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Here's a fine starting place, the Yazoo anthology The Best There Ever Was. http://www.yazoorecords.com/3002.htm There are many other fine recordings available from this label, by the likes of Charlie Patton, Son House, Blind Lemmon Jefferson, Big Bill Broonzy, and others.

I noticed that, independent of the Fantasy sale, the oldies.com site also has 9 of 10 volumes of the Duke Ellington Private Collection set on sale for $8 or so each.

Saxophone Colossus at a colossal price. http://cgi.ebay.com/Sonny-Rollins-SAXOPHON...%3A2%7C294%3A30

Eddie Lockjaw Davis--Jaws in Orbit (Prestige, black and yellow label, NJ)

That one looks good. Great lineup.....Never even heard of that one! It is quite good, but all the material is available on the domestic Jackie McLean release, Jackie's Bag, so there's no need to search for the Japanese release. http://www.amazon.com/Jackies-Bag-Jackie-M...6193&sr=1-1

Horace Silver--The Stylings of Silver (Blue Note, W. 63rd). Willis Jackson and Jack McDuff--Together Again (Pretige, blue label)

Lucky Peterson--Pearls. Unusual double organ group (no rhythm guitar last night), until Lucky picks up his guitar--he was a terror on guitar last night. I'm sure glad he lives in Dallas and has a place to play occasionally.

Larry Young--Of Live and Peace (Blue Note, Liberty cover, NY USA label)

Dizzy's "Let Me Introduce the Band" routine (the band then proceeds to introduce themselves to each other) was funny the first couple of times I saw it.

Miles Davis--Milestones (Columbia, six eyes mono)

Joe Farrell--Outback (CTI)

Roland Kirk -- Left and Right (Atlantic)

That sale is ridiculous. I ordered 15 CDs for $77, with free shipping. $173 off of list price. The best deal I saw--the Sonny Stitt box set, Stitt's Bits, for only $4.99 (I had it already).

Don Ellis Orchestra--Live at Monterey (Pacific Jazz, German pressing) Earl Hines--Once Upon a Time (Impulse, black and red) The Excitement of Trudy Pitts (Prestige, blue label)

Ernie Wilkins, Jerome Richardson, Frank Wess--Flutes & Reeds (Savoy, maroon mono) Miriam Makeba (RCA Living Stereo)

Red Garland--The Quota (MPS)

Bad Bossa Nova was the reissue title, presumably handled by the record label. The original had a title like "Jungle Soul" or something, which is much closer to the spirit of the music. Willis' Jackson's Bossa Nova Plus is not as good as Gene Ammons' Bad Bossa Nova (well, I would say that about Willis Jackson v. Gene Ammons generally, but notwithstanding this general predisposition, it's still a lesser album in comparison). I found the album to be pleasing, in a light sort of way, with some nice solos from Willis Jackson and Kenny Burrell; I would probably prefer a CD version, so as to skip the two songs on the album that I dislike (I Left My Heart in San Francisco and What Kind of Fool Am I?). There are no "bossa nova" songs on the record, only a Brazilian guitarist added as a rhythm guitarist and two percussionists along with Roy Haynes on drums.

Yes, I'm a fan of James Blood Ulmer. I especially like the Odyssey band, his recordings with George Adams, and the more recent blues recordings with Vernon Reid. I also had the opportunity to see him live four or five times at the Caravan of Dreams in the 1980s--I recall seeing three versions of the Odyssey band with Charlie Burnham on violin--the original trio, a quartet version (with Amin Ali added on bass guitar), and a quintet version (with a keyboard player added).

I like Jef Lee Johnson's sideman work with Ronald Shannon Jackson quite a bit. I saw him live with the Decoding Society at the Caravan of Dreams in Fort Worth, around 1988 or '89 I think, and he impressed me. I bought a couple of his early solo albums but could never connect with the style of his leader dates though--I've kind of lost track; the last recording I recall with him on it was James Carter's Layin' In the Cut.

The same concert is available on DVD. http://www.amazon.com/Paris-Reunion-Band-V...8081&sr=1-3

I like this recording also and need to pull it out again for some more spins.

I have a laserdisc of the Paris Reunion Band: Live at Theaterhaus, Stuttgart, W. Germany. the group is Woody Shaw, Joe Henderson, Nathan Davis, Curtis Fuller, Nat Adderley, Walter Bishop, Jr., Idris Muhammed, and Jimmy Woode. The concert is from the summer of 1988.

Willis Jackson--Bossa Nova Plus (Prestige mono, yellow and black N.J.)

Guitar Shorty--Poor David's Pub. The 74 year old blues guitar giant puts on another incredible show.

Stanley Turrentine--Rough 'N Tumble (Blue Note mono, Liberty cover, New York USA label, 1966 Blue Note inner sleeve, Van Gelder but no deep groove or ear).