Shrdlu

Brownie, how would you compare the sounds on the Conn, TOCJ and JRVG? As usual, the TOCJ is excellent. I have not heard the JRVG. The Conn sounds fine to me, and, of course, it is the only source of the unissued April 62 session. It's just as well that the sound is good on that, as we won't be seeing it anywhere else. For the record, for those who don't know, the rhythm sections from these two Jackson sessions were used by Ike Quebec for some of his "45" recordings - these were in the Mosaic 2 CD set. Also, as well as appearing on the Willette session, Fred was on two John Patton albums ("The Way I Feel", where he also plays fine baritone on one track, and "Along Came John").

I must admit that I haven't heard the album in question, but, although Stitt was a superb musician, and I enjoy hearing him every now and then, I find that a little goes a long way. He uses the same licks over and over - it's as simple as that for me. My favorite by him is the Verve "Boss Tenors" album, with Gene Ammons. Having the other horn gives extra variety.

Here's a gem that you don't hear about much. I first saw it in a 1967 BN catalog that they mailed me when I took the "For free catalog ... " offer literally. I thought "Fred who?" and passed over it for years. Fred may have shot himself in the foot with the title, as it gives the impression that it's a "yackety sax"/"meathead macho tenor" album. I don't think it went anywhere when it was issued on LP. Perhaps many others thought as I did. I first got to hear this when I got a copy of the Conn CD, and I now have the TOCJ. This is actually an outstanding session. As with the famous "It's Friday ... but Sunday's Comin'" sermon by the black preacher, there's nothing there that's really new, but it's all done so well that it's a ball to hear. The compositions are all by Fred, and they're all simple things, but this album successfully avoids the pitfalls of a routine blowing session. Everything is so satisfying! I must have played it 20 times by now, but it really holds your attention. A big reason for the album's sucess is that the guys regularly worked together in an R & B band. The rhythm section is sooo tight. And I love Jackson on tenor. It's a shame that he's never been heard of since. (He is hidden in the ensemble on the Hutcherson "Montara" album, but has no solos.) After hearing this, I wondered why I had never heard of the organist, Earl Vandyke, who is excellent. The AMG guide says that he was used on many a pop session. This album was a rare chance fo him to blow. By the time that this album was released, Alfred Lion (who was very pleased with it) had recorded another session with the same lineup and Sam Jones added on bass. The second session went unreleased until the Conn CD came out. Although I am against using a bass fiddle with a B-3, the second session is also a gem.

Can't have too much Ike!

Not wishing to be perverse, but I like Larry's Conn CDs. They aren't the best ever, but the ones that I've heard are quite good. Curley and Moe are even better.

An English breakfast would never have "chips" (french fries). Kenny, both Canadian and U.S. "streaky" bacon stink compared with the "back" bacon available in the U.K., Europe, and the ex British colonies (Canada excluded). I don't have an online picture handy, but it has the "streaky" part plus a big, oval-shaped red part at one end, and the entire rasher is about 8" to 10" long. It is hard to beat if cured properly, which it usually isn't anymore. And you can't beat the smell of it cooking at a campfire!! When I was living in Canada, I asked a butcher (and boy, are those rare!) to make up some English-style bacon. He said that he knew what it is, but it would cut into the part of the swine used for the porkchops, so he was not prepared to do it.

Only records and the radio. And also tennis.

My parents used to call it the "middle bit", and my first name for it was the "middle 8".

Sausage, scrambled eggs, biscuits, gravy and grits, accompanied by coffee, and preceded by orange juice. I guess I'm saying, let's go down to the Waffle House! What the %$*& is musly and tosh??

With the B-3, it was love at first hearing for me. In the 60s, I spotted a used LP of "Back At The Chicken Shack", with a cover that looked as if it had fallen into the bath! I just loved the music, and it's still my favorite organ album. What's not to like about the B-3 and Jimmy Smith? Yes, we all hate those cheapo organs used at low budget wedding receptions, and the garbage they play on them (tunes like "More"!), but it is illogical to write off all organists because of that. Do we hate the sax because of the Billy Vaughan Orchestra? Anyway, the battle was won long ago amongst jazz fans. It is a long time since Jimmy Smith was not popular. There are many evenings when I don't want to hear anything but an album with a B-3. It doesn't have to be Smith. John Patton, Freddie Roach, Larry Young and Earl Vandyke will do just fine. (Earl on that great Fred Jackson album, plus he did a session or two with Ike Quebec.)

Miles messed several tunes up. Dave Brubeck said that he showed Miles his composition "In Your Own Sweet Way", but that Miles played one note wrong. Then, there is the infamous "When Lights Are Low", where Miles forgot the channel and just lifted the first part up a fourth. Hardly anyone has heard the original version, and Miles' version has often been copied. Also, the first version of "Desafinado" that I (and lots of others!) heard was the Getz one. That's wrong, in parts, too. Very recently, I got the "Composer Plays" album, by The Composer (a superb set, in case you don't have that one), and heard the correct melody statement. I sure agree with the comment about "Well, You Needn't". Monk's version is far better.

Bobby Hackett always sounds good, plus Mosaic would not put out a bad collection by anyone, so I'm sure you would not be disappointed if you got it. Kent Brockman's "Two Cents' Worth".

