ghost of miles

Glitches aside, it's a gorgeous-sounding set. Mine came this a.m. and I immediately all but inhaled discs 1 & 2. The MEET THE JAZZTET material sounds much better than my old Chess CD of it. Of the 12 albums, I have only 5, so most of this is new to me. Great run Mosaic's been on in the past month and a half...

Well, I've grown to like Teagarden a lot in the past several years & remembered your positive comments about this set, which is one of the reasons why I pretty much instantly decided to keep it. Not that I needed much rationalization! "Gee, it would be a lot of hassle to re-seal the box & take it down to Airbourne Express... guess I'll just have to buy it instead." It's funny, Lon--a lot of times I like to listen to "early" jazz early in the day (and I would say the T set falls into that category, even though it was recorded circa 1960), but I put this set on late last night and it sounded great! Just a really nice vibe for the end of the day. Hoping to listen to more of it tonight, although Art Tatum keeps tempting me back to the musical bar... and Walt Dickerson's THIS IS WALT DICKERSON keeps crying out for another spin... Ah, what a dilemma! B-)

This Monday I ordered the new Jazztet Mosaic, and on Wednesday morning the gray Airbourne Express truck pulled up outside. It's the only time I ever feel like giving a guy flowers... that aside, I brought the box inside, lamenting only that because of a work-filled day I wouldn't have time to enjoy the Jazztet. Boy, was I right--I opened it, and inside was the Teagarden box! They'd charged me for the Jazztet and sent me Big T by mistake. Now, Mosaic being Mosaic, they immediately said they'd rectify the error, ship me the Jazztet, and take the Teagarden back. The Teagarden set was not a high-priority one for me, but I said "Don't worry, just send me the Jazztet and charge me for the Teagarden--I'm keeping it." And glad I did! I've listened only to the live material so far, but it's very nice stuff, and hell, I even kind of like Don Goldie's trumpet playing, despite the observations offered within the booklet (not necessarily by the writer--some may be quotes from others.) The kind of accidental bait-and-switch I love! The funny thing is that the Teagarden booklet is numbered incorrectly because of the mix-up--it's 0364 buts should be in the 1600s. I told Fred that that seemed like a low number for a set that had been out for a year and a half, and he said, "Yeah, if that were the case, we'd be in big trouble!"

Agreed, Matthew--it's a must for avid Bix fans. Bix, along with Armstrong, was my introduction to early jazz, but I didn't really develop a proper appreciation for him until several years ago. I did a one-hour program about him for WFIU a year & a half ago (for the Bix centennary) that included interviews with Sudhalter, cultural historian & jazz fan Michael McGerr, and Pat Harbison, a trumpet player and IU School of Music faculty member. We were supposed to archive it online and never did--I'll try to get that done next week and post a link, if anyone's interested. There were some nice pieces on Geoff Muldaur's Bix tribute that came out last year--particularly the ensemble reading of "Flashes." I also heard Bunny Berigan's late-1930s Bix tribute session in full for the first time last year after getting the Berigan Hep CD. A tad incosistent but very interesting nonetheless, and some of the earliest interpretations of Bix's scant compositional work.

Are you talking about "Living in a Great Big Way"? I've got the recording of that, on a 2-CD Rhino comp of jazz-in-movies numbers. I think we've got a promo of this at the station--I'll ask Joe what's on it.

welcome to the club. Word. B-) Secret handshake & decoding ring to come... just send us $10 and the doggybone from a recent RVG purchase.

Will we be able to view the spam-senders roasting in a fiery pit as well?

I just finished reading Gene Lees' Herman bio... anybody ever hear Woody's 1960s album of Al Jolson songs?! It came out on Columbia, possibly under the title of SONNY BOY. A DJ friend of mine actually has a copy, though with a different title... supposedly the band he had on that record was smokin'. According to Lees, Woody had a burning desire to do a Jolson tribute album, mystifying Lees & others around him, and this is the only LP that features that particular edition of the band. The early 1950s "Mars" recordings sound interesting, too--some of them, anyway.

This is kind of odd. Jim Sangrey & I are tossing the verbal ball around in the "Maury Wills/Lionel Hampton" discography thread. I posted a picture of the Ray Fosse/Pete Rose collision from the 1970 All-Star game; when I view it as a guest, I get the little red X and no picture... but when I log in again, the image is visible. Why is that?

Strangely, though, not a hit in Cooperstown... so to speak!

This reminds me of the ad copy for the Mosaic caps & T-shirts, in which folks who are asked, "What the heck is a Mosaic?" are advised to give "a slight, enigmatic smile" in reply. Talk about playing to your inner jazz snob! B-)

THE GAMBLER: PETE ROSE SINGS THE KENNY ROGERS SONGBOOK. Available at fine truck stops & Chicken Roasters everywhere!

Not to mention the touching Fosse/Rose duet of "Embraceable You":

And then there's rumor of that lost Wills/Oliver Nelson "Stolen Moments" date...

Beware the Gregore! Seriously, though, this sounds like it has possibilities.

Two more recent/new Hep re-issues: Autumn is such a sad time for the wallets of jazz fans...

Is much of her stuff available on CD? I have only a "best of" comp drawn from her Decca recordings. Friedwald's book was also an eye-opener for me, aside from his snide dismissal of Nina Simone. I always recommend it to people who want to read more about jazz vocalists.

It is indeed a huge "Best of Chet" set. I'll look into the 9/21 re-issues, though... Too bad you were overexposed to the Golden Gate Quartet, Alfred. I really dig them! I love their WWII propaganda song, "Stalin Wasn't Stallin'"... harmony quartet agitprop at its finest.

Possibly. There may be life in that thar Curse yet...

Interesting story, Aric. I know that the Arkestra was a "family," etc., but didn't realize that Sun Ra exerted control over the recording activities of its members to that extent (if the story's true).

A jazz gangster.

I saw that too, Clunky. I don't mind the omission, but it does seem rather odd, given the "Complete" title. This is such a fantastic set! I just finished Gene Lees' LEADER OF THE BAND biography (a good book despite the annoying jibes against rock 'n roll) and listened to the set again while doing so. I'll be revisiting this one frequently.l

Well, I'm not sure--but the vine material was evidently booted from broadcasts taped by Boris Rose. Who has oversight of the Rose-taped material now? I'm assuming the Coltrane estate rightfully wants control... a conflict between them & the Rose owners? I honestly don't know, as there were no specific references in the Coltrane list post, but I hope it gets settled & that we can eventually hear this music.

Beck covers Elliott: BeckElliott

Just picked up a nice used copy of YOU JUST FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE a couple of days ago w/out realizing it was nearly his birthday... love you always, Prez.