ghost of miles

Thanks, but please don't ask me about Glenn Miller, Father Jim... I've been a baaaaaddd boy. In the past week I've nabbed el cheapo copies of SECRET BROADCASTS and the AAF Bluebird box--I will indeed be talking about Miller & the AAF band in one class. (There'll be five classes in all.) The timespan I have in mind will probably cover 1925-1960 or 1970. I don't think I'll be able to require students to buy specific books, but I will be allowed to put together a "reader." So far I plan to include excerpts from Lewis Erenberg's SWINGIN' THE DREAM: BIG BANDS AND THE REBIRTH OF AMERICAN CULTURE and Sherri Tucker's SWING SHIFT, among others. I'll also probably include something from George Simon; I'm not a big fan of his work, but he was an early authority on the subject, and I still turn to his BIG BANDS book from time to time.

Yes... I love that record! (2-LP set, actually.) Had it on vinyl when I was a kid--it's a 12/31/77 England show, correct? I need to grab the CD one of these days. BTW, any Ramones fans who haven't picked up the LEAVE HOME re-issue should really grab it... they've restored "Carbona Not Glue" (I loaned my LP w/the song on it to an 8th-grade buddy and he lost it... ) and also added a great live show from L.A. in 1976. LEAVE HOME was the first Ramones record I ever bought, in the summer of '77, and it rocked my world... then ROCKET TO RUSSIA came out in the fall and rocked it further! Perhaps goofy to say, but they were to me what I imagine the Beach Boys were to many in the early 1960s.

Pretty exciting news that I thought I'd pass along--I'll be teaching two jazz history courses next year in my local university's Continuing Studies division. Each class lasts for five 1.5-2 hour sessions; the spring class will be "Big Bands in American Popular Culture," and the autumn class will be "History of Indiana Jazz." I'll probably solicit advice/input from the Organissimo round-table when I go to prepare the syllabi...

Terrible news--Johnny Ramone was my guitar hero when I was 11:

All right, all right... Uncle! I'll get all five.

Man, oh man... I can't wait to get this box & do a radio special around it. My, my!

There seems to be a divided school of thought on the Fantasy-owned LESTER YOUNG IN WASHINGTON recordings... what do y'all think? I'm leaning towards picking them up, as I like a fair amount of late Lester... these emanate from 1956, I believe.

I'm getting ready to place a large order, given that everything may change in 60 days... I already have quite a few Fantasy titles, but just out of curiosity, what are some Organissimo board members' favorites?

Cool! I saw 'em back in 1989 or '90 at Alumni Hall in Bloomington (cripes, I'm gettin' old) and it was a rockin' slamfest. Joey Santiago IMO never got proper respect for his guitar playing.

Ah, you flatterer... you're just trying to get me to pick up the tab for our future Hammett walking tour!

The day that Joyce and Nora went on their first date--more famously, the day upon which he set ULYSSES: In commemoration, I heartily recommend that all Joyce devotees consume 6-8 bottles of Guinness Stout tomorrow and then read FINNEGANS WAKE aloud to friends & colleagues... B)

They've upgraded the free accounts, which is great (much more storage space), but the new account is movin' slooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwww... and not carrying out some basic commands, such as forwards. Anybody else having this problem today?

Lovely, lovely set. I'm a big fan of late-40s club blues, so I can listen to it in more than small doses. There's also a nice amount of Maxwell Davis here (the tenor saxophonist/arranger/composer who also appears on the Milburn set); if you're a fan of his work, another reason to pick up the Brown. I had long hoped that Mosaic would do a set of Brown's pre-Aladdin Three Blazers music, but finally snapped up the Chronological Classics instead.

Kinda goes "hand in hand" w/playing air guitar, don't ya think? B)

I could always delete it... my finger's in good shape from all the spam that I get!

Hmmmm.....

Yeah, I was hoping for more of the Rivers material. Another board member sent me dubs of at least one, maybe two other nights w/Rivers that weren't part of MILES IN TOKYO. So I have it, but still hoped to see it included... I haven't heard most of the other live music here, so I'm really looking forward to this collection.

A very rough month indeed. Weirdly enough, I brought that Fathead Newman 32 Jazz set to work with me today... will spin it in lieu of Ray himself for now.

Every city riots... it's a venerable American tradition! I was in one myself, Bloomington '87, when IU won the NCAA. Pretty friendly, though, as riots go--people were hugging cops, going "We won, we won!" The riot we had here several years ago when Knight was fired was a much less friendly affair.

Haven't seen the film (will try to, upon your rec), but I must say that's one of the more eyecatching thread titles I've seen around these parts in awhile!

How popular was the Vee Jay gospel material? I wish some of that would re-surface as well.

Anybody heard the Blakey yet? I ordered it yesterday & probably won't get it till late next week...

winner

From BMG's "buy 1, get 3 free" deal (crusing towards the magic mark of 18 music points): Count Basie, AT NEWPORT (VME) Louis Armstrong, MEETS OSCAR PETERSON Dexter Gordon, ROUND MIDNIGHT General Public, ALL THE RAGE (indulging college-sophomore-year memories)

New to clearance: Hank Mobley, STRAIGHT NO FILTER ($2.99). Cassandra Wilson, NEW MOON DAUGHTER ($3.99). Sonny Rollins, COMP. PRESTIGE RECORDINGS ($27.99, but they will nail you on shipping--tack on $20 more. Still a good price overall, though.)