PFunkJazz

CHRIS - the glimpse we're getting into what I guess is a massive treasure trove of jazz label insider history is tantalising in the extreme. Have you ever considered writing a book (or two?) about your experiences? I can think of a couple of publishers in London who'd definitely be interested.

You're 44, but you don't look a day over 43.

CLAUDE - I travel a lot too, and I recently got an IHP-120. It is amazing and I wouldn't leave home without it. Hang on in there buddy, it will be worth the wait.

Never mind the album covers. Can Evan animate his avatar?

Shit happens.

And another thing! On the gatefolds they had all these pages in the booklets, with plenty of space for intelligent essays (somewhere in size between the RVGs or Miles boxes, both of which typically have interesting essays) but they rarely if ever included them. Just filled the pages with crappy, meaningless graphics.

The Complete Mid-Period Charles Lloyd (i.e post Atlantic and pre ECM).

What an absolutely hideous design! But then Verve resissue design has often been a triumph of style over content (viz. the gatefolds of recent years). Pretty ironic when you remember those iconic Norgran and Clef LPs.

Guy - thanks for posting that interview. Lloyd, rarely lost for words, was certainly on song that day. An interesting read with some worthwhile new material.

British pianist Stan Tracey acknowledges Thelonious Monk as a big influence and often includes one or two Monk compositions on his albums. So, while I've lost count of the number of times I've seen Thelonious's name mis-spelt in the mainstream media, I was amused to see it given several times as Thelonius in the composer credits on Tracey's recentish Cadillac CD Solo/Trio. Then there was the British edition of the book Jazz Greats, a series of biogs in high standard hardback format by David somebody. It had obviously gone through a computer spell checker at proof stage, but subsequently not past the author's eyes. At least that is the only way I can explain over two dozen text entries like: Miles Davies, Lester Yung (the well known Chinese tenorman, as Ronnie Scott would doubtless have had it), A Love Supreme by John Coltrane's Classic Quartet and of course..............Thelonius Monk.

I don't know whether a court of law would regard this as legally obscure, but it certainly deserves to be more widely known - Kenny Clarke's 1955 album Bohemia Afer Dark. A CD was released on Japanese Savoy ten years or so ago. An outstanding swing-meets-hard bop line-up including the Adderley brothers. Listen out for some sublime Jerome Richardson flute solos.

I've got twenty or so Pepper albums, and Straight Life, natch, and I'm a real fan of the man's music, but I'm not sure he did play with a lot of 'emotion'. I think he played with a lot of 'feeling'. For most of his waking adult life Art was not in touch with his emotions, being junked out and emotionally neutered, but he was always in touch with his feelings - and that's what you hear pouring out of the grooves: he felt good, he felt strung out, he felt all variants of and degrees of and points in between, and boy did he let you know it. But emotional, I don't think so. Now Coltrane, he was emotional. And Ware, he is emotional. Drawing distinctions between emotions and feelings may seem a pedantic, and if so I apologise, but it is one of the few pieces of common ground shared by both Jungian and Freudian analysts, and I've always found it helpful and instructive to be aware of the distinction myself.

As a piece of social history it is.......vipertastic!

Yes. All the remastered Atlantics are worth all the bucks, providing you have a set-up which can relay all the enhanced separation and presence and warmth.

Adam - I guess your 'album' is a typo for 'book'. More importantly, what a fascinating idea you have put forward for the book's provenance from Paris to Big Sur.

Have you ever found a musical gem - CD/vinyl/tape/memorabilia - in a wierd place, the sort of place you would never expect to find jazz, let alone a jazz muthalode? I've been lucky enough to do so twice. I picked up a mint condition copy of Al Haig's rare as hen's teeth 1954 album 'Esoteric' on Fresh Sounds CD in a box of secondhand-CDs-for-sale in a grocery store in the Hampstead High Street, London three years ago. And more recently I found a first edition of Mezz Mezzrow's Really The Blues autobiography in a low-end antiques store in Big Sur. It no longer has the dustjacket, and is in good rather than pristine condition, but it bears the following inscription (I'm translating from the French) on the flyleaf: "Mezz Mezzrow is the finest clarinet player I have ever heard, and he plays with a great swing and heart. (signed) Hughes Pannassie". Really The Blues made a massive impression on me when I first read it about 35 years ago as a teenager. To find a first edition, inscribed by Hughes Pannassie, was just too much, even if I've never read a word of Pannassie's I've ever agreed with (and that includes the first half of this inscription!) Any other organgrinders hit paydirt in similarly unexpected places?

I had a few beers then and I've had a lot more since?

Some of the early Jan Garbarek albums, with or without Keith Jarrett, have a similarly spacey feel - with the blues replaced to a large extent by the Nordic folk music tradition.

It may at times have played to the gallery, but how could anyone not love large chunks of the JATP oeuvre? And one thing that is often forgotten: Granz paid top dollar to the musicians, black and white, and employed quite a few who were otherwise deemed unemployable, either literally, due to cabaret card problems/police harassment, or figuratively, as a consequence of their lifestyle and/or lack of self discipline.

Nice pix, Vibes! Got any more you could share? Must have been a fascinating trip.

Kenny, I really didn't mean to imply you were past it! Compared to me you ARE a whippersnapper, by a few years anyway. One thing that does decline with the passage of time - even at your tender age! - is stretchability. Shaolin kung fu, and karate, requires a lot of stretching, in the legs and back, for the high kicks. Wing chung, a modern kung fu style, might be easier to take up as you get ready to approach the beginning stages of the pre-start period of very very early middle age. Most wing chung doesn't have any kicks aimed higher than your assailant's knees and is designed to be fought in a space not much bigger than a phone box. It is a hugely effective, close-up martial art which will get you fit and give you self defence ability. By the way, I got both my daughters to take up martial arts too. One does shaolin, the other aikido. And my wife did tai chi until osteo-arthritis in her knee stopped that (which is another, sad story. She loved tai chi and really misses doing it).

Kenny, I've just noticed you say you are 47 years old. Age is no barrier to exercise or self-defence training, but obviously you do have to approach it in an appropriate way particularly if your body is not in good shape. The key here is for you to find a teacher who will be sympathetic and responsive to your particular needs. On which subject a good golden rule is, first, talk to your potential teacher and get a vibe and, second, never sign up for anything until you have observed an entire training session and like what you see. You may have to go through this process several times until you come across a teacher/method you feel comfortable with. I'm happy to answer any further specific questions you may have. I have found martial arts practice very beneficial and believe it can benefit everyone and anyone.

I practice Shaolin Kung Fu, which is a full contact, karatelike discipline. I took it up fifteen years ago for exercise as much as anything. But I also find the concentration required, particularly when sparring, to be a great mind emptier, akin to meditation. You think of little else other than how to keep going/avoid getting hurt! Our club works out once a week for two hours.

I didn't find Footprints so great, but Algeria is wonderful. I bought it earlier this summer, and it was great to listen to in the sunlight.

Yeah, I've watched it, natch. And like you I do feel Lloyd steals the show.