ghost of miles

Excellent--I love Dailey & will try to tune in. We do have one of his leader dates here at the station; I'll try to send you a copy for future airplay.

James Newton has it half-right... here's the history of Juneteenth from the website linked to above:

Klaatu lives!! I was a riproarin' Beatlemaniac as a kid...once made a little diorama of Candlestick Park so that I could reenact the final '66 concert. In pre-mix tape, pre-Lennon-death days, I used to fantasize about putting together an album of the best early 1970s post-Beatles cuts & singles, and pretend that it was a Beatles reunion album. (Actually, don't one or two of Ringo's recordings come close to the real thing?) Then I heard the Ramones, who were really loud, really catchy, and really NOW (at the time). That pretty much killed my Beatlemania, along with the Broadway show of the same name, which seemed dumb, dumb, dumb. (Kudos, though, to a movie called I WANNA HOLD YOUR HAND, a charming comedy/period piece about some kids trying to get into Ed Sullivan's show to see the Fab Four's American debut... saw it on a double-bill with ROCK N' ROLL HIGH SCHOOL.) Very good piece by Lester Bangs in PSYCHOTIC REACTIONS that was written right after Lennon's death ("Thinking the Unthinkable About John Lennon"). I was going to type out a few passages, but looks like somebody posted it online a couple years back, so here's the whole piece (bold emphasis mine):

Up for the holiday. Broadcast date in the archives is June 18, 2005. Happy Juneteenth! Up again for the holiday & a happy Juneteenth to all. BTW, just read in a review of the new Ellison biography that a scholar's edition of RE's JUNETEENTH novel will be coming out in the next year or so.

I binged: Cannonball Adderley, SEXTET IN NEW YORK. Joe Farrell, MOON GERMS. Sonic Youth, DAYDREAM NATION (new edition) Sun Ra, ANGELS & DEMONS/THE NUBIANS OF PLUTONIA. Art Pepper, NO LIMIT.

This week on Night Lights it’s “Nellie Lutcher’s Real Gone Rhythm,” as we pay tribute to the pianist and singer who passed away this past week at the age of 94. In the late 1940s Lutcher scored a series of hits such as “Hurry On Down” and “Fine Brown Frame” that blended jazz, pop, blues and R & B in a way that made her one of the era’s first crossover stars. We’ll hear those songs and some of Lutcher’s later recordings as well, including a duet with Nat King Cole. “Nellie Lutcher’s Real Gone Rhythm” airs Saturday, June 16 at 11:05 p.m. EST on WFIU and at 9 p.m. Central Time on WNIN-Evansville; it will also air at 10 p.m. EST Sunday on Michigan's Blue Lake Public Radio. The program will be posted Tuesday morning in the Night Lights archives. Next week: "Perfectly Frank."

My wife & I are going to see Kurt Elling at the Jazz Factory in Louisville tomorrow (Friday).

Yanks knocked off the Diamondbacks again today, 7-1, for a series sweep, and are now 33-31...have gained six games on the Bosox in the past two weeks. Looks like they might have a decent season after all.

Double Sonny feature!

Mighty Quinn Did the Quinichette LIKE BASIE ever actually come out?

Going through the Bear Family box yet again, as I'm going to do a Night Lights tribute show to her this weekend, and I'm newly impressed by the distinctly Lutcheresque feeling she put into American songbook tunes... that 1956 Liberty LP of such material, OUR NEW NELLIE, is quite good (it's on disc 4 of the Bear box, but it's also available on a Collectables CD).

Right on to the Tony Scott and Hal McKusick references, Garth... I love that music as well & have been introduced to some of it through people like you on the old BNBB (and now here). And cheers to the Early Avant-Garde! (tm Garth J).

Just talked to Mosaic, and the Mercer is now in-house--the Cohn should be arriving later today.

Anybody gotten their Mercer and/or Cohn Selects yet--or, barring that, notice that they've shipped?

Yes--I think it was you who tipped me off to that, and I love Von Freeman's 2002 recording of it w/Moran... have played that version on the radio a # of times over the past several years. Seeing LK's name was a pleasant surprise as I was leafing through the credits on that new Murphy CD.

Swimming against the tide of the thread here, but there are some very good things on this CD--the arrangements of "Leaving Again/In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning" and "Change Partners/There's No You," as well as the setting of Roethke's "The Waking" and KE's take on "I Like the Sunrise." One of the better vocal releases this year IMO.

Funny thing is the Yankees missed the playoffs for 13 years in a row, from 1982 through 1994. Don't know how many, if any, times they would've made it as a wildcard in those years... when they finally did get back in in '95 it was in just such a manner. (Odds are they would've won the division in '94 if the lockout hadn't ended the season, but so it goes.)

