Guy Berger

I need to check those out for sure. Guy

I wasn't expecting too much from this album based on the other pre-Dewey KJ albums I've heard, but this one is by far the best I've heard. The combo of Jarrett, Burton, and Sam Brown is great! Really strong compositions too. The Burton album it's coupled with, Throb, is also really good. What a pleasant surprise. I really need to check out more Burton on the basis of this one. Guy

Nica's Tempo has the Monk-Gryce session with Gallop's Gallop, Brake's Sake and Shuffle Boil - this is absolutely essential for Monk fans, absolutely essential. Guy

Anybody able to answer this question? Is "Rotation" identical to the Impulse box or did they restore the LP version?

I don't share Dan's feelings about Jackie's "adult" phase, but I did smile at his analogy. Guy

This looks great. Is there a reason why the session with Monk is not on the set?

I really liked this book. A lot of it DID go over my head, but large chunks of it didn't and it definitely increased my appreciation and understanding of the music. In particular, his discussion of how the quintet tackled form was extremely insightful to me. I also really liked the discussion of the 1968 recordings - these seem to get short shrift in the bios I've read, aside from their importance as transitions between post-bop and jazz-rock. It's too bad he didn't continue the book into 1969 because a lot of interesting analysis could have been done on that too.

Reading this now. I like it. It's a little too detail-oriented for my taste about Monk's early life, but I'm glad that info is there. Looking forward to later chapters. One part that made me chuckle was Monk's high school essay on improvements in stove technology. "Oh, happy survivors."

Just picked up the Kindle edition. Looking forward to reading this, hope it won't be completely over my head.

Along with the horrible murder spree at the rock quarry, not a good day for Cupertino. Guy

Up! Now listening to Dance of the Drunken Master. A fun album to listen to - nothing too heavy. I'm not even sure it isn't smooth jazz.

I'm 5 years late to the party and have listened to only #3 so far, but have to say it has exceeded my expectations. I realize the Oct 67 session is a bit of a mess but the musicians involved are so good it fails only in comparison to what could have been. Honestly, I like it better than "Change" (but may eventually re-evaluate. Guy

It was an LP featuring Sonny Rollins - I don't remember which - and the liner notes were by Ira Gitler. Guy

This is an interesting topic! I'm way too lazy, but would be fun to actually write down a set of categories and then list the tenorists you would put in each one.

Wasn't he also an arranger for (and performer on) some of the early Atlantic hits?

Yeah - all of these were one-offs where the band was unlikely to stretch their setlist too far. (Though the sole live recording of "Dolores" is fun to hear!) But I wonder what they played on their extended residencies during 1966 and 1967. Guy I think I burned almost every concert from that tour to disc - I think it was upwards of 20 discs. Would be a fun box to have. Though I think that group was better with Jack than with Ndugu.

Can't blame a busy touring band for having a relatively fixed repertoire, and each audience was different--they weren't thinking about a box set! It's a shame none of the club gigs during 1966 and 1967 were recorded - maybe there was more variety there. (Though I've never actually heard anybody argue that they played more new material elsewhere - so maybe it was just this small set of new songs along with the older stuff.) To supplement what Pete wrote, one of the themes that crops up in Bob Belden's liner notes [regarding the new material] is "Miles wanted something that he could play live." Guy

It's on a different label, but "Octet Plays Trane" is also really good, if more straightahead than the 80s albums.

Has anybody else either read these books or watched the HBO show? I actually haven't watched the show, but all the publicity piqued my interest in the books and I read the five that have been published to date. The first 3 are superb (if lengthy). The next 2 were disappointing. Not sure if I'll get book #6 when it comes out - simply because I don't want to be strung along in case the author things extending this cash cow ad infinitum is a good idea.

Lloyd's playing here (and on his first two albums, and the Cannonball stuff) is better than on the Atlantic albums.

The shark had already been jumped

Ha ha, you said BOOGER. Anyway, I agree, that's an awesome track. Guy

Is "OM" on that one too?

On the Jarrett, my understanding is the version of "Mysteries" on the now-OOP Impulse box cut off the first few seconds of "Rotation". Is this true, and if so, will this new version restore the missing material?

Reminds me of this article from The Onion. Guy