brownie

'The Preacher' from The Incredible Jimmy Smith at Club Baby Grand made a convert out of me!

Marcus, that one is magnifique. One of Phil's best!

and when will *you* sort out all those photographs and put them on a website? Should tackle this pretty soon! First things first, I am trying to rearrange the mess that my record collection has become

One of Tommy Flanagan's first recorded appearance was his contribution to Sonny Rollins' masterpiece 'Saxophone Colossus' shortly after he moved from Detroit to New York. Not all the albums he took part in were THAT brilliant but I cannot recall having heard Flanagan playing less than superb!

Being a Teddy Edwards fanatic, I got the Toshiba Japan vinyl version several years ago when Toshiba reissued dozens of albums from the Pacific Jazz catalogue. Edwards is at the top of his game with a fine trio (Les McCann, Leroy Vinnegar, Ron Jefferson) backing. I'm not a McCann fanatic and was afraid he would show off as he can do but he is pretty subdued on that date, one of his best appearance! Whoever picked 'Frankly Speaking' to include that track in an anthology chosed right. That's the best track from the album! A very nice Edwards blues composition. McCann composed the other original 'Beve's Comjumulations'. Edwards picked standards for the rest of the album ''Our Love is Here To Stay', 'Fools Rush In' (a superb rendition), 'Willow Weep For Me' and 'Lover Come Back To Me'. Wonder why this has not been reissued on CD yet!

February 9, 1945 - Dizzy Gillespie (with Dexter Gordon) record session for Guild 1956 - Ella Fitzgerald record session for Verve (The Cole Porter Songbook) 1966 - George Benson record session for Columbia (It's Uptown)

The announcement does not seem to be out yet on the regular news sources. Very sad if it's true...

Excellent! A very impressive website. Congratulations to everyone involved!

Art Blakey would be the first name to add to that Horace Silver/Lee Morgan/Donald Byrd/Jimmy Smith list. From what I remember from that era (roughly 1955-1967), those were the most visible BN names around. Not Hank Mobley. I would guess Mobley's albums sold enough to justify Lion and Wolf being able to keep him with the label but none of his albums was a commercial hit which is why these rare original vinyls are so much in demand now that Mobley's talent is at long last recognized to its true value! A good indication of what was selling at BN are the list of 45s that Lion/Wolf put out. Most BN artists from that time had 45s published, right up to Tina Brooks and Fred Jackson. A BN catalogue from 1967 I have singles out Art Blakey Jazz Messengers, Lou Donaldson, Horace Silver, Jimmy Smith and The Three Sounds with the most 45s released. Each had a couple dozen singles, Mobley only three!

Happy Birthday Wishing you a very good health!

The Complete Verve Stuff Smith Sessions, discs 3/4

'Bebop in Paris, volume 2' turns out to be a bit of a disappointment. It includes the sides recorded by the Gigi Gryce Orchestra and the Art Farmer New Jazz Stars in Paris in September/October 1953 when all the interested were playing with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra. The CD includes only 10 sides (for a total length of 37m51s) from the various sessions and does not include the alternate takes by Gigi Gryce that were issued in Japan! It does not include either the version of 'Yesterdays' that Anthony Ortega recorded with Quincy Jones on piano... Only alternate take is a 3m22s version of 'Strike Up The Band' by Art Farmer with Henri Renaud on piano.

February 8: 1947 - Louis Armstrong and the Edmond Hall All Stars concert at Carnegie Hall that was issued on a number of boots, 1955 - Duke Ellington and his Orchestra record session for Bethlehem (Historically Speaking and Duke Ellington Presents) 1957 - Jackie McLean and Co. record session for Prestige (with Bill Hardman, Ray Draper, etc.) 1963 - Jimmy Smith records 'Prayer Meetin'' for Blue Note

Dju Berry

I think Chaloff was Russian [not a Jew of Russian descent]. Serge Chaloff's mother was not jewish indeed. She was a Presbyterian. But his father was. Even if he converted to Christianity 'after getting miffed at the rabbi from his synagogue who was pressuring him for money' (quote from Vladimir Simosko's biography of Serge Chaloff). Well according to Orthodox Jewish law (and apparently the laws of Israel) that would mean Serge was not Jewish since it passes through the mother. Well, this is Organissimo and I very much hope that we do not abide by Orthodox Jewish Law dictas If Serge Chaloff had been a youth in nazi-occupied Russia where his parents were born, I know where his life would have ended. Non-jewish mother or not!

Juan Tizol Wardell Gray

Now playing: David Holland Quartet 'Conference of the Birds' (German ECM original), with Sam Rivers, Anthony Braxton, Barry Altschul next: Gil Evans Live at the Public Theater 'New York 1980' (Trio)

The mastering on the Bechet/Solal is very good too. As for the Fats Sadi date, this looks to have been left out from the latest batch. The new ones seem to have been in the works for quite a long time. Henri Renaud who wrote some of the liner notes for the recent reissues died in 2002. The reissues are copyrighted 2004. Now that BMG is merging with Sony, these might be the last reissues from the series to appear

Dave Amran Joel Futterman Errol Parker Lou Soloff

I think Chaloff was Russian [not a Jew of Russian descent]. Serge Chaloff's mother was not jewish indeed. She was a Presbyterian. But his father was. Even if he converted to Christianity 'after getting miffed at the rabbi from his synagogue who was pressuring him for money' (quote from Vladimir Simosko's biography of Serge Chaloff).

Guess who

There is a new batch of Original Vogue Masters CDs that is being released next February 22 by BMG France. The previous batch included excellent reissues by Clifford Brown, Lionel Hampton, Bobby Jaspar, Gerry Mulligan, Martial Solal, Lucky Thompson, Barney Wilen among others. Could not find anything on the new releases on the BMG France website but I have the following CDs that are part of the next batch: - Sidney Bechet - Martial Solal Quartet, - Henri Renaud - Al Cohn Quartet, - Henri Renaud All Stars (with Al Cohn, Percy Heath, Milt Jackson, Jay Jay Johnson, Charlie Smith), - Nelson Williams (Five Horn Grooves & Nelson Williams All Stars), - Bebop in Paris, vol. 1 (Howard McGhee Sextet, Ernie Royal & His Princes, James Moody Quintet). I could not find BeBop in Paris, vol. 2 which includes sides by Gigi Gryce (the Paris Vogue sessions). All these new releases are dedicated to the memory of Henri Renaud. The Martial Solal Vogue material is being reissued too as part of the series. The Five Horn Grooves album from the Nelson Williams is an intriguing - and a rare - session that had the trumpet players of the Duke Ellington band Orchestra of 195O (Nelson Williams, Ray Nance, Harold Baker, Al Killian, Ernie Royal) accompanied by Art Simmons on piano with Ellingtonians Wendell Marshall and Butch Ballard.

Wrong, the Jazz in Paris - with one or two exceptions - had only sessions recorded in Paris. The London sessions of the Quintet of the Hot Club de France were not included in the various Djangos of the series. Disc 4 of the JSP volume 1 has the lot. 26 tracks, 75 minutes of it! They are also in one of the Fremeaux Django 2CD sets which supposedly have everything that Django ever recorded.

1940 - Metronome All Star Band record session for Columbia in New York (King Porter Stomp, All Star Strut) 1966 - Steve Lacy record session in Milan for the GTA album 'Sortie' with Enrico Rava 1970 - Mal Waldron record session for JVC in Tokyo for the 'Tokyo Bound' album

If it's the session with Van Morrison, my CD of that date says it was recorded live on June 6, 1986.