Tom Storer

I want to appreciate Sun Ra, but... I don't. I saw the Arkestra live once, in Paris, and it was a good time. Chaotic but memorable, as someone said earlier in the thread. But musically, it was mostly chaotic. And that's how I find his records. I only own two, a live one on vinyl that I can't listen to anymore since I don't have a turntable, and the double CD "Singles." (I've owned others but haven't held on to them.) Frankly, those "Singles" suck. A little while ago they were being discussed on another board and I went back and listened carefully, hoping against hope to find all the delirious imagination and real wild fun so many others were waxing ecstatic about. But I couldn't. They just suck. The emperor has no clothes. In my humble opinion, of course.

I just ordered it from amazon.co.uk. With shipping to Paris it came out to 65 euros or about $77 at current exchange rates. I don't have anywhere near 40 CDs' worth of pre-1947 Duke so I figure I can't go wrong. I clicked around the web a bit and found a reference to a label called Phantom as well as History. It doesn't seem to be a Proper project. As for taking the high road and refusing to dis-incentivize future reissue projects that would have higher standards of everything, award-winning insightful booklets with great photographs, no ripping off other people's masters, etc., well... life is short and I am but a flea on the warty ass of the recording industry. The RCA box, for example, is expensive enough that I'd have to save my pennies for many months before springing for it, and I don't have the patience. So throwing virtue to the winds, I'll buy stuff like this just to have the music.

I listened to Braxton a lot in the 1970's/early 80's, and have seen him play many times. But my tastes veered toward the center and he dropped from my radar for a long while. Then a few years ago I saw a "ghost dance" performance and loved it. I gave his standards quartet a miss recently because my desire to hibernate and save money won out over my desire to see him, although if it had been a ghost dance thing instead of the standards quartet I would have gone. Strangely, I feel no great need to listen to him on record now. His rather erratic recording career doesn't help - I'd like to buy a CD that reflects the ghost dance concert I saw, but I don't think there is one yet. I will gladly see him play the next time he comes around playing his own music instead of standards (never been a fan of his take on standards).

Jim, I'll take number 20! That's because I'd rather come before than after one of yours. Hope you don't mind taking 21.

Hell, that's nothing. Michel Petrucciani, who was afflicted with a bone disorder, used to break fingers!

Good article all four times. The Heath Brothers were in Paris last week, and I noticed Zwerin in the audience, so I figured he'd be writing them up one way or another. The Heaths were having a lot of fun. I hope I'm that spry when I'm pushing 80!

I got mine last week. It's wonderful, of course. Much of it is the Ellington band doing pop hits or other bands' signature tunes, and of course there's the Mary Poppins LP. Only Ellington could have pulled that off, and he did. The Ellington Orchestra in the early to mid-60's was a hell of an outfit, and you can really appreciate the sheer beauty of their sound, as well as Ellington's and Strayhorn's arranging chops (the Mary Poppins stuff is really an example of turning sows' ears into silk purses). The set also includes "Afro-Bossa," which has little to do with Africa or Brazil, except for omnipresent percussion, but is a must-have album, and the jazz violin album with Grappelli, Nance, and Svend Asmussen on viola.

According to their site: **** In the past we have flagged sets as Running Low with the expectation that they will sell out in three to six months. However over the last two years, since we've put up our website, the demand for sets that are running low has been compressed into a shorter time frame. This means that by the time we are able to announce in a catalog that sets are last chance, they are already sold out. Therefore the running low category now represents our estimate that the sets will be sold out in the next three to twelve months. Last Chance reflects our best estimate that the set will be sold out soon which can range anywhere from tomorrow to two months. Please understand these are merely our best estimates and that circumstances can sometimes change quickly. **** So there ought to be a bunch left still. I'm going to order this before Christmas, though.

I like the idea of a sign-up thread, too.

Lots of good recommendations here - a useful thread indeed. I second the applause for Carmen McRae's "Carmen Sings Monk," although I don't know what's "curious" about it - Carmen was great and this is a superb album. Jordan sounds fabulous on it. An interesting album is "Big Band Charlie Mingus: Live at Boulogne-Billancourt." Actually there are two volumes, both recorded at the same concert in 1988, which I attended. The sax section was Jordan, David Murray, John Handy and Nick Brignola. (Trumpets: Randy Brecker & Jon Faddis; trombones: Jimmy Knepper & another; rhythm section: Jaki Byard, Reggie Johnson, Billy Hart). This was a Knepper-directed affair that predated the current Mingus Big Band. The music was rather loose and sprawling but the vibe was good and there were some excellent solos. What was particularly cool was watching Murray, the baby in the sax section, as he attentively and appreciatively drank in the solos of his elders. He and John Handy hung on every note Jordan played. Brignola sat somewhat apart from the other saxophonists, with his deadpan, I'm-bad-and-I-don't-have-to-get-excited-because-I-can-prove-it look; and he proved it. Knepper told dirty jokes to the well-dressed Parisian audience, which was bewildered. Anyway, it was my first exposure to Jordan and I loved it. Elegant, economic lines, so beautifully constructed, and what a sound.

