GA Russell

There haven't been any Mosaics that I have disliked, but two that I like less than the others are the Charles Mingus Candid and the Curtis Fuller.

Mose Allison Sings is a compilation of vocals. I got it in college. It has been available for about two decades as Greatest Hits. You can get that at Your Music.

This month's pick is Donald Fagen - Morph the Cat. Usually something that appeals to me becomes available the week after my monthly shipping date, but this time it came up two days before! I've got quite a bit of Steely Dan, all but two I think, and both of Fagen's other solo outings, so I'm looking forward to this one. Released only three months ago!

I remember reading many years ago, probably in the late 70s or early 80s, a letter to the editor in Downbeat lamenting the fact that it didn't look like Kenny Dorham would ever be elected to the Readers Poll Hall of Fame. I haven't avoided Dorham over the years; his name just never seemed to come up. I'm pretty sure that the only thing of his I had was a few sideman recordings included in the Charlie Parker Live Savoy box. The last week of April Doug Ramsey in his Rifftides blog wrote at some length, giving the highest praise to the new RVG remaster of Quiet Kenny. Ramsey gave a couple of sentences to the other RVGs as a group, but went on and on about the Dorham album. So I decided to get Quiet Kenny, and I've been listening to it for the past ten days. I wouldn't go overboard about it, but I will say that it is exactly the sort of album I liked best when I was in colege - no frills, unpretentious and low key. I enjoy it a lot. The sidemen are Tommy Flanagan, Paul Chambers and Art Taylor, so that's a good start right there. From the title I expected it to be a ballads album, but it's not. There are a few uptempo numbers, but all the cuts are relaxed. Since I know so little about Dorham, I thought some of you here could suggest other recordings of his that you like. The liner notes say that he played with Art Blakey and Max Roach during the 50s. Anybody else have an opinion or comment about Kenny Dorham?

Apropos, I see that tomorrow's Gospel is Mark 12:35-37, which deals specifically with Alexander's original question.

I expect to be away from my computer tomorrow, so I'll say now that tomorrow is my fortieth anniversary! No, not that anniversary. It was forty years ago tomorrow that I bought my first jazz record. It was Hang On Ramsey! by the Ramsey Lewis Trio. It was the brand new follow up to his In Crowd album, and included two radio hits, both of which were given much more airplay in my hometown New Orleans than The In Crowd was - Hang On Sloopy and A Hard Day's Night. After buying a Ray Bryant album and listening to some jazz radio, I bought in October my first hard core jazz album, Groove Holmes' Soul Message, and I was on my way. What I have learned over the years is to trust my judgment. The jazz community includes quite a number of people who would like to be The Thought Police, and it took me awhile to realize that there is nothing inadequate about my tastes just because I don't share their preferences. The avant garde is a good example. Back in the 60s the Impuse! New Thing albums always got five stars in Downbeat. There was no such thing as a mediocre free jazz album, according to them. Even as a kid I could see that that was suspicious. Today I look for joy in other people's comments, whether they be record reviews or bulletin board posts. There are quite a number of people who discuss jazz with a "No dissent will be tolerated" attitude. Forty years ago these people had me thinking that there was something wrong with me for liking 50s jazz. Now I know that the problem is with them - no joy. I see this often from the Cecil Taylor and Anthony Braxton crowd. Over the years my LP and CD collection has grown to a substantial amount, although it is still quite small compared to those of many of you here. I consider the money spent to be a great bargain. In the 70s the record industry put stickers on LPs which said something like "Music - your greatest entertainment value". I believe that that was true then and is still true today. It's hard to calculate how few pennies have been spent for each time I listen to a CD. And the fact that I often go back to play CDs I purchased over fifteen years ago is another indication of a worthwhile investment. I've learned a great deal about many artists since becoming a regular here, and I expect that to continue for as long as there is an Organissimo board. It's great to be part of a knowledgable group of people with enthusiasm for my favorite art form. edit for typo and grammar

Perhaps you know that Edie Brickell recently signed with Concord!

Thanks Brownie!

These are out today. CD Universe says: List Price $11.98; Their Price $9.15; Pre-Order Price $8.39.

