ghost of miles

Yes, that was a hell of a "local rhythm section!" Luke and Jack in particular really seemed on top of their game last night... Golson introduced most of his tunes with long, very interesting stories ("My wife says that I talk too much," he joked, "but she's not here tonight"), often drawing on his adolescent playing experiences with John Coltrane, or reflecting upon the day he & his bandmates saw Walter Davis Jr. running up the street towards them in Harlem, crying because he'd just heard that Clifford Brown was dead. Other tunes besides the ones sheldonm mentioned included "Along Came Betty," "Whisper Not," "Take the A Train," and an opener called "Horizontal" or "Horizon" something--can't quite remember. One of the blues tunes (w/vocalist J.C. Faulk added) was a Charles Brown favorite of mine, "Black Night." Quite a show! Golson appeared to be in very good health. And much thanks to sheldonm for snagging the three front-row seats for me, my wife, and Joe Bourne! Never dreamed I'd get to sit ten feet away from Benny Golson while he played "I Remember Clifford." That has to be one of my best live-jazz moments to date.

Allegro appears to be running a sale on Hep--many of the titles are currently listed at $11.99.

Ask Frank Kimbrough about Webster the next time he drops in. Frank played with him briefly in either the late 1970s or early 1980s.

This week on Night Lights it's "THE WILD ONE: Marlon Brando, Shorty Rogers, and Jazz." THE WILD ONE, Brando's 1953 motorcycle-gang movie, was based on a real-life 1947 incident in which thousands of bikers, many of them blue-collar World War II vets from Los Angeles, descended upon a northern California town and terrorized its residents by drag-racing up and down the streets and hurling beer bottles through storefront windows. Leith Stevens, who was commissioned to write the movie's score, was a regular at the Lighthouse jazz club in Hermosa Beach, California, where trumpeter Shorty Rogers frequently gigged. Stevens played Rogers' Capitol Records 10-inch LP MODERN SOUNDS for Brando, who was so impressed that he insisted Rogers be used on the soundtrack. Rogers arranged Stevens' compositions and brought in a number of fellow West Coast musicians to record them, including Jimmy Giuffre, Bud Shank, and Shelly Manne. The resulting "rebop," as one of the film's characters called it, was used to suggest a grimy but exuberant anarchy and rebellion. More information on Leith Stevens can be found here. Some background on the movie and an extended summary, replete with many dialogue passages, is available at this site. The program airs this Saturday night at 11:05 on WFIU (8:05 California time, 10:05 Chicago time, 11:05 on the East Coast). You can listen live on the web at WFIU, or listen to the program after it's posted in the Night Lights archives. Next week: "Java Jive: Jazz Coffee Songs."

I'll look for you, sheldonm! Anybody else from Organissimo who happens to be in attendance--I'll be the guy with the "Great Day in Harlem" photo T-shirt. (Surely no one else will be enough of a geek to wear said shirt.)

Deus-- Yes. That 17-minute-long version of "Flyin' Home" is unbelievable.

Freeman was the first that came to mind... Lucky Roberts?

You just reminded me that my copy of AT THE JAZZ WORKSHOP is still on order ( ) and that BULLSEYE is another title worthy of recommendation.

Howza 'bout Buster Bailey?

Duh... Glad you liked the Griff dates. Are they still in print?? Too bad we never made a live date. The recordings don't even come close! Going in the studio with Frank Wess next week. Bright Moments - was at Rahsaan's last gig in Bloomington, IN. Happy to post more often. Michael Michael, I back up Joe Bourne as a jazz DJ at WFIU and am hoping to do a show on that last Kirk gig sometime. Welcome to the board, and please keep us posted on your new releases!

Joe, I have the old Rykodisc box and love that... haven't seen the DVD. For me, Ahmad Jamal's CHAMBER MUSIC OF THE NEW JAZZ is getting played at least every other day, and Elliott Smith's FROM A BASEMENT ON THE HILL is still finding its way into my player several times a week. One of the best posthumous pop albums ever? I'm inclined to think so. The new Dinah Washington Mosaic is also turning up on the home playlist about every night--good after-work listening.

Benny Golson 12/03 Indpls. I'll be there w/my wife and fellow WFIU jazz DJ Joe Bourne... let me know if you'll be there, sheldonm, rachel, bol, jazzmessenger, etc., and we can flash one another the secret Org. hand signals.

Cool pics, sheldonm! Are you going to see him tomorrow night in Indy?

I forwarded your new track to my wife, who's a real holiday-music lover, and she's been going crazy over it... practically offering to become your publicist!

Enough of your merriment, AB! Seriously, what'd they ban you for--brightening their day?

Hey, thanks much... man, how much do I owe you all? B-) I'm getting a lot of support from my station for the show and really appreciate your comments, esp. since this crowd is so hip & smart and knowing ( ). I'm also always open to suggestions for programs as well. This board has been so illuminating, tipped me off to so many interesting records and books, that I feel the show is shaped in some ways by its influence. That's one of the reasons why I have a link to it on the show's website. (Though I should modify the description and simply say, "THE best jazz discussion group..." ) Well, enough of this orgy of mutual backscratching! At least for a few hours, anyway...

I just got this yesterday as a gift from a friend--it's a title that I've long wanted to hear. However, this 2003 Fresh Sounds CD version of it sounds distant & muted, so much so that even I, not much of an audiophile, really, found myself having difficulty appreciating the music. Is there a better version floating around somewhere?

Exactly. Some people think Melle's Prestige (? right label?) sides are better than what he did for Blue Note... the Tatro is an overlooked classic... and Manne's albums like THE THREE AND THE TWO and SHELLY MANNE & HIS MEN V. 2 are definitely worth the price of admission for anybody who's interested in the more experimental side of West Coast. Curtis Counce, too, esp. if you like Carl Perkins---lots of Carl and Harold Land on those sides. Probably already mentioned somewhere, but don't overlook Joe Gordon's LOOKIN' GOOD. Man, I already have quite a lot of this stuff, but there's so much that I haven't heard or picked up yet. It's become all too easy to take the OJC catalog for granted.

My crystal ball tells me that such an event is about to happen. B-)

Welcome, etherbored! Finally an opportunity to use this smilie:

Good to see you around, Jim! I'm taping a program of jazz coffee songs tomorrow morning and will be including Barry Harris' "Morning Coffee" (trio version).

Excellent... I'm listening right now. Jim, OK to play this stuff on the radio?

How about a javelin throw? Maybe not the best way to introduce yourself to a neighbor, I guess...

Larry's last post just brightened my upcoming-birthday thoughts. Really looking forward to reading the book!

I, too, must part ways with our own homegrown Obi-Wan (no sarcasm in that statement at all, I assure you) and say that I enjoy Dorough's Bethlehem record and some of his late Blue Note work. Haven't heard much material from his "lost" decades, and will agree that the Miles pairings are hard on the ears... I always skip over 'em in the Gil box. He is a bit of an acquired taste.