ghost of miles

Pretty funny thing from the Yanks' win last night over Baltimore--Posada lost track of the count twice. First time he took a ball 4 and kept standing at the plate, till the ump hipped him to the fact that he'd just gotten a walk. Second time, later in the game, he took a called strike 2 and started walking back to the dugout, thinking he'd struck out. Provoking much amusement from his teammates...then he steps back to the plate and on the next pitch drills a two-run homer. (Video: Posada loses count twice) A bit concerned that Burnett got knocked around, though. Not counting the great game he pitched against the Bosox at Yankee Stadium, has he had a good start in the last month or so?

An online find, but for some reason Allegro had a new copy of the out-of-print first Ivie Anderson/Duke Ellington Hep last week (RAISIN' THE RENT) for $12. I came across it on Amazon Marketplace--got the CD in the mail today, and the listing is gone. Haven't checked the Allegro site, but I know it's OOP and that vendors usually want a steep sum for it. Been on my wish-list for awhile, even though I have a fair amount of the material already... a nice tide-me-over until the Ellington Mosaic finally comes out (fingers still crossed on that one).

It's an excellent book--one that I find myself going back to over and over again (& surely will after getting the new reissues).

Wonderful write-up by Marc today as well: Chris Connor 1927-2009

Sure, absolutely, support living artists (though last time I checked Organissimo qualified, as do several of the artists Chuck has reissued...and Denny Zeitlin and John Handy are still alive, though I get the point). I simply want to urge people to buy stuff from anybody with whom we share some kind of connection--and I know that some of these folks have not been enjoying boom times of late in terms of CD sales. Most of us here on the board already do our share of such buying year-round; I'm just putting out the suggestion that we throw a little holiday-season love that way as well--whether it's a Mosaic Select or the latest Vijay Iyer.

Hey all, an early holiday-season appeal (I'll bump it up later in the year) to buy Mosaic sets/Selects/singles, Nessa reissues, Organissimo CDs--or any other products put out by those we've favored or friended here--as birthday or holiday presents for those in your life who might enjoy such things. (Hell, send 'em to another board member!) I'm buying the Basie/Young Mosaic for a good friend who I know will get a blast out of it, and a Nessa title for another jazz-loving buddy.

Confirmation from the Kansas City Star: Chris Connor has died

According to a report on the Yahoo Songbirds listserv. I really, really loved her singing. Last of the Vo-Cool School: Chris Connor, 1927-2009

I'm picking up 4 of the reissues--BEATLES FOR SALE, RUBBER SOUL, REVOLVER, and SGT. PEPPER. Btw, friend of mine who runs a record store tells me EMI severely underpressed the mono box--10,000 copies, and the demand is for far more...from what he says, EMI will end up with millions of dollars in lost profits from the low run. EDIT: apparently it's already sold out at Amazon US and Amazon Canada, but still available through Amazon UK.

Website says "early September" for shipping--anybody talked to Mosaic in the past few days & heard a more specific date? If not, I'll call Monday and see if they have an estimated shipping date yet.

We're re-airing Jazz Goes Folk this week; it's already archived for online listening.

Some early versions of OC tunes on the Night Lights Ornette Coleman Songbook show (including the Wilson recording--but somehow I overlooked Bobby H.'s...from STICK-UP, right?).

Legendary stuff--I have a 3-CD reissue that came out a few years ago. BTW, I didn't realize till a few nights ago that Charles Tyler's SAGA OF THE OUTLAWS was originally done for the Wildflowers session...finally got to the Nessa reissue in my giant stack o' new jazz CDs and read that in the liner notes. SAGA a great record as well...man, those dueling bass lines! (Not to mention Tyler's playing.)

I really like "King of America." It was one of the first Costello albums I ever got. Ray Brown's on that record, innit he?

I've seen it "Prez" as much as I've seen it "Pres"--in fact, just this morning at my friend's record shop I came across a couple of Lester records that used the "Prez" version in the title. Seems like it basically boils down to user preference, rather than there being one canonical spelling.

Correct me if I'm wrong, Big Al, but I think the Rangers are the first team to take a series from the Yanks since the All-Star break.

Mentioned this in the Night Lights round-up post and started a thread elsewhere, but Ethan Iverson's 10-part tribute today is pretty amazing: Lester Young Centennial

I put this in the Night Lights round-up post, but it deserves a thread of its own: Do the Math: Lester Young Centennial ...includes, among many other things, Ethan hanging out with Lee Konitz while they listen to some choice Lester solos. It's an epic post.

Great version of "Gloomy Sunday" on the bonus disc of the 2003 TRUST reissue.

I posted a round-up of some Prez tributes from today, as well as links to an old Night Lights program and a new Afterglow one: The House in the Heart: Lester Young in the 1950s Lester Young and the Singers (special note of thanks to board members!)

Good post today from Darcy James Argue--more supportive of Teachout than many other bloggers' posts: Nights Alive With Music ...I'd forgotten all about that Piscopo Sinatra sketch from the 80s: He also made a good point via Twitter:

Tucker's also the pianist on George Benson's 1973 live date ALL BLUES. (Not a bad group--George Duvivier on bass, Al Harewood on drums.)

A new biography of Waits out, though it seems to have gotten mixed notices so far.

One that I return to from time to time: Tom Waits' "Take Care of All My Children," the song that plays over the ending credits of the 1984 documentary STREETWISE. It's on the ORPHANS set.

Thanks for the heads-up on those, thedwork. Have to be up in 4 hours myself--just finished the article and am off to bed. Hopefully it will make sense in the morning...