Thanks Aggie! I knew I could count on you. I've put it at the top of my queue.

Happy Birthday!

Sorry to learn he had been in such bad health for so long. I remember him fondly from his days on Shindig and as the bandleader of the David Brenner Show.

Thanks Jim! I really miss this place when it's down!

Jim, the new Collectors' Choice catalogue arrived Wednesday, and I see that they are offering The Hi-Lo's - Listen!, "their debut album for Starlite, which appears here on CD for the first time anywhere in the world! Includes June In January, Little White Lies, Fools Rush In, She's Funny That Way and more." I don't have any of those songs. By the way, it's $15.95.

I'm on the fourth disc and that commentary drives me nuts. I guess that drivel passed for interesting with the Eisenhower crowd. I'm sure Miles wanted to kill him. Back in those days The Tonight Show was live; and it was low key, assuming that everyone watching was near his bedtime and winding down. Nowadays Leno and Letterman are keyed up as if they're on during prime time hours.

It might all fit on one CD.

For my money The Hi-Los made good music over a longer period of time, but I have a few of their Columbia albums that I do not think are nearly as good as the Four Freshman Capitol 50s albums. I do not think that a comparably sized Mosaic of Hi-Los would be as good as the Freshman box.

Jim, you're wicked! You're going to go to hell for saying that!

I informed my contact in the Fantasy PR Dept. about this discussion regarding the mono vs. the stereo, and she arranged for the engineer of this 2-CD box Joe Tarantino to step up to the plate. Here is what he wrote me today: Hi Mr Moon I worked with Orrin Keepnews on the Monk Coltrane Box set. Orrin wanted to use the stereo tracks carefully transfered from the original masters. He explained how the stereo recording was done by a completely different company. Since Stereo was not very popular at the time, there was actually a separate 'make shift' control room set up and separate mics for stereo. Although the Mono recordings are more have more prescience, the stereo gives you the perception of being in the room with the musicians. Having Orrin share stories about the sessions while we were working was a real treat! Mono /Stereo? Enjoy the music. Thanks Joe

On Dec. 9, 1988, I bought my first two CDs: The Beach Boys' Christmas Album and Manfred Mann Chapter Three (the first album). As I recall, I had bought my first CD player earlier that day. I still play both CDs regularly, in season of course.

Chuck, you are making me laugh! No, Adventure is a small independent label with no connections to a larger company that I am aware of. Most of what I know about it I gleaned from the press releases at AAJ. The main man there is a mandolin player named Mike Marshall. I think there are two other principals, whom I expect do not do anything except supply the money.

It's been three months since I opened up the Moacir Santos, and I'm still enjoying it. I still listen to it regularly. Now that the warm weather is upon us (92 degrees here today), it's time for me to break out all of my Brazilian music. I enjoy bossa nova more in the spring and summer than I do in the fall and winter. The Moacir Santos was one of the few things I opened up between Christmas and Easter that I liked. Since Easter there have been a number of good ones, and I'd like to mention one now. A week ago I opened a new album that came out a couple of months ago. It's by a Brazilian pianist named Jovino Santos Neto called Roda Carioca. Santos Neto is from Rio, but has lived and worked in Seattle for the past twelve years. Unlike the albums listed above, this is an indisputable jazz album. Santos Neto reminds me of Manfredo Fest. The band consists of the core piano, bass and drums trio, which is augmented by six guest musicians, including Hermeto Pascoal and Joyce on vocals (one track each). Santos Neto wrote nine of the eleven songs. Pascoal wrote one, and the other is the song Nana which I have been familiar with but never knew that it was written by Moacir Santos over forty years ago. The various instruments in addition to the piano trio are melodica, flute, accordian, mandolin (which seems to be a staple on this label, I suppose due to the fact that its owner plays the instrument!), acoustic guitar and percussion. I expect that I'll be listening to this one all summer long. I recommend it.

md, I haven't heard the OJCs so I can't compare, but the sound on the box set is great.

That's great news Phil! I'll look forward to it!

Happy Birthday Jim! I learned not long ago that there is nothing German about German chocolate cake. It was named after a Mrs. German, who submitted the recipe in a baking contest.