ghost of miles

Thing is, I actually prefer this board. I guess I sometimes feel nostalgic for BNBB as my doorway to jazz discussion on the Internet, but... hardly ever think about it that way now.

And six posts in there's mention of DEEP getting banned from another jazz board!

Mosaic says they are again interested in possibly doing a Konitz Verve set--I, for one, am crossing my fingers and hoping that it eventually comes to pass.

For Impossible & other interested parties, an update on the new Kill Rock Stars comp. I have or have heard about 3/4 of it, but I'll be buying it... press release from KRS & the family w/tracklisting follows:

I would not have figured you for a Lucinda fan, Clem. I'm mostly familiar with the SWEET OLD WORLD/CAR WHEELS era & like both those albums lots... kinda so-so on ESSENCE & haven't really followed her since, but I'd be curious to hear this new one.

I cast my vote for Mr. Wilson. Maybe THE big band of the 1960s... and there were some very good ones.

Slap those skins and have a good 'un!

Arthur Blythe's last name?

Thanks much for the review, blind-blake, & welcome aboard as a poster.

Glad you liked it, Jordan. I wish I'd been able to get in a bit more of that Buddy audiobiography, but between the Isoardi clips & the music, didn't have much time... he sounds gracious when he talks.

I'm not a subscriber, but what Randy posted makes me even less inclined to pursue that path. Sounds like satellite will go the way of cable-TV--conditioning folks to the idea of paying for what was once free (partly through expanded offerings that may well be contracted at some point; partly on the premise of no ads or fewer ads, then eventually escalating the # of ads that are running). My primary interest in satellite right now is how it affects us landlubber-industry-types down the road.

I had a ball playin' that gig.. By the way, the "Heart Of The Forest" CD is available on the Muse label... Hey, we have a copy of that in the station library--just pulled it & will listen to it later this week. Thanks for the tip, Randy.

Have a great day, US--hope to meet you one of the next times I'm up the Michigan way.

Joyous returns, Hans.

"Come On Down to Central Avenue" is now archived.

What you're describing, Larry, is something very similar to what my grandfather went through in the late 1970s and the 1980s... our family household was the beneficiary of several hand-me-down sound-systems as his ear continued to "adjust." Somehow it's rather reminiscent of that Steve Martin "Googlephonics" sketch.

Another article out today on this, posted shortly before announcement of the merger: So how do they word/structure it to avoid an antitrust kibosh? Although this administration has been more than friendly to the idea of media monopolies, that last quote from the FCC chairman doesn't seem to leave much room for maneuvering.

Satellite radio's XM, Sirius to merge NEW YORK - XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. and Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. have agreed to merge, the two companies said Monday. The deal would consolidate the only two companies in the emerging business of subscription-only satellite radio, and is sure to face tough scrutiny from federal regulators. Investors and analysts have been speculating about a deal for months. The two companies said in a statement that Mel Karmazin, the CEO of Sirius, would become chief executive of the new company while Gary Parsons, the chairman of XM, would remain in that role.

