Dan Gould

Before you run too fast, James, I want to make sure you understand that B.B. only guested on this one track. The rest of the record is a pretty straight tribute to other original Ellington recordings. Nicely played, no doubt, but hardly earth-shattering. So if you're interest was in more B.B. singing with a jazz big band, you got the track already.

Didn't get to have as much fun with the Gene/Not Gene section but thanks to those who did play along. In fact, Disc 2 really sort of fell by the wayside as the relatively few participants in the discussion of disc 1 became even fewer with disc 2 as two of them never had time to post about this one. Such is life. 1. Dick Clark – The Way Gene Would Groove It Just Blues, Reflections of the Artistry of Gene Harris (Clark Group Productions) Clark, all instruments, recorded on Kawai Digital Grand piano Nope, its not that Dick Clark. In fact, according to his page on CD Baby, Clark is quite the triple threat - in addition to recording all parts of this CD on his Kawai Digital Grand Piano, Clark also heads a promotion company. This isn't the first tribute CD he's self-produced either - CD Baby has his Oscar Peterson tribute as well. A lot of people hated the recording quality particularly the drums. As to the performance, some liked it, most couldn't get past the hotness of the recording. For me it was pretty obviously a rather superficial approximation of a Gene Groove. And he'd never allow a recording to go out sounding that "hot". Therefore the correct answer was not Gene. 2. Three Sounds, Cute (Neil Hefti) Three Sounds, Beautiful Friendship (Limelight) Gene Harris, piano Andy Simpkins, bass, Bill Dowdy drums unidentified big band Harold got this one - not sure if he was specifically thinking of this Three Sounds LP - but Jim Sangrey had an interesting comment For what it's worth, Julian Lee of Australia was the arranger for both Limelight albums that matched The Sounds with a larger group. Of course, I have no idea what he meant by sounding UK or Euro in the arranging, but then again, as I said in Disc 1, "This Joint's Too Hip For Me". 3. Three More Sounds – John Brown’s Body (traditional) A Musical Tribute to Gene Harris (BP) Bobby Pierce, piano, Carl Burnett, drums, Henry Franklin, bass I finally got this CD via half.com just before Christmas and found it highly enjoyable. Interesting to hear Bobby Pierce on piano, along with two late-era members of the Three Sounds. I don't think they tag the ending too long at all. 4. Ray Brown Trio, You Don’t Know Me Live in CA circa 1987 Gene Harris, piano, Ray Brown, bass Jeff Hamilton, drums Jim was right that this is a GH boot - I found this recording on a site advertising some type of microphone. They wanted to give an example of the kind of sound guys who sneak recording devices into clubs could get. What I got out of it is what I consider an all-time Gene Harris/Ray Brown performance, equaling or surpassing his official recording of "Summertime". If some part of you doesn't start moving and keep moving from about 8:30 to the end of this one, you have to be dead. 5. Tad Weed, I’m Walkin’ (Fats Domino) A tribute to Gene Harris (All Story Records) Weed, piano Our final Gene/Not Gene track may be a surprise to some, as Weed is apparently much better known as a more avant type of player. But he is a Michigan guy, and so was Gene, and so he put together a very nice tribute disc that I am glad I own. He definitely shows he has chops to spare and does a very nice job with a program inspired by GH. 6. Houston Person – Ron Carter, Meditation (Jobim) Just Between Friends (HighNote) I came oh so close to picking "Blueberry Hill" from this CD as a match with "I'm Walkin'" but finally switched in the belief (implied by the liners) that a bass and tenor playing a bossa was a challenging proposition. Regardless, Houston Person and Ron Carter are a match made in heaven and I recommend any of their duo recordings. 7. Ryan Kisor, The Sidewinder (Lee Morgan) The Sidewinder (Video Arts) Sam Yahel, organ, Peter Bernstein, guitar, Willie Jones III, drums I really thought that "The Sidewinder" played with organ would throw some people off, but most got this one. I should probably find an image of the "sexyass leg cover" as Jim described it. 8. Tete Montoliu – Autumn Leaves I Wanna Talk About You (Steeplechase) With Hank Mobley, tenor sax, George Mraz and Al Foster Well, here is the "surprise" of this disc - as I presume most of you know, this was Hank Mobley's final recording, from 1980. It was set up as a sort of audition for a possible contract with Steeplechase, having him sit in during a Tete Montoliu trio session but it was decided that Hank's playing wasn't good enough. When Steeplechase put Montoliu's recording out on CD, they added this as it was apparently the one tune Hank recorded that was regarded as worthy of release. I honestly thought Hank's tone was recognizable enough, but only Jim S. recognized it. Some of you may recall a lengthy discussion way back when of the picture of a balding Hank that was included in the insert of the CD, as some of us used Hank's eyes as a window into his soul. The unextinguishably soulful Hank Mobley. 9. Jack Walrath – Lil’ Stinker (Walrath) A Plea for Sanity (Stash) Walrath, trumpet, Michael Cochrane, piano, Anthony Cox, bass Not a terribly popular track, but I wanted to go with something with a little different instrumentation, and Michael Cochrane on piano is always a bonus as far as I am concerned! 10. Dexter Gordon & Al Cohn – On The Trail Silver Blue (Xanadu) Dex and Al - a classic combination, one of the great recordings in each discography, imho. As I mentioned, this is available from the Andorrans, and if I had to buy one of their releases, this would be it. The Silver Blue and True Blue sessions are excellent. 11. Rob Schneiderman – Smoke Screen (Lynch) Dark Blue (Reservoir) Schneiderman, piano Brian Lynch, trumpet Ralph Moore tenor sax Lewis Nash, drums Peter Washington bass Another one of those moody, late-night blues that I love so much to wrap things up. Thanks again to everyone, and even though the answers are now posted, I do hope that the half dozen folks who asked for downloads but didn't participate will still take the time to post in the discussion threads, even if they've read through the answers.

