Dan Gould

not info @ organissimo dot org?

Not understanding how this could be paywalled since I see both "unlocked" and "share" in the URL I posted.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/27/arts/jaye-p-morgan-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1._FA.HLSV.TchjcpfwGxsT&smid=url-share I only knew her from The Gong Show and never knew what made her famous (and definitely didn't know she lost the gig for taking her blouse off on camera).

you just can't throw me a bone. Not even a small one.

And in the end it hardly fucking mattered. Pathetic. They can make the playoffs and will lose in the first round to the Yankees.

Well I just finished Second Variety. Definitely some strong stories, and more than a couple that didn't land for me. The title story hits hardest as its easy to think about in terms of both today's drones and AI. Unfortunately it did feel very much telegraphed that the "second" variety would end up being the woman and that he would send her to the moon to finish destroying mankind. And jeez but the guy was obsessed with insects as sort-of-humans, isn't he? And I definitely had a feeling some of these would have made fine Twilight Zone episodes. I don't think I will look for any more of his work but I am glad to have read this collection.

That call was the worst f-ing pile of horseshit I have ever seen.

The Warne and Eddie Johnson are the best things in Chuck's catalog but then again I am not the adventurous listener some are. (And credit also for licensing the Ben Webster Have you Called Her Today.

Percy France: Live from the West End by Daniel Gould If you know Percy France, most likely you are a fan of "greasy" organ jazz, particularly on Blue Note Records during their classic era. He was an integral part of Jimmy Smith's Home Cookin' (1959) and Freddie Roach's Down to Earth (1962). Or perhaps you came to jazz through r&b acts like the Bill Doggett combo. The album Hot Doggett (King Records-1956) features France's driving, big-toned tenor saxophone. Or if you came to the West End Café from the 1970s through 1990, perhaps you caught France leading his own groups or as a sideman with artists like Sammy Price; Count Basie sidemen "Papa" Jo Jones, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Dicky Wells or Earle Warren; Ellingtonians Bill Berry or Russell Procope or trumpet legends Jabbo Smith or Doc Cheatham. That list of sidemen appearances, each booked, broadcast and recorded by Phil Schaap and accessible through Vanderbilt University's digitized Phil Schaap Jazz Collection, are indicative of how Percy France was actually much more than just a "grits 'n' gravy" organ—jazz saxophonist. His first major gig was with Bill Doggett, but the organist distinguished France's influences from other "honkers and screamers" when speaking to Phil Schaap during the Percy France Memorial broadcast on WKCR-FM: "You know, some of the guys at that time were doing a lot of honking. And I think that that was the difference in Percy's sound. And Percy being a young man, you would think that he would follow in that tradition. But he was following in the tradition of the more elite players." On the same broadcast, drummer Max Roach told Schaap, "[Jazz is] really a performer's music and the great performers are the ones who make the history of the music and Percy was certainly one of those. You don't hear playing like that today, you just don't, you don't hear that. It came from that school that embodied people like Coleman Hawkins and Duke Ellington and Don Byas—some of the greatest musicians that this country has produced. And Percy was certainly one of those." Otto Flückiger was eulogized by his fellow Swiss jazz researchers as "never [being] only interested in the 'big' names, but also in the unknown, obscure, unmentioned, those of only local fame." He visited New York City in the Spring of 1980 and took several of the photos included here of Percy France at the West End. Flückiger later wrote the only feature—length profile of the saxophonist to appear during his lifetime, for the Swiss publication Jazz (March 1983): Percy France was born in New York City on August 15, 1928, to parents from the British West Indies. He told Schaap in a Musician Host interview on WKCR's Jazz Alternatives, that his mother, Martha, started him on piano lessons at a young age. But by the age of ten he had switched to clarinet because "it seemed as though playing piano, I always had my back to what was going on. I began to develop a craving to find out what was happening with the rest of the band, you see. It seemed like I had to sit so still, [but] I take on energy from being able to move and hearing the vibes in the room change." Hearing Budd Johnson's tenor solo on Earl Hines recording of "Second Balcony Jump" (1943) inspired France to switch to tenor sax. He recalled to Phil Schaap that "In 1944, I even remember the date, September 11th 1944, I [had gone to] work, saved some money [but] I fell a little short, so I went to my Pop. You know, that's who you go to when you're in trouble, right? Or when you want to rap and you got something on your mind. I went to my Pop and I spoke to him about it and the money that I was short, he loaned it to me and I bought a tenor." France described his influences to Schaap during a broadcast from the West End on July 6, 1981: Among France's classmates at Benjamin Franklin High School were pianist Walter Bishop, Jr. and another saxophonist the world would come to know as Sonny Rollins. In 2021, Rollins said in an email to the author, "Percy was one of the tenor players that I had to compete with when I was making my reputation as a young saxophonist. He