ghost of miles

This program is now archived.

Al, Your wish has been granted... I just now finally got the formal OK to start archiving The Big Bands. Many of the past ones & all of the ones going forward will be online within the next week or two.

Hey all, I'm preparing a Night Lights program called "The Man Before Miles" about Freddie Webster, scheduled to air Sept. 10. I've amassed almost all of Webster's known solos (and will be sending out a long-overdue CD-R to several board members), but still find myself lacking some of his live work w/the Lunceford big band... the only track I have is the famous "Yesterdays" from the Jubilee broadcast. Does anybody around these parts happen to have the following LP? If so, can you contact me via PM? Thanks much, David

A big-band record?

Is that the one where Baker is seen passed out in a bathtub & attempting to answer a phone?

My wife likes to tease me about it and refers to "the Organissimos" (or is that "Organissimoes"?) and "your Organissimo buddies." Inevitably I see something here--a topic or a funny remark--that I pass along to her at dinner. She's also become a fan of the band, after hearing the first CD and the Christmas tunes, and is looking forward to THIS IS THE PLACE.

Hate to add to the grim roll-call that's become the Artists Forum lately, but:

Way late to the party, but I hope that it was a swell one and that nary a soul was left standing by its conclusion.

Congratulations, man!

Agreed, Brownie... and I should hasten to add that I truly don't mean to "attack" Francois Paudras. He did much to help Bud, obviously. I'd like to see the French edition of that book some day--I've heard a lot about it.

Brad, I read it when it first came out in paperback over here & don't have it at hand right now, so I can't really cite specific instances... I recall that some of his dates were wildly off, but it went further than that. I'm not saying that Paudras' book is without merit, as he was indeed close to Bud for several years and played a key part in his stay in France during the early 1960s. But I've heard from reliable sources that he had a penchant for embellishing his role in Bud's life and career.

You're a mind-reader! I may have to re-do the interview--I have the tapes somewhere, but the sound quality was a bit iffy, as we did it live over a not-so-great phone connection. We definitely talked about doing another show when the book got published--I'm sure it will come to pass, probably as a two-parter.

Very sad news. I had done a Clarke-Boland Big Bands show a couple of months ago, and just last week scheduled a follow-up for mid-September. I did not intend for it to be a memorial show.

I interviewed Peter for a three-hour Bud Powell program that I did about five years ago at WFHB in Bloomington. He's been through a lot w/this book, but it will indeed be worth the wait. Powell is certainly in need of a good bio--Paudras' DANCE OF THE INFIDELS is riddled with inaccuracies & falsehoods, and THE GLASS ENCLOSURE is a disgrace.

This week on Night Lights it's "Alexandria the Great," a program devoted to the late 1950s and early 1960s recordings of the little-known singer Lorez Alexandria, who left a Chicago gospel background behind for the world of jazz, recording with Ramsey Lewis, Wynton Kelly, and others. Often compared to Sarah Vaughan and Carmen McRae, Alexandria also liked to lag behind the beat, assuring nervous bandmates, "Don't worry, I'll catch up at the end." We'll hear music from her two Impulse LPs, Lorez Alexandria the Great and More of the Great Lorez Alexandria, as well as two early King LPs and an Argo LP, Early in the Morning, done with Lewis' trio and members of the Count Basie band. "Alexandria the Great" airs at 11:05 p.m. (9:05 p.m. California time, 12:05 a.m. NYC time) this Saturday on WFIU; you can listen live, or you can wait until Monday afternoon, when the program will be posted to the Night Lights archives. Next week: "Count Basie: the 1950 Octet."

Tonight on The Big Bands it's our monthly jukebox edition, entitled "Two Guys Named Les." In the early 1950s Les Brown was no longer with Columbia, home for so many of his 1940 hits. Instead he was recording for Coral, a Decca subsidiary that employed his friend and fellow former Duke University campus bandleader Sonny Burke. We'll hear singles such as "Back in Your Own Backyard" and "Bernie's Tune," as well as vocal collaborations with Herb Jeffries (reprising his Ellington-band hit "Flamingo") and Glenn Miller's Modernaires. Around the same time another Les, Les Elgart, and his brother Larry, both veterans of the 1940s swing scene, formed their second big band and found success on the label Brown had left behind with "the Elgart sound," a tightly-synchronized blend of sax and brass with few solos and a piano-less rhythm section that often featured the guitar up front in the mix. We'll hear "Comin' Through the Scotch," "Heart of My Heart," "The Turtle Walk," and other selections from the Elgart compilation Sophisticated Swing. Also on tap: music from the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, led by David Baker. The SJMO will be appearing at the Musical Arts Center in Bloomington on Saturday, August 13 at 8 p.m. "Two Guys Named Les" airs tonight at 9 p.m. (7 p.m. California time, 10 p.m. NYC time) on WFIU. Next week: "Freddie Slack in the 1940s."

Many thanks, Jim!

Zamfir had a similar problem in Romania... ← A tactless allusion, no doubt, to my confiding in you the Night Lights September schedule, which includes "Man With a Pan: Zamfir, the Early Years."

Some e-mail exchanges w/Michael Fitzgerald today have reminded me of this one: Gigi Gryce, REMINISCIN' (the Orch-Tette record done for Mercury).

Oldest living player dies Caught Satchel Paige and then pitched the second game of a doubleheader--impressive.

To quote the great Marx (Groucho, that is) in Duck Soup:

Great news--WNIN, the NPR member station in Evansville, Indiana approached me about a month ago about adding Night Lights to their Saturday schedule. I just got word that it will start airing there Saturday evenings at 10 on September 3. That will be earlier than the Bloomington broadcast, so I will include a link to their station when I post info for the show each week. Thanks again for all of the support & supportive comments here--and the high standards & expectations, as there ain't no slackers in this crowd.

I was once at a Sonic Youth concert where Redd Kross covered this song. Where the h is Hill Street Blues? I'm beginning to think that there must be some sort of legal issue holding that show up.

I'm hoping to get Night Lights to a level where I can offer it to XM... possibly for the Real Jazz channel. Several issues to overcome, but my goal is to get it to that standard by the end of the year. My station programs about 13 hours of jazz a week... obviously it's very difficult, if not impossible, to compete with satellite when it comes to jazz lovers. The points you make are certainly valid. We try to focus a lot on our local jazz community, having musicians on the afternoon weekday program as guests (today's is David Baker, since the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra is playing here Saturday night). And I want to produce jazz programming that meets a global standard--that sounds good to jazz listeners anywhere--and that offers something a bit different from the usual. So we're basically pursuing a "localism/globalism" strategy.

Chico Hamilton's soundtrack for THE SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS. Charles Tyler, SAGA OF THE OUTLAWS (though Chuck can tell you why it hasn't). Herb Pomeroy's 1950s UA/Roulette albums. Didn't some of the Dixon/Shepp Savoy material resurface on CD several years ago?