Dan Gould

I think a decision was made very early on after the closing that the time had passed and that it had outlived its usefullness. I also think there was a growing realization that active moderation was needed but that budgets wouldn't allow it, so that helped make the decision. And finally, just as people suspected that perhaps an influx of Norah fans finding a lot of distaste for her at the corporate BB, it just might be possible that with their then-pending new signings (Al Green and Van Morrisson) might have led to a realization that there new business model-non-jazz vocalists-might bring even more non-jazz fans to a bulletin board with an established membership of jazz-oriented members. I said that in a very convoluted way, but I think my meaning is clear ...

Jim, do you feel that Rickey Woodard is just a "neocon"? Or are you just hoping for someone from the more progressive millieu? Personally, I've dug Rickey's playing for quite a while now, and in fact I just picked up a brand new Marlene Shaw live disc with Rickey and a piano trio. Looking forward to giving it a spin ...

I saw this at a store in Connecticut over the holidays. Unfortunately I neglected to ask the owner about it (and she went to Norwalk High with Horace). I started to lose interest when I saw that Andy Bey provides vocals on a majority of the tracks-I have a hard time getting into Horace's lyrics and Bey is not a favorite anyway.

Great question, CJ! Especially considering how many Smith imitators Prestige put out in the 60s. Makes you wonder if that's a regret, not recognizing Smith as a major new talent. Thanks a lot, and folks, please keep them coming, I won't be doing the interview before January 17.

I'm a "no"-like Lon, I hate guns.

Go directly to the distributor of Steeplechase CDs (as well as Timeless) Stateside Distributors-Peter Crawford. His e-mail is stateside@prodigy.net. Steeplechase has a great catalog and between them and Timeless, you ought to easily be able to find three discs to purchase, and then shipping is free (and his list price is less than JazzLoft's $20, by at least a couple of dollars).

A great set, well worth the effort to find. See, Jerry, we can agree on some things.

My understanding is that data discs will not accept music files in CD format, so as long as you are only burning data files (and I imagine, even audio files in wav format) then data discs are fine. But if you have music to burn in CD format, you need music discs, not data discs.

Oh, if Johnny would only come visit this thread occasionally ...

Does it help if I have some of his recent sideman work like Tom Brigandi's After Hours and Late Night New York?

But I already have Hip To It Blues For Philly Joe Sextet Big Band Bloviation Volume 1

And I assumed "elder loved one" was Randy

Do I see a little dig at your friend Marc Edelman, DEEP? Didn't he declare Tardo Hammer the "THE NEW YORK UNDERGROUND KING OF BEBOP PIANO"?

Thanks Chuck! I haven't set the date yet with Weinstock so your timing is fine and if there are any other ideas for questions, feel free to post them. Now that the holidays are all over, I will be going full bore into research and will try to set a time probably two weekends from now-around January 17th.

Actually, my first instinct was to start a new thread, but then it seemed appropriate to me to tell my tale here, since it seemed as though both DEEP and myself were victims of Ricci-even if Ricci has now told him he can return. Nevertheless, I apologize for cybersquatting where I don't belong. Will I be forgiven if I purchase a couple of copies of the latest Bloviating CD?

Not to worry, Patricia, I don't intend to tread upon DEEP ground-I'll wait til the board software is updated and he comes out of his self-imposed internal exile.

It's really quite simple, Patricia: He attacked me for absolutely no good or reasonable reason and did it in an especially disengenuous way-"I don't want to dog Dan" and then proceeds to dog me. I will never return to that forum again-clearly I am not welcome-and went out with guns blazing. Could I have been less obnoxious? Let me put it this way. Since the occasional troubles here have led to the comparison to being at a party at a private home or club: After being the object of an unprovoked attack by the owner of the house, I decided to leave a little "present" in the punchbowl on my way out.

I hate to interrupt the ongoing conversation, but this seems like the best place to make note of the way I have been treated by DEEP's nemesis, Mike Ricci of All About Jazz. Thanks to Hans, I have become aware of how Ricci has chosen to attack me. Here's the link: http://forums.allaboutjazz.com/showthread....37990#post37990 Basically, I repeated my Weinstock interview question request over there, and this is the last thing Ricci has posted: Well, I went medieval on his ass and have challenged him to ban me, so I will be thrilled to join DEEP in the AAJ Hall of "Shame" shortly, I am sure.

Well, they are really going to gear up for this release. I swung by Borders yesterday and saw a poster in the window promoting Norah's album and encouraging people to "pre-order"! I think she's reached the big-time.

I'll tell you what though-if there're any Martians watching the landing, they'll know how technologically backward we are. I mean, every UFO that ever makes it to Earth just flies right down and hovers; no four-story bounces and mile-long uncontrolled rolls with their interplanetary spacecraft! B)

I agree, Chuck, that it doesn't cover Jay enough and segues into the swing scene of KC. Maybe I'm just generally happy when someone I've come to hold in such high esteem gets noticed by the "Paper of Record" without having died first.

