brownie

The sound on the Prestige original is incredible. The Relaxin' and Cookin' albums by the Miles Davis quintet were the ones which brought to my attention the name of Rudy Van Gelder. I had access to the Prestige releases much before I managed to get Blue Notes, back in the fifties when these LPs were not available in France or at prices I could not afford. The sound on those Miles quintet Prestiges have that you-are-there quality that I still long for! I know the sound on the OJC is good but it just does not match what was in the grooves of the originals.

Happy Birthday, Chris

Wendell Marshall was Jimmie Blanton's cousin. Blanton gave him his first lessons on the bass. He was in Duke Ellington's orchestra from 1948 to 1955. He was the house bassist for Savoy records in addition to the numerous sessions he took part in with Prestige and other labels. A favorite Savoy session with Marshall is the Hank Jones trio date with Kenny Clarke that was reissued under Clarke's name. Marshall was also on the Milt Jackson-Lucky Thompson Savoy sessions that need to be properly reissued.

Ghost, this is a paperback reissue - in French - that gathers all writings by Boris Vian on jazz. This is from Amazon.fr. No idea if there is an english translation: http://www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/ASIN/2253...3596023-5193026 Met Boris Vian a number of times when I started writing articles in Jazz Hot. That was shortly before his death in 1959. He died way too young!

Should have been more specific in my original post. The two books I mentioned 'To Bird With Love' and 'Shelly Manne' are volumes that do not seem to have been distributed via the regular commercial channels. The Bird book by Chan Parker and Francis Paudras is a 15" by 11" object that gathered numerous photos of Charlie Parker and it was sold by subscription - if I remember well - after being briefly advertised in a couple of jazz reviews. It came inside a glossy cardboard wrapper. The Shelly Manne book is also a beautiful volume consisting of a very detailed biography, then a discography and finally a filmography of Shelly Manne all illustrated with remarkable photos - mostly by Willam Claxton - on the life and times of Shelly Manne. It was produced with the help of Manne's widow who also contributed a number of photos from the family's collection. The printing of all the photos is absolutely first-rate. The Manne book was a limited edition of 1,000 copies. All copies seem to have been signed by the two authors. No idea how it was distributed. Saw one copy at the Jazz Record Center in New York during my last visit to the city and bought it as soon as I took a look at the content. It was the last copy available there. The PeeWee Russell - an excellent one - was distributed in the regular bookshops.by Oxford University Press. Same went for the Valerie Wilmer book. What I would like to find out is if a book like the Shelly Manne volume was privately published by admirers of - let's say - Lee Morgan, Zoot Sims, Hank Mobley, etc. People who reunited to publish a beautiful volume that was distributed outside of the regular market.

Seems that all Harkit releases from Ronnie Scott Club's appearances were taped during the mid sixties. The Harkit site mentions the Yusef Lateef CD but does not give details or samples yet: http://www.harkitrecords.com/

Jack Teagarden 'The Complete Roulette Sessions', disc 4.

I like that date. Have the Atlantic LP. Several problems with it, beside the album being an excellent one and worthy of a proper reissue: - I have not cared much for Ayers albums after that one, but then I'm not into funk jazz, - the LP is stored next to the Albert Aylers and every time I attempt to pull it out I see those Aylers and decide to give these a hearing, - the notes from our friend Leonard Feather. OK this was 1967 but did he have to describe Ayers as a Virgo, Joe Henderson as a Taurus, Reggie Workman as a Cancer, etc... Feather signs his liner notes as Leonard Feather (Another Virgo) Joe Henderson is superb on side A and so is Harold Land on side B!

There is 'To Bird With Love', the extraordinary book by Chan Parker and Francis Paudras that is now a collectors' item. This was published in France back in 1981 There is also 'Shelly Manne. Sounds of the Different Drummer', the near LP album-size 194-page book by Jack Brand and Bill Koster that was published in 1997 by Percussion Express. Both were superb labour of love and also limited editions that went quickly out of print. I love those two but may have missed others. Are there any similar books on jazz greats that went unheralded and sold mostly through word of mouth?

Gotta rush. Just when this Board is damn slooooow......

Art Pepper 'Among Friends' (Interplay)

From AP:

Singer and jazz guitarist Sacha Distel died this afternoon at the home of his wife's parents where he was currently staying in Le Royal-Canadel, southern France, it was just announced. He was 71. Distel was discussed in various threads here including this one: http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php...hl=sacha+distel Sacha Distel was very popular in France. News of his death is prime news on the radio news broadcasts.

