brownie

One of the problems with the Rod Levitt Orchestra - from the few tracks I have heard - is that the band lacked a strong soloist. There were excellent musicians in the orchestra but none could stimulate the band like an Eric Dolphy or a Don Ellis with the George Russell band, or a Bob Brookmeyer or a Zoot Sims with the Gerry Mulligan Concert Jazz band, both contemporary orchestras not to speak of the Gil Evans orchestra with another strong cast of worthy soloists. And not to mention the Ellington, Basie, Herman, Kenton and several orchestras all in full glory in the sixties. No wonder times must have been rough for the Rod Levitt band. And it shows on that 'The Arrangers' RCA Bluebird CD. The Hal McKusick and Johnny Carisi sides are oustanding. The Levitt ones are rather formal and suffer by comparison. Still, the Riverside 'Dynamic Sound Patterns' album was a very respectable debut.

A couple other Atlantic LPs that do not seem to have made it to CD: - Bill Russo 'The World of Alcina' (1241) - Harry Lookofsky 'Stringville' (1319) Both are excellent and unusual dates that are very much worthy of reissues. Also I think several tracks (the ones with Giuffre) of the 'Historic Jazz Concert at Music Inn' were included in the Mosaic Jimmy Giuffre box.

When the French Army got hold of me to fight in the Algerian war back in the '6Os, I was given a Garand riflle, a leftover from WWII US Army supplies. Did not trust the damn thing nor that colonial war. With thousands of conscripts like me, no wonder we lost that war! Hate the sight of people holding guns since.

Lou Donaldson 'Sentimental Journey' (Columbia) Mildred Bailey 1943-1945 (Classics) Cecil Taylor Live at Sweet Basil 'Iwontunwonsi' (SoundHills) Art Blakey/Joe Gordon (Verve/EmArcy) Duke Ellington 'Carnegie Hall 1943' (Ember)

So nice to see Roswell Rudd get some overdue recognition. On a previous trip to Africa (his first one in 2000), Rudd recorded a very impressive album 'MaliCool' that was released in the Soundscape Series by Universal France. This was recorded in Bamako, Mali, with local musicians including local hero Toumani Diabate. A genuine musical adventure worth cheking!

Those bootlegs have been discussed a number of times. The Freshsounds 2CD set says 'Lee Morgan Quintet at Lighthouse'. However this was recorded at the Both/End club in San Francisco a few days before the legitimate dates at the Hermosa Beach Lighthouse club that BN released. With the same quintet (Maupin, Mabern, Merritt, Roker). Sound on the FreshSounds set is OK. But the real thing is on the BN 3CD set. That one is a hell of an album!

That Getz-Barron duo album was superb. Getz was really inspired by Kenny Barron's playing. The two of them were also magnificient in an earlier (July 1987) date at Copenhagen's Montmartre Club that produced the 'Anniversary' and 'Serenity' CDs on the EmArcy/Gitanes Jazz label. Getz and Barron had Rufus Reid on bass and Victor Lewis on drums along on those two.

There's also an interesting album 'Steve Allen and his All-Stars' that was recorded in 1957 for the Dot Label. Steve Allen plays piano with a group that includes Joe Wilder, Joe Nottingham on trumpet, Urbie Green, Bob Brookmeyer on trombone, Tony Scott and Al Cohn, reeds, Mundell Lowe and Barry Galbraith on guitar, Frank Carroll on bass, Osie Johnson on drums with arrangements by Manny Albam who is also listed as conductor. The only weak link is Steve Allen who plays - let's be nice to him - competent piano. They play themes from people like Gerry Mulligan, Horace Silver (Doodlin with a rather straight solo from Allen), Duke Ellington, Dave Brubeck, Neal Hefti and others. Excellent solos by Wilder, Brookmeyer, Green, Cohn and Tony Scott. If there is a renewed interest on Steve Allen, might be worth a reissue!