You beat me to this, Brownie, but for those who haven't signed up for the Times Online, here's the article: January 3, 2004 A Jazz Legend Rekindles Kansas City's Musical Past By STEPHEN KINZER KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When Jay McShann approached his piano to begin a concert at the Folly Theater here on a recent evening, he was emerging not just from backstage but from jazz history. Mr. McShann told the audience that he would spend the evening trying "to see how high the moon is," and then settled down to business. His performance showed that he still embodies the swinging, bluesy sound this city made famous. He played dozens of songs, most of them four-minute classics, gently and lovingly. "Hootie's Blues," his hit from 1941, sounded as fresh as if he had just written it. His few vocal numbers, including "One Woman's Man" and "Georgia on My Mind," showed that at 87 he can still coax pathos out of even the most familiar lyrics. Mr. McShann made no concessions to modernity. He never raised his voice or wandered into extended improvisations but played with the elegance and self-assurance of an old master. Duke Ellington, Count Basie and other leaders of the big bands that electrified audiences during the 1930's and 40's are long gone. So are most of the musical visionaries who, more than half a century ago, turned Kansas City into one of the world's most vibrant musical centers. After a long lifetime of achievement, Mr. McShann now finds himself in a new role, that of the great survivor. "Time went by, and I didn't realize I was as old as I am," he said after the show. "All of a sudden I stopped and said: `Oh, wow. Wait a minute. I've got to slow down.' Then I had to slow down, because I got diabetes and the old arthritis creeping in. But I still play around, enough to keep the bear from the door. That old bear, he's always around, outside the back door when you don't know it." The sound that wafts from Mr. McShann's piano is unlike that of any of the other old piano masters who are still active. He is less experimental than Dave Brubeck, closer to blues than Marian McPartland but not a pure blues player like Pinetop Perkins. These days Mr. McShann is enjoying a new wave of recognition. His latest album, "Goin' to Kansas City," which features Duke Robillard on guitar and includes a vocal turn by Maria Muldaur, is selling well and has been nominated for a Grammy. He was featured on the recent PBS series "The Blues," on which he played a blazing duet that led his partner, Mr. Brubeck, to rear back with a broad grin and tell him admiringly, "You still got it." Although the musical scene that produced Mr. McShann faded long ago, Kansas City still has more than two dozen clubs where jazz is played regularly, making it one of the country's leading jazz centers. Musicians here are caught in the perpetual bind of whether to respect the city's tradition by playing in the classic style that Mr. McShann helped develop or to embrace bebop, free jazz and other more modern approaches. The tension between these poles is a creative force that fuels the music scene here and keeps Kansas City on the jazz map. "The city doesn't know how to market itself as a musical destination, but there's still a very strong scene here," said Charles Haddix, a weekend disc jockey on KCUR-FM and director of the Marr Sound Archives at the University of Missouri. "It's really a very well-kept secret." Several musicians who created the dazzlingly innovative bebop style learned their trade in Kansas City, among them Charlie Parker, who played in Mr. McShann's big band before moving to New York. Bebop changed jazz forever, much as Abstract Expressionist painting, which also emerged in New York in the years after World War II, radically reshaped American art. Kansas City is one of the few cities where it is possible to listen to bands that play as if the bebop revolution never happened. Perhaps the most famous of these is the Scamps, who have been playing jazz since 1945. New members are initiated whenever a musician dies or retires, and today the Scamps range in age from 70 to 83. One, Art Jackson, played with Parker in the Lincoln High School band here during the 1930's. The Scamps played to a full house recently at one of the city's most elegant clubs, Plaza III. There were a fair number of graying heads in the audience but also more than a few younger people. Many got up to dance, some in exuberant styles that recalled the Lindy Hop of bygone days. It was a sight that would have horrified bebop pioneers, who considered their music appropriate only for quiet listening. In the 1930's Kansas City was one of the most wide-open towns in the United States. Under the rule of Thomas Pendergast's political machine, jazz flourished along with prostitution, gambling and a host of other licit and illicit entertainments. The city was known as Sin City and the Paris of the Plains, and it thrived while the rest of the country was mired in Depression. Today the American Jazz Museum, at the historic corner of 18th and Vine, tells the story of those days. Political reform and the rule of law finally took hold in Kansas City, and the jazz scene declined. "It had quite a dip," said Lucky Wesley, the 76-year-old leader of the Scamps. "By the 1970's most places that used to feature live music were switched over to jukeboxes, or else gone altogether. Now the demand is for hip-hop or progressive jazz, which is O.K. for those who like it. We're among the last of those who came up through the old days, and we've lived to see our music come back into demand." Kansas City musicians still gather at the Mutual Musicians Foundation for late-night jam sessions. The foundation, a former union hall for black musicians, was once at the center of an active musical district where more than 100 clubs offered live music around the clock. Now it is surrounded by abandoned buildings and vacant lots. Inside, however, the jazz spirit thrives. As it approached 3 a.m. one recent Sunday, musicians were just arriving. With many of the city's star musicians away on holiday tours, the stage was open for younger players like Andy McGhie, an 18-year-old saxophonist. When a patron remarked that the Kansas City jazz scene seemed frozen in time, Mr. McGhie replied: "That's true, even though there's also new music coming out of here. When you live here, you can't help but absorb the tradition. It's all around you. You can't escape it, and that's not a bad thing. The younger cats coming up here dream mostly about making a name for themselves, moving out to Chicago or New York, and then maybe coming back here to join the tradition when they're older." The tradition seems likely to survive for a long time to come. "I've tried booking national acts here," said Joe Wilcox, manager of the Plaza III, "but whenever I do, people come up to me and say, `Where's the Kansas City stuff?" ' *********************** The album that's referenced is highly, highly recommended. Jay is truly amazing.

I've also got it and agree with Jim. Mitchell still had it at the end.

A great idea! I would have to say major thanks to Chris A. for his considerable professional help with the Eddie Higgins interview and especially the upcoming Weinstock interview. And thanks to Lon for those little and not so little surprises he keeps sending my way! And to B-3er for setting up and maintaining such a welcoming, hip place ... ****************** But Paul, isn't quite accurate. Let's not forget that it was Dr. J, Tony Jerant who expressed the original idea. I just kept nudging it until it came to fruition!

Good to see you, Vic, and Happy New Year!