was probably the best player around at that time; I never could beat him. We were good friends, and I think of him as my brother." France made his first recording in very fast company in 1949. Backing up vocalist Betty Mays, he played tenor in a frontline that featured J.J. Johnson, Kai Winding, and Cecil Payne, all at least five years into their respective recording careers. But as he continued to gig in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, he grew disenchanted with his development. As he told Schaap: Doggett credited France for "turning around" his group, for his tenor saxophone distinguished the band from other organ trio groups like that of Wild Bill Davis. Hits like "Early Bird" and "Percy Speaks" were recorded for King Records and the group enjoyed considerable success from 1952 through1956, with France playing tenor sax except for a few short periods. In early 1956, a tune was percolating during the group's regular tours playing clubs and dances. According to France, he actually developed the trademark tenor sax sound of "Honky Tonk." But for reasons that were never fully resolved, when the song was recorded in June of 1956, France was neither in the studio, nor was he listed on the copyright registration of what would become one of the biggest instrumental hits of the decade (#1 R&B, #2 Pop). Tenor saxophonist Clifford Scott played France's part, and he went on to record over a dozen 45s for King Records and was leader on three albums for World Pacific and Pacific Jazz and sideman on two others, while France, now permanently replaced in the Doggett group, could only make "Honky Tonk" a staple of his live performances. 1959 started another peak period in France's early career, but also one with its own missed opportunity. Already mentioned are France's two sidemen appearances on Blue Note, 1959's Home Cookin' (Jimmy Smith), with France's solo helping to make Ma Rainey's "CC Rider" a jukebox hit, and 1962's Down to Earth (Freddie Roach). Yet even though Percy had a close relationship with unofficial A&R man Ike Quebec, Blue Note never chose to record France as a leader, choosing instead to give leader opportunities to superficially similar saxophonists like Fred Jackson and Don Wilkerson. Starting in 1959 and continuing into 1960, France had a lengthy booking at Count Basie's, a popular club in Harlem, backing pianist/organist Sir Charles Thompson and leading his own All-Stars. A review in Jazz Notes (July 1959) of a performance called France ..." a slightly built master of the sax and a treat to hear." Another sideman appearance resulted: Sir Charles Thompson & The Swing Organ (1959) on Columbia. Thompson's career had started in the mid-1940s and included dates with many saxophonists often known by one name: Bird, Pres, Hawk, Dex. But thirty years after that summer spent on Count Basie's bandstand with Percy France, Thompson told musician/composer/historian Allen Lowe that France was "the best saxophonist" of all. Unfortunately, the jazz market was changing, and after France's appearance on Roach's album, he disappeared from the jazz press and the recording studios. Fortunately, he chose to resume his performing career in the 1970s, perhaps inspired by the scene that Phil Schaap was creating at the West End and over the airwaves of WKCR. As Schaap described it: Organist/pianist Mike LeDonne played often with Percy France at a club in New Jersey called the Cornerstone, and credited France with helping him restore his organ chops with a weekly gig with Percy at Showman's in Harlem. He cast light on the derivation of France's Rhythm 'n' Jazz group: "He believed that soulful jazz that grooved hard could have just as much popular appeal as r&b if it were marketed in the same way." These musical selections from the Phil Schaap Jazz Collection each feature pianist Bob Neloms. Neloms was introduced to Percy France by Allen Lowe at the West End, and they gigged together at other NYC clubs as well. He was both Motown's first house pianist, and Charles Mingus' last pianist in the 1970s. His playing was described by Jon Pareles in the New York Times in 1985: "His good humor and the volatility and ebullience of his playing are contagious." As mentioned earlier, France was inspired to switch to tenor saxophone when he heard Budd Johnson's solo on "Second Balcony Jump" around the age of 14. Here he performs the tune at the West End on October 28, 1983, with Neloms, bassist Harold Dodson and drummer Ronnie Cole: Live! from The West End (10/28/1983): Rhythm 'n' Jazz, Phil Schaap Jazz Collection, Special Collections Library, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN On occasion, Percy France sang on stage, and he expressed to Phil Schaap a need to "sing" through one's horn, particularly on ballads like "What's New?" from the same broadcast: Up next in this series: "Franc" Williams. Francis Williams played lead trumpet in the Duke Ellington Orchestra between 1945

Over the last 1/3rd of the season the Red Sox are 41-13, a .759 winning percentage that over a full season would obliterate the modern record of 116 wins. Extra crazy that it came after a season high 14 games below .500.

I think maybe Duke had it officially at least after Liberty took over? But what I am really asking is if Ike specifically was hired as such or just unofficial "helper".

Would we all agree Ike was "unofficial" A&R man with Blue Note?

Back to normal for me. And strangely, as things were so slow to load, I never got the "server is taking too long to respond" browser error-it would still load. But now speed is normal.

I did not know Tablet for doing this sort of piece. Good on them and thanks for alerting us Mark.