Thanks to everyone who managed to post their reactions to the disc, and thanks especially for not tearing me a new one for some of my less "jazz" tracks. As you'll see, most of them have obvious jazz connections, and three in particular are exceptionally rare recordings. 1. Betty Hall Jones – This Joints Too Hip For Me Los Angeles Rhythm & Blues 1944-1954 (Acrobat) Sidemen not listed Some liked it, some didn’t but I wanted to start things off with this tune for two reasons: • Sometimes I think this joint (Organissimo) is too hip for me with some of the musical discussion (yes, there really is some musical discussion here occasionally). • I figured an R&B number that name-checks so many jazz greats would be a good way to segue into the section of tunes that ranged a bit away from the usual jazz found on a BFT. Hell, most of it wasn’t even jazz at all. Fwiw, Jones was in Roy Milton’s band before her solo career, and this Acrobat release is quite good, with a nice mix of the obscure and the not-so-obscure. Definitely recommend it as an LA R&B comp. 2. Billy Higgins, Me and My Lover (Pacific Jazz 45) With the Teddy Edwards Quartet Higgins, drums and vocals It was easy to realize why so many people guessed Dr. John on this one, but its Smilin’ Billy Higgins in one of the very rarest recordings in the EMI archives. Stereo Jack sent this to me a while back and I knew I had to work it into my BFT. No idea if the Dr John influence is real or only coincidental. 3. Baby Face Willette, Can’t Keep From Loving You (Roosevelt Willet) Vee Jay 45 Baby Face Willette, organ, Red Holloway, tenor sax From one guy you don’t expect to do the vocals to another. Soul Stream knew this one, especially since I sent him an MP3 after I found this on eBay. Its too bad MG couldn’t participate in this BFT, as he was able to recognize that this early 45 was re-recorded without vocals as “Chances Are Few” on Stop and Listen. And if you’re confused by the writing credit, that’s how Vee Jay spelled his name on the label. It was hard making a decision on which track of his four Vee Jay 45 sides to use - the flip of this one features Baby Face on piano, and I received a copy of his other 45 from a reel-to-reel from Dick Shurman, I believe. But I went with the organ track with the BN connection. Hope it was pretty cool for most folks to hear Baby Face in his original R&B sound. 4. Don Wilkerson, “Sticks and Stones” Live at the Show Biz, Houston Texas, 1963 Private Recording Wilkerson, vocals and tenor sax, others unknown Some thought of Brother Ray, and there certainly was a connection. This is one of my favorite super rare recordings. Back when Blue Note put out the Wilkerson two-fer I started searching for other recordings and one day a Google search took me to a website advertising this recording. Turned out it was the son of a guy who had recorded a lot of shows off the soundboard at the Show Biz in Houston. At the time he hadn’t even taken the 35 year old reels and made sure they were playable, but I paid him $20 and he baked up the reels and sent me this document of what Jim Sangrey told me was a typical club show of the era – you had modern R&B like this tune and “Lonely Avenue” as well as a girl singer doing standards like “Bye Bye Blackbird” and also some modern jazz tunes like “Nica’s Dream” - in other words a wide variety of styles to satisfy an audience with wide-ranging tastes/expectations. If I’d ever figure out Bit-Torrent, this is the one recording I’d offer on Dime someday (don’t ask, the website is long gone and so far as anyone can say, I could very well be the only paying customer he had for this recording). I am attaching two photos the guy sent me from his Dad's archives of these gigs for your enjoyment. There might be some question as to whether Wilkerson is on vocals but the fact that the voice and the tenor share a mic makes me pretty certain. To my ears, the give away comes right at the start of the tenor solo – I could swear the same opening is used on one of his solos on one of those BN recordings. 5. B.B. King – Don’t Get Around Much Anymore (Ellington) with Duke Ellington Orchestra – Compositions of Duke Ellington and Others (Crown) Soloists: Jewel Grant – alto sax Jake Porter – cornet Bill Hood, baritone sax I don’t know which is more surprising – that Jim Sangrey didn’t know about this recording or that Ace failed to include it in their extended reissue of The Wailing B.B. King which did include B.B.’s guest vocal spots on the Count Basie tribute (I almost used “Every Day I Have The Blues” instead) and the Jimmy Dorsey tribute but not this one. I think it would have fit but this seems like an orphan B.B. track that is way cool. B.B. singing Duke – does it get any better? 6. Johnny Adams “One Foot In The Blues” One Foot In The Blues (Rounder) Dr Lonnie Smith, Jimmy Ponder guitar, Ed Peterson tenor, Shannon Powell drums I’m a relatively recent discoverer of the remarkable voice of Johnny Adams and when I picked up this CD and saw the “jazz” guys on it, I knew it was fair game for a BFT. A lot of people knew it, and a lot of people enjoyed it. Everyone should dig Johnny Adams. 