ghost of miles

NY Times now reporting that he died today, according to a family spokesperson. Constellation Records statement

DREAM STREET: W. EUGENE SMITH'S PITTSBURGH PROJECT (edited by Sam Stephenson)

A music-biz friend of mine is posting on his Facebook page that Vic has passed away.

Randy, I remember you quite well too (I've retold your "imagine how many Kind of Blue reissues that guy missed" joke to several fellow jazz fans over the past couple of years)--you've been missed, and it's great to have you back here again. Best wishes for a continuing recovery.

WBEZ-Chicago will use the Guaraldi Night Lights excerpt to kick off their "Holidays Unwrapped: Audio Gifts From WBEZ" special, airing today at 12 p.m. CST and again on Christmas morning at 9 a.m. CST. Not sure how they've edited the excerpt, but no doubt for the better... anyway, happy holidays to Chi-town Organissimo posters and beyond.

Score one more for the Aloc-Man!

Apparently Joe Segal wrote a monthly (or near-monthly) column about the Chicago jazz scene for Metronome in 1956 and '57. I was just over at the IU School of Music library, frantically copying numerous 1950s/60s articles (Seagal's among them) before they closed at 5 p.m... they're not scheduled to re-open till Jan. 4, 2010. Dangerous for me to open up those old Downbeat and Metronome volumes--can easily get distracted by numerous other articles in any given issue.

Larry, yes--my God, that is an intense passage. There's also a reference to Halliday's girlfriend having saved Clark through CPR not long before that night as well. I didn't flash on Halliday's Chicago connection, though I'm sure Stephenson probably mentioned it. Everybody--thanks much for all of the wonderful suggestions. I've been rereading the early chapters of George Lewis' book (will be revisiting Larry's as well) and will be scouring some older jazz journals at the IU School of Music Library this week too.

Man, I just hope Mosaic puts out that Ellington 30s big-band set before then.

Revisiting the Artie Shaw and finally listened to disc 6 of the Jazz Passengers set, which I've had for a couple of years. That's a very good/underrated set for straightahead 1960s hardbop.

It does seem like a good trade on paper, Dave. But I'm going to miss Melky. He was at the plate at the end of ALCS Game 2--that extraordinarily long, rain-drenched affair prolonged by A-Rod's homer in the 11th: Yankees go up 2-0 in ALCS The chemistry of the 2009 team was truly magical--the more I look back at that season, the more that moments like this one or this one (the moment that finished off the Bosox as division contenders IMO) convince me that the baseball gods were smiling on NY throughout the summer and autumn, whether it be miscues or heroics. It'll be interesting to see what emerges with the slightly re-tooled 2010 edition. And in another key off-season move, what does the departure of Kate Hudson portend for A-Rod's 2010 season?

Bill, thanks, glad you enjoyed it. I became friends with Sascha when he was doing grad work here in Bloomington during the 1990s--actually met him right around the time I got jazz religion. That poem was originally published by a bookstore (long gone) here in B-town, and Sascha was gracious enough to do a recording of it for the Night Lights show. He publishes a very good jazz journal, Brilliant Corners, and has written or edited several anthologies of jazz poetry and fiction.

I'd like to see Damon back for a two-year stint as well, Dave. Agree w/you about his overall attitude and presence on the team. Pinstripe Alley quoted a tweet to the effect that he signaled he'd take 2 yr/20 million but by then the Yanks were already locked in to sign Johnson.

This week's Night Lights show, the annual Christmas extravaganza, now up for online listening: Hep To The Holidays ...includes poet Sascha Feinstein reading "Christmas Eve," a poem about the legendary 1954 Miles Davis-Thelonious Monk recording session, Bob Brookmeyer's "Santa Claus Blues," Horace Silver and Andy Bey's recording of "Peace," and much more. Plus, check out the program page for a Night Lights holiday outtake--hipster comedian Lord Buckley performing his take on Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." Happy holidays, all.

Oscar Peterson, disc 4 of the Pablo box for me--having just ransacked my study closet for a pair of stocking holders which turned out to be in the upstairs closet...and now there's a floor full o' crap to be organized (I can't say re-organized, because it definitely wasn't organized in the first place).

Congratulations, CT--I'll try to tune in one of these Sunday evenings.

We actually had a break-in right next door a few weeks ago, but it was a fairly standard burglary for this city--happened on Thanksgiving Day while the student renters were all back in their hometowns. Up in Indianapolis, my dad's definitely seen an increase in break-ins around his neighborhood. Like I said, that's why the FBI report kind of surprises me... you usually see a spike in crime, esp. property crime, in this kind of economic climate. Given that this recession really goes all the way back to 2007, I'd think you'd be seeing the impact in crime rates by the first half of 2009.

A bit surprised by this, as crime of all kinds (robbery/burglary esp. of course) tends to go up when the economy tanks: Murders fall 10% in first half of 2009

I've got nearly all of this material as well, on the Japanese mini-LPs that came out in the 1990s...one reason why I never tried to pick up the 10-CD box. But good to know that it's being made available in this way again.

Up for a happy 80th to Mr. Brookmeyer today.

Hey all, I'm working on a Night Lights show about Chicago hardbop and wanted to solicit some suggestions from the Chi-town experts here on the board... Johnny Griffin, of course, Ira Sullivan, Clifford Jordan/John Gilmore, Von Freeman, Wilbur Ware, Gene Ammons for starters...other suggestions? I'm particularly interested in featuring several unsung players as well, along the lines of Gene Shaw, MJT + 3, etc. (In fact, the show could end up featuring only the "unsung" side of the equation, given all of the musicians who could fit into this topic.) Period I'm covering is roughly 1950 to 1975 or 80. Thanks much in advance.

WBEZ-Chicago just licensed this program today through PRX. They're going to use an excerpt from it as part of a two-hour holiday special. Not sure of the broadcast date/time yet, but I'll post it when I find out.

"Skylark" from that album ends the show. Hope you enjoy it, danasgoodstuff. Thanks to a fellow board member, managed to play a track from Brookmeyer's GLOOMY SUNDAY AND OTHER BRIGHT MOMENTS as well.

You beat me to it, King--I got mine today as well and just finished disc 1. Many thanks to fellow board members for tipping me off to this set.

Thanks for the tips on those--I'll check 'em out. There's a link on the Brookmeyer Night Lights page to the interview that Marc Myers of Jazzwax did with BB as well (also a video clip of Brookmeyer and Gerry Mulligan playing BB's "Open Country" in the 1950s).