brownie

Don't know about the law in the USA. In France, security people can ask a person to stop and they can carry a check as long as the person is still inside the store. Once a person is outside the store, there is nothing the security people can do. With the number of thefts on the rise, this type of incidents are more and more frequent. And with the security devices not being set up properly, it can happen to anybody. Honest or not.

I have bought a lot of bad ones, unfortunately. But I can't recall any worse than the series of albums Chet Baker recorded with the Mariachi Brass for World Pacific. Those stunk real bad

Black and White was a series of RCA classics sides that was released by French RCA in the '70s. All the material has been reissued on a variety of labels including the Chronogical Classics. Black and Blue is a different French label which was very active in the '70s too. Most of their sessions have been reissued on CD most of them with added material. There is a list of their releases on the British CrazyJazz site: http://www.crazyjazz.co.uk/Labels/B/BLACK&BLUE.htm

The two Sunkel albums are pretty good especially the first one (Jazz Concerto Grosso). Garth has already pointed to the Tony Fruscella similarity. That t so many ABC jazz albums remain unissued is a damn shame. I have the Jazz Concerto Grosso original and the Fresh Sounds reissue of the Phil Sunkel Jazz Band LP. In addition to Mulligan and Brookmeyer, the first album has a rare appearance by tenor saxophonist Jim Reider (he played also in Mulligan's Concert Jazz Band). I would have to relisten to the second album which I remember as being a bit less successful. This is a tentet date featuring people like Dick Meldonian, Buddy Arnold and Gene Allen. The covers of both albums (as those of a lot of ABC LPs) were designed by Fran Scott, who was married to Tony Scott at the time. Give me time, Late, and I'll make sure you get a burn of those.

Let's not forget Jeanne Lee! And Sheila Jordan Karen Borca Did anyone mention Helen Merrill and Dinah Washington?

Wish I was in New York today. Those WFMU record fairs are incredible!

Ubu, no need to apologize. Nobody here has been offended (hope so, anyway). The banality in this specific case applied to the manner with which Eichman carried his orders to run the trains to and from the extermination camps right on schedule without giving a tenth of a second a thought to what all his work as the perfect train master implied. He was really the nazi Organization Man in all his banality. Arendt of course described this much more eloquently than I would even dare to. I think her book is a better read than Hilberg's. Despair is where you go after reading his book. Terribly factual and awfully depressing.

Wade Legge also played for a while in Johnny Richards big band in 1957-1958. He has a few solos in some of the broadcasts of the Richards band that appeared on the JazzHour CD 'Live In Stereo 57-58'. The Wade Legge trio date was recorded in Paris for the Vogue label. The trio was the rhythm section of the Dizzy Gillespie quintet which toured Europe in 1953. The Vogue date was released shortly later by Blue Note as part of the exchange agreement Vogue and BN had at the time. Wade Legge also recorded two sessions in February 1953 with the same trio (Lou Hackney, Al Jones) in Stockholm. Lars Gullin on baritone was added to the trio for the first session. The two sessions were made for the Swedish label Modern Music. Legge is also the piano player on that great 'Plays For Bird' date by Sonny Rollins for Prestige (with Kenny Dorham, George Morrow and Max Roach).

Ubu, 'banality of evil' was not a bon mot. It was an icily exact image coined by Hannah Arendt to describe Adolf Eichman at his trial. Hannah Arendt was at the Eichman trial in Jerusalem in 1961-1962 to write a series of articles for The New Yorker' magazine. Her articles were collected in her famous book 'The Banality of Evil'.

It's a good album and very enjoyable but don't expect a masterpiece. And it's a good opportunity to hear some Frank Socolow. RVG remote recorded the session. The Savoy Jazz twofer LP I have has been dubbed and edited by Malcolm Addey.

Non-jazz. Two photo icons: - Joe Rosenthal's image of the US flag raising at Iwo Jima, - Nick Ut's image of the badly-burned Vietnamese girl and her brother crying for help. Both signed the prints from their images. Joe Rosenthal is 94 by now. One of the nicest man I ever met. Nick Ut is an old friend from years ago. Could compete with Rosenthal for the nicest man title.

An impossibly Happy Birthday

I read sad news about him recently - cannot remember where - that his diabete condition has worsened and he is going blind. Believe he still is in Denmark but cannot travel much anymore.

I very rarely ask for autographs. One exception and it's still my favorite. A glossy paper flyer for a Cecil Taylor concert in Paris in 1966 with autographs from the four musicians: Jimmy Lyons, Alan Silva, Andrew Cyrille and Cecil Taylor who wrote a two-line poetry dedication. I lost autographed photos of Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. These two were mailed courtesy of the Voice of America after Willis Conover mentioned that the signed photos were available to any VOA listeners to his jazz programs who would request them, back in the late '50s. The signatures looked like the real thing. Lost the two - and various other jazz memorabilia - when the Army called me away from home.

Could that be the bottle that did him in? Pauillacs - even from bad years - never killed anyone It may even have prolonged his life

Only in America

Happy Birthday Hope you're having one of those great days...

Not yet. The bank keeps robbing me

Wonder what that Pauillac 1987 bottle was? 1987 was a bad vintage year for the Bordeaux Pauillacs. Hope Miles had a pleasant evening of it.

Some more tracks I identified yesterday evening. - 5: this has to be brazilian track from this album (will have to recheck though, did not have time to locate the LP copy I have somewhere) http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&u...l=Aas3gtq6zbu43 - 7: opening track from this album (had not listened to that album recently) http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&u...l=Aqfjx7i78g72r - 13: track 4. This is an old favorite album. I have the original LP with a different cover, http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&u...l=A5b821vf8zz9a I have not been able to identify track 2, an excellent choice. And I still need to listen to that short track 8 a bit more. Tracks 4, 6, 9, 11, 12, 15 no idea so far. I am into unkown territory on those ones.

When I was pretty young: 'Why Do Fools Fall In Love' by Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, later 'Hit the Road Jack' by Ray Charles, even later 'Soul Man' Sam and Dave

I have enjoyed the original Retrieval release for quite some time. The same Boswell Sisters photo was on the cover. Hope they kept the excellent liner notes by Richard Sudhalter.

This came out first on the Italian label Base. Two LPs. Sound is OK. I have not heard the later ESP CDs which include one additional track. Not the Ayler albums to start with. If you can get 'Spiritual Unity on 'Spirits Rejoice' on ESP, these are better Ayler starters. Or the Live in Greenwich Village' 2CD set on Impulse!

The news of Selby's death is frontpage news in today's edition of the Paris daily newspaper Liberation. 'An American Novel' is the bold headline of the frontpage. http://www.liberation.fr/page.php?Template=QUOTDUJOUR

Got my disc yesterday when I returned home. Gave it a quick listen to get a feeling of what Rockefeller had compiled. A number of tracks were very new to me. Which is fine. Those I had no problem identifying are: Track 1: opening side from this album http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&u...l=A4y68mpmd9f6o Track 3: tune 8 from this album: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&u...l=Als9us39ba3ng Track 10: opening side from this album http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&u...l=Apr5g8qbbbtv4 Track 14: ballad nr. 6 from that album http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&u...l=Aref4zf02eh4k The first and third albums were old favorites in their time but I have not played them in years. The second one is a classic. A desert island album. One track (number 5) I am pretty sure it is Wayne Shorter on soprano (pretty unique sound)but will have to look further into his records to identify the record... Another track (number 7) should be something with Ornette. Give me time and I'll have this figured out along with track 5. Both sound familiar and I am pretty sure I have these albums. And I'll give a good listen to the other tracks.