Who is A.K. Salim (b. 1922)?

Wow - having just seen Percy Heath and his brothers play a club date a couple of nights ago, I had to laugh at this story! At 80, Percy is pretty damn spry. Who knows what he gets up to, even today?

I would add "in the long term." There are many who are doing it at any given time, but a lack of career and money-earning possibilities means that the majority, as they grow older and take on family obligations, or become frustrated by toiling in obscurity for zero money, eventually feel obliged to give up the muse thing. Or maybe find a new muse who's easier to live with.

Well, I did suspect they had some connection to Chicago. But isn't it when they were in Paris that they hooked up with Don Moye, took the name Art Ensemble of Chicago, and began their career as a quintet?

The Sangrey Blindfold looks like it will be an epic experience. We'll probably tell our grandchildren about it. I've been thinking about what to put in my own blindfold, whenever that happens, and it's true that the 1-CD limit makes for difficult choices. I've looked at lots of albums and realized that the interesting tracks are 10 minutes or longer, which would make for fewer tracks. A 2-CD blindfold would be more fun, but quite a challenge to make every track a memorable one. And, of course, more expensive to ship. But hey, if you can afford it, go for it. I see that others have volunteered for non-US distribution, and I'm just as happy to sit this one out, distribution-wise. It's probably a good idea for us European etc. residents to take turns at it. I'll be glad to burn and forward a copy or two, though, if desired - just let me know. Looking forward to the Sangrey experience!

I was lucky, I saw them many times. But I have to say that when I saw them earlier this year - Mitchell, Jarman, Favors and Moye - it was kind of discouraging. They themselves seemed depressed, and the concert seemed kind of rote. Maybe it was being back in Paris (where they started, I believe) without Bowie. That said, it was a hell of lot better than the opening act, a group doing an ossified version of 70's free jazz that just flat out sucked. Even on an off night and lacking Lester, the AEC was clearly the real deal whereas the others just didn't cut the mustard. So one Cory Wilkes joined them on trumpet recently? That ought to be interesting. Never heard of the guy - I'll have to Google him... Google reveals that his first name is spelled "Corey," he's from Chicago, and he's on "Song For My Sister" by Roscoe Mitchell & the Note Factory. AMG says: "Corey Wilkes grew up immersed in the sounds of Blues, R&B, Soul, Funk and Jazz. At the age of 10, he picked up the trumpet for the first time. Starting with the school band, Corey's natural talent immediately began to shine. He dominated his peers in both group and solo competitions, always taking first place. To make a very very long story short, Corey is currently one of the hottest trumpeters in the country. In August 2003 Corey appeared on all 3 stages at the 25th Annual Chicago Jazz Fest in Grant Park, including the Petrillo Bandshell. In the same month, Wilkes made news at the 24th Annual Ford Detroit Trumpet Summit on 2 stages. He's recorded numerous CDs, from Jazz to Hip Hop. Corey has shared the stage with numerous jazz heavyweights including Roscoe Mitchell, Marcus Belgrave, Roy Hargrove, Mulgrew Miller, and Wynton Marsalis just to name a few. In the year ahead, look forward to hearing Corey's sinewy notes at more fests, concerts, and clubs around the midwest. In addition to that, Corey will be touring in France in January 2004 with the legendary reedist Ernest Dawkins." And his site is here.

That's a great description of an AEC concert, Jim. Especially "Individual timbres of any and all types were luxuriated in for hedonistically long intervals, and silence was made love to as if it was the key to life itself." Beautifully said. As a young jazz fan, they taught me a great deal about the primacy of sound - tone and timbre, the mixing of tones and timbres in a group, and also, very importantly, dynamics. The visual thing was important - the huge array of instruments, the bright colors, the clothes and gestures - but as your eye was fascinated by their deliberate, graceful movements on stage, your ear was slowly but surely seduced by the sounds. Soft and luxurious at first, those sounds covered the whole spectrum from high-pitched clicks, taps, whistles and pings to low-pitched rattles, hums, whooshes, thumps and booms, with all manners of glimmers, gleams, shimmers, shivers and glows in and around the sides. All of this with all the air and space needed to make it breathe and roll and snake and begin to dance. Gradually the dynamic range would grow and grooves would be introduced (and subsequently unsprung). Before you knew it 90 minutes or 2 hours had passed, you had gone from quiet meditation through roaring, screaming excitement and back, and you felt like the concert had just begun. They were a life-changing group. I saw them in Paris on the 25th anniversary of Bird's death. The concert was especially charged. At one point, at the height of musical tension, Lester turned his back on the audience and suddenly turned and there was a pistol in his hand. He pointed it out over the crowd and fired it, and that was the loudest, most shocking thing, I thought my heart would stop. It was a starter's pistol of course, but goddamn, what an effect. And of course they could also be hilariously funny, with parodies of swing or bop that were such a mixture of affection and cynicism and fun and mockery that you found yourself both laughing and the laughed at because you were enjoying it so much despite its exaggeration. I took a girl to see the Art Ensemble not long after we started seeing each other. She was interested but hadn't listened to much jazz at all until she met me. I had her listening to Bird and Billie Holiday and she liked that well enough, but I didn't know if the AEC would intrigue her or make her flee screaming. After the concert she turned to me with a look of consternation on her face, and I thought "Oh hell, she hated it." But she said, "WHY haven't you taken me to anything like this before?" She was thrilled by it. I married her. That was the AEC for you. I miss Lester.

