Dan Gould

I am told the website will become defunct sometime in the future. That was from Vanderbilt so it must be contractual, I imagine. Vandy did start with the previously transferred recordings on the web page, but I am pretty sure there weren't 850+ shows there. A large effort to digitize was made as part of the donation.

You'll need to monitor the site for updates for sure ... it sounds like only the track played in the broadcast would end up publicly available, and as an official (or is it unofficial) release, they may not make the entire thing available to the general public. You should be prepared to contact the librarian as they get thru the process which again .... years to accomplish. They will be producing a finding aide for everything ultimately catalogued.

It seems from the PDF I linked to that Phil solicited college proposals, Vanderbilt made its pitch and within a month they started negotiations. What is curious to me is that from what I heard, Columbia was never considered as a location for donation. Bad blood after 50 years on the air?? As far as the tape - assuming it exists - did this ever get broadcast? That seems to be the key factor for placing on the webpage I linked above, after digitization. I was told that for items not originally broadcast, they may go on the page, but with limits to URLs that can access (might be limited to being on campus, for example. I was told this was all being discussed with Vandy's legal department. I only know for sure that items broadcast on WKCR will get the "open to the public via the web" treatment. As far as downloading goes, I tried to right click on the audio file and it does not give the option to save as an mp3. But when that happens all I do is run a mini plug from my audio out to my line in and record in my audio editing software to get a copy of any streamable recording of interest. I find I just have to be careful and keep other programs closed so I don't get any extraneous Windows chimes or tones during the stream because those will record too.

Yeah and I have really been terrible about backing things up especially using an out of date PC for audio editing of which there has been so much from the Smithsonian/Leonard Gaskin archive. Their raw files live in a dropbox page but I did a hell of a lot of audio editing to make listenable.

Thought interested people would want to know that Phil's enormous collection of LPs/45s/78s/cassettes/CDs/REELS were all donated to Vanderbilt University School of Music. Much was digitized before delivery in October - such that already there are over 800 radio broadcasts available for streaming/download right now: https://aviary.library.vanderbilt.edu/collections/2137 What is most important, IMO is what is to come: I have been told by the librarian in charge of the project that the initial delivery included 33 boxes of tapes from The West End, Birdland and Third Phase. These reels have been catalogued and sent away just yesterday for digitization. Further, they consider anything broadcast originally on KCR as fair game for inclusion on the web page above when the digital files are returned. Further, there was another "large" delivery in December of similar material - which has not yet been catalogued or sent for digitization. If you don't know, WKCR broadcast every Friday evening from the West End for something like 25 years or so. There are also reels covering "KCR Days" at the West End or WKCR Benefits at the West End - Up to 10 hour broadcasts of jazz legends playing together. So these are getting digitized and will be added to the public webpage. Also to be added ... artist interviews & Oral Histories. (And yes, I already know of 17 recordings that include Percy France.) This is an incredible thing that has started now and will take years to finish but God bless Phil Schaap and his packrat ways. Music lost is now found and being digitized. Here's a pdf with photos and descriptions of the Archive: https://semla.wp.musiclibraryassoc.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2023/10/Smith-Borne-Schaub-SEMLA-Presentation-2023.pdf

You guys will laugh at this but I have two more recent machines as back up but haven't ever swapped them out. I may very well think about that this weekend.

Thanks to all ... I ended up speaking to a local company about their services/prices and I mentioned not getting into safe mode or anything. She said try F2 for HP diagnostics and .... I booted up completely normally. Backing up critical files right now to my wife's 2 TB flash drive she had bought for herself. Going to also back up critical files I have on the previous 7 machine I had converted to an external hard drive. It was only readable from another Windows 7 machine but this flash drive should work anywhere. Probably double up on those for safekeeping in the end. So relieved right now.

Wondering how long/how many tmes one should hit that F8 key for Safe mode. Cause it didn't trigger this time and I hit for a while.

I have done that. Two or three times. If its gone 30 minutes since last time, do you think its still repairing ? And there were no open programs when I restarted the first time ... I just realized a little while later that it hadn't rebooted. Thanks.

So this morning my home PC (Windows 7) gave me a "low memory" message. When I shut down Chrome I decided to do a restart - often solves the issue (don't ask). So now it refuses to boot up, I am stuck on a blue screen with the HP logo and invent underneath. It does not get me to an option to open in "safe" mode. Is this thing dead? If it is, 70% of my Percy France audio edited files are dead (the originals are still in dropbox page operated with the Smithsonian). My main back up came from a prior Windows 7 machine which means that countless other things are only accessible thru this PC that won't start up. I do assume another Windows 7 machine would allow that material to be backed up. And oh, audio tracks for March BFT are on that PC too. I still have emails received but some had meta data that would need to be wiped and my audio software is on the dead machine. Advice greatly appreciated.

Not Crawford.

nope. And I didn't double up on Charlie Williams either.

Alto is the attraction for sure. Confused by your mention of the chart and a composition that is close to the actual title, because the LP gives leadership credit on all compositions and arrangements. And this would be after your lab/rehearsal band days. Hopefully the alto can be named in the next 28 days ... the group is surely less well-known.

