ghost of miles

Today I listened to the legendary Ellington-at-Newport-'56 performance of "Crescendo and Diminuendo in Blue," for the first time in a couple of years. I played it for my wife, who had never heard the famous 27 chorus Paul Gonsalves solo, and hearing it again whetted my desire to seek out more Gonsalves. The only CD I have with him as a leader is ELLINGTONIA MOODS AND BLUES--any other recommendations that fall outside of his work with the Ellington orchestra?

I was at a Borders the other day, listening to some audio samples of Gloria Lynne (the Collectables re-issue AT THE BASIN STREET EAST/AT THE LAS VEGAS THUNDERBIRD). She seems to fall into that jazz/soul/pop genre that I associate with singers such as Dakota Staton & Nancy Wilson--a genre that I happen to enjoy. Anyway, I'm thinking of picking this one up, and wondered if there were any Lynne fans around these parts.

Wow, thanks for the rundown, FrancoisD. I'll have to nab that Andy Kirk disc as well--hoping to do a show on B. Calloway sometime in the future.

I loved that book, Alan, and I think you'll enjoy the rest of it as well. Chabon did a marvelous job in recreating NYC of the 30's/40's/50's; IMO he's one of the most entertaining literary-mainstream writers around these days.

I've read that too, which is one reason why I'm intrigued. I will definitely pony up for the Classics, since it seems to be the only disc available.

I've been getting increasingly interested lately in bandleader Blanche Calloway, Cab's sister, esp. since I started listening to the Cab JSP set THE EARLY YEARS. AMG lists only one compilation of her work: but there's no review or biographical information. Has anybody else heard her music?

Ronald Morris' WAIT UNTIL DARK: JAZZ AND THE UNDERWORLD 1880-1940. Morris, so far, seems to be positing that gangsterism was actually a positive force in the development of early jazz. Interesting thesis! I'll probably start a thread on that topic after I finish the book.

I found the McCoy a bit disappointing, actually. I really enjoyed his earlier book, THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON'T THEY, but found KISS sketchily implausible at times. I'm prepared to accept that to some degree in mid-20th-century pulp noir work (otherwise I wouldn't read David Goodis), but crazy breaks just happened too much to the protagonist in KISS for my taste.

Yep, one & the same (the new Everyman translation changes the title). I still haven't started it--read MISS LONELYHEARTS first and then got sidetracked with Horace McCoy's KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE--but it's now about to step up to bat in my literary reading game. I can definitely empathize with any book about a guy who continuously vows to quit smoking and then fails; it took me a long, long time to succeed. You know the old Mark Twain joke--"It's easy to quit smoking--I've done it hundreds of times."

Well, I feel a bit like Hardbop on the old board here, following myself on the now-reading thread, but I just finished Flannery O'Connor's novel THE VIOLENT BEAR IT AWAY and wanted to recommend it to anybody who enjoys her short stories. A very familiar O'Connor motif at work here--the adolescent protagonist with a dark side who truly believes in God at odds with an "enlightened" adult intellectual who preaches a doctrine of rationalism. (If you've ever read her story "The Lame Shall Enter First," you might find the novel very similar, right down to the inclusion of a holy-goof child character.) O' Connor is a powerful and sharply observant writer, whether one agrees or not with her rather brimstone-ish view of religion.

Just had an exchange of PMs with White Lightning in which our ol' fave J.J. Johnson came up--what are your favorite J.J. records? I love most of the Mosaic set, PROOF POSITIVE, and THE TOTAL J.J. JOHNSON. And is it true that he wrote the theme to "Starsky and Hutch?"

I know he's posted lately on Jazz Corner... did he start another job recently?

I didn't hear Teri Thornton until her 1999 comeback CD I'LL BE EASY TO FIND. She died of cancer shortly thereafter, and it wasn't until a couple of weeks ago that I picked up two CDs of her early-1960's work--DEVIL MAY CARE and OPEN HIGHWAY. Her voice didn't really strike me at first, but I've found myself returning more and more to the CDs in the past three days, esp. OPEN HIGHWAY, which is less jazzy than DEVIL MAY CARE, but which has an interesting selection of non-standard songs (or songs that never became standards, anyway). She sang "Somewhere in the Night," the theme song to the TV show Naked City, and I'm hoping to find the Dauntless LP that bears that song name as its title.

Any other Roy Campbell fans on the board? He's coming to Bloomington next month in some kind of configuration (not Pyramid Trio, not Die Like a Dog); I have and greatly enjoy ETHNIC STEW & BREW (with the ever awesome William Parker and Hamid Drake). Just picked up IT'S KRUNCH TIME but haven't had a chance to listen to it yet. I like how he seems to so successfully combine world, free, and straightahead jazz into his playing.

Just came across this on the Web: Henry Grimes to play with Nels Cline Big news folks: nelscline.com is very proud & excited to report that Nels will be playing in concert with legendary jazz bassist Henry Grimes on March 21 & 22 at the World Stage in Leimert Park Village (South Central Los Angeles.) The esteemed Mr. Grimes has just recently resurfaced on the scene after a 30+ year absence. You will not want to miss this exceptionally special event.

I'll be doing a radio show on Gigi Gryce and the new bio, Rat Race Blues, co-authored by our resident jazz scholar Michael Fitzgerald, on Monday, March 24 and Tuesday, March 25 from 3:30-5 p.m. Eastern time. Michael will be lending his expertise as a guest via long-distance telephone. There is a possibility that the show will be expanded into a two-part program continuing on the next day; I should have this finalized by the end of this week. You can find the link on Michael's web-page at Gryce or here: WFIU. I'll up this thread a day or so before broadcast, but wanted to let folks know in advance about the show.

Matthew, I've got both of those LOAs but haven't read all of the pulp stories yet. Last summer I read THE LITTLE SISTER & THE LONG GOODBYE back-to-back... will definitely re-read THE LONG GOODBYE. I could stand to re-read the earlier ones, too. Library of America also put out two anthologies of crime novels covering the 30's/40's and the 50's, which included some great ones like Kenneth Fearing's THE BIG CLOCK, Chester Himes' THE REAL COOL KILLERS, and William Gresham's NIGHTMARE ALLEY. Are you a fan of either Hammett or James Cain?

RAT RACE BLUES, Michael Fitzgerald and Noal Cohen's fascinating, well-researched bio of Gigi Gryce. RADICAL HOLLYWOOD, a sympathetic portrait of lefties in the 1930's/40's/50's film industry.

I concur. Given that musicians run this forum, and that CD-R trading of in-print material is detrimental to their livelihood, I would think that common courtesy and sense might dictate keeping such trades off-board. (IM passionately-felt HO.) And I AM glad to see this forum--like jazzbo, though, I fear for my wallet.

Greetings fellow ex-Blue Noters and all, I've produced a one-hour radio special on Bix Beiderbecke that's airing tomorrow night at 9 p.m. on WFIU Bloomington, IN. Richard Sudhalter will be one of several guests. The URL is on Alan Lankin's webcast page: WFIUBix Monday, March 10 will be Bix's 100th birthday. I'm hoping/planning to do an afternoon show on Gigi Gryce with Mike Fitzgerald (co-author of the Gryce bio RAT RACE BLUES) in a couple of weeks.