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I recall once that I was seated in the front row, right next to Howard Johnson, who was playing tuba with Jack DeJohnette's Special Edition, and seeing that he was packing up at the end of the night right by me, I made the mistake of making some praising comment about how greatly I had enjoyed his playing on tuba that night, to which he replied something to the effect--what do you know you idiot, you haven't heard anybody.

I'm mailing a contribution this morning.

January 7, 2015: Shelley Carrol, Scat Jazz, Fort Worth January 14, 2015: Shelley Carrol, Scat Jazz, Fort Worth January 16, 2014: Mike Stern and Eric Johnson, Dosey Doe, Houston January 17, 2015: Vijay Iyer, Carver Center, San Antonio January 17, 2014: Mike Stern and Eric Johnson, Granada Theater, Dallas January 17, 2015: Peter Evans/Sam Pluta, 14 Pews, Houston January 21, 2015: Thomas Strønen and Iain Ballamy, North Door, Austin January 21, 2015: Shelley Carrol, Scat Jazz, Fort Worth January 24, 2015: Triosence, Trinity Jazz Festival, Houston February 7, 2015: Jason Moran, The Rauschenberg Project, Cullen Theater, Houston February 22, 2015: Branford Marsalis, Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, San Antonio February 25, 2015: Rebirth Brass Band, Gas Monkey, Dallas March 6, 2015: John Pizzarelli, Allen Theater, Texas Tech, Lubbock March 6-7, 2015: Leslie Pintchik Trio, Cezanne, Houston March 7, 2015: Kendrick Scott's Oracle, Cullen Theater, Houston March 7, 2015: Xuefei Yang, Alexander Clark Center, UTD, Dallas March 20-21, 2015: Paquito D'Rivera, TCU Jazz Festival, Fort Worth March 21, 2015: Cyrus Chestnut, Walton Center, Fayetteville, Arkansas March 27, 2015: Buddy Guy, House of Blues, Dallas March 28, 2015: Buddy Guy, House of Blues, Houston March 29, 2015: Buddy Guy, Aztec Theater, San Antonio April 4, 2015: Ustad Nishat Khan (sitar), Gouri Shankar (tabla), Allen Public Library April 11, 2015: Jeff Tain Watts, Bates Recital Hall, Austin April 11, 2015: Joe Locke, Walton Center, Fayetteville, Arkansas April 12, 2015: Lila Downs, Dell Hall, Austin April 17, 2015: Butch Miles, Jonsson Performance Hall, UTD, Dallas April 17, 2015: Branford Marsalis, One World Theater, Austin April 18, 2015: Branford Marsalis, Cullen Theater, Houston April 22-26, 2015: Festival Internationale de Louisiane, Lafayette, Louisiana April 24-May 3, 2015: Charles Lloyd Quartet (May 2), New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival May 2, 2015: Niladri Kumar (sitar), Aditya Kalyanpur (tabla), Allen Public Library May 15, 2015: Vijay Iyer, solo and with Brentano String Quartet, Tobin Center, Alvarez Studio, San Antonio May 24, 2015: Randy Weston and Company, Tobin Center, Riverwalk Plaza, San Antonio June 5-6, 2015: T Bone Walker Blues Festival, Longview

Hank Crawford, The Soul Clinic (Atlantic), and The Two Sides of Benji Aronoff (Prestige).

I don't have the George Adams box set but I do have the recordings in CD and/or LP form. There are three Pullen/Adams/Richmond/Brown recordings--one studio and two live. The other two albums are a different group (and a very fine group it is), with Adams paired with Jimmy Knepper in the front line, Hugh Lawson on piano, Mike Richmond on bass, and Dannie Richmond. I do have the Don Pullen box set, which has a diverse set of seven LPs. There are two solo piano outings, a duo recording with Don Moye,, a trio with Joseph Jarman and Don Moye, two different quartet recordings (Bobby Battle on both, with Sam Rivers and Alex Blake on one, and Chico Freeman and Fred Hopkins on another), and finally a quintet with Bobby Battle and Fred Hopkins again, plus Donald Harrison and Olu Dara.

