ghost of miles

"The Best Tenor You Never Heard: J.R. Monterose" is now archived.

That was a good one. I've got this one up on the wall at work.

for this set, but esp. for ANGEL STREET, the album which makes up most of disc 2. Having listened all the way through twice now, I'd say FOREIGN INTRIGUE does the least for me... the band & Williams' writing seem to get better and better as the music progresses. I'll keep an eye out for that Tokyo recording.

Yes, I read this last night on the JPL list & thought the same. Thanks for posting it here.

"The Chums of Chance"--I love it. Brings back memories of my grandfather's Don Sturdy adventures, which I devoured as a kid. Luc Sante's review in the NY Review of Books (online here) has really made me want to read this book. When it comes to Pynchon I've read only "the short one" (Crying of Lot 49), but I'm growing more & more inclined towards picking this one up (and doing some deep knee-bends, perhaps, between chapters). Anybody else tackle it yet? I seem to recall Clem making some mention of undertaking the Great Odyssey.

Too young to really remember the AFL, but I sure read about all of those early pre-merger Super Bowls when I was a kid (anybody else ever have those little NFL history hardback books as a kid?). But I was way into the ABA... I remember listening to Indiana Pacers-Kentucky Colonels games on my transistor radio after I'd gone to bed. George McGinnis (Big Mac, hometown hero) for the Pacers, Artis Gilmore for the Colonels... and Julius Erving was in the same league too, playing for the Sixers. Good 1970s memories! I'm with my brothers (who are much better-versed in such matters these days than I): much prefer NE at home to SD on the road, and anyway, my gut says that the jinx is up in the Colts-Pats rivalry.

Up for MLK Day 2007--the program is still archived. Also don't forget jazzshrink's mention of WGBH tonight. Happy MLK Day to all.

Trying not to follow this (although it's getting harder & harder, living in Indiana), but I know my brothers were really pulling for NE to win. Not only does that mean a home game for the Colts; it also means not having to face Tomlinson, with the feeling being that the Colts D would not be able to stop a primetime running back three games in a row.

PM sent re: Bley/Peacock ANNETTE Motian BROADWAY 3 Solal JUST FRIENDS

Been reading the van de Leur while working on a future Afterglow show about Strayhorn & wanted to second Larry's recommendation here for those who are interested in his music. Very in-depth analysis & useful in particular for refuting the "DE & BS couldn't tell their work apart" narrative that's taken hold.

Good advice re: Mosaic. They often have a number of replacement discs left over from OOP sets.

Finally, finally, finally. I've been trying to track down Chico's SUCCESS music for ages... would've bought it in 8-track-tape form if necessary. Thanks so much for posting this, TTK.

Will undoubtedly be worth catching--I used to tune in "Eric in the Evening" on my little Internet desk computer when I worked nights at the library. Lots of respect for how much WGBH devotes to jazz.

He was still quite highly thought of around these parts. There are going to be some very sad members of the B-town jazz veteran community this week.

Yes--and Chuck's posted some memories from Monterose's early-1960s Iowa days. (Wasn't Nelson Algren teaching up there around that time, too?) I was only able to get up to 1964 with this show... will probably do a sequel centered around the later recordings somewhere down the line.

Weird and sad--I was just starting to work on a show about her for March. I'd just started to develop an appreciation for her music away from JC in the past several years... a lesser-known side to her story was that she came out of the great late 1950s/early 1960s Detroit jazz scene. (Alice McLeod, right?) The march of death has been brutal of late.

I'm aware of his actual name and the derivation of the nickname, but this seems to be one of those cases where the "incorrect" version has become accepted--Mike Fitzgerald, who's as fierce a stickler for accuracy as anybody I know, lists him as "J.R.," as does the Blue Note album and most other jazz sources that I've come across--hence my use of what seems to me to be the more widely-coined "J.R." Fortunately, I did refrain from using this image for the post:

This week on Night Lights it’s The Best Tenor You Never Heard: J.R. Monterose. J.R. Monterose is a saxophonist rarely heard even by jazz fans, and his most well-known recording, Charles Mingus’ Pithecanthropus Erectus, is one that Monterose himself later all but disowned. He recorded only sporadically as a leader and withdrew from the jazz world several times, woodshedding or playing in towns distant from the music’s metropolitan centers. His sound, although influenced by other tenor horns such as Chu Berry and Sonny Rollins, was all his own, airy and full of weight at the same time, and rife with pleasing, weaving turns of phrase and a compelling, hard-edged honesty. Monterose was active as a sideman during the mid-1950s (a full discography of his career can be viewed here), playing and recording with Mingus, vibraphonist Teddy Charles, pianist George Wallington, and trumpeter Kenny Dorham. We’ll hear several of those recordings and others from dates led by Monterose himself, up to the 1964 album IN ACTION. “The Best Tenor You Never Heard: J.R. Monterose” airs Saturday, January 13 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 Tuesday afternoon in the Night Lights archives. Next week: "A Few Words About Jazz."

