ghost of miles

Talk about an underground music scene! B-)

Forget it! They're going to the triple reinforced vault w/me when I expire! What kinda sound system you going to have in that thing?

No, but does his publicist Mr. Beal Z. Bub ever have a deal for you! Just meet him at the crossroads down yonder, round about midnight...

Oh, my!

and a great disk too! My sentiments exactly! Another wonderful find from the Bastards' "Jazz in Paris" blowout sale!

Garth, I was poking around in the "Jazz From..." series on Prestige last night... how much, if any, of the "Jazz From Sweden" material has been reissued on CD?

Ironic... I was reading this thread while listening to Le Jazz Groupe de Paris' JOUE ANDRE HODEIR, and suddenly "Jordu" came on. Vibes courtesy of Fats Sadi (there's a great jazz name!).

Skip Spence was always a figure who intrigued me... I read an interesting piece about him in MOJO several years back.

Does Phineas Newborn still count as overlooked?

This January PBS is broadcating Ken Burns' new documentary about Jack Johnson, the first African-American heavyweight boxing champion. Burns' is not the first film about the boxer; in 1970 William Cayton made a documentary as well, with a soundtrack by Miles Davis. This edition of Night Lights features music taken from the Sony/Legacy box-set MILES DAVIS: THE COMPLETE JACK JOHNSON SESSIONS, including recordings done from February to June of 1970. Musicians appearing here range from John McLaughlin and Billy Cobham to Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett. Although BITCHES' BREW remains the best-known of Miles' "fusion" or jazz-rock dates, some critics now contend that THE JACK JOHNSON SESSIONS more suitably represent the fruition of Davis' stylistic evolution in this regard. The program airs this Saturday evening at 11:05 (8:05 California time, 10:05 Chicago time, 11:05 New York time). You can listen to it live on WFIU, or on Monday when it will appear in the Night Lights archives. More information on both the Jack Johnson sessions and Davis' own interest in boxing can be found here. In addition, there is an online interview with Michael Cuscuna and Bob Belden, co-producers of the Legacy set, which sheds some light on Teo Macero's editing methods as well as the production approach to the new collection.

Absolutely right, Garth. I'll throw in Lou Levy as well.

LaMont Johnson Craig Taborn Christopher Gaddy John Dennis

What do you think of the Henderson book? I've had a chance to browse through it and it looks pretty well done.... I just started it this past week and am only about 25 pages in. A modern-musicologist approach, which suits me just fine--very much influenced by Deveaux and THE BIRTH OF BEBOP. I'll be interested to see how he depicts FH's relationship w/his brother Horace.

Thanks much, Phil! Boyd Raeburn is definitely on the horizon (I have two of the Heps plus a single Savoy CD and a vinyl copy of the old double-LP JEWELS), as is Sauter-Finnegan; and funny that you mention Earle Hagen, as I've developed quite an interest in him of late... will definitely do something on Hagen at some point as well.

I'm not sure, but AMG lists these vinyl releases: 1946 Allen Eager, Vol. 2 Savoy 1946 Tenor Sax Savoy 1946 New Trends in Jazz, Vol. 1 Savoy 1946 New Trends in Modern Music, Vol. 2 Savoy I'm sure there's some overlap there, but also sure that there must be enough material for a single Savoy CD... or maybe even several Classics, if sideman appearances of note are included as well.

In addition to the many fine names listed above: Johnny Guarnieri Dick Twardzik (though he's gaining more recognition, and the imminent publication of the Chambers bio may raise his profile even more) George Cables Arnold Ross Joe Castro Norman Simmons

Wow, I'm impressed! Thornhill grew up just down the road from here... in Terre Haute. I'm afraid we haven't done as much to honor his memory as we should have. His centenary is coming up in 2009--I hope to do whatever I can to commemorate it via the airwaves.

Up for broadcast now.

I wish somebody would get around to re-issuing Eager's Savoy sides--C. Classics, if Savoy themselves won't do it.

Looking here, I see only a NEW SOUNDS FROM ROCHESTER entry by the Contemporary Jazz Ensemble (in addition to the James Moody NEW SOUNDS FROM FRANCE and the multiple Sweden titles that you mentioned). Of course, that site lists Prestige 130 simply as CHARLIE MARIANO, so perhaps others were issued under individual names.

I'm listening to Charlie Mariano's BOSTON ALL STARS re-issue on Fantasy right now. According to Ira Gitler's liner notes for the original release on Prestige 130, "As the first album in a series devoted to the modern music being played in the various sections and more particularly cities of the United States, PRESTIGE presents Jazz in Boston." Where there other releases in this series? Or was this Prestige's sole geographical modern-jazz entry?

Oh yeah!!

MM, it's a two-month scenario, after which we'll determine whether we retain the Friday night lineup as is, or shuffle again... but yeah, pretty much everybody you mention will show up if I stay in this slot. In fact, Kirk will make it into the first program in March, "The Ladies Who Swing the Band." I'm a huge Raeburn fan, and I'm not ruling out the sweet bands either... They were a large part of the 1930s/40s big-band story. Planning a Georgie Auld program for the first week of April... some Glenn Miller AAF and Sam Donahue Naval Band for the 60th anniversary of V-E Day... and some of the Ellington Treasury Dpt. broadcasts for Memorial Day weekend. Re: Sauter-Finnegan, there's a great bar in Bloomington called Nick's that, once upon a time, still had the little tableside jukeboxes in each booth. They were loaded with old swing and 50's rock numbers, and my girlfriend always used to play a song called "When Two Trees Fall In Love." Out of curiosity, I looked the song up recently, and found to my surprise that it was Sauter-Finnegan.

Mark, I believe he's actually 94, and I'm hoping/planning to interview him for the Indiana jazz series. Also currently on the prowl for early-1940s recordings of his band. Yes, he took over the Sunset Royals around 1938 or so. There have been allegations that Tommy Dorsey stole the arrangement of his hit "Marie" from Moran.

For those with an interest in Claude Thornhill, I'll be sitting in tonight on The Big Bands with a program devoted primarily to the latest Hep release, 1949-1953 Performances, including material from Thornhill's 1953 LP for Albert Marx's Trend label, with Gerry Mulligan arrangements that had gone unused by Thornhill's late-1940s band. (More information on the album here). There'll also be some music featuring Mulligan and others from the 1950 Chubby Jackson big band. The program airs at 9 p.m. (6 p.m. California time, 8 p.m. Chicago time) on WFIU.