ghost of miles

I love the quote from Richard Fulton in one of the preview clips... he's a recovering addict who opened a jazz coffeehouse in the Leimert Park area that really took off after the '92 riots: There are three things in the whole world I love to do most... sit on my ass... drink coffee... and listen to jazz. Amen! Fifth Street Dicks

I've already posted in the jazz radio forum about the Tapscott program that I've done with Steven Isoardi, but those interested in HT and the 1990s, post-riot L.A. jazz scene might want to check out this film about the Leimert Park jazz renaissance.

This week on Night Lights it’s “Alice Coltrane, Ascending.” We had planned this March program six months ago and are greatly saddened that it will now be a memorial show instead. Alice Coltrane grew up as Alice McLeod in the thriving Detroit jazz scene of the 1940s and 1950s and first gained notice in the jazz world through her work with vibraphonist Terry Gibbs. In 1963 she met the tenor saxophonist John Coltrane while Coltrane and Gibbs’ groups were sharing a bill at Birdland in New York City; eventually they would marry and have three children. When Coltrane died at the age of 40 in 1967, his widow suddenly found herself not only as the guardian of a significant musical legacy, but also as an artist who wished to extend what she saw as the mission of her husband: music that was informed by spiritual or cosmic principles. She made a series of albums for the Impulse and Warner labels over the next 10 years that ultimately led to her own musical legacy. We’ll hear selections from Ptah the El Daoud, Journey in Satchidananda, A Monastic Trio, and more. “Alice Coltrane, Ascending” airs Saturday, March 3 at 11:05 p.m. EST on WFIU and at 9 p.m. Central Time on WNIN-Evansville. It will also air Sunday evening at 10 p.m. EST on Michigan's Blue Lake Public Radio. The program will be posted Monday afternoon in the Night Lights archives. Next week: "Miss Peggy Lee, Songwriter."

Finally have the extra 11 interview clips from author Steven Isoardi up on the page for the archived Horace Tapscott Night Lights show.

Man, just one short of the big 25! Congratulations, Lazaro.

Happy b-day to the man who coined the phrase, "The early avant-garde." Good luck with the new show!

Have a great one, my friend!

Heard about this a couple of months ago, but there was no definite release date for it yet... glad to see it's now imminent.

Nice record, Phil! I'm going to play "Jeannine" (always loved that tune) and/or "Bluelonious" on the Afterglow that I tape tomorrow. Steve Hougton's playing at Bear's in a few days--still haven't met him, but I'm going to flash the Phil Kelly badge of introduction when I do.

California Green? Mmmmm......

Best to you & thanks for the beats!

The extra interview clips won't be up till tomorrow sometime, but the program itself is now archived.

Some recently archived Afterglow programs up on the website: Duke Ellington Small Groups (drawn from the Mosaic set) Rene Marie Billie Holiday: the Decca Years A Portrait of Billy Strayhorn Two programs featuring the "Great Jazz Vocal" reissue series from EMI (June Christy, Dakota Staton, Chris Connor, Sue Raney, Dinah Shore, Irene Kral) Frank Sinatra on V-Disc

A similar incident happened here in Bloomington last weekend.

Late, I just remembered there were at least two previous threads devoted to this particular period of Simone: Four Women #1 Four Women #2 I find myself only liking her more & more as I get older...perhaps as iconic a jazz singer for her time as Billie Holiday was for hers. When I play the Phillips or RCA material for friends of mine in their twenties, they generally tend to fall for her right away.

A friend told me about this one: Billy Ripken 1989 card

Great recs--and I'll definitely second those two Roulette sessions, After Hours and +2, as I've been revisiting them recently.

Wagner card goes for $2.3 million

My favorite part is when you answer that you play jazz and they say, "Jazz? Oh, I like jazz. It's so relaxing." My wife & I were sitting in a restaurant here in Bloomington on a recent Sunday afternoon, and they were playing some godawful contemporary version of "Come Rain or Come Shine." I couldn't ID the singer, but I was positive it was some washed-up 1980s New Wave star... kind of a cross between the Spandau Ballet vocalist and Boy George, but not actually either one of them. It was very schmaltzy and fatigued-sounding at the same time, with some limp brass in the background; we've had a bevy of bad Great American Songbook (or GAS, as the Yahoo Songbirds call it) tributes from fading rock vets lately, but this one really piqued my curiousity. My wife went up to the counter to order a coffee drink and asked what was playing. When she came back, she said, "Don't get mad..." Then proceeded to tell me that the guy behind the counter had said he wasn't sure what it was, because it came off an employee's ipod, "but I think it's Miles Davis." My wife said, "Uh, are you sure?" (She knows Miles' recordings fairly well.) He said, "Well, yeah... you know, it's jazzy and stuff... I'm pretty sure it's Miles Davis!"

Waterloo (Austin) by any chance?

I've suggested something similar to MC re: the EMI Pomeroy holdings. "Risky but tempting" was the reply; I think there's concern about how well it would sell. They did recently reissue the Irene Kral album with Pomeroy backing her, and that's a fine one (part of the "Great Jazz Vocals" series).

Sounds like it was a fantastic experience for all involved. Was this festival a one-off, WL, or will you be attempting to make it an annual event? You're to be congratulated roundly for pulling it off! And my thanks as well for posting those pictures.

Been doing some rereading myself--Charles Jackson's THE LOST WEEKEND, which holds up quite well. Also reading the Library of America's REPORTING WORLD WAR II: 1944-46, which is chock full of amazing pieces (the Vietnam volumes in that series are excellent as well).

This week on Night Lights L.A. jazz historian Steve Isoardi joins us for "One More You Wrote Through Us: Horace Tapscott." In 1961 pianist Horace Tapscott turned down a chance to have a high-profile career with the Lionel Hampton band and spent the next several decades in Los Angeles, leading several community-jazz bands and doing his best to extend the mentoring and teaching tradition that he had experienced growing up during the glory days of L.A.'s Central Avenue era. The underground jazz scene that he helped to create and sustain--a vibrant, multi-arts mix of culture, politics, and African-American values--has now been documented in Isoardi's new book, The Dark Tree: Jazz & the Community Arts in Los Angeles. We'll hear some previously unissued music by Tapscott and UGMAA (Union of God's Musician and Artists Ascension) and the Pan-Afrikan People's Arkestra (from a CD included with the new book), along with solo and trio Tapscott piano recordings and a collaboration with Black Panther activist Elaine Brown. "One More You Wrote Through Us: Horace Tapscott" airs Saturday, February 24 at 11:05 p.m. EST on WFIU and at 9 p.m. Central Time on WNIN-Evansville. It also airs Sunday evening at 10 p.m. EST on Michigan's Blue Lake Public Radio. The program will be posted, along with 12 extra interview clips not used in the show itself, Monday afternoon in the Night Lights archives. Next week: "Alice Coltrane, Ascending."