I probably should've chosen a better word than "accessible," which is code in too many circles for popular/commercial (in the worst senses of the word) and carries about it a slight whiff of pandering. Not at all the case here. It's just that you write so well about the music without being overly musicological, sociological, or any other "ical" that I can think of. I think many non-jazz fans and even jazz "likers" (more on that in a moment) are intimidated by the world of jazz and find it difficult to penetrate. Your critical work seems to me to fulfill the goals of good writing, let alone jazz writing. I think ideally a very good writer will interest anyone in what he or she is writing about--not just those who are already drawn to the subject. In certain parts of the radio world I sometimes find a divide between "jazz lovers" and "jazz likers," with each side treating the other with contempt and scorn. "Jazz lovers" are seen as the death of jazz radio, while "jazz likers" are seen as lightweight wine drinkers who want some nice background music for their leisure. I've never seen the value in deriding jazz lovers (probably in part because I place myself in that category); to make a crude political analogy, it's rather like p*&%ing all over your base. OTOH why sneer at people who mostly want an "Ella For Lovers" collection, or whatever? No, unfortunately, 99 out of every 100 who do will probably not ever discover Ornette Coleman, let alone Roscoe Mitchell. But why shut them out? 10 to 20 of them might well discover Bird, Trane, etc. And if they don't... well, the jazz world and audience is small enough as it is. I've never seen the value or point of turf wars, though they'll surely continue, human nature being what it is. So--to finally get to my point--one of the things that impresses me so much about JAZZ IN SEARCH OF ITSELF is how you've put together a book that IMO has, will, and would bring pleasure to both jazz lovers and jazz likers...and you've done so through the vehicle of very good writing, without making any sorts of compromises or self-conscious choices. Obviously the aficionados who populate this board found much reward in it, but I can really see giving this book to somebody who's just discovered the music. (I wish it had been around when I first got into jazz; you'd probably be happy to know that Martin Williams' THE JAZZ TRADITION was one of my introductory guides.) The essays and reviews of Rollins, Mobley, Brooks, etc. make me want to listen to the collected works of those artists all over again. Thank God I don't have to spend the $$ all over again! If I were a newbie I'd be jotting down all of those album titles and seeking them out. I didn't know the era (wasn't born yet), but I agree that it's a great photograph, compelling and lit with a sense of drama, of things being at stake. It always provides a sense of excitement whenever I take the book out (and it travels frequently between my office and my home). What was it Jsngry said about your book being a modern-day stimulant that replaces more decadent and destructive ones?

Congrats to 7/4 for turning 4/7!

Please accept my belated well-wishes as well.

Well, that's ironic--I went searching for this thread as a result of pulling out Larry's book again to reread the piece on Evans, and the last post here refers to it. I ended up rereading several other pieces, as well as some that I hadn't read yet (I've read about 75% of it by now, I'd say) and as a result of that I found myself pulling out a number of albums that I hadn't listened to in quite some time. All by way of saying that I've been laid up at home with a cold today, and that Larry's book is a wonderful companion for any jazz-lover who finds himself with some time to kill. Fresh & apt insights leap from every paragraph, and the music is written about in an accessible, engaging style that shows deep listening, a complete absence of snobbery or "for musicians only" language (rather, it's all informed by an obvious and genuine love and curiosity), and high, high intelligence that never seeks to call attention to itself. No news, of course, to the many here who have already read it, or who are familiar with Larry's writing through his posts--but for those new to the board since this thread last saw life, do yourself a favor and pick this one up.

Jim, you might want to check out the latter parts of Steve Isoardi's new book on Horace Tapscott and the community-arts scene in L.A. There were some gestures & outreach made to hiphop performers and rappers there as well... I don't know how that scene is doing in the wake of Tapscott's departure (going on what, seven years now?). While Tapscott was alive it seemed to be staying pretty close to the street (bad as it got in L.A., which was bad indeed).

Anybody picked up Spy: the Funny Years yet? I was quite a fan, back in the day.

Hey CT, you catch the All Things Considered segment on Chinese punk rock this evening? Hope you have a great one!