ghost of miles

And you call yourself a patriotic American. Blame your fellow conservative Berigan--he's the one who brought it up! Sorry--I suppose I could make it up to you by starting a "Pro Bowl" thread.

What label is this on, Jazzman? I like Barbara Lea's singing. I think she showed up on the rare-Hoagy CD that Sudhalter & co. did a year or two back.

Matthew, Powell really seems to have come back into vogue in the past few years... just last year I read an article about Powell discussion groups that had formed in the L.A. area. I picked up a used pb copy of V. 1 to see what all the fuss was about but haven't gotten around to reading it yet. I know that Alan Furst, a historical espionage writer whose work I've been enjoying of late, claims to have been heavily influenced by Powell's epic work. People sometimes tout him as the English Proust, which I'd guess is a rather reductive, specious comparison, but I'll be curious to hear your thoughts if you soldier on with the series.

13 days till the camps open, buddy! I just picked up a very cool book--BASEBALL'S PIVOTAL ERA 1945-1951, by William Marshall. It should prime me for spring, glorious spring. Of course, baseball has its moments of brutal contact as well--beanings and the home-plate collisions (one of the first things I ever remember seeing on TV--and I was quite a youngin', maybe 4 at the time--was Pete Rose's collision with an American League catcher--Ray Fosse? The catcher in question never quite recovered from it). But brutal contact does seem to be much less at the heart of baseball than it is with football and boxing.

Larry, I've e-mailed Mosaic about this. I don't have a Herman discography at hand, but as far as I can ascertain, the bulk of his 1940s Columbia recordings were done in 1945 and 1946. Also, what post-1947 Columbia recordings could they be talking about? The recording ban was in effect for most of 1948, and when Herman returned to the studios he was under contract to Capitol. The whole thing is a bit puzzling--a 1947-49 Columbia set would seem to be pretty skimpy fare indeed. (Surely they're not putting recordings released in 1949 under that umbrella.) In any case, I'll post their reply when I get it.

Hey, thanks, Deus! I have definitely thought about purchasing an OOP copy online, and probably will some day when I set aside a bit of cash for that very purpose. In the meantime, it's nice to visit that site--and cheers yourself, you whippersnapper, you! B)

Just finished John O'Hara's BUTTERFIELD 8, a book that must have been pretty racy for its time (1935); you can tell he was really running with the 1934 ULYSSES obscenity decision! Currently meandering through a couple of books about Soviet purges and espionage in the 1930s: Walter Kirivitsky's IN STALIN'S SECRET SERVICE (he was one of the first high-level Soviet defectors, "suicided" in 1941, probably by an NKVD agent) and another book called THE ROAD TO TERROR: STALIN AND THE SELF-DESTRUCTION OF THE BOLSHEVIKS, 1932-1939.

Man, what sad, sad news. I wrote a short story set in Harlem in 1953 (Joe Milazzo and David Gitin have read it) and gave the protagonist the last name of Favors--done definitely as a tribute to Malachi. Think I'll break out that AEC box as well.

I was a Bob Griese fan as a kid and hence a Dolphins' fan. One of the greatest Monday night football games I ever watched was a Miami-Houston game that turned into a Campbell-Griese duel, with the Oilers taking the game in the end. If I recall correctly, Campbell got off an 80-yard touchdown run in that game and ended up with about 200 yards rushing. My little brother, who was a Campbell fan, was greatly pleased; I was not.

A jazz photography book I'd like to get a copy of is Dennis Stock's JAZZ STREET, published in 1960, I believe. He's the photographer who took all the pictures of James Dean during his last visit to Fairmount, Indiana in February of 1955.

Our thoughts go out to you, friend.

Speaking of Orwell... this from Calpundit as a followup to the evolution story:

Is this a revival of the late 80s/early 90s baseball cap trend--except that this time everyone's wearing them forwards instead of backwards? The first time I saw somebody (a public figure, that is) wearing a backwards baseball cap was Michael Stipe, of all people, on MTV in 1985 (circa FABLES period). Then it was all the rage for awhile (I always trace it back to Holden Caulfield wearing his hunting cap in reverse in CATCHER IN THE RYE)... didn't realize baseball caps had come round again. I'd rather see a return to vintage 30s/40s hats, which I keep thinking is on the verge of happening, but never seems to quite take off.

Damn, Late, I was hoping you'd be offering! I'd like to find this one as well some day.

Lon, I know a gent in the Bay Area who can give you the skinny on all this SACD business. Is this the Bainbridge album?

Well, congrats! And it was even made in the middle of the day, you ol' vampire, you! B)

Wasn't this Morgan's last recording? I picked this up a couple of months ago and have yet to give it a solid listen... Thanks for the post, Conn, I'll try to pull it off the "unplayed" shelf in the next day or two.

Just got this last night... man, why do I love this era so much? There's something about the late 40s/early 50s, when bebop, cool, and the beginnings of hard bop were all converging, that just gets to my sweet tooth. I truly could listen to this stuff for the rest of my life if I had to. I already had a Fresh Sounds CD of Miles live in '48 with Lee Konitz and '52 with Jackie McLean and Gil Coggins; this one falls in between those two dates and is in some ways even more enjoyable.

New: JUKEBOX ELLA. New to clearance: Cannonball Adderley, CANNONBALL AND THE POLL WINNERS Duke Ellington, THE OKEH RECORDINGS

I heard Lovano talking about it when he was on WGBH a few months ago. He sounded quite pleased with the results, but he didn't say anything much beyond the description you've provided.

I'm supposed to get a copy next week... this one's been in the can for a long time. The set-list looks to be mostly standards, with "Mother Nature's Son" thrown in as well.

I can't wait for Mojo's long-awaited second album: MO MOJO.

Wow! Didn't know that Hawk, Thad, and Costa had all recorded together--I'll have to run that one down as well. Say, brothers, couldya lend me a couple of fivers... for which I'll gladly pay you back on Friday?

I meant to say, "Sounds like a bad perfume for goths." Things seem to be moving just a bit better now, but still a tad sluggish.

I'll bet Our Man in Phoenix--aka Catesta--could help you out with that.