Guy Berger

1) Who said it's nefarious to want to reach a broader audience? 2) Even if he was indifferent to selling more records, he must have been aware that this would be a likely outcome of this kind of project...

Want to chime in on one thing that was brought up in the prior threads - the irritation that these threads devolved into a discussion about Wynton. Let's be honest, Wooley must have known that recording this would generate controversy/hype and boost sales. (If he didn't, he is incredibly naive.) There's nothing wrong with that, it doesn't preclude artistic merit and we all have to pay the rent - but it's off-the-mark to complain "Can you guys stop discussing extra-musical controversy"... Guy

I had the same experience - friends who enjoy jazz somewhat really getting into this album.

Fairly or unfairly, the reaction/judgment/anger is to the hype rather than to the music. Guy

Well, now they're competing for the title of "best NBA team of all time"...

Hamp and Getz is great. Love that version of "Cherokee". Of the Diz/Getz encounters, my favorite is SITTIN' IN.

I do wonder how improvement and growing pervasiveness of surveillance technology (much of it in private sector hands) will affect the ability to plan these kinds of complex, non-lone-wolf attacks. In the end, this attack is a domestic intelligence failure (albeit maybe one that couldn't be prevented with existing resources).

BLUE SKIES is magnificent, one of my favorites. Especially "How Long Has This Been Going on".

This one is outstanding as well. May even be popular with those who dislike Lloyd's ECM records:

I had a similar experience when I acquired them; they're very enjoyable. My guess is lowered expectations; some might say "reasonable expectations". The converse of this phenomenon is the numerous times I've thought "this supposedly classic/indispensable album is a disappointment!" (The Sidewinder...)

I finally started listening to this (it was acquired in a death-of-Fantasy binge back in 2009) last week. It's of very high quality, like all of the other Milestone MT I've heard (Sahara, Enlightenment, Echoes of a Friend, Sama Layuca). I was a little skeptical about Tyner of this period tackling standards, but the Coltrane-esque "My One and Only Love" is excellent. The obvious reference point for Atlantis is Enlightenment, since that is also a >70 minute live album, though Enlightenment is much more intense. Of course, that's only a matter of degree since Atlantis is a 9 or 8 on the intensity scale. Hard to believe that in retrospect, THE REAL MCCOY sounds positively "cute"/"polite" compared to McCoy's later work.

You're on your own with that one. Post-Dippin' Hank is still not universally embraced, but for my money, the psychodramas alone disqualify it as any kind of coasting. Lots of reduction and repetition, and more of it with each passing year, but when he sounds like he's about to fall over or have his head explode (and it's always the possibility of one or the other, never of both), he commands my fullest attention. Ha. Well, thinking that A Caddy for Daddy and Dippin and The Turnaround were probably "just another day in the office" has not interfered with me enjoying them tremendously.

What percentage of the work Hank Mobley did under his own name for BN could be characterized as "high level coasting"? Pretty high, I think.

I agree with JSngry's "high level coasting" description. I don't view this as a negative characterization. Certainly, there are plenty of well-regarded jazz albums from the "golden age" that also fit under that moniker.

I hope this means a reissue of NO SUGAR FOR A DIME is coming soon too.

I agree, the band continued to be of interest live even after the studio albums dropped off significantly in value, though there was also a decline in quality live after 1976 as the live shows became more scripted. (And I'd also add that every single WR report album I've heard has at least some stuff worth hearing.)

Brilliant musician.

I can't be bothered to look at the article, but it's almost certainly driven by the changing economics of the porn industry.

Great article. Thank you!!

OK, for a Terry Teachout piece that wasn't awful. He nails the bottom line - an important artifact of mid-to-late 20th century American culture (Playboy magazine) - also happened to be a footnote in the history of jazz during the same period. I hope Farmer's book title is her publisher's fault rather than an accurate reflection of its content; it drives me crazy when people shift the credit for music from its creators to people with only a secondary or (in this case) tertiary link to the music.

I've been listening to You Know the Number and Easily Slip into Another World (from the Mosaic box). Not only are they GREAT, but surprisingly accessible.

Interesting to listen to, but understandable why they were not released. They fall far short of the magic of the original album, as well as most of the other work by both artists.

Alas, the stuff they are adding is of little or no interest to me. Too bad they didn't add the live stuff erwbol mentions.

This thread has led me to go back and listen to many OP dates in my collection, Consider the Ben Webster meets Oscar Peterson record. I hardly think this meeting came about because Granz sought convenience and predictability. For those who dislike OP, just listen. He is almost entirely unobtrusive in accompaniment, and his solos are quite subtle. Well, there's an extremely good chance it came about precisely because Granz sought convenience and predictability. BUT... I really like OP's playing on this date, and I'm someone whose general opinion on his body of work is mixed.

Yes, I really enjoyed that Iverson analysis too, though I think he is too negative about OP as an accompanist.