ghost of miles

The latest episode of Weird Studies, a fascinating podcast co-hosted by my friend Phil Ford, is a deep, deep dive into the esoterica of Ra and Space Is The Place: Space Is The Place: On Sun Ra, Gnosticism, And The Tarot

I got a notice from Amazon UK as well, indicating that I should be getting the set in early January.

Maybe I read too much into the listserv tea-leaves, I suppose.

Yeah, not sure why it's been relegated to the back-burner for so long. And now it may be even more problematic if Sony sticks to their infuriating new policy about not leasing recordings for things like Mosaic projects. Not sure but I think the forthcoming Armstrong set is in the works only because it was grandfathered in--at one point it was in danger of being axed all together because of said policy. Maybe the status of that policy has changed, not sure, but if it hasn't, that would preclude an early-Ellington box. Btw based on a recent post to a jazz research listserv, I believe the Black and White box set is underway!

Written by my next-door neighbor! (Came across this again while searching previous threads about Coltrane.) I lucked into a copy of the Simpkins book many, many years ago at a local used bookstore.

Still hoping for a set along those lines as well—Scott’s talked over the years about doing one that would include what you mentioned plus the Victors from that general era.

And Edgar Martinez too, right? That was a fearsome lineup they had in the late 1990s/early 00s.

The guy I once thought had a good shot at overtaking Aaron's HR record. Still a truly great player, no doubt--too bad he had to deal with so many injuries during his time with the Reds.

I will keep that in mind, thanks. It's weirdly frustrating sometimes to locate in-print items on Amazon's website.

Wow!!! Scott had mentioned such a possibility last year. (He did say they ruled out doing a 1960s Wayne Shorter Blue Note set, though--not sure why. Is most of that part of the BN catalogue still in print?) Nice of them to mention the Night Lights Mobley-Morgan program as well.

Good catch--I kept typing "Tubby Hayes Fontana" in my Amazon US searches, so it wasn't coming up. Amazon UK price is actually better, even with shipping to the U.S. factored in. Really excited to hear this set!

Not sad to see Els released--they need the spot on the 40-man roster, and if they can't collect insurance for 2020, might as well let him go. And yeah, probably THE albatross of free-agent contracts, and one that's certainly made NY much more wary about handing out such deals. I mean, I thought it was a bad deal for NY when they signed him, and it only got worse from there. Sad about Bird, who was such a highly-touted prospect and who showed so much promise at times, but kinda turned into Nick Johnson 2.0. Hopefully he can make a go of it elsewhere

Working on a Night Lights show about very early ECM. Hence this is now spinning:

The web-post has been updated with a reference to Carl Arter and a special note of thanks to Chuck at the bottom of the page: Pittsburgh Soul Connection: Horace Parlan And Stanley Turrentine

Paging Dan Gould (aka Gene Harris Fanatic--old school here!), who I believe has posted about something along these lines several times and also had discussions with MC about it over the years.

2020 Grammy jazz nominations

Love “New Golden Wedding” on disc 5, which also makes me think that I haven’t paid enough attention to Sonny Igoe in my previous listening. Great clarinet work from Woody as well... it’s a Ralph Burns update of a tune Herman had originally recorded back in 1940. Me too—quite a wealth of Webster at the start of this set. Also happy to hear some Johnny Bothwell and Frances Wayne. In the MGM stretch of the set right now, and it’s definitely more of a mixed bag than the preceding material, but with some standout moments for sure. Eager to get to the Mars recordings... I have the Early Autumn Discovery disc that collects some of those sides, but will be great to hear them complete and presumably in better sound.

Texas sports journalist Mac Engel: If Astros are guilty, personnel must be banned and World Series title stripped Maybe Engel’s partisan because he covers the Rangers, I dunno. But he’s far from the first to suggest that the potential significance is entering the realm of the 1919-20 Black Sox scandal. Whadda way to commemorate that centennial, eh?

I didn't, unfortunately. It would have been tough to pack info about him into the show (which, as always, required script cuts after I put together the initial rough draft), but I'll try to add something to the web post tomorrow. Thanks for the suggestion.

CD version now listed for pre-order on Amazon UK: Tubby Hayes Complete Fontana Albums Just pre-ordered, and with shipping to the U.S. it came to about $69... not bad!

A recent Night Lights program focusing on the brief but significant musical partnership of pianist Horace Parlan and saxophonist Stanley Turrentine is now available for online listening: Pittsburgh Soul Connection: Horace Parlan And Stanley Turrentine

Jlhoots has the Threadgill set up for sale in the "Offering and Looking For" forum.