ghost of miles

There may be other Blue Note sets like this in the pipeline. I have all of the reissued CDs but will definitely bite on a Mobley box for sure. It’ll be a great excuse to revisit all of this material.

Nice to see James Reese Europe getting this kind of attention in the Times: The Year Jazz Came Into Its Own Europe's resurfaced on my radar this past week or so as a result of working on a Night Lights show about Ellington's Black, Brown and Beige.

Last week’s Night Lights show features live recordings of guitarist Wes Montgomery in his hometown of Indianapolis, in California, in New York, and in Paris: From Naptown To Paris: Wes Montgomery Live Coming up this week: “Black, Brown And Beige: Duke Ellington’s Historic Jazz Symphony.”

One of a kind for sure... glad that he stuck around for as long as he did. My girlfriend and her mother listened to him with great devotion when they lived in the Chicago area.

Me as well--thanks for the heads-up!

Thank you much, sir! You're good people.

WFIU colleague is putting together a Lou-Rawls-in-the-60s show and just asked me how to pronounce Onzy Matthews' first name. I've always said "ON-zee," but is that correct?

Is this him, at the beginning of this audio clip?

Who/what was the 1945 version recorded for? I'm familiar with the DETS broadcasts from that year... there's also a two-part BBB on the V-disc recordings, though not sure where that's sourced from.

I think we're definitely on our way to a work stoppage come the next CBA negotiations. If I were the players' union, I'd push for dramatically lifting the luxury tax brackets, raising the minimum MLB salary, and putting a stop to the manipulation of service time... for starters. And definitely advocate some anti-tanking measures as well, though I'm not sure what form those might take.

As much as I love Betty Roche, I'd probably agree that Ivie noses past her as Ellington's "best" regular-band vocalist; Joya Sherrill's another favorite of mine. When it comes to male vocalists, I know Al Hibbler drives some folks up the wall, but I actually enjoy his presence in the mid-to-late-40s edition of the orchestra. "This is your brain on Coltrane."

As baseball debates its rules, players suggest trying harder to win

That is great news, Ken! Thanks for the heads-up.

Fantastic, TTK! A couple of shows down the line for which I may well seek your input. Thanks so much, Joe! Shirley seemed right at home with it.

Apt timing for me--I've been listening to the Complete Black Saint and Soul Note box of albums this weekend, recently purchased from a fellow board member. And there's the new release of mid-60s material with Jeanne Lee floating around as well.

Foner's history of the Reconstruction is sitting on the table at which I'm typing--hoping to get to it sometime this year. (It may become my next "breakfast book," which often tends to be a history volume of some kind. Current "breakfast book" is Joseph C. Goulden's Korea: The Untold Story Of The War.)

Here’s a new Night Lights show that I did about Shirley: “Jazz Is Not A Noun”: Don Shirley, The Extraordinary Pianist

Last week’s Night Lights took a look at the musical career of pianist Don Shirley, recently depicted in the Oscar-nominated movie Green Book: “Jazz Is Not A Noun”: Don Shirley, The Extraordinary Pianist

That’s the other Pullman-porters book on my to-read list... great Pullman-curious minds think alike, eh? We’ll have to trade reviews!

Wrapping up Victory City (which has been excellent) and getting ready to start this: