Dan Gould

👍

On VeeJay alone: https://www.discogs.com/master/442725-Benny-Green-The-Swinginest https://www.discogs.com/master/279076-Lee-Morgan-Expoobident https://www.discogs.com/master/297534-Wayne-Shorter-Wayning-Moments

as time ticks away maybe I can prevail upon @Joe to offer his perspective?

A Handful of Stars exists without the objectionable cover.

I think it's a bit more than a drink unless you are the type to nurse a beer for four hours but I think these are fine selections. The only one I don't have is the last, and a lot of people really like the Jobim one.

I think the odds are worse than slim and none.

Maybe its too obvious but I always appreciate "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" in the middle of "Two Bass Hit".

Hard to decide which is best; since they played tunes from the Great American Songbook I would probably recommend choosing based on the one with the highest proportion of songs you especially enjoy.

What if they featured Grant Green or LD?

The answer was forthcoming in my interview with Eddie that ran in Cadence in 2004. Just last month I got contacted by the owner of Flophouse, a fine jazz website, about using the Cadence interview in a review of a Higgins LP. That review just came out and as it turns out, the quote he wanted to use was the one where he got into the details of why he turned Blakey down. “First of all I’ve got a great job here in Chicago in the London House and my kids were very little at that point. And the idea to be on the road all the time and not seeing my children grow up is a negative. Number two, this is pretty much an all-junkie band and I’m not only nót a junkie, I don’t even drink or smoke pot or anything at all. I would be out of the loop as far as the social life of the band, plus the fact that I’m the only White guy in the band. And at that time in jazz history there was a very strong Crow Jim feeling that if you’re White, you couldn’t play. And obviously they knew I could play or I wouldn’t be on these record dates or asked to join the band, but still there’d be a… definite racial bridge to cross there working with the Jazz Messengers and playing in probably mostly Black clubs for mostly Black audiences and so forth. And third, I heard by the grapevine that when payday came the first guy that got the money was the connection for the heroin, and not just Blakey but the rest of the band, too. And if there’s any money left over then they pay the hotel bill and if there’s anything left over from that then maybe the guys will get a few bucks. I had a family and rent to pay and insurance payments.” Blakey replied: ‘You’re kidding’. Because as Higgins says, to get an offer from The Jazz Messengers is like being touched on the shoulder by God. In the end though, it seems a perfectly logical decision. ****** http://flophousemagazine.com/2024/01/24/the-eddie-higgins-trio-soulero-atlantic-1965/ If you like Scott Hamilton as a swing-inspired tenor, anything by Higgins on Venus with Scott is easily recommended. Have you the Vee Jay recordings that he played on like Expoobident? Those are excellent too. Trio Eddie - nearly impossible to go wrong. I would search on discogs to see what is available at what price, he was making solo and trio recordings from well after his first recordings for VeeJay and Atlantic.

Thanks gents, it does make me feel good. And, describing herself as such a close friend, I am hoping I can get insight, if only for my own edification, on anything Percy might have said or recalled about his own career, his seeming preference to just play in convivial circumstances in his hometown, and anything else they may share. And drummer Alvin Queen responded to an email and has requested my phone number so he can call and we can talk about Percy. I wasn't at all sure he even knew him, but that response is encouraging for sure. When Queen was young he played with Wild Bill Davis and Wild Bill employed Percy at times. I am betting that is the connection but you'll forgive me if I fantasize that there is an unissued NILVA Records session featuring Percy that he is going to tell me about and offer for my enjoyment.

A lovely message received about my efforts to elevate Percy France: I’ve held the November 2022 issue of The New York City Jazz Record on my desktop all this time because Percy France was truly a dear friend. I first met him when Phil Schaap was running the West End. It means a lot to me that you have promoted Percy and preserved his music.I’ve always considered him to be an unsung hero. He was also the nicest man on the planet! His heart and soul were so special. Thank you! A great pick-me-up I had to share.

My recollection was that this article https://onmilwaukee.com/articles/baby-face-willette had indications that there was contact with family? I don't think anyone knows of private recordings but who knows for sure.

Beltre as first-ballot was a given ... OTOH Billy Wagner waiting until ballot #10 is ridiculous. Says here that Wagner and Beltran get in next year. And color me totally unconcerned that Sheffield is finished with the writer's ballot.

There's a feather in your cap. Miss Noj, I wish he were still posting.

Phenomenal how your comments totally nailed the "story" of this recording per the liner notes. I mean, you basically say the exact same thing as I will be quoting from the liners when I do the reveal. And, I like Misty even less ... but this performance required inclusion. Thanks very much Tim for your in depth thoughts - glad so many tunes did appeal. I can only program so many Felsers so the odds of 13 out of 13 were pretty slim.

Maybe this isn't the perfect place to post this but investigating the three issues of the Al Grey-Jimmy Forrest group, I have determined that "In a Mellotone" only appears on the Live at Rick's recording and that "C.B and Me" is a different performance on the Rick's recording than on Night Train Revisited while "Truly Wonderful" on the two CDs is a "fast" version and the version on Rick's is a unique slower version. General observations would be that the mix is different on the vinyl album with Al's trombone panned to the right more than on the CDs. If you only do CDs I'd recommend the Stash release over Storyville, for much more "presence".

I watched not a moment during the regular season and scattered/less than a full quarter of portions of the playoff games but knowing the Lions are in the Conference championship gives me a rooting interest. They've suffered long enough.

Nope.

CORRECT. And his discography is sparse enough to make it pretty easy to find the tune and the recording.

So glad I came across this searching for the aforementioned Live at Rick's LP, not even a Bobby Durham vocal ruins the good vibes, and trombone-tenor-trumpet front line gives a nice depth to the themes/unison spots even if "head" arrangements. This compilation of the complete Al Grey-Jimmy Forrest recordings are going to be a killer listen (and will include the last one, Out Dere with Don Patterson on organ).

I have had that one for quite a while, found a library copy in surprisingly good shape many moons ago. Its terrific. And while it's his only Columbia recording of the 70s it seems Grey wasn't there on a one-off. The Al Grey Jazz All-Stars release I mentioned has a "by permission of Columbia Records" notation. Thanks for this convenient pic - I can now see that the original Rick's LP only has In a Mellotone as unique to it. Unless that is, the Truly Wonderful Stash CD has that track. of course we're also assuming that different releases are same takes. Three nights, at least two sets per night - could be different performances.

Glad to see you 'round these parts Larry.

Finally dug out the LP which thankfully I had retained since any transfer is still MIA, and you are right - Shirley Scott plays piano, it's a Discogs error. Going to be listening to this later today and I do want to follow up on a set of all of these recordings from Rick's, but supplemented with one from two year's before - Al Grey Jazz All-Stars at Traveler's Lounge, which is the same group supplemented by Pete Minger on trumpet.

I'd have suggested Misc. Music myself. Complicated person and history, but an important contributor in documenting the music and its players, thru the labels he founded and the interviews he published. And pre-Internet, Cadence was an important distributor/source of music I couldn't get at Sam Goody's.