medjuck

Sackville Records used to do that. I paid to be present for the Don Pullen solo record.

This is an exchange I had with an old friend on FAcebook: Kay: Last night I saw Sheila Jordan sing about her life & all the jazz greats she knew and loved. 82 years old & looking great.Ultra fashionable black/red nailpolish. She had total control of the band (local piano & base), got Jane Bunnett to come in for one song for a killer unscripted sax/vocal duet, and sang full tilt for over an hour. Joe Medjuck Wow! Lucky you. Where'd you see her? April 3, 2011 at 12:09pm · Like Kay Armatage It was a little gallery in the Sorauren warehouse district called Gallery 345 Sorauren - they probably have a website. They have a jazz series. She was here for the weekend & gave a singing workshop all day today (I didn't go as I don't sing). But she was fantastic. I found myself crying a couple of times, not because she was singing a sad song or anything, but because of the complexity & beauty of the aesthetic experience - jazz history, her own autobiography, infinitely generous anecdotes (imitiating Billie Holiday calling out to Miles at the Village Vanguard - she sang it: "Miles, Miles" - in Holiday's voice), all sung - 'making it up as she went along,' as she said, & then the incredible performances of the songs she introduced with each story. Funny, smart, voice bending all over the place, & this wonderful 'sung' autobiography. Apparently she comes to Toronto fairly often to give singing workshops, & the person who organized this has studied with her. It was just superb. DVD's 2 for $30 - all $$ to her, so are they discontinued? I don't know. Great event.

Cannonball's African Waltz and the Gil Evan's record on which he's featured ("New Bottle's, Old Wine"?).

Happy B'day and many more!!

I guess that makes her one of those job-creators whose taxes we shouldn't raise.

One of the things I'm most proud of is that The Bass Saxophone is dedicated to me. (At least in English.)

Josef ended an essay about playing jazz under both Fascist and Communist regimes with the following: "The old music is dying, although it has so many offspring, vigorous and vital, that will naturally, be hated. Still, for me, Duke is gone, Satchmo is gone, Count Basie has just barely survived a heart attack, Little Jimmy Rushing has gone the way of all flesh... ...any body asks you who it was sang this song tell them it was... he's been here and he's gone. Such is the epitaph of the little Five-by-Five. Such is the epitaph I would wish for my books."

I just got word today that Josef Skvorecky the author of "The Bass Saxophone" has died. http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2012/01/03/josef-skvorecky-obit.html

If they did play at Newport maybe it will show up on Wolfgang's Vault. There could be a whole new thread on what we wish The Vault would release. I read that Pee Wee Russell played with Prez at Newport. I'd sure like to hear that.

I didn't know George Avakian managed jarrett. Did he manage anyone else?

Wow. Have you read the book about that concert? I think it's called "Just Like the Night". And of course Scorcese's Dylan documentary is built around that concert.

I really liked this program. I'm not sure that the concert should be judged as jazz. I know people with exquisite taste in all kinds of music who love it who aren't particularly jazz fans. A couple of them say that this was the first cd they bought of material they already owned on Lp. (I had to buy it a couple of times on cd because the first release left off the coda.) Anyone on the board have memories of being at concerts that became famous recordings? (I was at the John & Yoko Live Peace in Toronto show.)

IIRC in which ever novel Mordecai Richler brought back Duddy Kravitz, he had Duddy selling tape worms in pill form as a weight loss treatment.

Lee Wiley who I like because she;s not a stylist. And Joe Williams when he's not singing blues.

I've been reading some of the writings of Josef Skvorecky, who frequently writes on jazz and Eastern European politics. I believe he was an admirer of Havel, though they probably had some differences. I'm going to see if I can track down this short piece by Skvorecky: - "I Saw Václav Havel for the Last Time", in Jan Vladislav (ed.) Václav Havel or Living in Truth, Fa ber and Faber, London, pp.274-277. BTW, has anyone actually seen any of the early plays by Havel? I've seen one in translation (The Memorandum), and while I'm sure it did lose a lot in translation, the satire was still quite biting. Slightly more absurdist than Bulgakov, but they (to me) seemed like fellow spirits. If you find it please let me know. I have most of Josef's writings that have been published in English but not that one.

"Speak Low" the Kurt Weil- Lotte Lenya letters.

According to Wikipedia "Havel was also a great supporter and fan of jazz and frequented such Prague clubs as Radost FX and the Reduta Jazz Club" . IIRC one of the important Czech dissident writings was titled "The Jazz Manifesto".

Ditto for me except I only have the Monk, Blakey and Jones from the first series. I just wish they would package them in thinner boxes-- they're filling up my bookcases. (Their amazing "American Folk and Blues Tour" DVDs are in the right size box.

The little bit I've read suggests his musicians loved him.

Ironically during his Clinton hating period he wrote something to the effect that he hoped Hillary Clinton and Al Gore died of a flesh eating disease. As to what he thought of God while he was dying: he made a point of saying that he was still an atheist.

When this thread started I almost posted "Hey, the year's not over yet", but thought better of it worrying I'd be jinxing someone.

Is this book available in the US?

Probably for the best. My son tried to surprise me with the Lester Young when it came out. Of course I'd already ordered it.

Happy B'day young man! Oh to be '56 again.

Uhhhh???