medjuck

CC is someone for whom you can be a compulsive completist without going broke. BTW The "Definitive" box set of live performances has pretty good sound. Almost anything missing from it is on t Masters of Jazz Vol. 9. The Uptown doesn't contain anything you can't find elsewhere but has the best sound for the Jerry Jerome set.

I posted the following on the Duke LYM list serve: I only met Sjef once but often corresponded with him-- usually with queries which he generously answered. He was informative, friendly and always a gentleman. He will be missed. A fuller description of Sjef's importance to Ellington aficionados was posted by Loek Hopstaken: Such sad news. Sjef was the most dedicated Duke Ellington fan. Actually "fan" is not the right word. He just madly loved the music, went to see all Ellington concerts in The Netherlands after WWII, and hooked up with other dedicated Ellington lovers like Benny Aasland. In fact, there was no Ellington expert in the world who didn't know Sjef and knew he/she could count on his full support. He was a walking & talking Ellington encyclopedia, generously sharing his knowledge. Most Ellington book authors would eventually find their way to Sjef to get answers - the facts. The DEMS Bulletin is the longest running magazine celebrating the music, and invaluable for anyone interested in the facts. The Duke Ellington room in his house was a small museum, with all the records, cd's, DEMS cassettes, videos, dvd's. Through the years, we met at several occasions. Once he hosted a full day of Duke Ellington music and videos for Louis Tavecchio, Ad Oud & me. Unforgettable. He enjoyed our never-ending requests for more music. His collection - most probably the most complete in the world - contains treasures that are nowhere else to be found. We met again during the many 1999 Duke Centennial celebrations in Amsterdam, at Walter van de Leur's promotion and once again in 2004 in Stockholm. I remember him recording every word and sound of that great conference, and watching him sitting next to Alice Babs, asking her to share her memories. He made friends with anyone who shared his love for the music. He leaves a legacy that has significantly helped to map the world of Duke Ellington as we know it. He will be so missed.

Happy B'day and many more. (It's still the 3rd here in California-- keep celebrating.)

Let's not forget "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" which IIRC is not heard in the film.

Latest issue of Rolling Stone has an interesting article by novelist Michael Chabon about post hard bop popular jazz i.e. some Blue notes (lee Morgan) and CTI. Worth reading.

Everything I've heard from The Hurricane (including this cd) has been great.

Are there enough Teddy Wilson band dates (minus those with Lady Day since they're readily available) to justify a Mosaic set? I remember that Columbia Canada once did a 2Lp set, though it included a few of the Billie Holiday cuts. I was just listening to his sextet (IIRC) on an old AFRC Jubilee broadcast and they were great.

Saw Charlie Haden once at dinner with his son-in-law Jack Black.

For those of you in New York, there's a documentary about Chick Webb being shown as part of the NY Film Festival.

I agree about the first concert film. I remember that I hurt rom laughing when I first saw it.

I have a plug -in (probably not the technical term) hard disc that I transfer my iTunes library to every couple of months. My family would inherit it but I'm not sure any of them would care except as a momento of my playing music that sometimes drove them nuts.

Left hand side margin where it says mp3 zip.

You can download 5 episodes here: http://archive.org/details/PeteKellysBlues

I've been listening to a lot of old radio shows recently. I especially find the detective ones entertaining though they really don't compare to movies or books of the period. I just came across Pete Kelly's Blues, 13 episodes of which were broadcast during the summer of 1951. It appear that there are only 7 of the episodes still extant and i've heard 6 of them. They're definitely a rung above other radio dramas of the period. It's set in Kansas City in the early 20's. Wikipedia describes it as follows: "Pete Kelly was a musician, a cornet player who headed his own jazz combo, "Pete Kelly's Big Seven." They worked at 417 Cherry Street, a speakeasy run by George Lupo, often mentioned but never heard. Kelly, narrating the series, described Lupo as a "fat, friendly little guy." The plots typically centered around Kelly's reluctant involvement with gangsters, gun molls, FBI agents, and people trying to save their own skins. The endings were often downbeat. The supporting cast was minimal; apart from the off-mike character Lupo and occasional speaking parts by the band members (notably Red the bass player, played by Jack Kruschen), the only other regular role of note was Maggie Jackson, the torch singer at another club (Fat Annie's, "across the river on the Kansas side"), played by blues singer Meredith Howard. In one episode, Bessie Smith is mentioned as the singer at Fat Annie's instead of Maggie Jackson. Boozy ex-bootlegger Barney Ricketts would show up occasionally, an informant not unlike the character Jocko Madigan on Webb and Breen's Pat Novak for Hire. The episodic roles were filled by William Conrad (as various mob bosses), Vic Perrin, and Roy Glenn, amongst others. The music dominated the series. In addition to one song by Maggie Jackson, each episode boasted two jazz numbers by the "Big Seven." The group was actually led by Dick Cathcart, the cornet player who was Pete Kelly's musical stand-in. The other members of the group, all well known jazz musicians, included Matty Matlock on clarinet, Moe Schneider on trombone, piano player Ray Sherman, bass player Morty Corb, guitarist Bill Newman, and drummer Nick Fatool. The show's announcer was another frequent Webb collaborator, George Fenneman, who would open each show with "This one's about Pete Kelly." " Most crime radio shows are full of pseudo Chandleresque metaphors and snappy dialogue but this is the only one I've heard that actually pulls it off. The music is good too. Highly recommended. Apparently there was a tv series a few years later and an easily seen film that features Peggy Lee and Ella Fitzgerald.

There's a Daniel Lanois DVD entitled "Here is What I am" that has a lot about Brian Blade and (IIRC) Blades' father in it.

Ry Cooder's" Los Angeles Stories". A series of (sometimes interlocking) stories set in downtown LA in the '40s and '50s. Noir with a bit of magic realism. As you might expect there's a lot of music. (John Lee Hooker makes an appearance in one story.) This is fine literature not just something from a celebrity dilettante. (Is Cooder even a celebrity?) I may have enjoyed it more because I was briefly living in downtown LA when I read some of the stories-- the first one takes place exactly where I was living-- but I continued to enjoy and admire it when I returned home to Santa Barbara.

Once saw Long Tall Dexter carrying his saxophone through LAX. Very stately looking. Saw Anthony Braxton on the streets of Paris once. Wanted to tell him how much I'd liked a solo performance of his in Toronto a few months before so I walked toward him. As I approached he waved his hands and said "Sorry I don't speak French." I was happy that I looked Parisian. Sat next to Annie Lennox and Elvis Costello at a restaurant in London. We ignored each other.

Are you talking about A Drum is a Woman? I understand the reference to the 2 cd (Schaap) version but what is "the studio material presented falsely as live"?

There was a cd of Indigos also. I have all of these on cd and I expect that most of them are the same releases as in the box set. However I'd like to get any new masters. Does anyone know of they'll be offered separately?

How old was he when he started? And ended?

But you need Cookin'

Gil Evans plus 10. (I think that's what it's called.)

I saw him with Mingus a couple of times in the mid-'70s. Knocked me out. Even his theatrics (spinning around at the climax of solos).

And do the records companies which had contracts with the artists at the time of the performance have any rights? (As I write this I suspect not or the Monk/Trane club performance wouldn't be on Blue Note.)

Don't they say it's "less than $3 a month"?