kh1958

Duke Ellington--Greatest Hits, Freshly Recorded Live (Reprise, mono) Sonny Stitt, Booker Ervin, Don Patterson--Soul People (Prestige, Blue label)

I saw Hakon Korstad live a couple of weeks ago--a pretty impressive tenor player, I must say. I've bought some time ago this double LP from him He was playing with this trio minus Dörner. In which setting did you seen him play? In a small bar in the lower East Side of New York--Eivind Opsvik was the bassist/leader, Craig Taborn on electric piano, plus drums (didn't catch the name, another Scandanavian). It was a very pleasant surprise on a slow Monday night, after seeing a dull concert at the loftier location of Dizzy's.

I saw Hakon Korstad live a couple of weeks ago--a pretty impressive tenor player, I must say.

Sonny Criss Orchestra--Sonny's Dream (Prestige, blue label)

I pulled a half dozen off the shelf and these six all have dark blue labels, with a white note on the upper right, below it says Blue Note a division of Liberty/United Records, Inc. On the back cover, at the top, there is a copyright (these examples range from 1979-1982), then it says Liberty/United Records, Inc. Some include an address of 6920 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles. Others omit the street address and just say Los Angeles, California 90028. All of these were purchased new many years ago.

Bobby Previte's Coalition of the Willing--Anthem for Andrea.

If I recall correctly, that' the truth, the highest British marginal tax rate at the time actually was 95%.

There's an interesting documentary film about Theramin, the inventor of the Theramin. Here's a review. Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey is a documentary about the creator of the Theremin musical instrument, Lev Sergeyvich Termen aka Leon Theremin. It is a story about a man with a passion for electronics and music, a man with an inventive and radical mind. It should come as no surprise that he had a profound influence on the development of electronic music as we know it. The Theremin works by moving one's hands (or any object) near a device with two antennae that manipulate pitch and volume (due to the capacitance changes resulting from the moving object). The Theremin was used to supplement the soundtrack in various movies, including Spellbound, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and The Delicate Delinquent. It also profoundly influenced inventors like Robert Moog (who explains the role Theremin played in the discovery of the Moog synthesiser) and musicians like the Beach Boys (who used it a variant of it, the electro-theremin, in their classic 1966 song, Good Vibrations and a couple of other tunes) and Led Zeppelin (in fact, when Page and Plant reunited a couple of years ago, their live shows featured a Theremin). Throughout the 1920s and the early 1930s, Theremin enjoyed the advantages that came with the fame and success of his invention. But Theremin's life was more far exciting than that. Theremin was a Russian who had immigrated to the U.S. In the late 1930s, a decade or so after his instrument was featured in performances at Carnegie Hall, he mysteriously disappeared and was presumed dead. Given Theremin's contribution to electronic music, Steven M. Martin, a Theremin afficionado, decided to make a documentary about the instrument. During the course of his research, he discovered Theremin was alive in Russia. In the documentary, at the age of 94, we see Theremin recounting what had happened to him: he had been kidnapped by Russian agents for his technological expertise, and was put to work in various places in positions that would help the Russians in the Cold War (and was even awarded a medal by Stalin). As they say, fact is stranger than fiction. There are no special-effects or gimmicks here---this is a factual restatement of events as they happened; the excitement in the documentary is in its content. This is a must-see for any fan of electronic music and electronic noise. Watching this movie, I had the immediate impulse of wanting to reach out to Theremin who had obviously been through a lot but yet managed to keep a sense of childlike wonder about him. The character in the movie is far more charmismatic than most fictional characters. Theremin died in Russia in 1993, at age of 97, but his legacy lives on.

Don't these people sleep? Two days earlier I saw Feldman playing the last gig of a European tour with Sylvie Courvosier in Bath, England. The jet-set life-style of a left-field improvising musician. Or rehearse? The leader commented that they had just met Mark Feldman for the first time earlier in the day of the performance.