7. Freddie Roach, Next Time You See Me Brown Sugar (Blue Note) Roach, organ, Joe Henderson, tenor sax, Eddie Wright, guitar, Clarence Johnston, drums Prior to my discovery of Johnny Adams, my previous favorite “new artist” was Junior Parker. Imagine my surprise when I pulled out this Freddie Roach BN recording and recognized one of Junior’s biggest hits. Boy was I surprised when Jim S. didn’t recognize Joe Henderson. A fine track and most people dug it, but I really only programmed it to give myself an excuse to segue into … 8. Junior Parker, Next Time You See Me (Duke 45) As I said, Junior Parker became a huge favorite of mine so I wanted to find a way to slip one of his recordings in. I came close to choosing a different tune that better shows off his voice but I felt I was pushing the boundaries enough, better to simply program the tune that inspired Freddie Roach to record it (he said it was a tune he wanted to record after hearing it on the juke box at some club). 9. Otis Rush, Watermelon Man (Hancock) Joe’s Place – WBCN FM Broadcast – 4-5-73 Otis Rush. guitar Little Bo tenor sax Bob Richards: drums Ernest Gatewood: bass Keyboard player not identified We wrap up the non-jazz (or mostly non-jazz) section of the BFT with a track that I thought would be a fine change of pace – a blues guy playing a familiar hard bop melody. I’d noticed this tune on some other live blues recordings but rarely as an extended performance. Kudos to Jim R. for recognizing Otis Rush – I had to pick a guitar track for Jim to chew on, and he nailed it. 10. Nat Simpkins – Shake (Cooke) Crescent City (Blue Jay) Simpkins, tenor Kermit Ruffins trumpet Tuba Fats tuba Peter Martin piano Roland Guerin bass Cecil Brooks III drums This one got mixed reviews but I am a big fan of Nat Simpkins and find this a great infectious take on the Sam Cooke standard. Some agreed, some didn’t – but now you know who the tuba player is. 11. The Tenor Trio – Strollin’ (Silver) (JMI) Ernie Watts, Pete Christlieb, Rickey Woodard, tenor saxophones Gerry Wiggins, piano, Chuck Berghofer, bass, Frank Capp drummer Lead tenor: Christlieb; Second: Rickey; Third: Ernie Arrangement by Pete Christlieb Solos: Christlieb, Woodard, Watts Another track with mixed reviews – my reason for bringing this one in was the mix of three different tenors on a fairly recognizable Horace Silver composition. I surely don’t hate this CD the way Thom Keith does. 12. Claude Tissendier Quintet with Teddy Edwards, “Midnight Creeper” (Edwards) Three Tenor Session (DJAZZ) Edwards, Tissendier & Claude Braud, tenors Phillipe Milanta, piano Pierre-Yves Sorin, bass Vincent Cordelette, drums Keeping with the tenor trio concept for a moment, this was included as a nod to our European friends, but not very many participated. I found out about this recording when looking for a Bubba Brooks recording that was missing from my collection and since Teddy sounded great at the end of his life, I had to grab this one too. There’s a Muse recording with this as the title track, its also a good one. Thom Keith got Teddy Edwards, unfortunately there’s no info on solo orders in the notes. But it’s a cool CD with three solid tenors handling a program of Edwards’ compositions. 13. Spike Robinson – Sweets Edison, “Just a Bit O’ Blues” Just a Bit O’ Blues Volume 2 (Capri) Robinson, tenor sax, Sweets, trumpet, Ross Tompkins piano, Monty Budwig, bass, Paul Humphrey, drums This was one that I figured a lot of people would at least recognize Sweets, but not as many as I thought. And I picked a track with Spike Robinson because to my ears, I was certain a lot of people would say “Zoot and Sweets” and be surprised. Oh well, I learned long ago never to assume on a BFT. It’s a nice mainstream CD, and Robinson doesn’t have a lot of recordings to his credit afaik. 14. Jim Snidero, “Twilight Waltz” (Walton) Standards Plus (Doubletime) Snidero, alto sax, Mike LeDonne, Dennis Irwin, Kenny Washington Kudos to Thom for puzzling this one out. Most people liked it, I enjoyed the entire CD ever since I first got it. 15. Wynton Marsalis, Levee Low Moan (Marsalis) Levee Low Moan – Soul Gestures in Southern Blue Volume 3 (Columbia) Marsalis, trumpet, Wes Anderson, alto, Todd Williams, tenor sax, Marcus Roberts, piano, Reginald Veal, bass, Herlin Riley, drums Let the record show that Jim Sangrey said Whereas thedwork said Guess this is one of those rare Wynton performances Jim approves of …or else the Ambien was really kicking in. Interesting too that Soul Stream ID’d the players as “older” … as for me, I am a sucker for this kind of slow mood-invoking blues, and as these quotes show, hearing a Wynton performance without knowing who it is can sometimes lead to surprising reactions. And kudos to thedwork for recognizing Wynton and Warm Daddy Anderson!

