ghost of miles

Last night Miguel Andujar became the second Yankee in team history to hit 40 doubles and 20 HR in his rookie season. The other? Joe DiMaggio. Not bad, Miggy!

Let me know what you think! It's an older show (I did it about 10 years ago), but it was definitely a labor of love--the focus is on Conover. I interviewed a biographer of his and got a couple of quotes from George Avakian as well... and there's some archived interviews with Conover himself, though done late in life after the operation that changed his voice. Also some bits from his VOA broadcasts, and music and artists that he championed, plus a rare 45 that he released of a collaboration with guitarist Charlie Byrd.

Hey Brad, so glad you enjoyed the show, and thanks for sharing those vivid memories as well. The Night Lights show on Willis Conover starts with that A-Train introduction... "Time for jazz--Willis Conover with the Voice of America jazz hour": Conover's Coming Over: Willis Conover and Jazz on the Voice of America

A six-CD set coming from Sunnyside later this autumn--here's the email I just received: I'm very excited to be working with pianist Frank Kimbrough on Monk's Dreams: The Complete Compositions of Thelonious Sphere Monk, a six-CD boxed set of the entire Monk repertoire, to be released November 23 via Sunnyside. The album features Kimbrough with bassist Rufus Reid, drummer Billy Drummond and multi-instrumentalist Scott Robinson. They celebrate the albums on Nov. 27 & 28 at The Jazz Standard in NYC. The recordings came about because, at their October 2017 performance, Kimbrough's friend Mait Jones urged that the group record Monk's entire oeuvre. A jazz fan and co-presenter of his own Princeton series JazzNights, Jones brought in his friend and fellow jazz head, Dr. Dorothy Lieberman, to help co-produce the effort. The recordings form a fantastically diverse collection. On the set Monk's compositions are played in various configurations, most by the quartet, but others in smaller combinations, even solo piano. Highlights of the group's takes on these classic pieces include Robinson's juggling of trumpet and tenor sax on "Thelonious" and the ensemble's free-wheeling energy on "Skippy." "Locomotive" is the picture of peaceful beauty, whereas "Jackie-ing" is all jumps and starts. Reid and Robinson play beautifully on "Reflections" and a lovely solo performance of "Crepuscule with Nellie" showcases Kimbrough's command of the piano and Monk's language. The package also includes beautifully penned liner notes from Nate Chinen (New York Times, WBGO and NPR) along with notes from members of the ensemble and the producers of the album. I'll have downloads soon, but just wanted to make sure you knew about this project. A press release is below. All the best, Ann Braithwaite Office: 781-259-9600 Text: 781-367-9760 Frank Kimbrough Quartet Monk's Dreams: The Complete Compositions of Thelonious Sphere Monk A six-disc boxed set of the entire Thelonious Monk repertoire by a quartet led by pianist Frank Kimbrough will be released November 23, 2018! A celebration of this release will be held Nov. 27th and 28th at the Jazz Standard in New York City! © Marielle Solan The genius of pianist and composer Thelonious Monk is unassailable. Since his death in 1982, he has become recognized as one of the greatest composers of jazz – and of the wider world of music. The year 2017 was the centennial of Monk’s birth, and brought scores of tributes, including a well-received stay of pianist Frank Kimbrough’s quartet at the Jazz Standard club in New York City. Like many jazz pianists, Kimbrough found Monk’s music a revelation when he first heard it. From the outset of his career, Kimbrough has returned time and again to Monk’s compositions. After nearly four decades of study, reflection, and performance, Kimbrough has established a relationship with these pieces and found a way to express himself through the prism of Monk. When the Standard approached Kimbrough to put together a quartet to play Monk’s music, he picked the brilliant rhythm section of bassist Rufus Reid and drummer Billy Drummond. His choice for lead horn voice was the multi-instrumentalist Scott Robinson, with whom he has played for many years and in many combinations, most notably with the Maria Schneider Orchestra. After the first set of the October 17th, 2017 performance at the Standard Kimbrough’s friend Mait Jones urged that the group record Monk’s entire oeuvre, a feat that Kimbrough had never considered. A jazz fan and co-presenter of his own Princeton series JazzNights Jones began a lifelong appreciation of Monk when he heard the master live at the Five Spot in New York City in 1957 . Over the next few days, Jones doubled down on his intent to make the project reach fruition, bringing in his friend and fellow jazz head, Dr. Dorothy Lieberman, to help co-produce the effort. The musicians began the intensive work such a project demands. Finally, in April of 2018 Kimbrough led a trio and then the quartet at Jazz at the Kitano, polishing 30 new tunes on the way to the full Monk catalog of 70 pieces. For the recording, Matt Balitsaris provided his renowned Maggie’s Farm studios and an optimistic plan of recording a disc’s worth of material each day for six days. The musicians recorded each day from 11 to 5 or 6 in two three-day intervals broken up by a three-day respite. Miraculously this ambitious plan succeeded, with most tunes needing only one or two takes. Robinson picked his axe of choice on the spot, from the standard (tenor sax and trumpet) to the exotic (bass saxophone, echo cornet, bass clarinet, and contrabass sarrusophone). The resultant tracks are fresh, varied, and inspired. Highlights of the group’s takes on these classic pieces include Robinson’s juggling of trumpet and tenor sax on “Thelonious” and the ensemble’s free-wheeling energy on “Skippy.” “Locomotive” is the picture of peaceful beauty, whereas “Jackie-ing” is all jumps and starts. Reid and Robinson play beautifully on “Reflections” and a lovely solo performance of “Crepuscule with Nellie” showcases Kimbrough’s command of the piano and Monk’s language. The recordings form a fantastically diverse collection. On the six-CD set, titled Monk's Dreams: The Complete Compositions of Thelonious Sphere Monk, Monk’s compositions are played in various configurations, most by the quartet, but others in smaller combinations, even solo piano. The package also includes beautifully penned liner notes from Nate Chinen (New York Times, WBGO and NPR) along with notes from members of the ensemble and the producers of the album.

