ghost of miles

I'm a big fan of GLASS BEAD GAMES, though Jim Sangrey says there's better Jordan than that from the 1970s. Definitely a good era for all kinds of jazz, in spite of its undeserved crappy rep...I think conventional wisdom on the decade has definitely changed (at last!) over the past several years. If you liked that Hutcherson, here's a Night Lights show that covers other albums from that era: Later: Bobby Hutcherson in the Mid-1970s Another NL show that might be of interest: Charles Tolliver on Strata East in the Early 1970s And definitely check out this page: Ear of the Behearer I could also swear that there's a gargantuan Organissimo thread devoted to 1970s jazz somewhere here on the board...will see if I can find it. EDIT: can't seem to locate it right now (maybe I imagined it, or saw such a thread elsewhere), but here's a prior Clifford Jordan thread. For more 1970s jazz, also see this December 2006 NY Times article, though it doesn't contain direct links to the blog postings mentioned...but I think all of the albums from those lists were compiled on the Ear of the Behearer site that I linked to above.

Yanks looking quite mortal in the late innings today.

Probably posted some of these already upstream in the thread, but re: Chuck's very valid point, here are some non-Dolphy GR-related Night Lights shows: When Russell Met Baker (includes music from KANSAS CITY, AT THE FIVE SPOT, and STRATUSPHUNK) Very Early: Bill Evans 1956-58 (includes "Concerto for Billy the Kid," "Jack's Blues," and an excerpt from "All About Rosie," as well as Hal McKusick's interpretation of "Stratusphunk") David Young: a Quiet Strength (includes some of the Russell Deccas and Riversides) The Jazz Workshops: George Russell and Hal McKusick ...a little bit of material overlap on a couple of these shows.

Jeter sets MLB record for most hits by a shortstop.

That is very early...thanks for the tip, Swinging Swede, wasn't aware of that release.

This week's Night Lights show, which explores Bill Evans' early recordings (almost exclusively as a sideman), is now posted for online listening. Featuring the music of Charles Mingus, Hal McKusick, Tony Scott, George Russell and others, it shows Evans' playing in a different light from the later style for which he'd gain fame: Very Early: Bill Evans, 1956-58

George Shearing and the Singers now archived for online listening.

Just saw this on WD45's Twitter feed--Beck and some friends covering The Velvet Underground and Nico: Record Club

Great quote! Doing an Afterglow this week that features his recordings with singers (mostly on Capitol late 1950s/early 1960s, plus some later stuff with Mel Torme). Happy b-day to Mr. Shearing.

Hell of a day so far...

Listened to the first volume of the two Shaw-Forrest Jasmine CDs last night--sound is OK, notes are fairly skimpy, but it really does seem like the best way to get all of the sides she did with the band.

TOUCHIN' ON TRANE w/Gayle and Parker is another Ali fave of mine, along with the previously mentioned INTERSTELLAR SPACE. I've heard only a little of the Survival stuff but liked it quite a lot.

Very interesting--thanks for posting, Dave.

Aw, c'mon--after 11 pages, can't we have a little fun? Some responses to Teachout: Doug Ramsey Howard Mandel A Blog Supreme

Imagine getting paid to defecate on stage. Although you could say that has transpired, metaphorically speaking, from time to time.

Now you're getting into G.G. Allin territory! I knew a guy who was way into Allin--who, among other things, had threatened to commit suicide on-stage and take as many members of the audience as possible with him. When he told me he wanted to attend Allin's suicide performance, I jokingly said, "Aren't you afraid he'll take you out too?" He said, "I would be proud to die at G.G. Allin's suicide performance." Ah, early twentysomething hipster poserness!

That's pretty funny. One time I saw Danilio Perez play in a park in the Bronx. he was playing his originals with a good band---and reaching no one, they were bored and fidgety. He basically said 'f$%k it', called up a congero to the stge, and played Oyo Como Va. He got the crowd back. I guess he realized there's a time and place for everything. Had a somewhat similar experience with a high-profile musician's concert a few years back (somebody I like quite a lot)...he played most of the concert with this stoic, quasi-bad-ass/would-be-Miles attitude, wearing shades, not addressing the audience, etc. Near the end he could definitely tell he'd lost a great deal of the crowd, and he opened up a bit (as did the music, which had been heavy on the cerebral side of things, and not in a particularly engaging way).

Jazz just has a very bad cold. Talk about slaying an audience!