Ray Bryant, Lonesome Traveler (Cadet)

I received three of these sets for Christmas (Oliver Lake, Paul Bley and Art Farmer), and I'm happy about it!

Gato Barbieri, Chapter One: Latin America (Impulse)

McCoy Tyner, Tender Moments (Blue Note/Liberty)

December 26, 2014: Mike Moreno, Stephen Marchione Studio, Houston January 7, 2015: Shelley Carrol, Scat Jazz, Fort Worth January 16, 2014: Mike Stern and Eric Johnson, Dosey Doe, Houston January 17, 2015: Vijay Iyer, Carver Center, San Antonio January 17, 2014: Mike Stern and Eric Johnson, Granada Theater, Dallas January 17, 2015: Peter Evans/Sam Pluta, 14 Pews, Houston January 21, 2015: Thomas Strønen and Iain Ballamy, North Door, Austin January 24, 2015: Tutu Jones, Babb Bros. January 24, 2015: Triosence, Trinity Jazz Festival, Houston February 7, 2015: Jason Moran, The Rauschenberg Project, Cullen Theater, Houston February 22, 2015: Branford Marsalis, Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, San Antonio February 25, 2015: Rebirth Brass Band, Gas Monkey, Dallas March 6, 2015: John Pizzarelli, Allen Theater, Texas Tech, Lubbock March 6, 2015: Leslie Pintchik Trio, Cezanne, Houston March 7, 2015: Kendrick Scott's Oracle, Cullen Theater, Houston March 7, 2015: Xuefei Yang, Alexander Clark Center, UTD, Dallas March 20-21, 2015: Paquito D'Rivera, TCU Jazz Festival, Fort Worth March 21, 2015: Cyrus Chestnut, Walton Center, Fayetteville, Arkansas March 27, 2015: Buddy Guy, House of Blues, Dallas March 28, 2015: Buddy Guy, House of Blues, Houston March 29, 2015: Buddy Guy, Aztec Theater, San Antonio April 4, 2015: Ustad Nishat Khan (sitar), Gouri Shankar (tabla), Allen Public Library April 11, 2015: Jeff Tain Watts, Bates Recital Hall, Austin April 11, 2015: Joe Locke, Walton Center, Fayetteville, Arkansas April 12, 2015: Lila Downs, Dell Hall, Austin April 17, 2015: Butch Miles, Jonsson Performance Hall, UTD, Dallas April 17, 2015: Branford Marsalis, One World Theater, Austin April 18, 2015: Branford Marsalis, Cullen Theater, Houston April 22-26, 2015: Festival Internationale de Louisiane, Lafayette, Louisiana April 24-May 3, 2015: Charles Lloyd Quartet (May 2), New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival May 2, 2015: Niladri Kumar (sitar), Aditya Kalyanpur (tabla), Allen Public Library May 15, 2015: Vijay Iyer, solo and with Brentano String Quartet, Tobin Center, Alvarez Studio, San Antonio May 24, 2015: Randy Weston and Company, Tobin Center, Riverwalk Plaza, San Antonio June 5-6, 2015: T Bone Walker Blues Festival, Longview

The sound on this is a lot better than I expected--it's one of the best Uptown releases.