Illinois flew home. Very, very sad news!

The mother of us all

I buy more than I can listen. I will have to put a stop to the buying frenzy in a few months. I'll be happy then to have purchased all those albums I can afford now.

Magnifique! Makes the story read even better

No wonder I could not identify those players. Should have recognised a couple but did not . Well, we had been forwarned but I played the disc several times and all my guesses went into dead-end streets! This turned out to be a pretty interesting and wide ranging sampler of the current state of the music and Nate should really be commended for it. It brought to my attention a number of players I would never have bothered about. That opening track, for instance. Would never have gotten this from Holland but it makes a very worthy earcatcher. And keeps getting better on repeated listenings. The Swiss 'Sing Me Softly of the Blues' is also a revelation. Will need to explore these new names. They had the right mood for this Carla Bley album. Being a mainstreamer, I had the problems described by Nate with getting into track 5 (Odyssee) and once the opening passage was cleared enjoyed the rest of the voyage. Failed to identify the Bennie Wallace track. Not really familiar with this wellknown player. I have yet to seriously explore those Wallace/Lovano saxophonists. I see hundreds of releases by them but have still to really love one! Now that I know what track 8 is, I will be looking for that album. I enjoyed Chris Anderson on a recent purchase 'Blues One' on DIW. A very interesting pianist. Now why did I fail to recognise Haden? I was sure that track 10 (Sous les Ponts de Paris) would be a surprise. It's a real surprise! But I have to admit I am relieved it was not one of the jazz names I tried to associated that tune to because I have to admit at not being overwhelmed with the result. Now the 'Solar' interpretation. I was curious about the recent Joe Hunt album. Had not heard Hunt since his George Russell/Stan Getz days. Now that I know that the Solar version comes from that album, this is another album I will be looking for. It was good to hear he is aging well. And that Steve Rudolph deserves to be heard more. More thanks to Nate Dorward for setting this up. Love getting my jazz knowledge extended!

Great story, Bertrand! Leonard Feather was instrumental in bringing Jutta Hipp to BN attention around that time. Feather reminisced about almost every aspects of his career in his book 'The Jazz Years: Eyewitness To An Era' but seems to have forgotten about that session...

Still in awe of the trumpet player (raised on Cornet Shop Suey, West End Blues et al). Love the singer. Loved the performer.

I hope that one day RCA will do the complete Fats Waller box, the same way they did the Duke Ellington Centennial edition. But the Fats Waller Centennial has just gone by without anybody at RCA (or what's left ot it) noticing. In the meantime I will keep the numerous Waller LPs that French RCA issued in the '70s in their Black/White series. Sound on those was excellent and the people that researched it worked from original masters. I have not been really impressed with the sound from these recordings I have heard on the various CD reissues.

The only surprise in this year's Tour de France is that Thomas Voelcker managed to maintain a 22-second lead on Lance Armstrong before the Alpine stages. Now Armstrong is wearing the yellow jersey with no serious opposition in sight. Heard on the radio that some German 'fans' spit on him during the timetrack ride up to l'Alpe d'Huez. Totally disgracious! No matter what one may think about some aspects of Armstrong's achievements (and I have voiced enough) the man is at the top of this sport. Now that he is on his way to clinch his sixth Tour de Franced victory, hope he will notice that the TdF is not the only cycling competition worth winning!

I have never seen a copy of that Barney Wilen Guilde du Jazz LP. Trust me, Apaman. NEVER. I know these early Wilens sell for a fortune in Japan. If I remember well, the date was recorded in Paris for the US label Jazztone and was not supposed to be sold in France. Guilde du Jazz was the French counterpart of Jazztone. Wilen was under contract with the Vogue/Swing label at the time. I got my copy when Fresh Sounds reissued the session. I have several Wilen French originals from this era but they are not gathering dust!

I've searched - and missed - the Midnight Sun! No wonder my vinyl is still warped. Closed I came to the Midnight Sun was when Lionel Hampton played variations on it A hearty thanks to Dr. Rat for his various links. Not sure I'll try them but they make good reading!

What Soul Jazz Records is releasing July 27 is Marcus Belgrave's GEMINI (LP/CD 24). They also releasing Steve Reid's RHYTHMATISM (LP/CD 23) the same day. Could not get to their website: www.souljazzrecords.co.uk.