Not with one bullet in the chamber, no. Didn't you dig that newest Shelly Carrol?

No, not Lockjaw or Cleanhead and as always, yes to the jazz blues! In fact my very first BFT had a theme which I have rarely deviated that far from: G - R - E - A - S - E. And welcome back @Spontooneous!

I meant to state in the opening post that perhaps we could go back to the original style of commenters, which included the infamous DB "star" ratings. So I am going to use that. At least it gives me something to say. @Big Al On first listen last month I had Wynton Kelly in mind, and wondered if there was a Verve-era recording matching this. Fortunately I did go back and listen a couple of times more and the former Gene Harris Fanatic did not beclown himself by missing his (former) namesake. It's the title track from THIS. The Limelights are not a highlight for me of the Three Sounds output. 3 1/2 stars, for Gene and I wonder if Jim will re-think his comment. And I wonder if Big Al chose it for the title, as in, tribute, in this celebratory BFT, to the many beautiful friendships the Big O (and the BNBB before it) helped foster? @danasgoodstuff Pleasant but not really getting anywhere for me. 3 stars. @Dub Modal Enjoyed this a lot - metadata had to be stripped but I would have never guessed anyway. 3 1/2 stars. @Eric Another winner but no guesses. Also 3.5 stars @mjazzg Hypnotic! A Felser I don't hate on. 3 stars. @randyhersom Not my cuppa. 1 star, for the pianist and drummer, whose presence motivated my sampling of this at a used CD shop many years ago. Not sure how long it took me then to say silently "next!" (yes I did check the youtube link above). @Rooster_Ties Another with metadata to be stripped but ... just a big ugh for me. 1/2 a star and apologies to Rooster Tom. @sidewinder Liking this loads but maybe it's the improvement over the last track? No, I am digging but no clues for names. 3 1/2 stars. @webbcity as Al said, by happenstance it ended up the finale, and a great one. Fave track overall so it gets 4 stars. Thanks gents for your contributions!

My chosen track is B1 Dwackdo Mun Fudalik

Thanks Al! I truly feel like the Charles Williams is at the top of the great Mapleshade list. He didn't get the attention he deserved.

LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!!! Welcome to the first of two special, 20th anniversary (more or less) BFTs, which started many moons ago when member @DrJ came up with the idea of an online version of the original DownBeat Blindfold Tests, and its come a long way since, from signups, mailaway discs, and the original "tap on the shoulder" to Thom Keith donating server space, and a standardized monthly schedule and annual signups. Thanks again to Tony Jerant and everybody who has kept the BFT going. Thinking also of Bill DeBauche (Hot Ptah) who ran things with great attention to detail before his untimely and unfortunate passing. Here's to Bill too. https://thomkeith.net/index.php/blindfold-tests/ I believe we should use @(username) when commenting on a particular tune. That will generate a notification to the contributor that someone has said something about his track. One thing is for sure, with ten people replying to comments on one track each, this thread will set records for participation.

I thought I heard two billionaires? That means money to keep the young talent they have. And maybe more competition for the Yankees on future free agents. Assuming the Dodgers don't just get everybody they want.

👍 B1 is not the title track to the album. Info, such as it is, plus the original animation, for the Blakey recording https://phillyjazz.us/2019/12/15/dont-drink-and-drive/ https://www.carsandracingstuff.com/library/s/stopdrivinguscrazy.php