Sorry I'm late to the party, Cary - hope it was a good one. :party:

I'm embarrassed to say that its still awaiting the first listen - but its first in rotation this weekend for sure. :blush2:

I know it seems unlikely, but UP one last time since I'd really like to get a final set of comments from someone before I post the answers.

Well in the end I don't really give a shit about an indignity like 12-0 - but if anyone thinks the Red Sox can compete for anything with Josh Beckett gulping gonads every start, you got another think coming. Over his last 9 2/3 innings, he's given up 15 runs, all of them earned. And he gets the Yankees next, at the newest launching pad. So let's see - Lester has been, at best, inconsistent. Beckett flat out sucks in every start since the opener. Dice-K is on the DL. Penny has an ERA of 8. Wakefield is the ace, and the reality is that we all know he can't keep it up an entire year. And Masterson has been consistently decent. That's a fucking championship rotation? What happens if they need Smoltz to be an ace, not just a future Hall of Famer pitching in the third spot?

Pujols is also very indignant at any suggestion of having juiced.

More specific info on charges, sources, and quotes here.

The Red Sox need to reach a point where they say Fuck It and just go with the youth Bucholz ,Masterson, Bowden..... would they ever think of dealing Dice-K ? PR purposes dealing Dice-K would not be good especially with the Japanese market that the Sox have reached out to for Advertisement . BUT wouldn't you rather see Bucholz and Masterson in the starting rotation than Dice- K and Penny? Yes to Masterson over Penny, there's too much invested in Dice-K just to ship him out, and no reason to take away from your depth (Penny getting traded though is OK once Smoltz is back). You can't say for sure if Buchholz will perform like we hoped he was going to last season before that disaster. But the bullpen has to continue to perform, with Okajima and Saito getting better and MDC and Ramirez not falling off, before you can say Masterson can stay in the rotation permanently. For one thing, he's not doing much to save the bullpen since he seems to last 5 or 5+ innings only on a normal pitch count. To really be effective, we need at least 6 and preferably 7 out of him consistently. I'm hoping that this 7-10 day shut down of Smoltz is nothing significant. We don't have to have him by June 1 the way things are going, but we have to have him effective and healthy the rest of the way once he does come back.

