ghost of miles

Resale value & collectability doesn't concern me (I'm of the "you'll-have-to-pry-this-music-from-my-cold-dead-fingers" school), but I can understand it as a concern for others. I guess what I mean about the quality of the brand, though, is somewhat related to what Hot Ptah addresses above. I just took a look at the "About Mosaic" page again: That's what they themselves put up on their website. I think Mosaic is nearly all about the brand... they pride themselves (and sell themselves) on it. They want their customers to think of their releases as nearly-magical jazz commodities. That's why seeing something like an "Ultimate Earl Klugh" collection threatens to snap the spell and makes some folks go "Huh?!" I want to see Mosaic stay viable, because I want to be able to buy those future Chu Berry, Johnny Mercer, Bobby Hutcherson/what-have-you sets, and I know what a cold, bleak, cruel world the jazz reissue marketplace is right now... and nobody's doing it better than Mosaic, although Water and some of the boutique labels can give them a run for their money on single reissues. As I said in my earlier post, this offshoot operation certainly won't prevent me from buying the classic sets and singles that they do produce, and hell, I'd even like to hear that Freddie myself. If they ultimately "water down" the brand & alienate much of their customer base in doing so, however, it might eventually be a cause of real concern. In the long run they probably benefit somewhat from this, in terms of bottom line. But it is a modification, I think, in how they're defining themselves. Hmmm--maybe more of a message to that cover on the new Tolliver than we thought!

SUPER BLUE is already up for pre-order on Amazon.

Quite possibly the case, though I think they're messing a bit with the brand. It won't keep me from buying the Chu Berry sets and everything else they're going to release in the future along those lines, but it does seem a bit--well, at odds with what I've thought Mosaic to be. Ultimately it's a business, of course, and perhaps MC is also prepared to make the argument that some good jazz has been overlooked simply because it's been put into said "contemporary" category. (There's a lot I haven't heard because previous experience has led me to develop a prejudice against it in general.)

The Mosaics I will be enjoying (just ordered today): Tyner Select Hutch Select Condon Mob W. Herman S. Hampton

I thought it might be, but I just called Mosaic & they confirmed the launch of the label.

Lois just posted this over at JC:

I'll doublecheck the article tomorrow, Bertrand--it's possible that the writer got the date wrong, or that I got it wrong when I typed it up at work today. The tribute album by this group came out in 1994 and won a Grammy; did they do any live dates around that time? (In addition to the '92 tour.)

I remember he said he took special care that the drums were loud enough in the mix - I agree with Tony that on most jazz records the drums are not loud enough, not on the same level as the other instruments and as lod as they really are - compare it with the balance on a live gig. He also said that most people are afraid of the power of a drum set - another thing I agree upon. I think he wanted that power to come through much clearer and in a more direct way, so he changed the sound. It was during his own Lifetime band period that he made the change - it's there for the first time on that undervalued LP The Old Bum's Rush and in full blossom on Stanley Clarke's first Nemperor LP - there was a hiatus between them. I have the impression he did a lot of thinking during that hiatus .... and his compositional lessons may have started around that time. When did he move to California? He started taking lessons there, IIRC. I saw two dates given while I was researching the Night Lights show--1977 and 1979, so it must have been sometime near the end of the Seventies. He started studying composition at Berkeley not long after (1981, I think). I'm at home now, but I'll pull my script tomorrow & post some of the comments he made about how moving to California affected him. Basically it sounded as if he felt he'd hit a dead end in NYC around that time (emotionally and aesthetically), and he wasn't very happy with the album he'd recorded for Columbia (Joy of Flying), which probably places his departure closer to 1979.

He was just here the other day for an ISDN interview with World Cafe. We're hoping to get an interview ourselves, but haven't been fortunate in that regard yet. "Minute to Minute" and some of the other Scarecrow stuff holds up very well, I think. I listened to that album for the first time in ages last week. Still like much of Jubilee too.

Here's some more from that Roney article:

Allen, maybe this sheds some more light (I'm pulling out all the articles I Xeroxed for the recent Night Lights show)... Wallace Roney on his and Williams' gig in the Miles tribute band circa '95 (with Carter, Shorter, and Hancock): Roney describes an invigorated rehearsal routine with that band, saying that "at rehearsals Tony would imitate different drummers, just for fun. He'd take a Philly Jo phrase and speed it up, then play it on different parts of the drums, break it up between the different floor toms in different parts of the beat." That all comes from a Feb. 1999 Modern Drummer article.

What, ain't my copy hot enough for ya? Guess I'll have to atone by buying the new CD in bulk.

You've been added.

Maybe because he was so much more focused on writing in the last 10-15 years of his life? At least, that's possibly one part of the story... many of the interviews & articles I recently read from the 1985-95 period find him talking about how unhappy he'd been with his identity as "Tony Williams the drummer" and his sense that people valued him for only that aspect of his personality. Even though he said playing the drums was still fun, he seemed much more interested in pursuing composition. (I still enjoy his drumming on the Mosaic set; the rap against him during the period that set covers is that he was playing too LOUD.) Or maybe it's just that brilliance of the kind TW exhibited throughout the 1960s and much of the 1970s is difficult to sustain for decade after decade.