Milan, the DVD Disc 1 includes five items from the Gjon Mili film on JATP: 1- 'Ballade' with Coleman Hawkins and Charlie Parker, 2- 'Celebrity' by Charlie Parker, 3- 'Ad Lib' by Hank Jones with Ray Brown and Buddy Rich, 4- 'Pennies from Heaven' with Lester Young and Bill Harris joining in, 5- 'Blues for Greasy' with Harry Edison, Flip Phillips and Ella Fitzgerald added to the line-up. Hank Jones, Ray Brown and Buddy Rich are the rhythm section for the five numbers. The whole film lasts about 25 minutes.

I found out how good Tubby Hayes really was shortly before Mole reissued that 'Mexican Green' album. Mole also reissued the 'Tubb's Tours' album. I got the two when they came out. Both delightful. And shortly after I found a very nice secondhand copy of '100% Proof'. Not the Fontana original which I have never seen but the Philips issue that came at about the same time (1967). Great album too!

'Let's Have a Session', the Billy Bauer album on AdLib. Been looking for that rarest of rare date from this master guitar player for years. Found a Japanese CD reissue of it. Never ran into a vinyl copy. Wasn't even aware it had been reissued in Japan.

Couple more recommended albums of Steve Swallow with Gary Burton. Both on ECM: 'Times Square' and 'Dreams So Real'. Ubu has already recommended the Owl sessions with Jimmy Giuffre and Paul Bley. 'The Life of the Trio' albums plus 'Fly Away Little Bird'. These are essentials! One of Swallow's early appearance should not be overlooked, the 'Portrait of Sheila' album on Blue Note where Sheila Jordan is accompanied by Swallow, Barry Galbraith and Denzil Best, a really different BN date and another beauty from the label.

Both should be confined in a prison cell in the company of Michael Jackson. And a crocodile

The New York Times has a nice story in their Saturdayedition about a Kansas City jazz legend. No, not our Rooster Ties! But the ever young Jay McShann. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/03/arts/mus...print&position=

I have mixed feelings about Marte Roling. Not only did she 'borrow' one of my photos of Cecil Taylor for her cover sketch of the Debut album 'Nefertiti' but she deliberatedly used another one of my published photod of Marion Brown for her cover sketch of the Marion Brown's 'Juba-Lee' for Fontana. That one was an exact replica of a photo of Marion that accompanied one of my articles. That said, I like her cover art. It also happens that I met her before she started drawing covers for record albums. She was in Paris in the mid-sixties to do sketches at fashion shows for a daily newspaper. Either Amsterdam's De Telegraaf or The New York Times, don't recall for sure. She walked into the offices of the photo agency where I work to have several sketches transmitted to her newspaper. A very nice person! Several months later I found she was doing those jazz record albums covers and borrowing from published photos to complete her job

From what I understand Debut Denmark was independent from the US Debut label. It seems to have been a business exchange only. When Debut Denmark folded, the business seems to have been taken over by Fontana from Holland. Fontana issued albums by Paul Bley, Marion Brown, the Jazz Composers Orchestra, Ted Curson, George Russell right after Debut folded. And they reissued Albert Ayler's album 'Spirits' on Fontana!

Debut Denmark released some 50 albums before they went out of business. Among the ones I have are: - Cecil Taylor 'Live at Cafe Montmartre' Debut deb-138 - Albert Ayler 'My Name Is Albert Ayler' Debut deb-140 - The Contemporary Jazz Quartet feat. Sonny Murray 'Action' Debut deb-143 - Albert Ayler 'Ghosts' Debut deb-144 - Albert Ayler 'Spirits' Debut deb-146, - Paul Bley 'Touching' Debut deb-147 - Cecil Taylor 'Nefertiti, the Beautiful One Has Come' Debut deb-148 (for the cover of that album the gracious Dutch artist Marte Roling ungraciously - and without asking for authorisation - used a photo I had taken of Cecil Taylor which had been published in a French jazz review) Some others that Danish Debut released were: - 131 Essen Jazz Festival (Coleman Hawkins-BudPowell-Oscar Pettiford-Kenny Clarke) - 132 Oscar Pettiford 'My Little Cello' - 136 Eric Dolphy in Europe (that came out elsewhere as 'Last Date') - 137 Brew Moore in Europe (with Lars Gullin and Sahib Shihab) - 139 Charles Mingus 'Chazz The Charles Mingus Quintet) - 141 Sahib Shihab 'Sahib's Jazz Party' - 142 Don Byas '30th Anniversary Album'