I used to have a cat named Miles (because he was a mean little black cat). At one point we thought he was lonely, so we got another cat to keep him company, a female. I named her Juliette Greco. The vet thought I was weird.

I saw Louis Stewart play once, in a pub in Dublin. It was magic. When I closed my eyes I felt like I was in New York. Then after the set, as Stewart was leaving the stage, he said to the bass player, in a broad Dublin accent, "Are ye goin' fer a pint?" Mind you, that could have been New York too! I'm not much of a guitar aficionado in general, but this is making me want to revisit those I enjoy, including Bickert, Breakstone, Peter Leitch and Adam Rogers whom I recently discovered. I love Metheny, too, particularly in his non-PMG settings, and Scofield when he's playing relatively straight-ahead (such as a recent concert I saw of his trio with Steve Swallow and Bill Stewart). Abercrombie I'm less familiar with. Usually my preferences are for a more straight-ahead guitar sound (can't stand Bill Frisell, for instance).

I like Wilen a lot, although perhaps not as unconditionally as many of you Barneyophiles! I discovered him when "La Note Bleue" came out and saw him a few times in the Paris clubs. Beautiful sound, very cool and swinging player, but at some point I noticed that, at least in concert, he never seemed to play up-tempo numbers. Ballads or comfortable mid-tempo tunes seemed to be it. As good as he was, I found this frustrating. He did a duo CD with Alain Jean-Marie at one point that's very nice.

Although I don't share Jim S's sense of moral outrage over Harry Allen's doing a spot-on Getz imitation, I would probably react with some kind of disapproval if he hadn't come right out and said here I am, Harry Allen, playing just like Getz in a tribute to Getz. I think what Jim is getting at in general is the difference between emulation and forgery. But forgery is dishonest because you're hiding the fact of imitation. If Allen sounded like Getz all the time and didn't acknowledge it, you could say that people unfamiliar with Getz would be the victims of some kind of fraud if they loved Allen and bought all his records. But that doesn't seem to be the case; he made his Getz tribute for people who do love Getz, or wish to learn about him. If he's a copycat on this record, at least he's up front about it. For my money he'll only spend a short time in limbo and not go directly to hell for all eternity.

I'll add another vote for Brignola, the most ferocious bebop baritone - well, along with Pepper Adams. Brignola had chops of steel, and could kick along at ridiculously high speed while making it all look easy. Clarity, precision, grace and swing - the man just burned. He stuck to upstate New York most of the time but went down to the city to record with the best. He used Dave Holland a lot, and enjoyed playing Holland's "Four Winds," from "Conference of the Birds," in concert. I went to school in Albany and often saw Brignola at his regular weekly gig at a place called the Lark Tavern, which also featured J.R. Monterose fairly often. Once I saw the two of them jamming (on one number Brignola played tenor like it was his main horn) - that night Howard Johnson was in the pub and Brignola introduced him and gave him a big hug, but he didn't play. Too bad, Johnson is another nice voice on baritone. Among the current guys I like Gary Smulyan and Scott Robinson a lot - Smulyan is mighty with Holland's big band, and Robinson was recently featured on a Bob Brookmeyer big band record.

Only ten years old but already obscure, I fear: Sheila Jordan's "Heart Strings" on Muse. Out of print. Jordan is accompanied by Alan Broadbent, Harvie Swartz and Marvin "Smitty" Smith, with a string quartet playing Broadbent's arrangements, which are fantastic. Beautiful singing and playing, and a great selection of songs, including "Haunted Heart," "Out to Sea," which is Tom Harrell's "Sail Away" with lyrics, and her best performance of "Inch Worm."

Very perceptive comments, as usual. I was a teenager getting into jazz during the mid-70's, and electric Miles was like nothing else I was hearing. I saw the band with Dominique Gaumont, Pete Cosey, Michael Henderson et al. at Carnegie Hall a year or less before Miles's 1975 drop-out, and was both mystified and completely fascinated. I listened to "Bitches Brew" and "Big Fun" a lot, but like Bev it was "He Loved Him Madly" that struck me most. I liked a lot of the nascent fusion music - Headhunters, Return to Forever, Weather Report and so on - but as fun and funky as it was, it didn't have the same depth. New technology notwithstanding, it was still about neat arrangements, catchy rhythms and melodies, and the cult of the heroic soloist. The Miles of those years was another world altogether. The post-1980 Miles, of course, was something else again. I'm glad he came out of retirement and got back to work, but I confess I think the post-1980 part of his career is the least interesting.

Jim S, Wow. Fundamentally offensive? Obscenely wrong? Purely and simply EVIL? Because he's a copycat saxophone player? Man, you set the bar way high! But hey, that's your right. Far be it from me etc. Tolerance and all that. Peace, brother!