Duke Ellington--Paris Blues (United Artists)

George Wein (Shorty Baker, Tyree Glenn, Pee Wee Russell, Bill Crow)-Jazz at the Modern (Bethleham)

I recently found three RCA Living Stereo records (a Johnny Guarnieri led big band date and a couple of vocal dates), circa 1960, in near perfect condition, and they do sound fabulous. On the Archive label, the best I've come across so far is a Bach harpischord recording from 1958. It has very nice sound and, according to the enclosed receipt, was purchased by a Mr. Brooks, a member of the Army Band, on June 4, 1960, who was apparently stationed in Europe. The price seems rather high for the times, as he paid $5 as a deposit and completed the transaction by paying the balance due of $2.05.

Prestige--Groovy Goodies (blue label) Shelly Manne--Swingin' Sounds (Contemporary, yellow label mono)

Not the only one--my addiction to jazz vinyl has relatively recently spilled over into classical vinyl. I am much pickier with classical vinyl--I only buy if the record is in nearly perfect condition. It seems like this is not that uncommon (buying that classical record seemingly was a better idea in theory than was actually listening to it). In fact, I would be curious what labels others think have the best sound in the classical arena.

Excellent! The Horo Dannie Richmond is another good one.

Eddie Bonnamere--Orient-ed (Prestige, blue label) Jimmy Smith--Midnight Special (Blue Note, New York USA)

Charles Mingus--Mingus (Candid). A happy find from my visit to Academy Records.

I saw his trio last fall and had the same very positive reaction.

Friday night--Sonny Fortune at Sweet Rhythm, with Michael Cochran on piano, David Williams on bass, and Steve Johns on drums--Three sets worth. Sonny Fortune is really playing well these days, mostly standards. I seriously considered going back for more the next night. Saturday night--Mike Clark at Hotel Kitano, with Mark Shim on tenor, Jerry Z on organ, and Christian Scott on trumpet. The Kitano is a really great club, sort of like if your living room was a jazz club. This group was another winner, as I heard two excellent sets, rather exceeding my expectations. Afterward, to the Blue Note for a late set with Melvin Sparks. He barely knew the first names of the organ player and drummer who accompanied him, but it didn't matter too much--he sounded like he could play all night and was just getting really warmed up by the end of the hour and a half set. Sunday--Junior Mance at Cafe Loupe. This was hardly the optimum place to see him, as this job is the typical piano and bass playing for diners at a restaurant, requiring the tuning out of conversations and a procession of waiters. But, it was very enjoyable nevertheless, as he is still playing very well, nearing the age of 80. Among other songs, he played beautiful versions of Monk's Dream and Whisper Not, and a really terrific blues song. After a couple of Junior Mance sets, Spike Wilner at Smalls, with Joel Frahm and Ryan Kisor. This was okay but didn't really interest me. Monday night--A first visit to the beautiful Dizzy's club, for the Francois Richard Octet with guest Mark Feldman. Other than Mark Feldman's playing, this French Canadian third steam style of jazz did not appeal to me. After two misses in a row, I ventured to the lower east side to Nublu, for a performance by Eidvind Opsvik (a bassist) and Hakon Kornstad (tenor), with Craig Taborn on electric piano, plus a drummer. Thankfully, this turned out to be a very dynamic performance. And then I had to go home.

May 31--Dennis Gonzalez--Avenue Arts June 14--Guitar Shorty--Poor David's Pub

I shall be arriving in New York on Friday also, but I'm not sure yet which concert I will attend that night. For late sets, Sonny Fortune is at Sweet Rhythm, and I believe there is a third set at midnight. On Saturday night, Melvin Sparks is at the Blue Note, commencing at 12:30 a.m.

Barney Kessell, Ray Brown, Shelly Manne, The Poll Winners (Contemporary, yellow label mono)

I also owned a Yahama R-9 for about the same length of time until it stopped working a few months ago. I purchased an NAD integrated amplifier (150 watts) to replace it and have been very pleased with the upgrade.

Nat Wright, The Biggest Voice in Jazz (Warwick). Arranged by Teddy Charles and Mal Waldron, featuring Coleman Hawkins, Jimmy Guiffre, and Benny Green.

Herbie Nichols Trio (Blue Note Toshiba) Sonny Clark--Leapin' and Lopin' (Blue Note Toshiba)