They were (iirc) 14 games back on July 4. However, that was obviously an extraordinary year, and the Sox were still daunted (for whatever it was worth) by "the Curse." I'd agree with Dan that they've got a decent shot at the wild-card, longshot for the division. Clemens is an asset, no doubt about it, even if he is going to be a 5-6 inning pitcher. There was no curse in 1978 for the simple reason that Shaugnnesey didn't write his book until after 1986. There was no consciousness of being fated to lose, only a knowledge that it hadn't happened since 1918. Reasons why the Red Sox should be able to hold off the Yankees this time: Yankees don't have an ace named Ron Guidry. Red Sox don't have a third baseman who had to adjust the bone chips in his elbow before every pitch and still threw away 39 throws to first. Red Sox in '78 won by bashing the ball; when the offense failed, they had a tough time winning. This season they're balanced in both pitching and offense, and unlike '78 they've got a decent to excellent group of arms in the pen. That year's team had Eck plus mediocrities like Mike Torrez and El Tiante, who was at the end of the line, and Bill Lee, who was toast or pissed off his manager too often, depending on who you believe. That Yankee team was a two-time pennant winner and defending world champions. They knew how to win. This team has as many players with rings as the Red Sox do. Hey, you're implying that "the Curse" was only a psychological effect... Just doublechecked and the Yanks were 14 games out as of July 18th that year. So yeah, an extraordinary comeback, the likes of which we probably won't see again for a long time... though this is baseball, and anything not only can happen, but is likely to happen. Beyond Guidry, that Yanks staff wasn't so great... Figueroa won 20 that year, but then you get down to Jim Beattie, Tidrow, and a fast-declining Catfish Hunter. They did have both Gossage and Lyle out of the bullpen, though Lyle iirc was disgruntled over Goose's being signed and wasn't quite as effective as he'd been in '77. Still, I'd agree that this particular NY team so far hasn't shown nearly the heart of that late-1970s team... or the late-1990s team, another edition that really knew how to win in the clutch.

Bol, can't remember if we talked about this the last time we had lunch, but did you check with Jason down at Landlocked Records? He could probably answer just about any turntable/vinyl-related question you'd have.

That's great, Big Al--I'm glad PoD clicked for you. It's always a boost to hear that a show inspired somebody to go out and buy a jazz CD... I'm lucky that I get to do this for a living. "Andrew!" is now archived. BTW, we'll have a new website in another week or so, and I'll be able to make nearly all of the changes/additions myself, which should help a great deal.

From this B-town perspective you are indeed the Great Lazaro. Swell and Ullmann have both played here in recent years...this week is swamped with work but I'll try to tune in next Tuesday night.

They were (iirc) 14 games back on July 4. However, that was obviously an extraordinary year, and the Sox were still daunted (for whatever it was worth) by "the Curse." I'd agree with Dan that they've got a decent shot at the wild-card, longshot for the division. Clemens is an asset, no doubt about it, even if he is going to be a 5-6 inning pitcher.

Best birthday wishes to you, Mr. B.

This week on Night Lights it’s “Andrew!” as we mark the passing of jazz great Andrew Hill with a program featuring his early and mid-1960s Blue Note recordings. Hill, who died at the age of 75 on April 20, 2007, was a highly original pianist and composer who recorded a string of stunning albums for Blue Note in the short span of eight months, constructing his own musical universe, much like Blue Note predecessors Thelonious Monk and Herbie Nichols. His compositions, which employed asymmetry, repeated phrases, and artful use of space, were challenging to play, but at Blue Note he found musicians who could rise to the level of his inventiveness. We’ll hear music from the LP many considered Hill’s masterpiece, Point of Departure, as well as Black Fire, Judgment, Andrew!, and Bobby Hutcherson’s album Dialogue. “Andrew!” airs Saturday, June 9 at 11:05 p.m. EST on WFIU and at 9 p.m. Central Time on WNIN-Evansville. It airs Sunday evening at 10 p.m. EST on Michigan's Blue Lake Public Radio as well. The program will be posted by Tuesday morning in the Night Lights archives. You can read (and hear) more about Andrew Hill here, and you can also see a video of his last performance at Trinity Church on March 29, 2007. Here, too, are appreciations of Hill’s music by bassist and musical colleague Richard Davis and Los Angeles jazz DJ and musician Kellen Yamanaka.

Wow--I had just pulled out the Bear Family box a couple of weeks ago for another listen, and you're exactly right, Allen. Anybody who has an appreciation for such music should really seek out the BF set... RIP.