Yanks pulled it out tonight, with back-to-back homers in the 8th a la Sunday night against the Sox... glad for the win, what with Chamberlain getting knocked about and Rivera's scoreless streak being snapped. But what of this oddity, buried in the "Baseball Notes" at the end of the wire-story recap? ?? Dave, that is indeed one loose clubhouse this year!

Best birthday wishes to a former Bloomingtonian and a fantastic jazz writer--we're very lucky to have you around these parts, sir.

Dave, another moment I enjoyed tonight was how Teixeira ran down the first-base line still holding his bat up in his hand as he watched to see whether or not his homer-in-progress would stay fair. Big Al, isn't Texas now tied with Boston for the wild-card?

What I want to know is if success will spoil Rock Hunter or not. Much as I love the 1920-1990 era of jazz (and a quite a lot after), I get bummed when I see intense/reflexive reactions to things like the "Re-mixed" projects. Granted, a lot of those aren't successful for one reason or another, and I'm not saying they're the salvation of the music or anything like that...it's just that often there's such a "How dare they!" response to such things. A bassist who used to play with a local group I like quite a lot here in town was visiting a couple of weeks ago, and he was talking about how the younger musicians (this includes him--he's 31) in his current city just don't pay much attention to hard boundary lines when it comes to music. For one thing, they can't afford to, or they'll be shutting themselves out of gigs. We also joked about the attitude that "Everything must sound like 1963! (or insert some other year) Jazz is all about FREEDOM and IMPROVISATION, so everything must sound like 1963!" I think that from the historical perspective musicians, educators, writers, DJs etc. can all make a better effort to hip people to what's happening in the music and how to listen to/better enjoy it. (Two DJs I really admire in this regard are Lazaro and Jae Sinnett.) And to do that in a way that's fun & enthusiastic (which can simply be playing music that's alive & having a good time doing it, a la Organissimo). But I'll do my broken-record routine and say yet again that any "jazz future" that extends beyond the classical/museum model is likely to be in different instrumental configurations than we've been used to--not to mention different aesthetic configurations. (And some people are going to argue that it's not "jazz.") Quartets/quintets, piano trios & all that will continue, to be sure. Players like Josh Berman will come along and extend the sound in interesting, compelling ways. But I think the most creative and intriguing developments will allude to the tradition and bounce off it and around it without being prisoners of it at the same time. And they'll also reflect everything that's gone on in music and the wider world over the past 5, 10, 15-30 years. Some of this is already happening, but it's under the middle-brow radar (a place where I all too often find myself gravitating towards as I get older... it's too damn easy, for one thing). OTOH the Internet makes it much easier to investigate new scenes & sounds if you get hip to them. For me, the future ends up being more murky than gloomy... I know I'll never get tired of listening to Ellington, Coltrane, Bird, Bud Powell, etc. I could probably live with just that music for the rest of my life! But I know my life would be a richer one if I also kept my ears open and listened for new sounds...albeit ones that won't give me the same immediate pleasure/comfort that Ellington et al do. And in fact, new sounds tend to rejuvenate my appreciation for the older players, whether I find myself liking said new sounds or not.

A-Rod's definitely not at his best--probably in large part to lingering hip issues (certainly has affected his running, as we saw tonight with that infield grounder he would have beaten out in the past), but yeah, he seems genuinely happy and really into the team spirit of things. BTW, Dave, you probably saw this mentioned in the ESPN broadcast, and it was in the online recap as well: Surprising! More than Ruth & Gehrig or Maris & Mantle ever put together? In any event, I was whooping it up after Teixeira's shot...my wife called down the stairs excitedly and said, "What happened?" After dejectedly watching Lester dominate the Yanks all night long (save for A-Rod's blast) and Bard make short work of Matsui and Jeter, I had logged on here to say, "Hey, 3 out of 4 ain't bad..." And 4 out of 4 is even better! Is that truly the first time we've swept the Sox in 24 years? I'm sure not counting Boston out yet, though. Martinez is obviously a great addition to their line-up. And when are Dice-K and Wakefield due back from the DL? Just hoping we can take 2 of 3 at Fenway.

Maybe they're anticipating that some of these sets will soon be available again, and don't want the current catalogue to discourage people from trying to order? But it certainly can't be a desirable situation for them...being unable to fulfill certain orders. I've been buying Mosaic sets for 13-14 years now & can't ever remember a similar situation. It might have been good to put some sort of general note addressing the issue into the new catalogue.

Whew! Rivera let the tying run come to the plate but got out of it. Always nerve-wracking when he goes up against the Red Sox... If the Yankees can make it all the way to the World Series, I'd love to see them face the Dodgers. Lots of history there, not to mention the modern-day drama of Torre now being L.A.'s coach.