brownie

Bon anniversaire, jeune homme!

The one I really waited for was the Herbie Nichols 'The Third World' twofer. It had the intial BN Nichols albums. And it was a revelation. The Mosaic set appeared several years later. With much more additional tracks and way better sound.

This is the Stuttgart concert which was released on the Italian bootleg label Unique Jazz as a double LP. The Mingus band set Europe ablaze during that tour and that concert is one of the best.

I'm a minimalist

Would be nice to hear the group live on this side of the water

What about Jazzbo's new Avatar? Makes me sick just looking at it This is supposed to be a jazz forum!

Down Beat was issuing an extra yearend issue from the '50s on. The Yearend issue carried articles that were not in the regular issuesand carried more pages than the regular DBs. Not sure when the last one came out.

There is this Hammond Jazz Festival scheduled in May 2004 near Port Leucate. That is in southern France, along the Mediterranean, near Perpignan. Their website (there is an english translation) is here They have groups already booked (including Eddy Louiss, Rhoda Scott, Philip Catherine). Organissimo would be a natural there. Not sure they have money enough to fly a group from the States but might be worth a try. Let me know if I could help. Good luck!

Strata East albums (LPs all) I enjoyed: Cecil Payne 'Zodiac' with Kenny Dorham, Clifford Jordan 'In the World'. Charles Bracken 'Rhythm X' with Don Cherry, Charles Sullivan 'Genesis', a forgotten trumpet player. I've got some others but they don't get played much. Also puzzled by the fascination for that label.

If the deal is right, get it. It's really good. Not Pepper at his very best but really good. For Pepper at his very best, the box to look for is the 'Complete Village Vanguard Sessions', a 9CD Contemporary/Fantasy set. But it's more expensive!

Turns out the copy I have is the original GNP LP. Will give it a listen over the weekend. Also on the weekend play list is the Les Brown Allstars Capitol LP where Bob Gordon plays on some sides (with Don Fagerquist and Zoot Sims). Not sure he solos on that one.

A students hoax went astray. Read all about it here

I caught the jazz bug when I was barely 13. My elder brother was a fan and - out of curiosity - I started to listen to some of the records that he bought (early Amstrong, Ellington, Basie). Jazz was very popular at the time (the early '50s) in France. Sidney Bechet was a star. Armstrong and Ellington were familiar names. Quite a number of friends my age also became jazz fans. Started buying records (some 78s, some 10inchers, then 12inchers) at about that time. My brother also took me along when he started going to concerts. By the time I was 15, I was on my own and enjoying the music of Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Bud Powell, Lionel Hampton and others. On the way back from school there was a small record shop where a large part of my pocket money disappeared. The shop had copies of Down Beat on display, probably one of a couple of outlets for the magazine in Paris. Then I started listening (late in the evening) to the VOA jazz programs by Willis Conover on shortwave radio. I was hooked!

It's also available from GNP direct (and cheaper). GNP

The Lyle Murphy GNP seems to be available on CD. Check this: Lyle Murphy Have a Fresh Sounds LP reissue if really needed.

Billie Holiday 'The Decca Sides' (GRP) Jimmy Lyons Ayler box (discs 1 and 2) Billy Eckstine 'Once More with Feeling' (Roulette reissue) Babs Gonzales 'Tales of Manhattan' (Jaro/Fresh Sounds) Freddie Redd 'Shades of Redd'

So was at least one of the Swedish kings! Old Gustav, I believe. So was King Henri III of France who was often seen wearing women's clothes!

That was an excellent date (I give it a slight preference to the 'Jazz Guitar' session). Very spontaneous and featuring Red Mitchell on piano. OK he was not a real match to Carl Perkins but he could play the 88. Hall, Mitchell and Kelly obviously had fun recording this. I have a Japanese LP issue of it. The album title is 'Good Friday Blues'. This was the original title. May be wrong but think the 'Modest Trio' title was given by the Pacific Jazz people to one of its reissue reincarnation. The album does not seem to have seen the light in CD form.

No need to fantasize about a Miles-Jeanne Moreau romance. There was none. Moreau was at the time romantically linked to Louis Malle, the director of 'Ascenseur pour l'Echafaud'. That was Malle's first feature film. Moreau also starred in Malle's next film 'Les Amants' and on other Malle films. Miles' French lady at the time was the sister of a well-known French bop pianist. The Miles-Juliette Greco was a brief one and dates back to 1949. They remained 'just friends' after that. End of the Peoples chapter.

The Prelude and Fugue EP you mention was excerpted from the 1958 Decca album 'The Astounding Bernard Peiffer', the first of three hard-to-get albums Peiffer recorded for Decca after moving to the United States. All three are worth looking for. They were never reissued. Peiffer was indeed an amazing pianist

Joe Henderson was featured on two tracks ('Black Narcissus' and 'Pygmalion') of the Ida LP album 'Mais Ou est Donc Ornicar?' with the French Ornicar big band in 1984. Don't think this was released on CD.

Many thanks. Not sure I look that young any more but the spirit is still quite young. Probably even slowly turning infantile.

Off with Kings! Vive la Republique!

Happy birthday. Is there a limit to the number of beers you're drinking on your birthday?

ESP is the one. It brought a new perspective to Miles Davis' music when it came out. Still my favorite Miles album of the era. Miles Smiles was a very close second.