Thanks to all who participated. As usual, expectations about tune reactions never go the way you expect ... just as much a BFT rule as "there will be something on the BFT you own but won't recognize". TRACK 1 A1 https://www.discogs.com/release/14266821-Pony-Poindexter-In-Barcelona This tune set me immediately in mind of a late 60s larger-group Turrentine cut. Recorded I guess just after that era – 1973. I have a hard time getting the hook out of my mind when I hear it. The LP it comes from had absolutely zero information but Fresh Sound put it out as a CD and I guess found the personnel from the mist of time. TRACK 2 B1 https://www.discogs.com/release/2482575-Ted-Curson-Snake-Johnson When I got this album (for Charlie Williams’ presence) I knew I wanted to program something even if I was certain that the presence of Bill Barron meant that Sangrey would ID it out of the chute. What never occurred to me was that it would get near-unanimous negative reviews and no ID at all. James Sangrey, you got some ‘splainin to do. https://media1.tenor.com/m/h_P9MwmK4fwAAAAC/i-love-lucy-lucy-ricardo.gif TRACK 3 A1 https://www.discogs.com/master/1220314-Ernie-Wilkins-Almost-Big-Band-Ernie-Wilkins-Almost-Bigband-Live-At-Slukefter-Jazz-Club-In-Tivoli-Gar Jim said, “a very nicely mixed group of personalities!” to which I would add “generations, too”. TRACK 4 “Minor Move” (Tina Brooks) https://www.discogs.com/master/1782390-Shelley-Carrol-A-Distant-Star I didn’t think a gimme (on the composition, which a lot of people didn’t get) would turn out to be a new tenor fave of Mr. Felser. I am going to coast on that accomplishment for a long time. TRACK 5 “Fungii Mama” (Blue Mitchell) https://www.discogs.com/master/2216404-Roy-Hargrove-Mulgrew-Miller-In-Harmony Another tune I thought was a gimme, and I felt that the actual recording would be known as well. But I guess participants weren’t so excited at two CDs worth of Roy Hargrove and Mulgrew Miller in Duo mode to have bought it and remembered it. Personally I think this is a great release from two talented guys who left us too soon. TRACK 6 “No Time for Speed” (Benny Golson) Side B of this: https://www.discogs.com/release/6559247-Benny-Golson-Art-Blakey-Lee-Morgan-Jerome-Richardson-Bobby-Timmons-Jymie-Merritt-Music-To-Stop-Drivi After two Blue Note tunes, why not an oddball near-BN Jazz Messengers track? I figured that the baritone would throw people. TRACK 7 AL GREY VIDEO TRANSFER Gatemouth Brown on guitar, Stan Hunter (organ) and Chris Columbo drums “Over and Under” (GREY) Source which Sangrey found: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1552553111612988 I knew the organ would annoy some people. Personally I have no problem with Stan Hunter and was glad to see him (literally) on something other than his one leader date (Trip on The Strip, co-led by Sonny Fortune). I really thought Al Grey, for whom I have mad love, was distinctive enough to get more IDs but alas I was wrong. TRACK 8 Now’s The Time https://storyvillerecords.bandcamp.com/album/tates-delight This is a must-have for Buddy Tate fans, IMO. FWIW, it was the alto, Jens Sondergaard, who inspired me to post about “tough” altos last year. TRACK 9 My Little Suede Shoes https://www.discogs.com/release/2937626-Walter-Bishop-Jr-Hot-House Rare Muse – never on CD I don’t believe. TRACK 10 “Groovin High” https://www.discogs.com/release/25374850-Jerome-Richardson-Tete-Montoliu-Trio-Groovin-High-In-Barcelona Jerome Richardson (the soloist who appeared twice) and Tete Montoliu – two distinct players and somewhat (Montoliu) or largely (Richardson) under-recognized. TRACK 11 “A Night in Tunisia” https://www.discogs.com/release/9567045-Jay-McShann-Featuring-Don-Thompson-2-Archie-Alleyne-Swingmatism When I decided on a bebop mini-set I thought what better than a non-bopper playing “Tunisia”? TRACK 12 https://www.discogs.com/release/12227056-Willene-Barton-Trio-Walking-My-Baby-Back-Home-As-Long-As-He-Needs-Me Willene Barton became an obsession of mine last June when I happened upon one or another of her too-few recordings. I can now report I’ve secured all of them, even the flipside of her 45 that lives on youtube, “Rice Pudding”. Details on the rest of the band aren’t known but the organist is almost certainly Dayton Selby with whom she made nearly all of her earlier recordings. She’s fantastic as far as I am concerned and she must have impressed none other than Lockjaw Davis, who was her manager for a time. http://www.bluesandrhythm.co.uk/documents/BR289-Willene-Barton.pdf Here she is on video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8TLkZ4KGv0&t=811s&pp=ygUOd2lsbGVuZSBiYXJ0b24%3D TRACK 13 “Misty” https://www.discogs.com/release/22031296-CI-Williams-When-Alto-Was-King I am sure I have identified “Misty” as a tune that I could do without for the rest of my life, but this performance is different. Tim heard this performance as I hear it and as described in the liners to this absolutely indispensable recording: Unable to shake the memory of the magical duo of Larry and C.I. had fashioned to open ‘Round Midnight, Hamiet suggested another go at a duo. So Larry and C.I. started tossing around candidate tunes. They ran thru 10 or 15 promising titles that didn’t quite inspire them. Bluiett, losing patience, waded in to cut the Gordian knot, ”Goddamn it, play Misty.” I groaned inwardly, though I had to laugh at Bluiett’s shoving a soupy old warhorse down their throats. They responded with six minutes of delicate ballad artistry that forever changed the way I hear the tune. Afterwards, Bluiett rubbed salt in the wounds of my demolished preconceptions. “Don’t you understand, Pierre, with all the years of doing Misty like a commercial hit, it’s gotten miles away from what Erroll Garner had in mind. The tune was just begging for someone like Larry and C.I. to re-create it with that kind of purity. Just to remind us of the beauty of Erroll’s original idea.” And I do not mean “indispensable” for this tune but the entire CD is a masterpiece. Recall that Mapleshade documented Norris Turney at the end of his life, playing wonderfully. He got far more opportunities to record than Charlie/Charles/C.I. Williams, especially as a leader. But this recording is easily on that level, and an incredible gift to document who Hamiet Bluiett described as “.. the missing link between Johnny Hodges, Benny Carter and Charlie Parker.” Nearly all of the recordings used on this BFT were discovered in 2023. A couple are stone cold classics to me, but none more so than this recording.

Seems like they are doing a certain number of free articles still then.

the scat or the alto? I was afraid the scat would give it away, which it did once I gave the clue that scatter = soloist.

Thanks for coming back to this Mike. Glad you liked Tracks 11 and 13!