ghost of miles

Man, if ever an artist deserved an hour of NIGHT LIGHTS, it's Cecil Payne! Yeah, I know--he's on "The Connection" show (that version of the score--non-Freddie-Redd--that he did with Kenny Drew for Charlie Parker Records), but he really does serve a fullblown program. We work pretty far ahead, but maybe I can put something together over the weekend and post it online as a kind of supplemental program. I'm sure there'll be quite a few jazz radio tributes in the next several days.

Caught that post earlier this a.m., Clem--I figured Brooklyn would be calling for Mr. Payne. Very nice tribute. I'll have to track down/check out that Strata East album. Bummed about this, even if he did live a long life and all that--going to spin the records with Weston this p.m.

Thanks much, aloc--I'm a big fan of Ms. Lee (and Mr. Mal, it should go without saying).

Very sorry to hear this sad news, GS. My wife and I have five cats, and they mean the world to us. My two boy cats (whom I've had since before my wife and I even met) are 18 and 17, still getting along OK, but I know they have only a handful of years left... I hope you're able to find just a bit of solace here, as many Org posters seem to have similar close bonds with their pets.

Thought I'd pass this along: I still want to do a Twardzik Night Lights and am still waiting for Jack Chambers' bio to come out....which (through no fault of his) may be a long, long time.

Tony Judt, POSTWAR: A HISTORY OF EUROPE SINCE 1945.

We'll be re-airing this program tonight on WFIU (11:05 p.m. EST) and WNIN-Evansville (9 p.m. Central Time), and tomorrow evening at 10 p.m. EST on Michigan's Blue Lake Public Radio. It is already archived for online listening. Next week: "Early Ellis: Don Ellis at the Dawn of the 1960s."

One way to kick... Boot-camp cure for web addiction

"Conover's Coming Over" is archived for online listening...also got a very nice write-up from Doug Ramsey at Rifftides.

Fixed, thanks for the tip. Watching the David Spade/William Shatner episode right now...up in three parts on YouTube.

I haven't been much of a TV watcher since my teenage days, but this was one show I always managed to catch. A couple of favorite scenes that have popped up on YouTube: Larry and Artie: "You didn't just say..."

Conover's Coming Over: Willis Conover and Jazz at the Voice of America “Willis Conover did more to crumble the Berlin wall and bring about the collapse of the Soviet empire than all the Cold War presidents put together,” jazz writer Gene Lees once said. Working for decades as a broadcaster for the Voice of America, Conover was perhaps the most influential and widely-heard jazz DJ of the 20th century. He brought the music into eastern Europe and other areas of the world where jazz was either repressed or commercially unavailable, helping to bridge the cultural gap between Western and Communist-bloc countries. In addition to the many fans he garnered around the globe, he counted jazz greats such as Duke Ellington among his friends. Willis Conover and Duke Ellington An advocate of breaking down racial barriers, a proponent and MC for the Newport Jazz Festival, and a force behind the National Endowment for the Art’s funding of jazz, Conover left his imprint upon the American jazz scene as well, but Congressional restrictions prevented his program Music USA from being aired in the United States, and consequently he remained, in some ways, a stranger in his own country. He was a sophisticated but lonely man who sacrificed much of his personal life for what he viewed as his calling–promoting jazz throughout the world over the Voice of America airwaves. He passed away in 1996 after a long battle with cancer, his efforts and achievements largely unrecognized by his own government. Musical selections in this Night Lights program include both of the sides that Conover co-wrote with Alec Wilder and recorded with Charlie Byrd, an early Johnny Mandel arrangement of "The Song Is You" performed by the Orchestra (a D.C. big band that Conover presented), the Orchestra doing Bill Potts' Conover tribute "Willis" (with Charlie Parker sitting in), Louis Armstrong and the Newport International Band doing "On the Sunny Side of the Street," and Conover introducing Eubie Blake's performance of "Stars and Stripes Forever" at a 1969 New Orleans jazz festival. The program also features remarks from Conover biographer Terence Ripmaster and Conover himself, as well as excerpts from Conover's broadcasts and a tribute from jazz producer and Conover friend George Avakian. "Conover's Coming Over" airs this evening at 9 p.m. Central Time on WNIN-Evansville and at 11 p.m. EST on WFIU. It will also air Sunday evening at 10 EST on Michigan's Blue Lake Public Radio.

You beat me to it--this one is already circulating amongst the jazz heads here in Bloomington:

Johnny MAN-del or man-DELL? I've heard it both ways.

And now for something completely different... Buddy Bolden film

No news is not good news in this regard... others here might have more solid knowledge to back their speculation, but I'll be happily surprised to hear of anything in the pipeline.

Joe Timer? I would think TIME-ur, but wanted to double-check...

Hey all, working close to the deadline on next weekend's Night Lights show, about Willis Conover, and wanted to ask if posters here could mention any LPs or CDs on which his voice appears introducing acts, talking about them, etc. I know he's on the following: ELLINGTON AT NEWPORT 1958 (the 2-CD set, not the recent Mosaic reissue) Billie Holiday, JAZZ AT THE PHILHARMONIC (includes her 1957 Newport set) Louis Armstrong's 1960 Newport LP Any others? He is not on the Blue Note CD of the 1969 Ellington White House performance, although he did MC that night. Thanks much in advance for any assistance.

This program will re-air tonight on Michigan's Blue Lake Public Radio at 10 p.m. EST, but it is already archived for online listening.

Hope you're enjoying life back stateside... and hey, so close to Veterans' Day!

I hope it's a swell one for you... a friend owes you a long overdue PM and wishes to assure you that you have been in his thoughts.

If anybody wants to hear more of the music in the Nelson box before making a decision, here's a Night Lights show based on it: Full Nelson

Advertisements for Myself is my favorite--though I've read only several of his books. Seems to me like he was one of the last literary lions, in the sense of writer-as-public-figure... those days have largely passed for authors. RIP Mr. Mailer.

betts' film includes a clip of the Blackstone Rangers (Chicago gang for those unacquainted with Chi-town history) performing on the Smothers Brothers TV show... OB Jr. the organizing/creative force behind that event.

Thanks for the heads-up, LV--fixed.