GA Russell

My favorite is a black and white one from the 50s called The Wrong Arm of the Law. Anybody else see that one?

Curtis Fuller disc 1 I've never warmed up to this, but I listen to it from time to time. It's not bad, but I don't think it's up to Mosaic standards.

The owner of the Fillmore West and Filmore East was Bill Graham.

I don't know how I could live without it. I try to go through my entire collection every year. The past few years there have been too many for me to listen to every one, but I come pretty close - maybe 85%. If I had to start over again, I'd miss the diversity.

This is due out on Valentine's Day. I see that CD Universe says: List price $19.98. Their price $16.89. Pre-order price $13.99. I received this press release email not long ago: On October 2, 1959, pianist RED GARLAND and his all-Philly trio--bassist Jimmy Rowser and drummer Charles "Specs" Wright--held forth at a Harlem nightery called the Prelude. They delivered three swinging sets, which were captured for Prestige by engineer Rudy Van Gelder (and producer Esmond Edwards) in the label's first location recording. Due for release 2/14 is a two-CD package--"At the Prelude"--that presents the full results of the trio's work that night. The Prelude material--about two and a quarter hours of music--was originally issued by Prestige in somewhat scattered fashion, spread over four albums that appeared between the '60s and early '80s. Its first "complete" treatment had to wait until 2003, when a three-disc box including four previously unissued tracks came out in Japan. This new set contains all the music heard in the Japanese version, plus new notes by writer Joe Goldberg. "At the Prelude" is prime Garland. edit for typo

I drive an '87 Toyota Camry, with 111,000 on it. A four cyl engine with few options. It runs great. So far it's been the most reliable car I've ever owned.

Thus sayeth Free For All, from the Blue Note Conns thread. I've been thinking the same thing, particularly because of the comments in the Plays for Lovers thread about recycling already issued material. Later this year, Concord/Fantasy will issue a series of CDs called Milestone Profiles, similar to their series of Prestige Profiles of last year. The Prestige Profiles were reissues of the year old Best of CDs of 50s Prestige artists, coupled with bonus discs of assorted Prestige recordings. The marketing pitch behind the Milestone series will be the celebration of the 40th anniversary of Orrin Keepnews' founding of the company. I don't know who is slated for the Milestone Profiles discs, nor do I know if these too will come with bonus discs. I imagine that the series will include McCoy Tyner, Sonny Rollins, Joe Henderson, and Ron Carter. Who else made enough Milestone albums to warrant a Best of disc? I spent much of the 70s living in Pittsburgh, and jazz was hard to find in the record stores. I have little recollection of what was being put out then. So what from the 70s do you think Concord/Fantasy should reissue on CD for the first time? I'll email the company with your requests.

I'd add Louis Moholo to the group. ScoLoHoFoNoJoMoholo!

I got my first David Murray album the other day. As you know from the Plays For Lovers thread, I've been listening to a lot of ballads compilations lately, and this makes for a nice change of pace. I think that I have seen David Murray's name fairly frequently here. A quick search shows that his name comes up on threads that are too long to look through for the reference. I confess that I think I often confuse him with David S. Ware. Since I don't know anything about Murray, I thought that those of you who do might like to see a corner dedicated to him, so that you can share your knowledge and recommendations with the rest of us. The album I got is called Waltz Again by the David Murray 4tet & Strings. It was released three weeks before Christmas on the Canadian Justin Time label, but I don't know where it was recorded. The liner notes say that it was recorded 12/02, mixed in New York 3/04, and mastered in Montreal 8/05. The "4tet" is Murray on tenor sax, a piano, bass and Hamid Drake on drums. The string section is ten strong. The strings dominate the music. I know very little about classical music, so you can take with a grain of salt that the string arrangements remind me of something Stravinsky would have written. All the songs were composed by Murray. There are five songs in all, including the 26 minute Pushkin Suite #1 which is made up of seven movements. The strings aren't playing the jazz; that is left up to Murray with his solos. None of the songs or movements have hummable melodies. But the harmonies are interesting. I find that the music is too deep for repeated listenings on the same day, but I have enjoyed listening to the album once a day since I got it. Anyway, I can recommend this if you're in the mood for something different. I enjoy it. Does anyone have anything to say about David Murray? Any recommendations?

