) notes. Those are the only ones that I need. But I do have the RVG CD, and I don't recall any missing notes.

I take it that you have seen "Round Midnight". If not, you have a big treat in store!

Wonderful to hear that the great Hank Jones is doing well. How many albums has he graced with his playing? I couldn't begin to count how many I have.

I remember those late 60s Prestige notes, Steve. They were outstanding! At that time, Prestige reissued a lot of sessions in their 7000 series, and, in many cases, rearranged them much more logically and conveniently than when they first came out. This made it necessary to have new liner notes. I was disappointed to see that the OJC CDs went back to the original LP arrangements, as I think many of those later 7000s were superior. As a quick example, they put out the entire Dec 24 , 1954 Miles Davis session on one LP (the famous "Bags' Groove" session, with Milt and Monk).

Musicmatch does a great job of recording analog sound onto the hard-drive. You connect your source to the line-in jack on the computer. The sound coming in has to be at "line" level, so if you are using a turntable or mike, you need to connect a little pre-amp between the source and the computer. Also, you need to run a ground wire from the source to the computer case, to get rid of hum. It works for me, though it is time-consuming and I don't often do it now. The results sound great, whether in WAV or MP3 format.

The McLean session is fantastic, I think (and I don't even like Ornette normally, and ya can't make me!). It's an honest, enjoyable session. Tells a story, as they say. Sure, Ornette didn't usually play the trumpet, but I like it, especially with the mute. Al Lion was very pleased with the date, too. The TOCJ of this sounds fine, so I won't be getting the new CD.

Isn't it all there on the website, Tom? (I've never seen the books.) [And, in spite of caustic comments about that site by a certain pedantic discographer, I have found that site to be very helpful on hundreds of occasions. It's free, and they don't owe us the time of day, so we can't really come down on them hard for the errors. There are errors, but they are usually very obvious, and easy to work around if you know a bit about the subject. Well done, Allmusic!]

I'm with Chuck on that one - LP and CD reissue. The notes for the CD are the same as for the LP. Dig that bass clarinet/ bass unison at the end of the second track!

You know, speaking naively for a moment, issuing vinyl in the 50s and 60s was not rocket science, and, assuming that the session tapes are in good shape (and many are, which is not bad after so many decades), they ought to be able to put out an LP today that is just as good as the originals. If there really was a magic, hooded monks' secret involved when Rudy made the LP masters, which I don't really believe anyway, then why not just check in with Rudy? I don't see why he wouldn't want today's LPs to sound good.

Sorry, man. It's a good thread topic, and you haven't said anything wrong. Keep on going. I'm glad that you are not up-to-date on the criticism of the liner writers and record producers. Let's move on from that and forget it. On the subject of mismatched liner notes (but nothing like that fiasco with Ira Gitler!), a lot of the Limelight LP notes were out of synch with the records, which is ironic when you consider the level of production of the album jackets, which were the most sensational that I have ever seen. The note writers were sometimes sent copies with the tracks in order of recording at the sessions, and, of course, the tunes were rearranged on the vinyl. So you had to do a lot of page turning to read along with the music. (And, ha, ha, those covers had a LOT of pages!)

As the disembodied field of energy who brought up Leonard Feather in this discussion, I should clarify that I didn't intend my statement as a condemnation of LF. I simply find it funny that he always tries to work his way into the action. Hey, I didn't think that you were having a go at Leonard, TTK. It is others who have done that.

Zoot did sing, too! He sings on "September Song" on the Impulse album "The Waiting Game" that he did with Gary McFarland.

I like Connors' "Dance of Magic" album. That was made several years later. But you gotta respect Jackie's wishes. No-one else ever shaved me, boo, hoo!

Thanks a lot for posting that, Dan. That's one of the saddest things I've ever heard. The other side of the jazz life, and all we hear are all those fantastic records Lee made. "... thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." (Proverbs 27:1)

That's a great point, Allen. I was in Australia in the 60s when I bought a lot of my LPs, and there was hardly anyone around to tell me what was what, and liner notes were very helpful. There weren't all that many jazz books to help, either. The two guys you mention, Dan Morgenstern and Martin Williams, were extra informative. The tradition lives on, too, as Dan did the notes for the "Fats Waller, The Early Years, Part 1" 2 CD box (mid 90s release, now, sadly, OOP), and they are fantastic. The old LP liner notes are just a part of jazz history, and are an inseparable part of my experience. It's family, in a way. That's why it hurts now to see attacks on Leonard Feather and others. And it does hurt. (Guess I'm an old softy. I don't apologize for that. I never was one for the stern academic debates.) BTW, to get back to the starting point of this thread, I don't recall seeing many notes that were praising mediocre music. I guess that's because the LPs that I bought were all good - and there were so many albums that were good. There are still some that I haven't yet gotten around to hearing.

I recommend no beer at all. You know what beer is? It's food that's gone bad. But if you want to put it in your body, that's your business. I'm not going to look down on you, as I have no right to do so.

Yeah, that was the place. Thanks, John! I was in Toronto Jan-May 1977, and got to see Zoot, Pepper Adams, and George Coleman there. It wasn't a nice venue if you were short of bread. We got stuck in a corner, and pestered to buy drinks. Paul Desmond was about to appear there, but, sadly, he died. At other venues, I saw Mingus and Billy Cobham during that stay.

I have always liked albums to have liner notes, and usually really enjoy them. I'm talking mainly pre-1970 albums. There were lots of good writers, and several really good ones, and for some reason they never annoyed me. It was only recently that I heard that we aren't supposed to like certain note writers. Without apology, I like Leonard Feather, Nat Hentoff, Joe Goldberg, Orrin Keepnews, Martin Williams, Gene Lees, Dan Morgenstern, and on and on. And I was upset when, a few years back, some people really attacked some of these writers, especially Feather. Maybe, if you were at the heart of the industry, you got to see things that we record buyers didn't know, but I'd rather not know. Like a friend of mine said about another thing, "If there are errors, I'm blissfully unaware of them."

That says it all, Simon: Something in Zoot's tone speaks to something in us. What a warm, romantic sound he had! And what a delightful surprise when he added soprano, sounding just like Zoot an octave higher, not at all like most soprano players. I'm glad that I got to hear him live, at Ronnie's in London, England (1974, twice), and also at that place in Toronto, Canada, Mo's I think (1977) where most famous visitors used to play (there weren't many places in Toronto that had regular jazz).

Yeah! Stay cool!

In the words of Lon: "What's not to like about Victor Feldman?". He can even be heard on the two Mancini "Peter Gunn" albums (along with a funky pianist called Johnny T. Williams - yes it's that one!).