ghost of miles

Spiritual Jazz Volume 15: A Tribute to Trane. So glad that this series continues.

Still can’t bring myself to file this one away just yet—so damned enjoyable, all of it, the new mix, the alternates and outtakes, the live show, and an outstanding booklet. One of my favorite rock reissues of all time, I’d have to say.

Such an amazing reclamation project. Bought Tim in 1985 when it came out and bought this on its first day of release as well. I can make a case in my head now for this being as much of a masterpiece as its predecessor Let It Be: Speaking of masterpieces indeed… 🥰 ❤️ Almost got this for my girlfriend for Christmas—she’s a big Stax fan. Have you ever been to the museum in Memphis? Well worth a visit if you’re in the city.

Just a little over two weeks till pitchers and catchers report. Where do the Boras Four (Snell, Montgomery, Bellinger, Chapman) end up landing? Is Montgomery waiting for Texas to iron out their TV contract issue? That seems to be the conventional wisdom. Reports that Snell turned down 6 yrs/$150 million from the Yankees and wants 9 yrs/$270 million… good luck getting that. I think even the Yankees’ offer was a risky overpay to a guy who just turned 31, but any kind of decent starting pitching goes for a premium these days, so maybe he ends up getting more than that from another team.

Up for Roy Eldridge’s birthday today: Portrait of Little Jazz

Stop me if I’ve posted this one before—it’s become my favorite of hers over the years:

We re-aired Four and More: 1964, The Year in Jazz this past week, and it remains archived for online listening.

NY Times subscribers are permitted 10 "gift articles" a month that can be shared with others. I'm fortunate to have a subscription through my employer, so here you go: The Worst Masterpiece: Rhapsody in Blue

Here's another!

I wonder if Mosaic’s ever contemplated a set of Goodman’s 1930s and 40s small group dates for Victor and Columbia. Or just a Columbia set that includes the Charlie Christian material.

Don’t know, but I like Loren’s description of McFadden on “Rose Room” as “clearly in his element, chonking out Charlie Christian riffs-a-plenty.” What a treasure trove this is for us Byas fans. I don’t know how much, if any, of the Timmie Rosenkrantz apartment sessions have ever been issued before, but they’re all new to me. The Frank Newton session with Hank D’Amico’s group as well. And I’m not even into the miscellaneous-labels part of the set yet. Much appreciation to our friends in Stamford for putting it out.

Going for this one as well. (And grateful again for my not having succumbed to the vinyl revival… good Lord, the price differential here!)

Really?! Great minds thinking alike, obviously! 😉 I’m revisiting because I’m in the midst of doing a new Night Lights show about Powell’s 1940s recordings.

Up for J.J.’s centennial today. Here’s a tribute show I put together for Night Lights that traces his musical career from beginning to end: Portrait of J.J.: A Brief History of J.J. Johnson

Last week’s show, a broad overview of trombonist and composer/arranger J.J. Johnson, is up for online listening in honor of his centennial today: Portrait of J.J.: A Brief History of J.J. Johnson

Seconding Matthew’s sentiments here—Sports Illustrated and (to a lesser extent) the Sporting News were household staples of my childhood. These days the Athletic fulfills that role for me, though my interest in following all sports except for baseball has dwindled to near-non-existence.

Larry Kart is back!

Excellent news! Larry’s absence has often been on my mind whenever I’ve visited the board in recent months.

A well-curated 2-CD anthology of Wayne Shorter’s music across a pretty broad stretch of periods. I seem to end up revisiting this one every couple of years:

This showed up on YouTube recently--just came across it and haven't had a chance to listen yet, but it sounds intriguing: