ghost of miles

Ruth Brown, Robert Lockwood Jr., Anita O'Day, and now Betty Comden. Maybe I'll just avoid all media for the weekend:

Yeah, it's hurting even more today than it was yesterday, even though the news wasn't entirely unexpected. Listening to some of the early sides with Krupa right now.

Very sad news--another one of the greats gone. I interviewed her over the phone several years ago, and it was one of the biggest thrills of my life--I had so much love & admiration for her singing and her remarkable ability to endure as a person.

Only two Delta Four sides--"Swingin' On That Famous Door" and "Farewell Blues." They're also on a Decca/GRP comp called 52nd Street Swing that I bought years ago when I was first working in a record store. Here's the track listing from AMG: 1 Get Goin' Morton, Benny & His ... 3:14 Performed by: Morton, Benny & His Orchestra 2 Get Goin' Morton, Benny & His ... 3:15 Performed by: Morton, Benny & His Orchestra 3 Fare-Thee-Well to Harlem Morten, Benny Orchestra 3:05 4 Tailor Made Morten, Benny Orchestra 3:12 5 The Gold Digger's Song (We're in the Money) Morten, Benny Orchestra 3:10 6 Call of the Delta Bailey, Buster & Hi ... 3:09 Performed by: Bailey, Buster & His Chocolate... 7 Call of the Delta Bailey, Buster & Hi ... 3:03 Performed by: Bailey, Buster & His Chocolate... 8 Shanghai Shuffle Bailey, Buster & Hi ... 2:47 Performed by: Bailey, Buster & His Chocolate... 9 Night Wind Jordan, Taft & The Mob 2:40 10 If the Moon Turns Green Jordan, Taft & The Mob 2:45 11 Devil in the Moon Jordan, Taft & The Mob 2:55 12 Louisiana Fairy Tale Jordan, Taft & The Mob 2:56 13 Swinging 'Em Down Jenkins. Freddy Harlem Seven 2:49 Performed by: Jenkins. Freddy Harlem Seven, 14 Old Fashioned Love Jenkins. Freddy Harlem Seven 2:49 Performed by: Jenkins. Freddy Harlem Seven, 15 Nothin' But Rhythm Jenkins. Freddy Harlem Seven 2:53 Performed by: Jenkins. Freddy Harlem Seven, 16 I Can't Dance (I Got Ants in My Pants) Jenkins. Freddy Harlem Seven 2:52 Performed by: Jenkins. Freddy Harlem Seven, 17 Toledo Shuffle Jenkins. Freddy Harlem Seven 2:43 Performed by: Jenkins. Freddy Harlem Seven, 18 Lovely Liza Lee Jenkins. Freddy Harlem Seven 2:54 Performed by: Jenkins. Freddy Harlem Seven, 19 Swingin' on That Famous Door Delta Four 3:00 20 Farewell Blues Delta Four 3:03 21 Who? Harris, Ace & His S ... 2:33 Performed by: Harris, Ace & His Sunset Royals 22 Rhythm 'Bout Town Harris, Ace & His S ... 2:29 Performed by: Harris, Ace & His Sunset Royals 23 Hurly Burly Harris, Ace & His S ... 2:45 Performed by: Harris, Ace & His Sunset Royals 24 One Little Word Led to Another Harris, Ace & His S ... 2:29 Performed by: Harris, Ace & His Sunset Royals Going to listen to V. 2 tonight.

A Hep I've been enjoying this Thanksgiving Eve: Pretty sure the only session on here that I already had was the Delta 4. The Jenkins/Bernard Addison sides (with Joe Turner on piano) are particularly good--make me want to hear more of Addison's guitar work. Teddy Wilson is the pianist on the Taft Jordan date (just got Jordan's Fantasy twofer not long ago & didn't realize he'd done leader sessions in the 1930s). Anybody who likes 1930s small-group hot jazz would be pleased with this comp... looking forward to cracking open V. 2, which covers the early 1940s, tomorrow (Pete Brown, yeah!).

Lon, you & your wife are in my thoughts & prayers--you too, Aric. I hope the coming days bring all of you some moments of happiness.

In that case, even more reason to eventually go for the Mosaic Bix--you'll get some Texas T as well.

From a budgetary viewpoint, probably the JSP. Great as the Mosaic is, Bix is on only half of it. If you really want to get into BB, I'd recommend the Bix Restored series--especially the first three volumes. Lots of alternates here & such (don't know if you like that or dislike it); probably the most thorough aural picture we'll ever get of Bix. Edit: Jazzbo & I are talking about the same series.

Well, hey, thanks for Bill Burroughs, too. I still go back and reread Junky every couple of years--"beats" hell out of John Clellon Holmes, don't ya know.