Amid Squeal of Trains at Times Square, Melody of a Store’s Rebirth By WILLIAM NEUMAN Published: February 19, 2007 A lot of things have changed since 1999, when a legendary store that sold Latin music in the Times Square subway station shut down to make way for a major station renovation, but few things have changed as drastically as the music business. So it is with a noteworthy combination of bravado, recklessness, nostalgia and faith in the future that the store, once a mecca of Latin music that drew aficionados from around the world, plans to reopen this spring after an absence of eight years. The signs announcing the store’s revival appeared this month on a shuttered storefront inside the station, and to old customers who had never forgotten, it was like hearing a favorite song from long ago: “The return of Record Mart!” the signs trumpeted. “(That store in the subway.)” Yes, it is true. In an age of iPods and music downloads, Record Mart is coming back. Of course, this time around, there are not likely to be any actual records (the vinyl kind) at Record Mart. “I don’t think so, as much as I would like to,” said the store’s once and future owner, a very sprightly and energetic 73-year-old named Jesse Moskowitz. “It would be more symbolic than anything.” Now, he said, the store — on the station mezzanine, between the stairs that lead down to the No. 1, 2 and 3 platform and those that lead to the N, Q, R and W — will carry CDs, specializing in the Latin sounds it was always known for. But in a nod to the changing times, he also plans to sell DVDs and iPods and other digital music players and their accessories, like headphones. When Record Mart dropped its metal gate for the last time in 1999, its passing was widely chronicled and lamented. For nearly 40 years, Mr. Moskowitz had sold music — first records, then eight-track tapes, cassettes and CDs — out of a cramped, narrow shop perched above the BMT platform in the Times Square station (“Three customers and it was full,” Mr. Moskowitz joked). It became famous for its vast array of Latin sounds and as a gathering point that drew musicians and aficionados. Now, in a newly renovated spot some 50 feet away, Mr. Moskowitz hopes to recapture some of that feeling. “The store really represented the whole magic of New York,” recalled Harry Sepulveda, who was legendary in his own right as Record Mart’s longtime buyer and floor general. Fans of the store invariably mention Mr. Sepulveda, who during close to 30 years there acted as teacher and guide, introducing hundreds of people to new musicians or styles of music. Where other stores would start and stop with Ricky Martin, he said, Record Mart would steer customers to classic bands like La Sonora Ponceña and great musicians like Ray Barretto. “It was the real vibe of New York City, the real sound,” Mr. Sepulveda said. “That was the most important part, that’s what made the store so important. It really captured it. People went in there and said, ‘Wow, this is really what I’ve been looking for, this is really New York.’ ” Mr. Sepulveda grew up among musicians and brought many into the store. He said musicians visiting the city for gigs stopped in — even from Cuba, where, he marveled, word of a little shop in the New York subway had spread. Collectors came from Japan, Europe, South America. Mr. Sepulveda was so closely associated with the store in the minds of its customers that many of them referred to it as “Harry’s record shop,” Mr. Moskowitz said. Mr. Sepulveda now works as a concert promoter and assembles compilation albums of Latin music. But Mr. Moskowitz said he hoped he could lure him back to the store, if only on a part-time basis. “I think it would not be the same without him,” Mr. Moskowitz said. Mr. Sepulveda said a return was possible, but he was noncommittal, saying that he had not yet discussed it with Mr. Moskowitz. But with the signs up in the subway, word has already begun to spread among former customers. “On occasion I did leave my entire paycheck there,” said Roberta Singer, an ethnomusicologist, recalling the days when, after clocking out of her job as a clerk at the Stern’s department store on 42nd Street, she began to expand her knowledge of Latin music under Mr. Sepulveda’s tutelage. “That place meant so much to so many people,” Ms. Singer added. “It was almost like an insider’s place, but in the middle of Times Square.” Of Mr. Sepulveda, she said, “He was a walking discography.” “Harry was there to be able to tell us what is the difference between a guaracha and a mambo and what’s the montuno and who is really the top-notch danzón band,” she said. When Mr. Moskowitz was forced to close in 1999, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority wanted to move him into another storefront in the station, he said. But that turned out to be impossible, because the space was beneath the spot where a new building was to go up, and he was told it could be inaccessible for years during the construction. Of course, when that was done, well, maybe something could be worked out. Mr. Moskowitz said that he thought the store would never reopen. But about two years ago, the transportation authority called and said that the space had become available. (The spot where his old store had been was converted during the station renovation into a walkway. An elevator to the BMT platform also runs through it.) So Mr. Moskowitz signed a 10-year license for the new store. The wheels of commerce turn slowly in the subway, and Mr. Moskowitz is only now moving ahead to build out the space. He hopes to be able to open this spring, perhaps in time for his 74th birthday, on April 1. Mr. Moskowitz’s son, Lou, and another associate will handle much of the day-to-day work in the store. The music business is not the only thing that has changed in the eight years since Record Mart last sold a compact disc. The subway has changed too. When Record Mart shut down, the Times Square station was a decrepit mess, festering with dingy, peeling paint and tangled wires. Today, the station is much cleaner and more spacious, and Mr. Moskowitz’s new store faces a bright mural by Roy Lichtenstein. In 1999, Mr. Moskowitz was paying about $1,000 a month in rent, the transportation authority said. Now he will be paying close to four times that. Mr. Moskowitz recalled how the music used to play all day long in his old store, competing with the squeal of subway trains. The Times Square station was something of a warren then, cobbled together at the junction of what had once been competing subway lines, and customers sometimes had a hard time finding the store. Mr. Moskowitz recalled: “People would call and say, ‘We can’t find you. We’re somewhere in the station.’ And we’d say, ‘Listen for the music.’ ”

That's one I've long wondered about (got rave reviews in its day) but have never heard. What sayest thou? I really dug 'em. I think he played "Feelin' Groovy" and "Scarborough Fair," though it was late & the coffee was beginning to lose its hold... seemed to be more improvisatory action going on than I'm accustomed to in some of those late 1960s/early 1970s pop covers.

Been listening to this, and it's a nice variety of Herbie-as-sideman picks--with Donald Byrd & Pepper Adams, a cut from the live Dolphy on Blue Note, "Round Midnight" with Sonny Rollins, a couple of cuts w/Desmond on the Paul Simon album... very enjoyable, interesting late-night mix.

Thanks for the tip--a more readable page IMO than the one at AAJ. I'll bookmark it.

Bill Kirchner & I are on each other's radio-show e-mail lists, & I thought I'd pass along the info for his program tonight on WBGO: Good concept... I'm doing something similar for Monk this October. Link for WBGO is here (also looks like they've wrapped up their fund-drive).

Isoardi's new book on Tapscott and the 1960-2000 L.A. jazz scene, THE DARK TREE, is well worth checking out (some previous discussion here), along with (should go without saying) Horace's autobiography, which Isoardi helped edit. The new book comes with a CD of previously-unreleased Horace/Arkestra music; I'll play a couple of those cuts on the show next weekend. Isoardi's a really cool guy, speaks with a lot of concise and obvious passion, and did quite a lot (at Horace's request) to preserve and document that whole scene (he says it was actually more challenging than Central Avenue, because there was much more coverage of Central Avenue in the black L.A. press... no kind of media reportage/documentation from anyone on Tapscott and UGMAA, etc., until the last few years of Tapscott's life).

The Lee Morgan-Wayne Shorter Vee-Jay box. Been several years since I pulled this one out... find myself really enjoying Clifford Jordan on HERE'S LEE MORGAN.