Jazz Lonnie Smith Trio, Carver Center, San Antonio, and New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festval Wayne Shorter Quartet, Cullen Theater, Houston Francisco Mora Catlett and Afro Horn (Alex Harding, Sam Newsome, Hilliard Greene, Ramon Diaz, Aruan Ortiz), Latino Cultural Center, Dallas Dave Burrell, Christ Church Cathedral, Houston Charles Lloyd and Gerald Clayton, Trinity University, San Antonio Pharoah Sanders (William Henderson), New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival Jason Moran's Fats Waller Dance Party, Carver Center, San Antonio and 96th Street and Fifth Avenue, New York David Schnitter Quartet, Smalls, New York Ari Hoenig Time Quintet (Tivon Pennicott, Shai Maestro, Gilad Hekselman), Smalls, New York Doug Carn Quintet (Lonnie Plaxico, Stacy Dillard, Duane Eubanks), Zinc Bar, New York Ben Allison (Steve Cardenas, Brandon Seabrook, Allison Miller), Cornelia Street Cafe, New York Stanley Jordan, University Presbyterian Church, Austin Philip Harper, Smalls, New York Kenny Rampton Octet, Smalls, New York Abdullah Ibrahim, Carnegie Hall Gil Evans Monday Night Orchestra (Miles Evans leader), Zinc Bar, New York Non-Jazz Mauricio Tizumba and Tambour Mineiro (Minas Gerais, Brazil)--New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival Tinariwen (Mali)--Granada Theater, Dallas Youssou N'Dour (Senegal)--Winspear Opera House, Dallas Kala Ramnath (India)--St. Edwards University, Austin Ramesh Misra and Snehashish Mazumder (India), Allen Public Library Lucky Peterson (blues), Granada Theater, Dallas Tutu Jones (blues), Babb Bros., Dallas Lurie Bell and Eddie Clearwater (blues), T Bone Walker Blues Festival, Longview

George Braith, Extension (Blue Note, NY USA)

The Les Spann is a very nice album and not too well known. I first came across Spann on "Side by Side"which was the first Ellington album I ever heard. I still have a soft spot for it. I don't find Spannn especially individual but Gemini is fine session which was recorded pretty well , even if my Jazzland pressing isn't too hot. I like it also; It is nicely recorded and this copy appears little played; I was lucky to find it at Academy Records in New York a couple of months ago--and a bargain at $12.

The Genius of Art Tatum #9 (Verve trumpet label), and Les Spann, Gemini (Jazzland).

Charlie Mariano, Jazz a Confronto 15 (Horo), and Laurence Brown, Slide Trombone (Clef)

Musical categorization checklist: 1. Is there a vocalist? 2. If yes to 1, are the vocals in English? 3. If yes to 2, it is Pop Music. 4. If no to 2, it is World Music. 5. If no to 1, do the musicians wear suits and play in impressive concert halls built by their city or large charitable foundation? 6. If yes to 5, it is classical music 7. If no to 5, do the musicians speak one or more languages other than English? 8. If yes to 7, it is World Music. 9. If no to 7, it is Jazz. .

Djessou Mory Kante, River Strings, Maninka Guitar (Sterns Africa)--This instrumental album, recorded in Bamako in 2012, is highly enjoyable. http://www.amazon.com/River-Strings-Djessou-Mory-Kante/dp/B00N2U6SU6/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1418908292&sr=1-1&keywords=Djessou+Mory+Kante

Sam Newsome.

Last night, Dave Burrell playing solo piano at a church in Houston for two and a half hours straight. That was pretty great.

You mean I might drive three hours only to hear the Dave Burrell version of Silent Night and Jingle Bells? It might still be good, and as long as he plays some Jelly Roll Morton... I believe he plays "Grandma got run over by a reindeer." He didn't play any Christmas songs. However, at the end the beautiful and sad "Tears for Jimmy (Garrison)" he did promise to close with something happy--which he did (sort of), with a version of The Girl from Ipanema, though it was kind of a grimly twisted version of that song (the best version I've ever heard by far). The concert was fantastic, well worth the long drive. Dave Burrell was certainly in the mood to play, as he performed at 2 and a half hour set without a break. In addition to his own compositions, he played stunning versions of many standards--an amazing version of Lush Life, a wonderful April in Paris--it was a great experience in every way.

Budd Johnson, Off the Wall (Argo)

Have a Happy Birthday!

Ordered from dustygroove, Terry Pollard (Betlehem/Japan), Theo Hill Live at Smalls (Smalls Live) and Ethiopiques 29.

Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Down Home Blues (Prestige/Bluesville)