ghost of miles

One more go-around this past week for Hope Lives: A Portrait Of Elmo Hope.

Thanks to Jsngry for his recent post rehipping my ears to this:

Will do! Though you can listen to it at any time in the link that I posted. Pulled out this warhorse tonight for revisiting:

OMG yes. I actually bought this at the record store where I was working when it came out in 1994, and still have it all these years later (a little worn from use and wear!). I did a whole Night Lights show about the set that we'll be re-airing in several weeks. I also inherited the original 78 collection from a friend's spouse--it's missing the front of the booklet but otherwise in great shape, the 78s near mint. And you know, it was *marketed* as a sort of box-set, a real forerunner to how the major labels and Mosaic would later anthologize and present the music, and how boutique labels continue to do so today (Mosaic still at it, obviously). Anyway, a beauty of a release, for sure. Right now I'm on disc 1 of Craft's recent Bill Evans overview. Very nicely done, so far as I can tell--I haven't dug into Neil Tesser’s liner notes yet or glanced through the booklet much, just put on the first CD, and it's a well-sequenced track list of early Evans trio sides.

What's the deadline for JD deciding whether or not to opt out? I'm thinking that he'd have an even better market if MLB adopts the universal DH, which seems likely--but won't happen until a new CBA is adopted, correct? It's hard for me to imagine an NL team pursuing him if he has to play in the field all the time.

Oh so agreed!

That website is amazing--pretty sure it was around and that I utilized it back in 2007 when I did the Night Lights Second Magic City: Sun Ra In Chicago program, but a glance at the link today reveals that it's been updated considerably. I also picked up the Sun Ra Transparency box set from a fellow board member a couple years back, but have yet to delve into it. What was your ultimate verdict on the recent Sun Ra's Chicago: Afrofuturism and the City book?

Shameless self-promotion of a previous Night Lights show devoted to this very year: 1961: New Jazz Frontier Jsngry, thanks for the reminder of that 1961 Sun Ra outing--I actually picked up a BMG Record Club copy (!) of that CD many years ago. Will give it a fresh listen this evening.

The 1997 Vanguard box-set was one of the most exciting new-release events of my life. Iirc it came out on Sept 23, Trane’s birthday. The record store I worked at didn’t receive our expected shipment that day, so I bought it at another store in downtown Bloomington and spent the entire evening listening to it. I still listen to it all the way through every several years; might have to start again tonight after reading Ratliff’s article.

I concur with Bill’s enthusiasm for this one—it’s a classic! I learned so much when I read it—quite a few years ago at this point and I keep meaning to give it a rereading. So many of the musicians Gioia interviewed for that book are gone now; invaluable that he was able to create that chronicle with their input.

The fact that this show was essentially a collaboration between a Yankee and a Red Sox fan should serve as a beacon of hope to those who fear that the spirit of American bipartisanship is dead. I do truly hope, though, that it serves as a gateway to both the music of Percy France and Dan’s amazing website about him.

I think you’re quite possibly right about the Yankees pursuing Seager, especially because they could easily shift him to third in another year or two when Anthony Volpe hits the majors. Rizzo I’m not so sure about; depends on what the market’s like for him. NY’s already got several big long-term commitments to players over 30 (Stanton, Cole, and LeMahieu) and presumably will be adding Judge, who turns 30 next year, to that list. On a league-wide scale there’s the whole impending CBA issue—another factor that could influence the market for free agents (let alone have a potentially damaging impact on the 2022 season in general). I don’t know enough about it to make a prediction, except to say that it probably won’t be pretty.

A good friend of mine who's quite a jazz fan told me that his father, who's a doctor, recently had Lou as a patient!

Back to jazz:

Jim, is there any chance that you'll ever bundle these into a book of some sort? (I enjoy reading the blog entries, but I'd snap up a book of them as well. I also purchased your Stars Of Jazz volume.)

Hey fellow Percy fans, the Night Lights Percy France show (developed with considerable assistance from Dan Gould!) is finally up for online listening, with some extra goodies included in the web post: Out Of The Shadows: Percy France

Hey gang, here's a new Night Lights show about saxophonist Percy France, subject of Dan Gould's recently-launched website. And this Night Lights episode was developed with considerable assistance from Mr. Gould! Hope you enjoy it: Out Of The Shadows: Percy France

Posting this a bit early, since the holiday's coming up this weekend: Night Lights in the key of screeeech, with stalking monsters, road-weary Draculas, and the true tale of the jazz-loving New Orleans Mysterious Axman all part of this week's Halloween celebration. (As well as an early Gil Evans arrangement) Strange Enchantment: Jazz For Halloween

As well you should be! Read this after seeing your link on Facebook (er, "Meta" ) this morning... great article.

Nice comment from drummer and jazz DJ Jae Sinnett on his Facebook (er, “Meta”) page: “There are a couple of notable things on this record but the one that stands out to me is the performance of Pursuance. Trane doesn't solo oddly enough. Pharaoh does and McCoy but it's McCoy's solo that absolutely blows me away. They play it way up. I mean up. The fastest I've ever heard any of them play. Well over 300BPMs and they're walking it. Not rubato and floating. It's swinging and McCoy's solo is almost 10 minutes long. They took the gloves off on this one. Seriously. I have never heard McCoy play like this. Or Elvin. I mean we've all heard them open up but this performance is on a different level. I don't know if that's Garrison playing bass because there's another bass player on the record and it's difficult for me to tell at that tempo. No second drummer. Pursuance alone is worth the purchase of the release. I'm guessing Elvin, McCoy and the bassist were 5-10LBS lighter after this hit.”