Big Beat Steve

Besides, whatever pressing runs these Oberon LPS ever made it to, those NEW-LP quantities no doubt were sold off in total long, long ago. So whatever "royalty infringement" damage (if any) might have been done, that's all a thing of the (fairly distant) past by now. Wherever a copy of these LPs (or others like this) changes hands today, we are talking about a second-hand (or third or fourth-hand) deal that would not be subject to any additional royalty payments anywhere anymore anyway.

Spot-on. I agree with Rooster_Ties too. Seems to me like the bone of contention in this particular case it that it is TRANE. Like Colinmce said, if it was some Boris Rose (or similar) 70s/early 80s aircheck LP by one of the swing-era big bands , nobody but REALLY nobody would give a hoot. That said, I admit I've been on the lookout for the Oberon LPs too (though not with much determination and perseverance). BTW, both LPs made it into a review in the All Music Guide (printed copy, 2nd. ed.) and I don't recall this book having to be retracted for endorsing illegal products. So, please ... take it easy, folks, hey? BTW, what if Oberon turned out to be a European affair? (Just thinking aloud ...)

"So we know where to send da boys round" ?? :g

Sounds good. Thanks for that assessment.

Larry Did you read the Carl Woideck book on Parker? Yes. I recall feeling that it was solid but not quite as much so as the Priestley book. In particular, and I'm relying on imperfect memory here, Woideck, who certainly knows what's afoot musically, has the problem of a good many such writers (on jazz or any music) of essentially pointing to/explaining -- in musical notation and in words that more or less paraphrase what's notated -- things that one can already hear, and then he pretty much stops at the point, as though the job were done. Priestley by contrast, at his best, succeeds at/makes a good attempt at detecting underlying principles that are at work and their possible implications as well. I guess what I'm saying is that Woideck is more or less a musicologist, and Priestley is a musically well-versed critic. Not my favorite critic -- among those would be Jack Cooke, Terry Martin, John Litweiler, the late Michael James, and the professionally irascible Max Harrison on one of his good days, but Priestley has some of the virtues (e.g. the understanding that one is running alongside a living art that, in Val Wilmer's phrase, is "as important as your life") of the old Jazz Monthly crowd -- to which he and the others I've mentioned (except for Litweiler) all belonged at one time or another. Thanks for this evaluation. I had totally forgotten I own the Woideck book. Apparently I put it aside shortly after having bought it. Took it out again now and got to say, it is bound to be short on biographical details. About 50 pages of bio plus about 200 pages of musical analysis is a bit of a mismatch unless you are a musician or a recording nitpicker. Seems like the Chuck Haddix book has a similarly strong focus on the analysis of the music, or am I wrong? I also have Ken Vail's "Bird's Diary" but this outlines just the very BARE FACTS and dates after all. While I can do without the Ross Russell "embellishments" there must be more to Bird's personality and STORY. Will Priestley still cover this sufficiently by today's state of knowledge or will one have to go for one that - by all accounts here - might turn out to be more like "Stanley Crouch writes about Stanley Crouch writing about Bird"?

Please, Fer. Don't get him on that track. It seems Allen had that idea originally for the blues book but things worked out better for a printed version somehow (to my VERY great relief - though admittedly that's only me. ). At any rate, I'll be looking forward for them, Allen, so please keep us posted when they will actually be ready for shipment. In the meantime I'll free up some space on my (already overcrowded) music book shelves.

Are you sure these German beers you taste in the US taste like the ones they dispense in Munich? Or is it just wishful thinking? Am no expert on the matter but have heard very often (from seasoned beer drinkers) that US "Lowenbrau", for example, nowhere resembles the "LÖWENBRÄU" real thing from Bavaria. So would things be guaranteed to be all that different for other Bavarian brands? Where is Weizy, BTW?

See, that's one of those things ... I never got into those games (just not my cup ...) and the one time I followed one a bit closer I very fast got the distinct impression things were running in circles. Probably a case of instant boredom and even dislike - just like those album cover threads touch a sore spot with a few forumists here, it seems... "To each his own ..." ( a song idolized to death on that other (big band) board , incidentally)

Good to hear that. Enjoyed his contributions both at AAJ and on a Big Band bulletin board I frequented for a while but gave up after some time as there just were way too many "nostalgia oldie sentimentalists" there.

Didn't know she died. This is a major loss. I read her posts with great interest when I checked out the AAJ forum passably regularly around late 2006-2008/9. Her contributions towered sky-high above most of the rest of the posts abut the history of jazz there IMO (I am afraid Fran, another one who had lots of knowledge and experience over there, probably no longer is around either - IIRC he already was an adult at the end of WWII). Wonder if Chris A aka Christiern still lurks there. But as for the rest - see my earlier post. Just my 2c and not intended to slight those who like to hang out there but just to put things into perspective.

