ghost of miles

An interesting Jaki Byard CD that i picked up years ago but am just now getting around to listening to:

Finally scored a used copy of this warhorse at my local record store:

Pretty much!

One of several books in progress right now:

This week's Night Lights show is a centennial salute to TV host and jazz advocate Steve Allen. The program includes clips of appearances on Allen's show by Art Tatum and Miles Davis, excerpts from the triple-LP The Story Of Jazz that Allen narrated, Allen's jazz/poetry collaboration with Jack Kerouac, an all-star performance of Allen's signature song "This Could Be The Start Of Something Big," and more: Jazz Tonight With Steve Allen

Saw a similar comment that you made in the Tristano set thread. Like you I’m not easily put off by rough sound, so your response is dampening my anticipation for this box a bit. How does it compare to, say, the Benedetti Parker, or the Tristano Wow CD that the family put out in the 1990s?

Yeah, problem is that I haven't gotten mine yet--and I don't list anything that I haven't actually listened to. Mosaic's Christmas-season sets often land in that nebulous end-of-the-year period... the Tristano set, I'd wager, is a solid bet to land on my list next December.

Just posted my list on the Night Lights site: Best Historical Releases 2021 What were your favorites?

Spinning this while "Waiting For Lennie":

The first album in the David Murray Black Saint and Soul Note V. 2 box:

Still waiting for my shipping notice--excited for others that their sets are starting to arrive!

Gitler (both Jazz Masters Of The Forties and the oral history From Swing To Bop) and Deveaux would be my recommendations. Peripherally related, there’s Arnold Shaw’s 52nd Street (originally published as The Street That Never Slept, and which may be more 1930s oriented—can’t recall, been a long time since I read it) and Honkers And Shouters, which covers the rise of R & B and jump blues from a national perspective. Robin D.G. Kelley’s Monk biography gives a good portrait of the NYC scene during this time. Throwing this in as an extra, because it’s not really music-related—but I also greatly enjoyed Victory City: A History Of New York And New Yorkers During World War II.

Thanks for posting that, Brad.

NY Times obit: Joan Didion, 'New Journalist' who explored culture and chaos, dead at 87

Winter Jazzfest sent out this notice earlier today, announcing the postponement of most in-person performances: Hello Winter Jazzfest Friends and Happy Holidays, As you well know, the world is facing yet another challenge of our resolve and our spirits from the highly contagious Omicron variant of SARS CoV-2 (aka Covid-19). After much internal deliberation, hearing from the musicians, you, our audience, friends in the medical community and our staff, we have decided that the most responsible decision for the general welfare of all of you, is to currently postpone most IN-PERSON events for 18th Annual NYC Winter Jazzfest to later dates. Even if we were to follow all current NYC & NYS guidelines with vaccination requirements and masking enforcement, we know many of you will be anxious to attend and given the heightened transmissibility of this variant, we feel that this is the most prudent way to proceed. The safety of our patrons, our staff, all musicians and of YOU is our main priority. We are arranging for several shows to be streamed during the original dates of the festival, from January 13-22 and will invite you to join us then. We will also let you know as soon as we have new dates planned for our postponed events. And see our refunds section below for further details for ticket holders.

"Shake Hands With Santa Claus" did indeed make the cut!

This year's Night Lights entry in the holiday annals, with a cameo appearance from 77 Sunset Strip's Edd "Kookie" Byrnes: Santa-O! A Very Hip Christmas

In honor of what would have been jazz artist and educator David Baker’s 90th birthday today, I’m posting an extended interview that I did with him in 2007. In part one, David talks about the early days of the Indianapolis jazz scene, playing with Wes Montgomery and with George Russell at the Five Spot in New York City, why he had to abandon the trombone for cello, and the beginnings of the jazz-studies program at Indiana University: The Basics Of David Baker: A Conversation, Part One

We re-aired Jazz His Way: Frank Sinatra this past week, and it remains archived for online listening.

Glad you enjoyed it, Eric! The late-1970s show is tentatively slated to air at the end of next month.

A near-mint copy of the DeFranco-Clark set that I found online last week for less than three figures arrived today... and a friend gifted me his Commodore V. 3 last year, so I think I’m done seeking OOP sets? 🤔😄 Though the Edmond Hall/James Johnson etc tempts me, as does the Green-Clark box—even though I have all or nearly all of the music in those two compilations.