ghost of miles

Frawley pops up in two of my favorite holiday movies/scenes... his behind-closed-doors talk with the judge in MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET ("you can count on just two votes... your own and the district attorney's!") and in THE LEMON-DROP KID (singing "Silver bells, silver bells... let's put some dough in the kitty"). For me: My wife My job Our house Tuesday breakfast at the Runcible Spoon in Bloomington Mosaic sets (too obvious?) NY Review of Books Duke Ellington, Jackie McLean, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, plus myriad other jazz immortals Coffee... coffee... and more coffee.

Bill Evans, especially the Riverside LPs. Charlie Parker's "Stella By Starlight," for some reason that I can't quite explain... George Shearing Quintet. Funny that you bring up this topic, Big Al. I'm working on a last-minute replacement program for tomorrow night's Afterglow (Betty Comden tribute in the second hour) and I'm trying to pick some music for the first hour that has a holiday "feel" without actually being holiday music (wall-to-wall on that for the 12/15 and 12/22 broadcasts).

Hey, not to mention George Steinbrenner, the energy crisis, disco fever, and this unforgettable classic:

Right on! I've argued with friends for years that the whole "1970s was the age of fusion" paradigm is wrongheaded, reductive, you name it etc. A lot of interesting things happening under the commercial surface, plus many of the 1950s/60s greats were in the latter parts of their prime. The 1980s another story too, IMO, besides the one we're so often told. Thanks for posting this, 7/4... isn't there a recent 1970s thread here that mentions Iverson's post?

No need to go postal on no-posters. Or something like that.

Hi Victor, glad to see you out and about!

Chas, I passed along your post here to Mike Fitzgerald--he ran down some more info on it & it's now listed in the discography. Thanks much!

"The French Connection" is now archived.

Someone said here on this board, I remember vaguely and painfully, that. . . it isn't going to happen~! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes--the Sony/Columbia Ellington album UPTOWN did get reissued. There was not an Ellington release on the Uptown label in the works... not that I know of, anyway.

Here's another Ducal question--whatever happened to the DRUM IS A WOMAN reissue?

Picked this one up b/c of your rec, Jim, and am listening to it right now--wow! I already have a lot of the recordings mentioned in this thread, but somehow missed out on this one... sometimes--often, actually--the musical universe of Ellingtonia seems endless.

Here's another Kenton question--has most of the now-OOP Holman/Russo-arranged Mosaic been reissued on CD? I have both SKETCHES ON STANDARDS and PORTRAITS ON STANDARDS, which feature a # of Holman arrangemets. Bought the Capitol 1943-47 Mosaic when it was still available but somehow missed the boat on Holman-Russo... NOFriday, speaking of Anita, I did a tribute on Afterglow Friday night, including some excerpts from a 2003 interview that I did with her... should be archived sometime late Monday. I included a live performance of "The Lady in Red" with the Kenton band from 1944.

I'd like to see the sequel--I included a couple of Ellis' compositions for that score in the show (the FilmScoreMonthly CD includes both FCI and FCII). Do you have Real Player on your computer? If you do, you should be able to use the archives. One of these days I'd like to land the show on a UK station...

I think that would be 4:05 a.m. GMT for the WFIU broadcast, 3:05 a.m. for the WNIN broadcast. Pretty late/early... if you can't catch it live, it should be available by Monday evening (UK time) at the archives link posted above & in my signature.

This week on Night Lights it’s The French Connection. This 1971 crime drama was based on a real-life early-1960s New York City investigation that resulted in what was, at that time, the largest heroin bust ever in the United States . The film, starring Gene Hackman and Roy Schneider as characters modeled on narcotics officers Eddie Egan and Sonny Grosso, was a box-office smash and won five Academy Awards. The soundtrack was composed and recorded by trumpeter Don Ellis, who had worked with musicians such as Charles Mingus, George Russell, and Maynard Ferguson before going on to form a progressive late-1960s big band renowned for its complex time signatures and its use of electronic and rock elements. (A critic once called Ellis “the Stan Kenton of the 1970s.”) In his score Ellis attempted to capture the sounds and feel of New York City circa 1970; ultimately he created not only a musical backdrop of urban drama, but also the sense of a system going dangerously awry, a country in the throes of Vietnam and on the verge of Watergate. (At times it sounds like Stan Kenton having a rather unpleasant psychedelic experience—and I mean that in a good way.) “The French Connection” airs Saturday, December 2 at 11:05 p.m. EST on WFIU, at 9 p.m. Central Time on WNIN-Evansville, and at 10 p.m. EST Sunday evening on Michigan's Blue Lake Public Radio. The program will be posted Monday afternoon in the Night Lights archives. Special thanks to board member White Lightning for suggesting this program. French Connection factoid: Friedkin’s first two picks to play Popeye Doyle, the role eventually taken by Gene Hackman, were comedian Jackie Gleason and New York City columnist Jimmy Breslin. Hackman won a Best Actor Academy Award for his performance. Next week: "The Arrival of Victor Feldman."

Saw Dennis Gonzalez' remarks over at Jazzcorner and wanted to echo them--you're a very sharp interviewer, Lazaro. Great questions--smart, insightful, and concise--radio-friendly and engaging. And it was a pleasure to hear Henry on violin. I remember him talking a bit about playing that instrument as a kid when he was here last year.

"Universal Indians," oh yeah! HG back on bass--LV, it's on LOVE CRY. Lovin' the phenomenon of Internet radio...

Listening right now--Henry's on violin!

La Violette's an interesting cat--Gioia wrote about him some in West Coast Jazz. He influenced a # of the West Coasters, evidently.

Very cool, Lazaro--thanks for posting. I'll be sure to tune in for this.

Leaving aside the "one that went OOP before I could buy it" rejoinder, I'd say the Charles Brown. I like to throw that one on late at night when I'm in a funk.

This program is now archived.

Yes--some of those early Manne records (THE THREE & THE TWO) and other LPs by the folks named above have been discussed a number of times here on the board. There was a lot more to the West Coast sound than jammin' at the Lighthouse (nothing against that, either--I have & like a lot of those sides as well).

I've developed quite an interest in Albany over the years & would like to hear this. His daughter's memoir, discussed elsewhere on this board, is quite a read. Allen Lowe knew him & I'm sure will have something to add to this thread when/if he's heard this music. (Allen, was it Albany you quoted as saying, "I'd never go into a basement with Charlie Parker?" )