I am disgusted with the Verve list. They (Universal Music) are sitting on so many gems, and we are offered such rubbish as a CD with the title "Louis Armstrong For Lovers" already. How about some Argos??? The BN list, which we already knew about, of course, is loaded with goodies. In case you missed it, Universal did release a nice version of "Equinox", by Sergio Mendes. The playing time is short, but it's a very nice set, with great sound. I like several of those mini LP CDs that they put out last year: "Willow, Weep For Me", "Soul Bird, Whiffenpoof", "The Jazztet at Birdhouse" and the aforementioned Sergio. Has anyone heard the Willie Bobo? I really enjoyed his BN with Herbie Hancock, and would like to hear more.

Did Philly Joe use Ks, CJ? I never knew that. You can tell that Tony Williams did, because of the heavy sound. From today's listening (I'm still trying out my new Jamos with the Sony boom box!): JRVG of "Trompeta Toccata" sounded terrific. No need to look for a better version. RVG of "Una Mas" was very AM radio, but not all that bad, and was quite good with a twiddle of the bass knob. But I would like to hear the TOCJ now. The German shepherd slept through them both.

The TOCJ of that does sound a lot better, but the original studio settings for that date must have been rather trebly, because that first track (Five Will Get You Ten) sounds a bit tinny even on the TOCJ. Plus, a front line of trumpet and alto sax is always going to sound bright anyway. So it is not entirely the fault of the RVG. Above all, it's an excellent session, and I find I can "sink into" it even with the RVG, which was the first version of it that I ever heard.

Hockman, you have a good point when you mention the deterioration of the tapes. That is one area where the early CDs, from about 14 years ago now (that's a long time, isn't it?), score over the very recent ones in some cases. This is certainly a factor with the "Horace Silver Trio" album, for example. A big advantage of most of the TOCJ "Blue Note Works" CDs is that they were not taken from the original session reels, but used LP masters in the possession of Toshiba. So they escape any deterioration of the original tapes, and are (for the most part) free from any McMaster influence. In the case of "Dippin'", even the old McMaster CD has a tape flaw that is not on the TOCJ.

I like the sound on the Byrd/Adams Mosaic. I don't recall it having any alt. takes, though it does have an "LT" session that would not be available as a TOCJ or JRVG. They laid an egg with the first session, though, and issued a mono version. I have the JRVG, which is stereo, which is slightly odd, because Rudy is known to prefer the mono versions of the Hackensack recordings. Dave, I don't think you will be disappointed with that Mosaic. The first three sessions on the Turrentine Mosaic stink. They are far too loud and trebly. I'm glad to have TOCJ versions of most of them, though one of those is also a McMaster; even though it is, it still sounds better than the Mosaic. I sold that set quickly.

Having heard so much about this LP over the years, I wonder if anyone has ever actually seen a copy.

Luv that picture, Rocky!

Thanks for posting that very interesting list, Mike. There are a lot of fine players still with us. Now, we need someone with some money to record and interview them all. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No prize for saying this, but it is great that you could still assemble a rhythm section consisting of: McCoy Tyner Richard Davis or Ron Carter or Reggie Workman Elvin Jones.

Yep, there's some pretty wild stuff in the Old Testament. And a lot of it is prophecy of things to come - very soon, too. But the medieval guys were pretty gruesome. Did you see "Braveheart" yet? That's a good sample.

What is so funny is the newly released earlier take of "Straight No Chaser". After fine solos by the horns, Red tries over and over to play that Miles solo, but gets the timing all messed up and ends up in a heap on the floor. I'm surprised that Miles did not tell him to dump the idea before trying a new take - I would have. The fact that Red does it again, but gets it right, suggests that maybe the whole group pre-planned this. The result is a superb all-round performance, anyway. I am old enough to have heard the "Now's The Time" solo before "Straight No Chaser". D'Oh!

There was one more track, "It's A Long Way Down", on the "Pisces" LP. That track is from the sessions that produced "Indestructible", and was included on the U.S. CD of that album (and will no doubt be on the upcoming reissue in the Ron Van Gelder series - i.e. I can't remember which series it's in). It isn't much of a track - the "Indestructible" LP collection is all you need, and what a collection it is! I have something just as good as the LP: the TOCJ .

A cheap, but excellent piece of software is Musicmatch. The CDrs that I have made of my LPs sound identical to the LPs, to me (scratches and all ). Musicmatch is very user-friendly, and is designed for an amateur like me. You can put any analog source onto the hard drive with it. Once the files are on the hard drive, I trim the ends with good ol' Nero, which is also user-friendly. I cart our turntable into the room where the PC resides, and connect it to the "line in" jack on the sound card via a little stand-alone pre-amp. (You need a pre-amp to lift a turntable up to line level.) You also need to run a wire from the ground terminal on the turntable to the metal case at the back of the computer (next to the line in plug hole will do fine), otherwise you will get a loud hum. This whole process is time-consuming, mainly because you are copying in real time. Musicmatch is about $20 from their website, but mine was free, as my son got it for me! Its results crap all over Ron McMaster's CDs from a dizzy height.

Milton Fenwick.