My wife, who spent most of her childhood and adolescence in Berlin, Massachusetts, says the first week of October--and that the second week is usually good as well.

What do folks here think about Joni's run of jazz-influenced 1970s recordings? I've been thinking about checking them out (HISSING OF SUMMER LAWNS, MINGUS, COURT & SPARK, DON JUAN, etc.). Edit: I see there's been some previous discussion here.

Wishing I had more time to read these days... right now, Thomas Merton's NO MAN IS AN ISLAND.

Like his break on "KoKo"--which Metronome ripped as “a horrible, utterly beatless drum solo by Max Roach.”

Picked up JUST FRIENDS--a 1997 trio cd w/Gary Peacock and Paul Motian--off a board member the other day & listened to it for the first time tonight. Wonderful! Knew right away I'd be spinning this one again a couple more times before putting it on the shelf. Makes me want to check out that Motian/Johnson trio record as well. Great thread; thanks to Daniel for starting it.

This week on Night Lights it’s the late-1980s acoustic quintet recordings of drummer Tony Williams. Williams was one of the great prodigies of jazz, playing with both Sam Rivers and Jackie McLean as a teenager before joining Miles Davis as part of the trumpeter’s now-legendary mid-1960s group. Williams also recorded two dates as a leader for Blue Note and went on to form the pioneering fusion trio Lifetime (with organist Larry Young and guitarist John McLaughlin). After a sabbatical in the early 1980s to hone his compositional skills, Williams came back to Blue Note and recorded a remarkable series of albums that highlighted his writing with a group featuring trumpeter Wallace Roney and pianist Mulgrew Miller. “Return to Blue Note: Tony Williams in the Late 1980s” airs Saturday, January 27 at 11:05 p.m. EST on WFIU, at 9 p.m. Central Time on WNIN-Evansville, and on 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. Last week's "A Few Words About Jazz" program, including an interview with jazz historian John Gennari, is now archived, including some extra quotes that didn't make it into the show. Next week: "We Shall Overcome: Civil-Rights Jazz."

I realized last night that this was an oversight--I do already have a link to the forums on the Jazz Internet Resources page, but t'ain't enough... need mention of the band. I sent the webmaster an addition for the community pages this morning with a direct link to the band's home page. Apologies, gents! It should be up within the next day or two.

Last weekend's "A Few Words About Jazz" Night Lights program is now archived: This week on Night Lights it’s “A Few Words About Jazz.” Jazz criticism first emerged in the 1930s, accompanied by the rise of “hot clubs” and collector groups, often consisting of young white men who gathered to listen to recordings, argued feverishly over the merits of their favorite players, and pursued an obsessive interest in what came to be known as the science of discography. Some critics, such as Leonard Feather and John Hammond, became agents of influence in the jazz world, promoting musicians in the jazz press, producing record sessions, and organizing concerts. In subsequent decades writers such as Martin Williams and Nat Hentoff continued and extended the work of their predecessors as jazz evolved stylistically and began to be treated as an art music. Although jazz critics have done much to advance the music throughout its history, they have also often been sources of controversy, particularly in their relationship with musicians and their responses to certain aesthetic directions such as bebop and free jazz. On this edition of Night Lights we’ll hear some of the music that has provoked debate and discussion among critics, ranging from Duke Ellington’s “Reminiscin’ in Tempo” to John Coltrane’s “Chasin’ the Trane” and Wynton Marsalis’ “The Sermon.” We’ll also talk extensively with John Gennari, author of Blowin’ Hot and Cool, a new history of jazz criticism. You can read more about Gennari’s book and peruse his own chosen soundtrack for it here. Here are more comments from John Gennari that we were unable to use in the broadcast of "A Few Words About Jazz": The debate over new jazz studies #1 The debate over new jazz studies #2 Parallels with the 1950s Musician-critic relationships Critics and racial discrimination Ralph Ellison on jazz today Ellison #2 Martin Williams #1 Martin Williams #2 This weekend: "Return to Blue Note: Tony Williams in the Late 1980s."

...not to mention the less-hidden link between Shorty Rogers and this fellow:

Life's too short, Larry... Mr. Chewy, if you don't already have it, check out the CENTRAL AVENUE SOUNDS box & book. Pretty rich history to jazz in California that goes way beyond the normal parameters of what most folks think of as "West Coast jazz"... and you really ought to make a beeline for Ted Gioia's book, too, if you haven't already. Re: Brubeck, I'm not sure those octet recording dates have ever been nailed down, even by the musicians themselves...and I agree w/Larry that the Brubeck vs. Davis hype is overblown.

Get it! (or, as we say in certain parts of the Midwest--"Git it!")