Great story, Paul! I had never heard of her before.

Ron, I've sent the reminder email, and received a response, so I'm not going to be concerned about it. The ball is in their court. Too bad I already have the Jack Johnson! Well, it's not taking up much space on the shelf.

I didn't notice many new recordings come from Blue Note last year, but one piqued my interest when I read about it on Doug Ramsey's Rifftides blog. This is an album called Love is Here to Stay by Bill Charlap and Sandy Stewart. CD Universe says that its release date was September 27, and already BMG/Your Music has it. Here's the Your Music link: http://www.yourmusic.com/browse/album/Bill...=SEARCH_ARTISTS Sandy Stewart is a singer (an alto) who was nominated for a Grammy in 1962 for an album called My Coloring Book. She soon after retired from show business to raise four children, one of whom grew up to be...Bill Charlap. When her husband, Broadway composer Moose Charlap, died in 1974, she returned to the business singing on demo sessions and advertising jingles. She returned to the spotlight in 1990. This 57 minute album is simply voice and piano, with no other instruments. It is cabaret, not jazz. There is no improvisation. All eleven songs are ballads of the Broadway/Great American Songbook type, by people like the Gershwins, Cole Porter, Harold Arlen, Rodgers & Hart and Irving Berlin. Every song is extremely quiet. Stewart has trouble holding a sustained note, as you would expect from a woman of her age. In that regard, she reminds me of Lee Wiley. Charlap is the accompanyist all the way, never coming to the fore. He does a great job. I'll be listening to this one on Sunday afternoons, when I like my music peaceful and quiet. If you like Lee Wiley or other cabaret singers, you might go for this too. It's a little early to think about a Mother's Day present, but this would fit the bill for that, too.

My Coltrane shipped on the 20th and arrived on the 24th. The IASW box arrived today. So I'm good to go. They said that they would send me a postage-paid label to return the Jack Johnson box with, but I haven't received it yet.

I can't agree with you here, Dave. I'm really looking forward to this one. I have had the five LPs for years, since the days before CDs. I've always wanted to hear the songs in the order in which they were recorded. Sure, the music has been available in that form in the Miles Prestige box; but since I already have most of that material in LP form, I've never been tempted to spring for that box. So this is my chance.

I was thinking of Coleman Hawkins. I credit him with creating, if that's not too strong a word, the post-swing evolution into modern jazz.

Kenton Presents Bob Cooper, Bill Holman & Frank Rosolino, disc 1 Disc 1 is 19 Bob Coopers and 4 Bill Holmans. I haven't heard it in a while. Good stuff.

Happy Birthday!

LOL!

I received word today that this First Quintet box's street date has been postponed till May 23, closer to Miles' birthday.

Here's how I rank the ones I got, in order of preference: For Yourself: Miles Davis* Bill Evans Stan Getz Chet Baker Tony Bennett Barney Kessel Dave Brubeck For Your Valentine: Miles Davis Chet Baker Stan Getz Tony Bennett Barney Kessel Bill Evans Dave Brubeck *Because eight of the twelve songs are by the First Quintet, I don't recommend that you buy the Miles Davis for yourself. I recommend that you wait until (edit:) May 23, when Concord/Fantasy is scheduled to release the Complete First Quintet box.

Last one...Tony Bennett Sings for Lovers I imagine that there aren't too many Americans old enough to vote who haven't already made up their minds about Tony Bennett. I like him. I remember it all clicking when I was at a restaurant in 1991, and heard over the speakers in the bar I Wanna Be Around. Not too long after I purchased his then current Perfectly Frank, which is still one of my very favorite records. A year later Bennett was on MTV Unplugged, and a new generation discovered him. But I feel that this was not just a career move. He really has been getting better over the decades. With Perfectly Frank he exhibited a worldly wise hipster nuance which hadn't been there in previous decades. All of the songs selected for Sings for Lovers were recorded in the 70s. Bennett hadn't developed his hipster persona yet. His voice had not developed any rasp yet. There are 15 songs [edit: totalling 52 minutes], all but one standards, taken from four albums. Unlike the other CDs of this series, the songs are not all ballads. The mix of happy and sad songs is typical of a Bennett album. Seven songs are taken from a session he did with cornetist Ruby Braff and guitarist George Barnes, all of which are Rodgers and Hart tunes. Five are duets with Bill Evans, four from the 1975 Fantasy Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album. Three are with an orchestra. Now here's what I don't like: All of the songs except the three with the orchestra are without drums. And the three with the orchestra are the least jazzy of the album. This isn't a bad album. None of the songs are objectionable. But of the eight Bennett albums I own, this is the least interesting. For that reason, I can't recommend that you buy it for yourself. If you give it to your Valentine, she won't mind. But since you're a jazz aficianado, you can do better.

