ghost of miles

From Richard S. Ginell's notes to the Contemporary box-set, which reference the same Stereophile interview: Oddly enough, (Roy) DuNann was not a modern jazz fan; he liked the country-western tunes that he had been recording over at Capitol, and his favorite act in Koenig's stable was, of all things, the Banjo Kings on Good Time Jazz. One doesn't have to imagine his reaction to the Ornette Coleman sessions ("I would have sent him home," he told Stereophile Magazine in 2002). John Koenig remembers that DuNann used to scrawl sarcastic comments in pencil on the tape boxes (he labeled one of the selections from Coleman's first album "Butchered Blues"). Even so, DuNann and his former Capitol colleague Howard Holzer quietly engineered a legacy of recordings that have terrific presence and balance, and still sound better than many of the latest digital wonders.

Yeah, gotta admit I didn't know about the classical side of Contemporary, or had forgotten till I started rereading Ginell's essay for the box-set. Also that Koenig had worked as an assistant to William Wyler on films such as The Best Years Of Our Lives, Detective Story, and Roman Holiday, and that his career in the film industry was apparently derailed by his refusing to name names before HUAC. Or that he started Good Time Jazz as a vehicle for Firehouse Five Plus Two, and then essentially used the proceeds from the success of that label to indulge his more progressive bent with Contemporary. This reading stuff, I'll tell ya--it's educational!

Ditto--as mentioned on the jazz box-set thread, I just pulled this out for revisiting last night, and African-American artists seem well-represented. I realize it's almost as much of a cliche now to say "'West Coast jazz' was much more diverse than you've been led to believe!" as it's always been to say it was Chet Baker and a buncha Lighthouse All-Stars all playing on a beach somewhere, but Contemporary in particular has a really interesting discography.

I realize Jazzbo already answered your question--I snagged it a few years ago when the Fantasy box-sets were turning up online as cutouts at bargain prices, and when I was going through a period of new appreciation for such anthologies. It's an excellent overview of the label, with good historical notes by Richard S. Ginell, and really shows the range of so-called "West Coast jazz," at least as recorded by Lester Koenig. Well worth picking up if found for a reasonable price.

Last week’s Night Lights show highlighting pianist Ahmad Jamal’s run of albums for ABC and Impulse from 1968 to 1971 is up for online listening: The Second Great Trio: Ahmad Jamal On Impulse

Not a good 24 hours for the Yankees, given Stanton’s line-drive off the top of Tanaka’s head. On the coronavirus front: Four Atlanta Braves test positive for Covid ... not good news either. Freddie Freeman and Will Smith are two of the four.

Paul Krugman in the NY Times a couple of days ago: >>at this point Arizona, with seven million people, is reporting around as many new cases each day as the whole E.U., with 446 million people.<< Gee, America sure is great again! Re the George Floyd protests, I’ve seen several articles about cities where large protests took place and yet no spikes seem to have occurred. Speculation that this may be because the protests were held outside and the vast majority of protesters were masked. This was certainly the case at the early-June protest here in Bloomington, which I’d say I witnessed rather than attended, as I took pains to keep six feet distant or more at all times. Protest was estimated at 5-7000 people, and almost every single person I saw was masked. (As was I.) And Monroe County has seen only the slightest of upticks in the weeks since (which could also be attributed to our limited reopening). Marion County (Indianapolis) just instituted a mandatory mask policy beginning next week, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Monroe County follow suit. What drives me crazy is that the same people pushing for full-steam-ahead reopening are almost always the same folks hollering against masks and social distancing. WTF?!

Thanks for this! I’ve long contemplated doing a Powell Night Lights program, and his post-jazz classical work would certainly be a part of the conversation. (As would his post-1950 jazz recordings... the Vanguards and perhaps the 1987 Return Of Mel Powell date—though I’ve listened to the latter only once and don’t recall it being particularly memorable. Will have to give it another listen if/when I undertake a show. OTOH I might opt to frame it entirely within the 1940s, given his body of work with Goodman and the AAF, and the relative lack of exposure for his Commodore and Capitol recordings.)

Thanks BBS! Almost certainly the small group he led as part of Glenn Miller’s AAF. I think I have some of them as part of the numerous AAF compilations I’ve picked up over the years. Powell’s group was the nod-to-modernists part of Miller’s hydraheaded outfit... there’s even a broadcast of them doing one of the earliest versions of “Night in Tunisia!”

I’m going to make a CD-R (or two) of all of pianist Mel Powell’s recordings as a leader in the 1940s. I don’t own any discographies and can’t find one for Powell online—what recordings, if any, did he make under his own name in addition to the 17 for Commodore and the 12 for Capitol in this era? I’m also going to include the four solo piano sides he made in Paris in 1945, which are on the CD Glenn Miller’s G.I.s in Paris. (For those interested in Powell, the Commodores are all included on two of Mosaic’s three Commodore sets, and the Capitol sides are part of Mosaic’s Capitol Jazz collection. Ocium has put out a CD that compiles some of the Commodore and Capitol tracks, as well as a handful with Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller’s AAF, plus the solo Paris recordings.)