That's on the 'Charlie Parker Memorial Concert' LP twofer that came out on Cadet. The music was recorded at the August 197O at Chicago's North Park hotel. Joe Daley played tenor in a group that included Kenny Dorham, Ray Nance on trumpet and violin, Richard Abrams, Rufus Reid and Wilbur Campbell. The group plays 'Just Friends' and 'Summertime' with Daley being featured for fiery contributions on 'Just Friends'. He does not solo on 'Summertime'. The other groups include: - Red Rodney, Dexter Gordon, Von Freeman, Jodie Christian, Reid and Roy Haynes, - Howard McGhee, Vi Redd, Christian, Reid and Campbell, - Arthur Hoyle, Lee Konitz, John Young, Reid, Philly Joe Jones and Eddie Jefferson. It does not look that this album made it to CD yet.

What list are you refering to Brownie,? In the fifth post on this thread, fellow Organissimo memberLate had a link to that DVD. The link connects you to a list of various DVDs. The eleventh item on that list is the double DVD that I found. Good luck

Buddy Collette 'The Soft Touch' (GMG) Steve Lacy 6 'We See' (Hatology) Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland 'Blowing the Cobwebs Out' (Emanon) Mal Waldron w. Jim Pepper 'Mal, Dance and Soul' (Tutu) John Lewis/Bill Perkins 'Grand Encounter' (Pacific Jazz)

That painting 'L'Atelier de la Rue de la Condamine' is on display at the Musee d'Orsay in Paris. Among the friends of Bazille shown in the paiting are writer Emile Zola (up the stairs), Bazille shows one of his painting to Edouard Manet and (probably Claude Monet). Auguste Renoir sits on the table under the stairs and Edmond Maitre tinkles the piano. Jacman, you posted a great painting but note that this Art Brut (Raw Art) not Art Brute (Brute Art). Always happy to see more class enliven theis joint!

I'll add in a pianist: Dave McKenna. Never a major league player but a very consistent and thoroughly competent musician.

Milovan, that's the one. I'm not sure that the Bird footage and the Lester Young/Bill Harris footage were shot at exactly the same session but they are part of the second Gjon Mili film that was reported lost for years except for the few seconds of Bird that were shown before. All the musicians that show up in the Lester Young footage (Edison, Harris, Phillips, Jones, Brown and Rich) were in New York in September 1950 for the start of the 1950 JATP Tour. They all were at the September 16, 195O Carnegie Hall concert that was released by Granz at the time. I have the four issued numbers (Norgran Blues, Lady Be Good, Ghost of a Chance, Indiana) that appeared on the LP 'Midnight Jazz at Carnegie Hall' on the 'Norgran Blues 1950' reissue LP that came out in 1983 on the Verve label as part of the JATP albums series. The liner notes to that Verve reissue do not mention any film being made then but I am pretty sure the Gjon Mili was shot when the musicians gathered in New York for that tour.

What I got is item 11 in the list that Late posted. That's the 2DVD set I bought for half the price quoted from my friendly neighborhood music provider. Best value for money I have spent for months! The text does not specify what the JATP video footage actually shows. As far as I am concerned the video quality for that Lester Young footage and Jammin' The Blues is excellent. The rest of the content (Sound of Jazz and Sound of Miles) is the regular bad quality video that unfortunately has to be accepted for those CBS shows.

I love the sessions with Sonny Clark - and the other Grant Green BN sessions - but I voted for 'Idle Moments'. There is a magic feeling to that session that I find quite unique. It is one more proof of the genius of Alfred Lion for gathering the right musicians to produce a memorable session that keeps bringing unlimited pleasure after hundreds of listening.