ghost of miles

Up for re-broadcast this evening on Michigan's Blue Lake Public Radio (10 p.m. EST). Internet listeners can hear it now in the archives (Sept. 10, 2005).

Up for re-broadcast this evening at 11:05 EST on WFIU.

To answer my own question: an Amazon reviewer from May of this year quotes Shandling as saying on TV that Season 2 will be out in November.

My wife & I are fans of Dick van Dyke, but so far we've picked up only Season 3... need to fill out the collection one of these days. Any word on whether or not more Larry Sanders will ever come out?

Anybody else notice that there's a new Replacements anthology out that combines both the Twin Tone and Warner eras--and that has two new songs recorded by the reunited 'Mats?

I'm guessing that's a screw-up. I believe "Hard Work" is John Handy's hit. No clue who does the late 60s "Stolen Moments". Guy Thanks--though you never know what's going to fall out of the closet and clunk Ravi on the head.

Are those Coltrane tracks on disc 4 previously unreleased? "Stolen Moments"--he did a version of that?

There's some wonderful stuff on that Pepper Select, aloc--lately I've been getting into his Contemporary recordings, and thinking about doing a show based around them. And glad you enjoyed the Lighthouse All-Stars show, Werf. I'm really psyched that the program's on in western Michigan--that area's near & dear to my heart. "The Lighthouse All-Stars" is now archived.

Know that there are fellow weirdos among you.

For me--passing on the Phil Woods set as it was going OOP.

Up for broadcast in about 20 minutes on WNIN and in about an hour and 20 minutes on WFIU.

Dick is a buddy of Marion McPartland's and was a buddy of Jimmy's as well--he took the title from Marian's instrumental theme. I think to him (and to me) it's simply meant trying to play good jazz with a good vibe, that anybody, white or black, would enjoy unwinding with at the end of the week.

SECOND COMING was a big disappointment when it came out, but I find it's gotten better with age. It's more overtly derivative than the first album (or the B-sides around the time of the first album, many of them brilliant in their own way--"Standing Here" is one that comes to mind immediately), but it's harder & darker & surprisingly--for me, I mean--the record of theirs I return to the most these days. That may just be because I played the first one oh, about 573,691 times or so.

So you're a hardcore fan, and she thinks you're pretty, too... watch out!

This week on Night Lights it's "The Lighthouse All-Stars." In 1949 former Stan Kenton bassist Howard Rumsey began a series of Sunday afternoon performances at the Lighthouse Cafe in Hermosa Beach, California, a club that had formerly catered mostly to merchant marines and other sailors. These jam sessions eventually spawned the collective known as the Lighthouse All-Stars, featuring many of the 1950s' best West Coast jazz musicians--Bud Shank, Bob Cooper, Shorty Rogers, Shelly Manne, and others. The group made a number of albums for the Contemporary label, and we'll hear selections from those, including "Witch Doctor," "Blue Sands," "Topsy," and many more. "The Lighthouse All-Stars" airs at 11:05 p.m. EST Saturday, June 10 on WFIU and at 9 p.m. Central Time on WNIN-Evansville; western Michigan listeners in the Lower Peninsula can hear it at 10 p.m. EST Sunday evening on Blue Lake Public Radio, FM 90.3 and 88.8. You can read more about the Lighthouse Cafe and its jazz history on this page. The program will be posted Monday afternoon in the Night Lights archives. Next week on WFIU: "Jazz Cameos." Next week on WNIN and Blue Lake: "The Man Before Miles: Freddie Webster."

Highly recommend THE LEMON TREE for anyone interested in a very upclose view of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict... also finished Philip Roth's THE PLOT AGAINST AMERICA, but his lame resolution nearly ruined the novel for me. About 45 pages into Gennari's BLOWIN' HOT & COOL... and also reading a very interesting book called GOING, GOING, GONE: VANISHED AMERICANA. (Wrong on vinyl, though!) Damn, why does my vacation have to end?

Featured tonight on Afterglow: In honor of the 105th anniversary of Hoosier songwriter Cole Porter, we'll be playing a generous amount of selections from Julie London's 1965 tribute album, on which she's backed by a stellar West Coast jazz unit--Bud Shank on alto sax and flute, Russ Freeman on piano, Joe Pass on guitar, Monty Budwig on bass, and Colin Bailey on drums. There'll also be a set of Porter's music as performed by Artie Shaw's late-1940s big band, plus Porter interpretations from Lee Wiley, Shank as a leader, Carmen McRae, Jeri Southern, Fred Astaire, and others... and non-Porter music from Lee Morgan, Dave Douglas, Joe Henderson, Kenny Burrell, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Johnny Hodges, Cassandra Wilson, and Dodo Marmarosa. Afterglow airs tonight at 10:05 p.m. EST on WFIU and at 10 p.m. Central Time Saturday night on WNIN-Evansville (where it follows Night Lights). The program will be posted Monday afternoon in the Afterglow archives. Next week: "Karrin Allyson's Footprints, Duke Ellington's Cosmic Scene."

Nothing against Norah Jones--in fact, my wife & I have both of her CDs. And I haven't heard the particulars of the Osby non-renewal yet. BUT--hasn't the argument been that the Norahs will subsidize the Osbys? It's a slippery slope, folks; at some point, the suits somewhere say, "Why bother subsidizing anybody? We're in this to make money." Now sure, Blue Note's a company out to make a profit like any either, but part of their appeal is supposed to be that they take other, more aesthetic-oriented matters into consideration. Basically, I don't buy the "Norah will subsidize the jazz acts" line anymore. I think that's a transitional mentality, and that we may be seeing the beginning of the end of Blue Note as a label that produces any new/modern jazz. Hope I'm wrong... and hey, nothing against Suzanne Vega either; as I said, I agree with Jim's assessment. But if BN is adding singer/songwriters and dropping Greg Osbys, what else can it be signifying but a declining interest in maintaining a roster that's either all or primarily jazz? Bound to happen, I guess--Blue Note has been the last refuge for major-label jazz.

Hell of a playlist, Scott... between you & Lazaro, I think Western Michigan qualifies as the big leagues of modern-day jazz broadcasting. Must be something in that Great Lakes water...

Wish I lived in that neck o' the woods.

I agree with Jim's assessment of Suzanne Vega. I'm not too worried about BN's direction right now--what worries me is the future, when people such as Bruce Lundvall aren't there. What happens when the next generation of "suits" takes over? I'm afraid then that we'll see the label tipping even more in the direction of sophisticated & veteran singer/songwriters. That's a genre for which I have an appreciation, but it's not "jazz," most of the time, anyway.

Here's the NY Times obit:

I'm going to start on it as soon as I finish Gennari's BLOWIN' HOT & COOL--anticipating a good read.

Glad you liked it, A... It's one of the first Schwartz tributes I've ever come across, and I always enjoy Geller's playing.

Picked up a copy of Wax Poetics #14 (truly great mag for those interested in hiphop/funk/soul jazz, etc.) and read Part 1 of the Axelrod interview. Evidently Axelrod broke into the music biz partly by working as a drummer in Gerald Wiggins' 1950s trio, and he also gigged w/Dodo Marmarosa. Relevant quote: Another quote about Phil Spector's "wall of sound": The article also cites Songs of Innocence as an influence on Miles and Bitches Brew.