I think this is the same one that I bought--in fact, didn't we correspond about it off-board? Anyway, completely agree--I bought it because I wanted to get a UK box-set of Woodfall films that had no apparent prospects for a North American release. It also came in handy when I wanted the uncut BBC versions of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Smiley's People. No issues whatsoever with the player, and I needed something to play domestic Blu-Rays as well anyway.

Ahmad Jamal turns 90 today. Here's this week's Night Lights show, with a special note of thanks to Jsngry and the forum in general: The Second Great Trio: Ahmad Jamal On Impulse

What on earth are the Astros (or any other team that's planning to allow fans, because apparently Houston's not alone here) thinking? But especially a team like Houston, situated in a state that is one of the leading hotspots for Covid in the country right now. Houston Astros allowing fans at MLB games is a dangerous move

Don't be a zero, be a hero!

The Rockies’ Ian Desmond is opting out of playing in 2020. Evidently not the first and probably not the last player to do so. According to the ESPN article, “Earlier Monday, Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Mike Leake and Washington Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman and pitcher Joe Rossannounced that they are opting out of the 2020 season amid the coronavirus pandemic.”

No, I haven't--and I don't think Charles Mingus would have countenanced charlatans. Personally speaking, I've been lucky to hang out and talk with Amram several times over the past 10 years, and the guy just brims with good creative energy. Emailed him about the show last week and got an effusive response that left me hoping that I can still cook like that when I'm 88. So glad you liked the program! There's an Amram music bed ("City Talk," from his 1957 Jazz Studio album) that starts at 6:00 in and runs for a couple of minutes under the narrative.

Last week's Night Lights show, which delves into the music and history of New York City's Five Spot, is now up for online listening: Making A New Kind Of Scene: New York City's Five Spot It includes commentary from Five Spot regulars David Amram (also a Five Spot performer) and novelist Dan Wakefield, as well as live Five Spot recordings from Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane or Johnny Griffin, Eric Dolphy and Booker Little, and representational recordings by Cecil Taylor and Ornette Coleman, and poet Frank O'Hara reading "The Day Lady Died."

Zach Kram at the Ringer seems dubious that MLB will be able to complete the season, owing to the pandemic. Gotta say I agree... and also can’t believe that some teams in some of the worst-hit states right now want to seat fans at 50% capacity?! WTF. Here in Indiana they are trying to push ahead with a 50% capacity Indy 500, which is really nuts, because that means you’re talking about massing anywhere from 120-175,000 people in one place, in late August—and warm weather is decidedly not making the virus go away. Even if events are taking place in an outdoor setting, you’re still looking at giant masses of people moving through gateways, entrances, tunnels, stairs and stairwells, and using bathroom facilities. Many of them will probably not be wearing masks. The same would apply to 20-25,000 people attending a baseball game. On another note, another big thumbs down for the unearned runner on second concept. Why the hell subject pitchers to that disadvantage? While we’re at it, why not require only three balls for a walk once the game goes long? And outfielders will not be allowed to catch fly balls... they must let them drop for hits! ☝️ If they’re concerned about lengthy games during the pandemic, just allow ties after 10 innings.

Sweet serendipity! Around 7:30 this evening I finished putting together the Night Lights show "The Second Great Trio: Ahmad Jamal On Impulse" (it starts going out to stations tomorrow for broadcast this coming week). An hour later a new post from my friend Luke Gillespie, the jazz piano professor at IU, popped up on IU's Jazz Studies Facebook page: For African-American Music Appreciation Month we're posting a few of our favorite jazz recordings: From Luke Gillespie: Ahmad Jamal Trio The Awakening 1970 (Impulse) Jamil Sulieman Nassir (also spelled Nasser) - double bass Frank Gant - drums I was 13 when this came out, though I didn’t hear it til I bought the LP in Japan when I was 15, and I was hooked. It was this album that taught me how styles (straight 8ths and swing) and meters (4/4 and 3/4) could be mixed and switched inside a given tune’s arrangement. Also, I learned about pedal points, ostinatos, modal playing and chromaticism, hemiolas, the coexistence of rhythmic subdivisions (for example, when drums play double time while bass plays half time or in “2”), playing “in and out” (of time and key), and the use of tertian and quartal harmony from this record. Also, need to include another record this trio recorded in 1968 called “At the Top: Poinciana Revisited (Live at the Village Gate)” also on Impulse. It includes many of the same things I learned from “The Awakening” and has an excellent example of metric modulation where the dotted quarter note in 3/4 becomes the new quarter note in 4/4 and back again in his original tune “Lament”. I feel awakened!

I envy your neighborly proximity! I have the book, but haven't started reading it yet... ordered the CD yesterday.