brownie

Gregory Peck had those 'Big' parts in films like 'Moby Dick' 'Spellbound' or 'Duel in the Sun'. I just don't think he was really up to those parts in this type of films.

It's Friday the Thirteenth. Let's hear it for Thelonious Monk!

Gregory Peck was probably too handsome and too much of a gentleman to play great parts with iron-fisted directors (Hitchcock, Huston, Walsh). IMO he was at his best with impressionistic directors. Some favorite Peck films: 'Twelve O'Clock High' (Henry King), his best, 'The Gunfighter' (Henry King) comes real close, 'The Snows of Kilimandjaro' (Henry King), 'Roman Holiday' (William Wyler), 'Designing Woman' (Vincente Minnelli). In the last three, Peck paired wonderfully with Ava Garner, Audrey Hepburn and Lauren Bacall.

Berigan asked: Brownie, is there a channel similar to Turner Classic Movies you can watch overseas,(Or TCM via Satellite) or do they still run European and American "classic" films on commercial TV??? You used to see old American films on local commercial channels in the States til the mid 80's, then it seemed all channels decided color films, no matter how crappy, was better than ANY classic film...now kids, especially without cable will never get a chance to see White Heat...old movies are a dirty word with many these days.. No joke, in the mid 90's there was a girl I knew(And almost dated) who said black and white TV hurt her eyes Now you know why, in spite of her great ass, I never asked her out! Yes, we even have TCM in France. There is a dozen film channels on cable TV here. At least, three of them have a lot of classic black/white films, mostly Hollywood films. French movie freaks still love those films. You can have them in original language (with or without French subtitles) or in French versions which I try to avoid. Last week, one of those movie channels played Allan Dwan's 'The Sands of Iwo Jima' in French only (obviously, the original language copy was not available) and John Wayne speaking in French was not my cup of tea. And all these movie channels play these films uninterrupted. No commercials as on so many US TV channels. Not sure I would have been as particular as you about that girl. When I was still chasing girls (that was years ago), I would have taken her out to see a film in glorious colours.

18 and 19 were great years. There was fun, friends, girls, jazz, movies at the Paris Cinematheque. Future looked good. Then the Army grabbed me at 20 and life went downhill, way to the bottom. This was at the time the French Army was trying to keep Algeria part of the French territory. I was not buying this. Two years and a half I have tried to forget. Then back tome. Future looked bleak. No jobs (or whatever odd job was available). Got a real job (as a journalist) when I reached 24. It's been uphill since.

Hank Mobley is one of those unassuming jazz musicians who produced so much inspired music. Got into him soon after I became interested in jazz in the '50s. He was on one of my favorite early BN album 'The Jazz Messengers at Cafe Bohemia'. Loved his warm tone and the way he phrased his solos: going straight to the essential, ideas flowing smoothly, no waste of notes. You really had to LISTEN to what he was playing to get into the originality of his solos. Never managed to catch him live unfortunately but he showed up in the summer of 1969 when Byg (run by thieves who grabbed - or tried to grab - every musicians available in that glorious Paris summer) was recording a lot of albums in a studio on the eastern fringe of Paris. I was attending some of those sessions since I knew many of the musicians who were involved. Mobley was present at one of Archie Shepp's dates (along with Grachan Moncur). He was not really in top form at the time. I talked briefly with him during the session. He was very disillusioned by then (he had a lot of reasons to be). He had come to Europe to get more playing oppotunities but that failed. Sad life, great player.

'White Heat is another one of my Top Five Best Films ever list. Don't think there is a better Cagney appearance anywhere. Really 'Top of the World'.

A Dolphy appearance on a rare album that has never been reissued (as far as I know): Teddy Charles' Russia Goes Jazz where Dolphy appears on several tracks along people like Zoot Sims, Pepper Adams, Jimmy Raney. Fun (and excellent) United Artists LP where Teddy Charles and his partners play jazz versions of classics by Russian composers.

And now they have come out with a 7CD box reuniting all the Django Reinhardt material they previously issued in single CDs!

The Rambla de Catalunya is Barcelona's main artery and is crowded 24-hour - or almost - a day by locals and tourists. Plan to travel to Catalunya next September and will stop by the shop when I get to Barcelona. Been curious about those Spanish Blue Notes that have been mentioned in this thread. I can still remember when Spanish BN issued LPs years ago. I did not try any. Have yet to see one of those CDs. They're not in Paris stores and I did not catch any of them when I dropped by the CD stores when I was in Spain (avoided the main cities) last month.

A little respect for Charles Laughton, please!! Any man who directs only one film and makes a masterpiece of it should get nothing but praise. Talk about creepy? just watch Robert Mitchum in Laughton's 'The Night of the Hunter'.

Ubu, hope you also checked the Bernard Peiffer albums and the Rene Urtreger Plays Bud Powell CD. Rare sessions from two underrated French pianists. The Urtreger album may be short on playing time (it was originally a 10-inch LP) but it is filled with great music.

John Ford is to films what Duke Ellington was to jazz. Both had a long, successful career. Both surrounded themselves with a stock company of actors/musicians. Both were creative until their final years. Also watched 'My Darling Clementine' recently, another remarkable Ford western. Even a non-Ford regular like Victor Mature (a so-so actor) is just superb and his Doc Holliday part is just in the same league as Henry Fonda's Wyatt Earp.

