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Andrew Hill--Black Fire (Blue Note mono, NY USA)--Today's lucky find for $13, with the record close to near mint.

I laughed, I cried, I shook my head in bemused incredulity... I did sort of wonder what happened when John Hammond and Leonard Feather were in close proximity. Could they not be contained within a single room? Or did a mutuality of self-admiration create a bond of friendship?

I'm really enjoying the John Hammond series.

Disappointed to read the word "boring" next to Eric Alexander's....i'm trying to save some money to buy the Venus Ballads albums : is there anyone else who would have an opinion about them? Thanks Boring is his middle name.

Of course, that first session on Savoy as a leader is great in its entirety.

If I had to name just one, Charlie Parker, Koko (Savoy).

I certainly won't knock this. It is good, if genteel. That depends on your feeling about late Chet. If you actually like that record I think you'll enjoy the rest of the set more, maybe even much more. In general, I like the good late Chet the best of his work (and this is one of them).

I'll disagree with David on Etudes - it's a great set with Haden, Geri Allen and Paul Motian. There's a superb version of "Lonely Woman" on it. I always quite liked the Haden record with Chet Baker also (the only one of the Haden set I have so I'm tempted).

Yes, the cover to that LP is partly red.

Three Trumpets (Donald Byrd, Art Farmer, Indris Sulleman) (Prestige, W. 50th) Eric Kloss--Life Force (Prestige, blue label)--a very nice record, the 18 year old leader with Jimmy Owens, Pat Martino, Ben Tucker and Alan Dawson.

I stumbled upon Jean Michel Pilc at Smalls a couple of years back--a nice pianist. New Dreams and Live at the Iridium are quite good.

The Solo Guitar of Bola Sete (Fantasy). A beautiful record, not reissued on CD, I don't think. John Young Trio--Themes and Things (Argo). A really nice record. Milt Jackson at the Museum of Modern Art (Limelight). A truly elaborate gatefold. Harry Sweets Edison and Eddie Lockjaw Davis-- JawBreakers (Riverside stereo, black label)

Clifford Brown Memorial Album (Blue Note, Lexington)--Battered Blue Note LPs have been falling my way lately--lots of surface noise but essentially still wonderful sounding.

I rather like the Trio of Doom.

Jimmy Smith--A New Sound, A New Star, volume 1 (Blue Note NY USA)--price of $4.98 written in pencil, 5/62.

I would buy the Terje Rypdal and Manu Katche and probably will.

I've made this recommendation before, but the two Venus Moffett Family Jazz Band recordings are dynamite (especially The Magic of Love). Led by Charles Moffett, with his four sons on bass (Charnett), second drums (Cody), trumpet (Mondre) and tenor (Charles Jr.), and an honorary Moffett on piano, they were a very tight and electric group that I was lucky enough to see several times at the Caravan of Dreams in the late 1980s. It's a shame that the two horn playing sons don't seem to have pursued a career in music, as they both had distinctive and compelling styles.

I have moved on from Eric Alexander; I've seen him live several times and didn't care for his playing; once as a leader at the Village Vanguard--I left after one set, the only worthwhile aspect of the concert being Harold Mabern on piano; another time at a Coleman Hawkins Tribute concert at the Blue Note, where there were four saxophonists on stage at various times--here's my order of preference: 1. Dewey Redman; 2. Lew Tabackin; 3. Joe Lovano; 4. Eric Alexander--Dewey and Lew v. Eric, now there was a wide gulf. Finally, a few months ago with Pat Martino--a trio would have been really nice. If I see his name on a concert or recording, I'm heading the opposite direction from now on.

Are there actually people who care what the number is on their Mosaic set?

Miles Davis in Europe (Columbia stereo, two eyes) Jo Stafford, Jo + Jazz (Columbia mono, six eyes)

Eddie "Devil Boy" Turner Trio, at Pearl on Commerce. A fantastic performance.

Guitar Shorty--Pearl on Commerce.

The Chico Hamilton Special (Columbia stereo, six eyes) Chico Hamilton--Irma la Douce/Bye-bye Birdie (Columbia stereo, six eyes)

I recall finding only three original Blues Notes in those random cutout collections that used to be sold at the likes of Woolco--Big John Patton's Got a Good Thing Goin' (NY USA), Duke Pearson's Wahoo (NY USA), and Hank Mobley's The Flip (Liberty). Then there was a place in Austin where I found quite a few of those rainbow series Lps as cut-outs.

Blue Notes are hard to find in these parts--recently I did find a pretty nice copy of Lou Donaldson's Gravy Train and a somewhat trashed but still okay copy of Horace Silver's The Toyko Blues, both NY USA's and reasonably priced. But it could be months before I run across another one locally. Prestiges turn up a bit more often, but not really that often.