Thanks for your input! I've added it to my queue. Here's the Your Music link to this album: http://www.yourmusic.com/browse/album/Vija...ing-118787.html

Stan Getz Plays for Lovers is much better than I was afraid it might be. I have a love-hate relationship with Getz. My records show that I have 13 CDs or LPs of his (not including this one). I like seven and don't like six. A year ago some of you persuaded me to pick up Captain Marvel, which I have never warmed up to. It doesn't seem like fifteen years since he passed away. I have read some good things about some of his later recordings, but the most recent thing of his that I had was Another World, which was recorded in 1978 for Columbia. Plays for Lovers has nine songs totalling 56 minutes, taken from five albums. All nine are standards. Only one is from Getz's time with Prestige (from 1950). One is from his 1958 Fantasy date with Cal Tjader. Two are from a 1974 concert he performed with Bill Evans. Five are from early 80s Concord albums. I was previously familiar only with his session with Tjader. I find that the quality of the music improved over time. I didn't know his work for Concord was so good. All of the tracks are good, but the two from the 50s are the weakest. If you are familiar only with his work for Verve and Columbia, this would be a good CD to pick up. This would also be good for your Valentine, as it is very mellow, yet is good jazz.

Here's a story told by pianist and composer David Frishberg, which I found on Doug Ramsey's Rifftides blog: HOW HISTORY ALMOST HAPPENED AT THE PAGE THREE By Dave Frishberg Around the time I first came to New York, during the late fifties, I got a call from a piano player named Johnny Knapp. He asked if I would be interested in replacing him with the band at The Page Three. It was a two piece band--piano and drums. "You have to play a continuous show," he told me, "the hours are 9pm to 4am, and the pay is seventy-five a week." I told him I would be interested. The Page Three was a cabaret on Seventh Avenue a block south of the Village Vanguard and, situated there, it was an ideal gig for me. I was living right across the street on Waverly Place, and I could dash out of my apartment five minutes before we hit, and even dash back and forth during intermissions. I took the gig. I thought I was hip, but I wasn't ready for The Page Three. When I first walked in it took me a while to realize that most of the staff and many of the customers were dressed as the opposite sex. It was like a museum of sexual lifestyles. I knew nothing of this. The musical part was equally intimidating. The policy was continuous entertainment, and although we must have been provided with intermissions, my memory is that the drummer Jimmy Olin and I were never off the stage. Six entertainers did three shows a night. They rotated out of a stable of ten so that each entertainer worked four or five nights a week. This was a hell of a lot of music and paper to deal with, since everybody needed rehearsals, and some of the performers came with thick books of arrangements. Kiki Hall was the MC. After the first rehearsal I had to take Kiki's music home and work on it. He did risque patter and naughty lyrics, and there was a lot of ad lib accompaniment and stops and starts, and it all went by very fast. Kiki did Noel Coward material like "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" and "Don't Put Your Daughter on the Stage, Mrs. Worthington," and some Dwight Fiske material, and other stuff I had never heard of. He was ruthless about the piano part, tolerated no mistakes, and demanded extra rehearsals during the week. He was a pain in the ass. The hostess, Jackie Howe, was a solidly built woman with a big friendly smile who always dressed in a tweed business suit. She liked jazz musicians, and she sang obscure songs like "Mississippi Dreamboat" and "Like a Ship in the Night." I was learning a lot of unfamiliar and interesting material. The rest of the cast was a jumble of characters, talented and untalented: There was Kerri April, who dressed in a tuxedo and made up his face to look like a woman, and Laurel Watson who was a terrific rhythm and blues singer, and Bubbles Kent, a female body-builder who did a strip dance to "Top Hat, White Tie and Tails." Tiny Tim, who was just beginning to do his act, was from time to time a member of the cast, although during the months I worked there he appeared only a couple of nights, subbing for one of the other acts. I remember the occasions chiefly because of the fact that Jimmy Olin and I were able to get off the stage for a cigarette or two while Tiny accompanied