Hey Walter, good to see that familiar avatar again. to you and the quiz.

I recall an infamous roast or some such broadcast in which Sara Silverman said (about someone or other) "I wouldn't f*ck her with Bea Arthur's d*ck." I wish I'd seen that, I think I might have peed my pants. Apparently Bea didn't appreciate it, she stormed out of the club.

Looking forward to it, Mike. Thanks.

Almost 25 years old, if the book isn't a classic or in high-demand, there's a pretty good chance it gets put out for sale here in the states. Actually, they'll put things out for sale a lot sooner than that.

And how appropriate that it ends on an error - they made three of them and only five of nine runs allowed were earned. F-ing pathetic.

Up one last time for anyone still interested in posting their thoughts. Answers will be posted Friday night while I am watching the Rays - Sox game.

I realize they had to lose sometime but Jesus Christ that was fucking annoying. Score 7 runs in the first three innings but never keep a lead because Brad Penny sucks ass. Then get into the "awful" Indian bullpen and do nothing against them at all except squeeze across one run that is immediately given back by Saito. Finally, lose it because a POS like Javier Lopez has to pitch the ninth since Penny couldn't manage even four innings, and he loses it by dropping the shuffle pass from Youkilis on what would have been out number three. FUCK.

Looks to me like they wanted cover art that would "fit" on some level with the Jazz Wave Ltd issue of the original concert recordings from this tour.

One place I have gone for coupons was Boston Market's website. I've also noticed that the Clipper magazine that we get has a website with the same coupons available. I think that coupons have migrated online as newspapers lost circulation, I just don't go looking for them in general.

I've been a heavy coupon user right up until the time that I stopped buying newspapers completely and now the only times I use them is if something shows up in the mail, or there's a coupon dispenser on the shelf next to the item I was going to buy (if I bother to check the coupon).

Yeah, Lee obviously pitched very well, a good sign that he's getting his stuff together. Paps is beginning to really bother me. He's altered his delivery as well as his approach (note the hands at his shoulder, not his waist, for one thing). The idea is to use his legs more to save stress on his shoulder and he says his shoulder feels great, but where are the results? ERA is OK, but he doesn't dominate with swings and misses, and his WHIP is substantially higher than it used to be. I kind of like the way he's throwing his slider more, but his fastball command is off. He had that nearly brutal game in Anaheim when he barely held on for the one win against the Angels, and he's had so many other saves - like this one tonight - that have been far more difficult than they have ever been. And what about Mike Lowell, motoring around for a triple! Hip? What hip? And about Jason Bay ... don't the Red Sox have to get him locked up before he hits free agency? Let the Yanks over-pay for Matt Holliday. The Sox have a guy who loves Boston, and does everything well (hit for power, run) or well enough - (play defense, hit for average) and if anything, given the chance the Yankees would try to hurt them by snatching Bay. There's no reason to go for Holliday at all. Plus he's already talked about the possibility of playing for the Yankees.

Let's hear it for JASON BAY!!! (three run homer in the ninth off of Kerry Wood) and TIM WAKEFIELD!!! (7 innings of one hit ball, his ERA is down to 1.86!!)

Was that steal of home one of the coolest things you ever saw or what? Pretty amazing that the homestand started by falling behind the Orioles 7-0 and ended 9-0. Masterson is such a weapon, he's now pitched a minimum of five innings in every major league start, with 4 or fewer runs allowed. If he stayed as a starter I can't see how he couldn't develop into a quality 2 or 3, and its obvious what he brings to the bullpen. The ability to do both makes him incredibly valuable. And then you get someone like Bowden called up and throwing two perfect innings in a close game against the Yanks. I hate his motion and can't imagine that he'll avoid injury but he throws with so much downward action you can see why he's been a top-rated prospect or close to it. Turn the crank, bring up another young talented arm. And you haven't even seen Buchholz or Daniel Bard yet.

Chase Utley was screaming "World F-ing Champions"? Must have missed that part of the celebration. That's easy - Jim Rice.