Still at work right now, finishing up a few things, hoping to be out in several hours... going to go to a local restaurant that's closing its doors tonight, drink some coffee, read Steve Isoardi's new book about Horace Tapscott and 1960s/70s L.A. jazz, then go home & help my wife get the house ready for my dad and grandmother's visit tomorrow. The holidays are still hard for my family; my mom was always the centrifugal force at such occasions, not in a dominating, overbearing way, but in a warm, radiant, loving way. She's been gone for two years now, so that absence is still keenly felt--and will continue to be felt, always, I'm sure. (I hope, actually... how does one "move on" from loss?) But I'm truly grateful for many things in my life, including my wife, my job, my house & city, my friends, my family that remains... and I'm grateful for this board, which continues to be a remarkable place of friendship & extraordinary knowledge. Last night a colleague and I were sharing a computer, and she was looking at some of the discussions on Organissimo (she's a former classical musician, with a mild interest in jazz)... she eventually said, "Wow! Most Internet boards are kind of--you know--dopey." (Obviously she didn't read all of the threads. ) Anyway, peace and best wishes to all of you. As well as my thanks.

He didn't quite make the cut--but if I ever find those long-rumored sides the Faces did with Ayler...

This program is now archived.

Sorry, meant the live one--At the Jazz Standard/Days of Wine and Roses. I think it's due out some time this month. Yeah, Sky Blue is the next studio one, still in the works.

Clem, have you checked out the 33 1/3 entry for PIPER? Not too bad, as those things go... I've lobbied Sangrey to submit a ms for that series & think you should too. Dunno, might not be your cup of literary tea, probably just my selfish desire to read an extended essay from either of you on any LP you really dig. (Larry, too... no jazz entries that I'm aware of in that series so far.)

I couldn't watch the Letterman appearance--something too painful about the whole spectacle for everybody. Richards should lay very low for awhile. I was never a Seinfeld fan, so I don't feel any "investment" in all of this... but what's disturbing to me is the sense that Richards is far, far from being alone in containing that kind of rage and racial animosity.

Rehab time? When was it I heard that last? Member of Congress? Actor? BB poster? ??? Yeah, who knows what propels folks to rude outbursts in nightclubs--or on bulletin boards, for that matter??? Soul Stream, I watched that video & FWIW I don't think it had anything to w/substance abuse. More like a guy with a lot of bottled-up rage letting a really ugly side come out. But that's just a guess... I don't know anything about Mr. Richards.

I'm with ya, man! Up, Up and Away I need to order that new Maria CD. Anybody else heard it yet?

Another 25%-off sale on Heps, with shipping free on orders of $50 or more. Recent Hep releases listed here.

Very, very hard to watch...

Was one of the Spacemen 3 guys also involved with the band Spiritualized? Guy Yeah, that was Jason's band after Spacemen 3 broke up. I assume Spacemen 3 was a better band? Guy Clem and/or others could probably speak better to that. I didn't really follow either Jason or Sonic Boom's solo career.. the last Spacemen 3 album had come off as a dud to me & I just sort of lost interest, but Spiritualized was a critical fave throughout the 1990s in the UK (seems like Ladies & Gentlemen, We Are Now Floating In Space gets namechecked a lot as one of their better efforts). I'd still seek out the two titles that Clem mentioned (Perfect Prescription and Play With Fire).

Was one of the Spacemen 3 guys also involved with the band Spiritualized? Guy Yeah, that was Jason's band after Spacemen 3 broke up. Clem's rec re: PERFECT PRESCRIPTION is well-taken. I used to have the cassette & I think I kept it even after I got the CD--some tracks on each that aren't on the other.

Clem, I actually do have both of those Spacemen 3 records (still!) and dug 'em at the time. (British music press had a field day w/the falling-out between Jason & Sonic Boom... man, they just thrive on that sibling-rivalry-type stuff, don't they?) You're right, they should be given more credit than they are... I used to play them on the overnight show at WFHB here in B-town and precede it w/some deep, dark, scary blues. They were a great band and I loved them... but I had a hell of a sweet tooth for MBV and probably still do (this whole discussion will no doubt inspire me to haul out the CDs/EPs again for replay). I never heard Here's Your Bloody Valentine or any of the other mid-1980s stuff... entry point for me was the 1987 Ecstasy and Wine, which is a comp of EPs and catches them sounding more like early Jesus and Mary Chain. "Consensus" on the early material is that it's awful, but "consensus" is almost always dubious. My laugh for today: I ordered the 33 1/3 book about Loveless--delayed already for three years--and then found out last night that they had to yank it from the printer because "Kevin Shields has some last-minute changes for the author." God help us... Another note re: Spacemen 3--they came up with one of my alltime favorite album titles, Taking Drugs to Make Music to Take Drugs By. Ain't it the truth!

CD Wolf is generally the best price for Bear boxes.

I haven't listened to it in several years, but just yesterday I ordered the new 33 1/3 book about it (Loveless). I was an MBV fan back in the 1989-91 era, really into Isn't Anything and even the EP comp before it, Ecstasy and Wine. I thought Loveless trumped both of those records and set a new standard for the British dreampop movement... turned out to be the pinnacle and pretty much the end of it. Saw them at the Vick in Chicago in 1992 (Yo La Tengo opened) and it was one of the loudest shows I'd ever been to... ears ringing for the next day or so (shudder to think about that now). Sister Ray on an Ecstasy trip... brilliant stuff, but I'm not surprised that it ultimately proved to be a dead end. Kevin Shields created an incredible sonic landscape, a beautiful, swirling, layered haze of sound, then anchored it with basic, catchy rock 'n roll riffs. Loveless was one of those albums that got played over and over for an entire year after it came out. Perhaps it's overrated in terms of influence (I think one could make that argument), but I don't think it's overrated as an achievement.