himself on the ukelele or whatever it was. Jimmy and I would listen from the front bar, and we had some good laughs, but the fact was that in the context of The Page Three staff, entertainers, and clientele, Tiny Tim didn't seem all that bizarre. The Unique Monique was especially unrewarding to play for. She was a beautiful blonde Viking who was apparently buffaloed by the prospect of singing a song, and seemed to have borrowed someone else's hands and feet for the ordeal. She sang "Guess Who I Saw Today," and at the end she would jab a finger toward some poor guy sitting at a front table and give him the "I saw YOOOOO," on the major seventh, dismally out of tune. What Jimmy and I looked forward to each night was Sheila Jordan. Sheila was magic. The customers would stop gabbing and all the entertainers would turn their attention to Sheila and the whole place would be under her spell. She was doing "If You Could See Me Now" and "Baltimore Oriole" and some of the other material that she subsequently put on record. During my time at The Page Three I began to grasp the fundamentals of how to be a helpful accompanist and by the time I was ready to move on even Kiki Hall was pleased and confident with the way I played for him. In fact when I told him I was leaving to join Sol Yaged at the Metropole Kiki threw a tantrum. "Oh, no! Who's going to play my Noel Coward material?" "I got just the guy," I told him. About a week earlier I had met the pianist Herbie Nichols, who was a unique jazz stylist, very advanced and adventurous and as unorthodox and original as Thelonious Monk. But I heard Nichols play in a conventional situation, and I immediately understood that this guy could be musical and appropriate in all kinds of contexts. I sounded him about the Page Three. He was interested. Sure enough, Herbie was a hit with the cast, and became the new pianist. I stopped in one night to dig him, and Jackie Howe gave me the big smile and the OK sign. Herbie sounded like a million bucks and everybody was happy. A few weeks later I dropped by The Page Three after my gig. When Kiki Hall saw me he began hissing "It's your fault!", and Jackie Howe had to restrain him from going for my throat. The Unique Monique was on stage, and she seemed even more lost than usual. "I saw YOOO.." she sang on that dismal major seventh, and the pianist resolved the chord a half step down so Monique's note became the tonic. It was shocking and unearthly, and the customers began to laugh. . Monique stumbled off the stage in tears. I looked at the pianist and I didn't recognize him. Herbie Nichols had sent a sub. The other singers were sitting in a booth, all very upset, and they were refusing to go on. Kiki was climbing the walls, and Bubbles Kent had gone home. Sheila Jordan greeted me with a big smile. "You really missed something tonight," she said. "You should have heard Kiki's show. You should have heard "Mad Dogs and Englishmen." It was really out there! You know who that is on piano, don't you? You don't? That's Cecil Taylor," she told me. "Herbie sent him to sub. He's been here all night, played for everyone. You've never heard a show like this in your life." I thought that over for a moment, wishing I had it on tape. Then a thought hit me. "Sheila," I said. "Dare I ask? Could it be true? Did Tiny Tim perform tonight?" "No, damn it," she said. "Wouldn't that have been priceless." "Well, Tiny Tim doesn't use piano anyway," I said, "so it wouldn't have happened." Sheila said, "Oh yes it would have happened. Cecil would have played. Cecil would have insisted on playing." Herbie Nichols came back the next night and I assume all was forgiven. Herbie died not long after this took place.. My path and Sheila's path still cross once in a while, and naturally I go into my Page Three routines. I can still get a laugh with my Monique imitation, but the Page Three survivors list is dwindling, and there are few of us left to share the memories, real and imagined.. But I keep the stories going, and I have been known in weak moments to announce that I once saw Cecil Taylor play for Tiny Tim. So let the word go forth now that it never happened. I only wish it had happened. Of course, I'm assuming that they never got together privately. ©2006 Dave Frishberg

I see that Vijay Iyer's Reimagining is now available from BMG/Your Music. A quick search shows that it was one of Nate Dorward's many favorites of 2005. Does anyone else have an opinion of this one? What's it like, free jazz? In the quote from Thom Jurek's AMG review, there is emphasis on Iyer being unique. I'm not sure that I lke that! Sounds ominous. What do you think?