A forum that bans Chuck Nessa ... why should one go (back) there? I for one had signed up there at about the time I signed up at Organissimo and read and posted there occasionally for a while. But after a while I found it utterly pointless. One the one hand, the forum may be fine for musicians and those who are near live events in various regions of the USA (and to whom the discussions of "home region heros" would mean something, as opposed to overseas readers), but beyond that? How many start-from-scratch NEWBIE "I've heard a tune on the radio, recommend me tons that are like that" or "I gotta do a high schol paper, tell me what to write" threads do you need? And even at that time back then when I still lurked there off and on, the comparatively small number of threads that I found led to constructive and interesting (if sometimes controversial) exchanges of ideas there seemed to lead to irritating cases of banning of forumists (and I remember at least one forumist whose typical posts I for one certainly did not find "below the belt" - in fact he did manage to put in good arguments for his positions IMHO but must have been at odds with what probably was "jazz-politically correct" to be said in a forum). I haven't missed that place for years, sorry to put it that bluntly.

An other subscriber-only link. Not much use as it is, sorry.

Can't tell you specifically for today's jazz artists but from what I've witnessed in other musical genres (niche markets where musicians/bands marketing their own CDs do exist) it's a definite YES. The calculation is easy: The price the musicians/bands sell their own CDs for is not very much below what the CDs go for via the usual outlets, but "avoiding the middleman" (or rather the middleMEN) makes all the difference.

At any rate it will be interesting to hear about any concrete expericence by forumists bcause this seller also is the only one who has this item listed on German Amazon.

:D

A point that cannot be made often enough, particularly the underlined section. Yes, the JATP 10-CD set is Italian too. When I first read about that Brownie box, my first thought was "Another case like that JATP set?". I have a lot of that Brownie EmArcy stuff on vinyl but might well spring for that box, given its completemness and affordability ...

Further discussion here:

I haven't read Larkin's book (though I might be tempted if it came my way cheaply) but have read other in similar situations: It all depends on whether you are inclined to read books on your favorite hobby as a document of its times and are willing to make allowances for those "times", i.e. you are not dead set on wanting to read everything with the benefit of hindsight. Honestly ... I have read several of Hugues Panassié's books (as well as two volumes of his HCF "Bulletin" of the early 60s) and while I definitely disagree with a lot (the vast majority, in fact) of his evaluations and judgments of specific artists and styles of jazz I do find quite a bit of interesting reading matter and judgments there that can help your understanding of specifc artists after all - and in some aspects as late as the late 50s/early 60s he was fairly right on the ball where others flawed constantly and came up with evaluations that from today's point of view are just as dated. Similar with other "period" jazz publications. You just need to take them for what they are - a mirror of their times - and apply a grain of salt and your own judgment. But I feel this often is more helpful in understanding the history of the music than if you were to read only publications that look at it from today's point of view and - above all - that permanently work in their own TODAY'S agendas. And from what I have read in John Litweiler's 1985 review of Larkin's book above, the same will probably be applicable there too.

You mean you've changed your opinion since?

So ... a question to those whom might be able to judge: How would the Bird book by Chuck Haddix rate overall (and in comparison), then?

You nailed it. Trying to go for effects, and pouring those effects on by the ladle. Nuff said ...

Well ... if the book review in the opening post is anything to go by, Vian's jazz writings are much more valid. They may often be lopsided and biased and they are a sign of their times (and need to be seen in the contexts of the times, like MANY jazz writings need to) but at least they are witty and poignant in a progressive and clear-cut way and not as much a matter of "trying to grasp the subject matter at all" as in the case of what Larkin had to say about Oliver's book.

RT, I'm not familar with the examples you quoted in your opening post so cannot start from there, but along the lines of Jimmy Raney, how come nobody has mentioned the TAL FARLOW-Eddie Costa-Vinnie Burke trio dates yet? Cannot fault him for what you might call excessive volume (unless turned up on your unit) but he's certainly fast and harmonically interesting, I'd say. Or would Eddie Costa be too "busy" for your taste? (His percussiveness sometimes might come across as a bit busy but certainly not here, I feel) Or how about the Tal Farlow-Red Norvo-Red Mitchell dates? (Of course if you are afraid other office passers-by might object you might have a point because vibes can indeed drive the unsuspecting non-jazz listeners up the wall ))

Among 50s jazz (and before, of course, i.e. in the pre-LP time) there must be dozens if not hundreds of jazz sessions that fall into this category. Just one example: The Hall Daniels Septet session recorded on Feb. 14, 1955 and released on Jump JLP9. Later reissued on Zim as by Zoot Sims/Dick Nash (with Zoot Sims receiving primary billing, of course). Understandable re-crediting in cases like this (Hall who? ) but still ...

:D :tup