The BNBB is the Past! Organissimo is NOW! Know this was started just about three months ago. The board is by now so familiar that it feels like I have been here for years. Many thanks to b3-er for making this the great place it is.

The 'Jazz in Paris' series from Gitanes/Universal is back with one double CD (Hors Serie 01) entitled 'Sacha Distel, Jazz Guitarist'. The 2CD include various jazz sessions recorded between 1954 and 1968 by Distel who played excellent guitar before turning into a pop singer. The special edition has: - the rare 1956 Versailles 10-incher 'Jazz d'Aujourd'hui' with arrangements by Billy Byers (two of the eight tunes feature a rhythm section of Gene DiNovi, George Duvivier and Charles Saudrais), - the very rare 1957 Versailles session with Bobby Jaspar (and Rene Urtreger, Benoit Quersin and Paul Rovere, Al Levitt and Billy Byers), - two tracks from the ultra-rare 1954 French Philips LP 'Jazz Boom nr. 1) where Distel plays with Hubert Fol, Rene Urtreger, Pierre Michelot and Mac Kac, - two tracks from the film sountrack to a 1961 Roger Vadim film (with Kenny Clarke), - the complete 'Back to Jazz with Slide Hampton' 1968 EMI album (with arrangements by Slide Hampton). No news yet about additional volumes.

John Ford's 'The Searchers' was on my 10 Best Films list. It was showing on one of the cable TV channel last night. I had not seen in a long time and only once on TV. I'ld rather see this type of films on a moviehouse screen. Well, I really enjoyed seeing this classic once more. John Wayne may not be my favorite actor (John Garfield or James Cagney would be my choice) but his contribution to that epic is plain brilliant. Jean-Luc Godard waxed lyrical when he was contributing to 'Les Cahiers du Cinema' about the scene when John Wayne turns human and holds Natalie Wood up high in his arms in one of the film's climaxes. Moved 'The Searchers' to my 5 Best Films list.

Marc Johnson is the one (even if Eddie Gomez would be my favorite bass player of the lot). Johnson really integrated the trio idea and moved way way high to reach the the rarefied level of Evans and LaBarbera. The final Bill Evans trio is the one that came closest - they even went further probaly because they played longer and more often - to what was attained by the Evans/LaFaro/Motian trio.

Brad, even if the CD notes state that the session was produced by Alfred Lion, the liner notes mention that the album was 'the brainchild of pianist/arranger and Blue Note A&R director Duke Pearson'. This was recorded in early 1967 when jazz business was going down and obviously BN was looking for ways to survive (that ended in the summer when the label was sold to Liberty). This may explain the concept behind the album. One week after the session, BN recorded the 'Lush Life' album by Lou Donaldson. Donaldson was more adaptable than Morgan and did a better job with the concept. I gave 'Standards' a fresh hearing and I find once more that the choice of material does not really inspire Morgan. He just goes through the motion of playing the tunes. The Morgan flame just does not burn here.

I have the original mono release (W.63rd deepgroove) of 'Blue Train'. This one is still way above the various CD reissues I have heard including the Ultimate Blue Train that I bought for its additional alternate tracks. I'll skip the SACD.

'Standards' by Lee Morgan looked exciting with its lineup (Spaulding, Shorter, Adams, Hancock and others). Any new material from Lee Morgan is eagerly desirable as far as I am concerned. Bought it when it came out years after its recording. I played it once and filed it. Alfred Lion would never had recorded this. A bad Lee Morgan? That's blasphemy. And so it is.

Among the unreleased BN material, there is a John Collins session that might be interesting to hear. That date always intrigued me. Have the masters (tapes?) disappeared?

The Sonny Rollins at Village Vanguard album is the one that turned me into a worshipper. The trio of Rollins, Wilbur Ware and Elvin Jones produced amazing music those VV nights. My other favorites have been mentioned but I also have a fondness for the Sonny Rollins Brass album on Metrojazz. Not really his best but I got my Rollins education with that one.

My slippers (vinyls all and all aging gracefully): - The Jazz Messengers at Cafe Bohemia, volume 1 - Cookin' with the Miles Davis Quintet - John Coltrane/Johnny Hartman - Bill Evans 'You Must Believe in Spring'

This weekend: Martial Solal NY-1 (BN) Henry Allen and his New York Orchestra (JSP doubleCD), Sun Ra 'Music from Tomorrow (Atavistic) Zoot Sims and Count Basie (Pablo) Tete Montoliu 'A Line' (DiscMedi, a Spanish CD)

Bertrand, catching up on this late. Hope you still have access to the board. John L. listed good stores. Agree with Jussieu Jazz being a great place. Missing however are: Gibert Musique at 34 Boulevard Saint-Michel. They have a good choice of new and secondhand CDs (plus some vinyls) on their second floor. Paralleles at 36 rue des Bourdonnais (Paris 1), near the Forum des Halles. They have a good selection of secondhand CDs, vinyls and books in their jazz corner. Also have a look at Dream Store (4 Place Saint-Michel), they still have a number of firsthand Masters of Jazz CDs Armstrong, Duke, Bix, Billie, Lunceford, Bechet, Basie, Sinatras) at something like 7 euros. They obviously bought a stock when the label disappeared. The stock is now dwindling. And the store across CrocoJazz is 'La Dame Blanche'.