Dan Gould

100% this. The new owner apparently thinks white writers have nothing worthwhile or interesting to say about jazz, because they are white. I oppose racism wherever it exists, so .... FUCK THAT FOREVER AND ALWAYS. Now we have Crow Jim for writers. Next will be a re-evaluation of Getz and Brubeck and any other performer who isn't black. I was thinking about submitting a profile of Percy France, unbidden, to JT. I would love to see if they ask me my race or for a photograph, or just try to pick apart my social media to figure out my race. I haven't read JazzTimes in forever, and it looks like that will continue til I die.

Congratulations for making me now want to hear Al's tunes. The guesses to date had not excited me and so I didn't plan but I gotta hear what a bad porn soundtrack is. (and I posted one once on a BFT).

Kinda like how a tenor-battle album would have done for Percy.

I saw this thread and did not recognize the name but then I saw the NYT obituary and realized how he spent most of his life. Very talented and very funny, RIP.

This is why I have had nothing to add myself to this thread ... I was thinking about your point of "sentimental value" as being a part of it, and I recalled that, to the best of my recollection, the first Ben Webster I heard was Atmosphere for Lovers and Thieves. But I can't think of it as exceeding actual value because I think it's a fine Webster recording, and also because it made Ben a figure of great musical interest, it brought many, many, many other fine recordings to my attention. So, sentiment, yes, just as Blue Hour introduced me to Gene Harris/Andy Simpkins/Bill Dowdy. But also flawless or damn close to it.

Mike, I agree with your description and assessment of the side 1 track. Tremendous masters all in service of the song, and starting with the rhythm section grooving was an inspired decision. I don't know that I can think of any other such arrangement for a similarly long jam on a song. I actually enjoy the second side tunes a bit more than you do(?), short(er) can be equally as satisfying and with a group like this ... Now, my one slightly negative opinion which is entirely my own: I give 4.5 stars on the album as a whole, and the 1/2 star deduction is due to my personal preference for Sweets Edison over Eldridge. While he does not over-do it, a little of Roy's high-note runs goes a long way for me. There's something I find much more satisfying in Sweets playfulness, wit, his personality. And the Verve's with him and Ben as the front line are just fabulous. Thanks Mike for starting this up, maybe others will be inspired to post another album and this short-lived tradition can be reborn. I might even think of one or two to suggest.

I think an excellent choice and I look forward to pulling my CD copy out tomorrow to listen - it's been ages.

And I hear one of them is freshly retired.

ROAD TRIP!

I don't understand how "soft spot" compares or differs from prior discussion of "favorites" or for that matter "desert island" discs. It sounds like its supposed to be something that others don't generally appreciate? You can usually find others who will agree with your assessments of certain recordings even if they are not in the "pantheon".

It was Album of the Week, for many years its been a completely dead "weekly" topic. How many Recommendations threads have 1 opening post, and 30 views? I would bet a lot, and the ones with comments are of the variety "yeah, I know it, it's great" or "thanks". Mike's interest in starting a discussion means that for better, worse or total indifference, it belongs where he's been thinking he should put it. After all this build up I hope the recording he thinks of can generate a modicum of discussion.

There is a 2023 specific sign up thread - as of now September is the only month available but it is open. I would hope Thom catches your post here.

That's unfortunate to hear. It was 2009 that I reached out to him and it wasn't really a bootleg so much as a questionable bit-torrent post on dimeadozen.org. Wolfgang's Vault had announced that they purchased Newport Jazz Festival recordings and a few months later, someone posted the 1959 Silver Quintet Newport performance on Dime. I protested to the mods because from the press around the Wolfgang's announcement this seemed as if they were the only legit source for the recording and Dime is actually pretty good about not allowing commercially available recordings, only true "private" and "live" recordings. Yet, they told me it was an open question whether Wolfgang's was paying artists or their estates, so the torrent would stay on the tracker. I let Greg know about it didn't hear anything further. BTW that 1959 performance is killer, right before release of the Blowin' the Blues Away record. They had barely started performing the tunes in public so Horace expresses surprise when there is crowd reaction to "Sister Sadie" during his intro ... the tunes were that fresh in the repertoire. He must have just known he had a hit record about to be released, the way people were reacting.

Pretty sure I could listen to dates from 1958 and be perfectly happy for a good long time. But I am not going to go look them up.

This one looks like a possibility for me - I can't recall if 'Hanky Panky' has appeared on any other live album and I always dug that one, from Clubhouse. OTOH Amazon seems to only show it on their French site? Edit to add: Amazon.com only has it for streaming right now.

Like chicken soup, it couldn't hurt.

There's a Schildkraut photo and cassette from the gig pictured in the Gaskin Papers (I know, not really apropos to the subject of the thread but I thought this was pretty cool and Allen's post gave me an excuse to share). Leonard Gaskin Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

I am going to ignore Rebekah Jones because it will unfortunately veer into politics. But Jones as a "hero" let alone some brave "victim" is beyond laughable. As for your chart proving some still-high death rates, what are you looking at?? I barely perceive a "bump" and if you look at it from the end of the prior high to the current numbers, the best fit looks like a decline and if not a decline, it's flat.

Please identify this supposed arrest in Florida. You are aware (or maybe not) that several state figures show more than 50% of hospitalizations are "with COVID" not "because of COVID"? And that there was NO surge in deaths this winter? Certainly nothing comparable to the prior two years ...

A new Mark Russell program on channel 13 in NY was required viewing when I was growing up and a good time beyond. RIP

I don't know where I even fall, I've received many Mosaics over the year but always requested as Christmas presents. So I started receiving around, say, the age of 35. OTOH I have not purchased one myself ummm ... ever. Closest I came was a preorder a few years ago which, in a moment of financial worry, was able to cancel. I guess I am just not excited enough about any of their releases in the past 10-15 years. For the record I am no TTK and love the concept and execution and wish them sufficient success to continue as a going concern until they decide to end it, as Lon said, when all finally retire.

As Otis Rush sang, I Can't Quit You Baby.

Wasn't there a Peanuts where Charlie Brown name-checked a jazz star? I don't think it was Schroeder.

You won't find many of those other recordings very easily but ... www.percyfrance.info https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=percy+france+playlist The latter has many private recordings of Percy on stage in NY clubs in the 1980s.

The Complete Percy France 80s Recordings Four produced by Allen Lowe (one "issued") Oliver Jackson Presents Le Quartet (Black & Blue - about 1/2 of tracks feature Percy) Two recordings led by Lance Hayward on Town Crier - one features Percy as sole saxophone, other features front line of Percy and Buddy Tate) This is, in my totally unbiased and disinterested opinion, a latter day Tina Brooks set. A man whose few widespread recordings got him pigeon-holed as a grits and gravy organsouljazz tenor who was in fact much more than that.