ghost of miles

I think Lon has mentioned listening to this collection recently, and I just took the plunge and got it last week. I've listened to only the first two CDs so far, but if you like Tatum at all, you should pick this up. For years I was a bit wary of it, having fallen prey to a couple of critical articles that argued that it was simply too much Tatum & intimated that he had called it in to some extent. Well, he certainly doesn't sound to me as if he's calling in--he's simply working through a rather large canon of American popular song that he's spent a lifetime playing. And, as Benny Green advises in the liner notes, it's best not to try to listen to it all at once. Since opening it I've listened to 1 CD a day (or night), which seems about right. In one sense, the "too much Tatum" charge is right--he's simply doing so much & offering up so much compelling harmonic beauty that it certainly doesn't behoove you to take it all in in one or two days. (I'll skip the cliched "fine-culinary-fare" analogy here.) Today I especially enjoyed his version of Ellington's "Just a-Sittin' and a-Rockin'" on disc 2. When I first started listening to jazz piano, I quickly became a champion of Bud Powell. I heard Tatum later and at first thought him overly ornate, too many flourishes, etc. I didn't even make the (now) obvious connection that Powell was coming out of Tatum, that in some ways he was refining and expanding part of Tatum's musical vision. In any event, if you can find it for a decent price, do yourself a favor and pick up the Pablo Solo box.

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.

I don't blame you--who has the time? B-)

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.

If you sent in the obis for 10 of the first 12 Connoisseurs, they'd send you a Blue Note watch... I actually got two of 'em by mistake and gave the extra one to a friend. The battery ran down on mine and I've never bothered to get it replaced, but it was a cool little thing to have--I should get it fixed.

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

The archived programs are finally available: ArchivedNightLights

Alejo, thanks for the comments & suggestions--I think that would make the "Book Nook" list more readable, and we could probably wrap the text around a small picture of the dust-jacket. Mike, I've thought about that, as I'd like to do something on Gryce for the new program. I might edit what we did down to a 2-part, 2-hours-total special (total time for the original broadcasts was about 150-160 minutes after subtracting news, underwrites, etc.). I'm planning the January-April programs right now & will probably throw that into the mix--most likely March.

BTW I screwed up on the tag at the end of the Parker show--next week's program will be "Four Women: The Philips Recordings of Nina Simone." The program on THE CONNECTION will air on Sept. 11.