ghost of miles

Boy oh boy, when is that second Organissimo CD comin' out, huh? I'm gonna buy about a hundred!!

Ironic that this topic should come up--I worry a lot about this, driving in southern Indiana, and lately my concern has increased, as my wife & I are driving up to Indianapolis to visit my parents 1-2 times a week. I've never hit one, but I've passed wrecks & dead deer on the road several times, including one instance in which the deer had pretty much been obliterated--there was just a lake of blood covering the highway. I try to drive cautiously in areas where the woods come right up to the road; if I'm on a two-lane in the forest, I use my brights as much as possible. It's not always easy to stay vigilant and alert, though, if it's late at night and I've gone into that travel autopilot zone. And often, as in Vajerzy's case, the accident simply can't be avoided. On a much lighter note, the other day my wife & I were driving to the library here in Bloomington on a two-way city street. I saw a squirrel approaching the road, and so I slowed down, as did the car coming toward us in the opposite lane. The squirrel then proceeded to use the crosswalk (!) as it carried a baby squirrel in its mouth to the other side of the street. Too damned cute!

Eric, Don't overlook Daedalus. I've picked up a number of jazz & history books there at heavily discounted prices: Daedalus

Several times an hour when I'm at work. I try really, really hard not to log on when I'm at home... with mixed success.

The new Mehldau has grown on me. It's--hate to say it--"pleasant." Not stultifyingly pleasant, but there's nothing here that haunts me say, the way the live versions of "Moon River" and "Young and Foolish" from earlier trio records did. As somebody else said, I wish he'd been a bit more daring in his interpretations. Here's a review from Pitchfork, an online publication that generally covers the indie/alternative scene. I think they reviewed the Mehldau because of the Radiohead cover and because of his associations with Jon Brion & Beck's rhythm section:

Hope it's finally coming... I haven't heard the Holiday tribute, but the reviews I've seen have been pretty middling.

What, no love for REACH OUT?

A SLICE for me, please.

Garth, You and I read a lot of the same books! B) I still haven't read the Finkelstein, which is considered a classic by some--I keep hoping that it will turn up in the local used bookshop. I thought that Neil Leonard did write a later book on jazz; in fact, I think I have it! JAZZ: MYTH & RELIGION. I recently mentioned it to Lon. Still haven't read the 1962 book, though. The social, economic, racial and cultural forces that accompanied the creation & dissemination of jazz are fascinating and deserve to be a part of the jazz narrative. Here's a recent one that I enjoyed: Publisher blurb:

The recent one-hour documentary that I did on Ellington's 1941 musical Jump for Joy is now archived for listening at WFIU: JumpForJoy

That's interesting, Lon. Somebody posted about this movie to the Proust list, and described it as being somewhat "Proustian"! I grow intrigued... will have to check this one out.

Definitely go for it, Rooster. Do you do web design? Do they have a website? You could offer to work on developing & honing that as well... man, you seem like a natural for this position!

Prestige Atlantic VV Live in Japan European Tours (Pablo) Miles/Coltrane (Columbia)

The program is now archived online: Jump for Joy: Duke Ellington's Celebratory Musical

Warne Marsh, ALL MUSIC Husker Du, NEW DAY RISING Artie Shaw, IN THE BEGINNING Billie Holiday, LADY SINGS THE BLUES Duke Ellington, UPTOWN

Good news about Pullen-Adams--I love what little I've heard. Glad to see Mosaic moving a bit into the 1970s/80s realm.

Yeah, memory lane here, that's for sure--hadn't thought about that crew in ages. The VJ I liked came a bit later--"Dave," the sarcastic, shadowy English persona on 120 Minutes. (Not Kevin, whose bright-eyed, goofy/giddy manner used to bug the crap out of me.)

Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing. The music, commented upon so eloquently by Lawrence Kart and Jim, is marvelous, but I'm also struck by how good the sound is, even on my computer here at work.

Probably too much to ask for, but I wish Fantasty had put all of the Bud Powell Mythic Sound material out in one set, even if they didn't want to use everything that Paudras had included in his box. Joe Castro--there's a name I hadn't thought of in awhile.

Now it's coming out stateside: TinkerDVD A friend of mine has ordered it and we're going to have a Tinker-fest next week. I just finished the book this morning and am on the prowl for the other two books in the trilogy.

jazz"withstrings" Is it just me, or was Artie Shaw one of the most successful bandleaders at integrating strings into a jazz ensemble? I love the 1941-42 band, and right now I'm finally enjoying his Hep CD IN THE BEGINNING, which features his 1936 band that was augmented by a string quartet. On the Shaw sides, the strings rarely, if ever, seem to overpower either the band or the soloists--they enhance rather than distract, at least for me.

Lon--what about THE SYMPHONIC ELLINGTON? That's one of my favorites, though not really obscure. I'll second Nate's comments on the Konitz/Axel String Quartet record. And Paul, one of the cellists on EASTERN MAN ALONE was David Baker. That record was done in Indpls. in 1967, and I plan on mentioning it in my Indiana jazz series.

That's good news, I think. Anything that improves U.S. distribution for Hep is a happy event in my book. Just got Artie Shaw's IN THE BEGINNING yesterday, the last part of a purchase I made from Collector's Choice, which is currently selling many of the Heps for $12.95 or 3 for $35. I've heard very little of this particular edition of Shaw (the first big band, with a string quartet augmenting it); only disappointment is that this CD, which claims to contain nearly all of the band's recordings, doesn't include "Interlude," one of the most famous early Shaw pieces.

Hoping to finish TINKER when I get home from work tonight--after stopping at our local used bookshop to look for those two titles.

Wife taunting me on the phone just now: "Hey, you got some junk mail today that I'm going to go ahead and toss for you..." Me: "It wouldn't happen to be from somebody named Nessa, would it?" Her: "Yeah, that's it. Probably some Michigan mail-order outfit... don't worry, I'm pitching it out right now!"