ghost of miles

It doesn't?! Never realized that...

Here's another: James Carter, THE REAL QUIETSTORM.

Yeah, that's him! He was a really cool guy. Doing damned well these days, I hear, from a friend who still sees him from time to time... he played on Shawn Colvin's Grammy-winning CD and is a top on-call drummer in NYC. I wasn't much into jazz when I knew him, so I wish I'd tapped his brain more... he was a big Blakey fan, I know that. His favorite expression for someone he liked was, "So-and-so is a heavy hoss." Anyway, I'm forever grateful to him for steering my indie-rock ears to KIND OF BLUE.

Oh God, I f*#@ing hate that song! When I worked in a record store my moniker for that band was Deep B.S.

When I was 19 and wanting to buy my first jazz record, I asked a drummer who lived on my dorm floor, and who was heavily into Art Blakey, what album I should buy. He was a very hep, Zen-like guy; didn't say much, always had a kind of natural-high smile. He looked at me for awhile, said, "Miles Davis, KIND OF BLUE. Make love to it, man." Then he walked away without saying anything else. These days he's the drummer in the Saturday Night Live band:

I'm a child of the 80's--Roxy Music's AVALON for me.

Man. A jazz DJ & good buddy of mine gave me his copy, signed by Dizzy in the early 1980s, for Christmas a couple of years ago. I was very touched and never, ever intend to sell it. I'm sure he had a sense that the book might be worth something and didn't care--he's a sweetheart of a guy. I'm always a bit stunned when I see the asking price of certain Mosaics and other jazz-related items, mostly, I suppose, because I just can't imagine selling anything that I have, outside of the odd Connoisseur or other CD that a box-set makes redundant. For insurance purposes, I really should get around to determining the going price of what I have on hand. Back to the subject of the thread, I haven't read either Dizzy's memoir or the bio (Shipton, right?) yet, even though I have both. Wonder what kind of skewed view the two combined will provide...

Listening to it right now--nothing too remarkable, save for the pleasure of hearing Curtis Fuller still performing and running through a set of standards. Overall (well, I'm only halfway through the disc), I give it the .

Happy birthday from a fellow Hoosier and jazz-lover! Whoop it up and don't forget to buy yerself a few of them there jass CDs...

She did a date with Coleman Hawkins in 1939 ("He's Funny That Way") that I really enjoy, and I've been thinking about tracking down some of her recordings. Any starter recommendations? BTW, anybody else wish we had a "Vocalists" forum here? I know it didn't generate as much traffic on the BNBB as most of the other forums, but I still miss it...

I've long known of this singer and came across her name again in James Gavin's INTIMATE NIGHTS: THE GOLDEN AGE OF NEW YORK CABARET. Any fans here who might be able to point me in a good direction regarding her recordings?

Peter Carroll, THE ODYSSEY OF THE ABRAHAM LINCOLN BRIGADE: AMERICANS IN THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR.

I don't know about Debra Parkinson, but I do know that you should not hesitate if this set hits Running Low/Last Chance. One of my favorite Mosaics, and one of the more underrated ones, IMO. It captures J.J. in what I think of as his prime period in many ways, both as a player and as a composer/arranger.

Man. I'll probably get it anyway, but I had no idea that the Gilmore solos had been edited out. Why? It's very unfortunate that Universal isn't going to do any restoration. Guess the only hope now is that Mosaic someday does some kind of Blakey Universal-labels set (and a small hope at that).

Wagstaff: Oh, you do, do you? Well you're wrong again! If there was a snake here, I'd apologize. Where would this college be without football? Have we got a stadium? Professor One: Yes. Wagstaff: Have we got a college? Professor One: Yes. Wagstaff: Well, we can't support both. Tomorrow we start tearing down the college. Both professors: But professor! Where will the students sleep? Wagstaff: Where they always sleep. In the classroom.

Groucho as Wagstaff teaching a class in HORSEFEATHERS, after Harpo has replaced an educational poster with a portrait of a scantily-clad woman: GROUCHO: Upon closer examination... hmm, this needs a closer examination. In fact it needs a nightgown. Baravelli, is this your picture? CHICO: I no think so. It no look like me. Full scene dialogue here. It's one of my favorite Marx scenes.

I hear ya David, and it's quite groovy listening. Just didn't want you to get your hopes TOO far up, my friend! Otherwise this could happen to you: Peaking a little early? Yikes! I thought listening to jazz made one a better lover--er, uh, that is, of jazz, of course.

I say bah! 'Tis a long season, my friend, 'tis a long season. That's the beauty of baseball. But Mussina and the offense better snap to it sooner rather than later!

I'm a John Gilmore freak, which accounts for a great deal of my excitement. I've long wanted to hear some recorded evidence of his stay with the Messengers. Others have shared your opinon, DrJ, so I'm not anticipating great revelations or anything... just a chance to hear Gilmore and Lee Morgan together in a Blakey front-line makes me a man.

Posted this in the Verve LPR thread, but thought it significant enough to give it its own thread. Courtesy of Alan's great Jazzmatazz site:

The new Penguins are based on the 1989 Pleiade edition, although I understand that the French version includes much extra material that was left out of the English translations. One of these days I need to seriously re-visit my weak grasp of the language and read Proust in the original. Magic is a great way to describe it, Brownie. I've been reading it late at night, which seems like the perfect time to inhabit the pages.

Freakin' A, has anybody noticed this on Alan's Jazzmatazz site?! FINALLY! I don't even care if it's a bit of a letdown--I've wanted to hear this date for years.

ReversingTheCurse. Guess ya started last night, ya bastids!

Looks as if the Smithsonian is re-issuing it formally: BlackChrist

Somebody posted that to the Proust list, but I haven't read it yet. Just started the "Combray" section last night... so far, the translation is really living up to the hype. (Each volume was done by a different translator; the others have gotten mixed reviews.)