This Night Lights show features music from both the McLean and McGhee recordings of the soundtrack, some of the music from Dexter Calling, the Payne/Drew album, and a recording of one of Redd's compositions by Daniel Humair (available on Jazz In Paris Jazz And Cinema V. 3): The Connection: The Living Theater and Hardbop Jazz Unfortunately the playlists for all Night Lights shows are temporarily unavailable because of our move to a new website-content delivery system.

Love the use of the Benny Hill chase theme!

Bop City came up in my interview with John Handy ten years ago, but the story he told about him and Chet Baker trying to sit in with Dexter Gordon circa 1950 happened at an Oakland venue, apparently: John Handy talks with Night Lights part 1

This program is now up for online listening, with a tip of the hat to board members in the credits at the end: Mob-Lee: Lee Morgan And Hank Mobley

This new Night Lights show, put together with input from members of this board (you are thanked in the outgoing credits!) is now up for online listening: Mob-Lee: Hank Mobley and Lee Morgan

Hoping Sevy will match him tonight. Re Boston, they’ve definitely got the victory mojo this year. And Martinez and Betts didn’t even start today.

They tried to trade for Gerrit Cole from the Pirates, but word is that Pittsburgh wanted either Andujar or Torres as part of the deal, and Cashman (fortunately) wasn't willing to include them. Pittsburgh still could've gotten a better haul from NY than they eventually got from Houston, IMO, but I also wonder if Cole would have pitched as well in NY, especially without the Astros' pitching magic that improves the performance of all of their starters. (I'm not saying that to cast aspersions on Houston's program, btw--I admire their efforts in this regard a great deal.) Another good start from Happ last night, though. And Luke Voit has emerged as an unlikely late-season hero.

We re-aired Diggin' Diz: A Musical Portrait Of Dizzy Gillespie In The 1940s last week, and it remains archived for online listening.

Up for today's centennial: Last Of The Lions: Gerald Wilson

Thanks for the heads-up--I'll definitely be ordering. Glad for the nth time that I'm a CD guy, not an LP guy (LP version is twice the price).

Uh.... I may have made a mistake:

After pitching well in his first three starts, Lynn has been awful his last four times out. IF we can get past the A's in a WC game (a very big IF), I think the rotation for an ALDS would be Severino/Tanaka/CC/Happ. Right now I'd be tempted to go with Tanaka for the WC game. What a debacle of a homestand, though, going 3-4 against the White Sox and the Tigers, both teams playing at about 25 games under .500. Also not sure why Josh Bard put Tarpley in in the 9th to make his MLB debut with NY having closed the lead to three in the bottom of the 8th (and Greg Bird nearly hit a grand-slam that would have put them up by 1) and then left Tarpley in there with two outs after he loaded the bases. At that point I'd still be trying to win the game, and three runs is obviously a better deficit to try to close than the five-run one they ended up chipping away at in the bottom of the 9th. This West Coast trip could be brutal.

Bless you, sir!

He’s definitely not the same player who won MVP a few years back, but at this point anybody is an upgrade over Shane Robinson. And we gave up very little to get him. The only thing that puzzles me is that Clint Frazier is finally playing again and presumably on his way back to the team—maybe they’re stocking up for the expanded September roster, but yes, I think it points to Judge possibly being out for the rest of the regular season. And how sharp is he going to be if he doesn’t start playing again until the WC game? Speaking of DL’d players, Chris Sale is throwing again, correct? He should be better-rested for the postseason than he was last year.

Not sure--the set ends in 1954, right? Seems unlikely that many (if any) are still around, but I think Sultanof would indeed try to reach out to them. From what I've read of his writing, I think he'll be very good on the music itself.

But what about the Times-Picayune’s 1919 followup article proclaiming “Jass Is Dead”?

I know him primarily from his participation in Mike Fitzgerald's jazz-research listserv. He's written a book I'd like to read called Experiencing Big Band Jazz:  A Listener's Companion. And here's his bio.

Thanks so much, Brad. We’ve had a big surge of traffic for it ever since Michael Cuscuna linked to it in the Mosaic Gazette.

... and on to disc 2 of this: