ghost of miles

Well, you guys got me pretty worked up about that JAZZ IN AFRICA CD, so I went ahead and ordered it too... Our annual Bloomington world music bash (the Lotus Festival) is coming up in a couple of weeks, and I usually do some kind of world-jazz show the night before it starts, so this sounds as if it will be a nice addition. I'm going to be MCing for a group called The Cool Crooners, a sort of jazz/doo-wop group from Zimbabwe--should be a fun time.

I had the same thoughts as you, relyles, regarding RAINING ON THE MOON. It is a pretty strong record overall. I've seen Parker and Drake several times here in Bloomington (once with Peter Brotzmann!) and have always felt that I was in the presence of modern-day greatness.

I've had similar (mis)adventures with both White Lightning and John L regarding PMs in the past two days. Also got that "Error: mail send" message several times when I posted a new topic or a reply in a thread. In all cases, though, the messages/posts did go through.

I'll bet you have, Lon, without realizing it... I've heard the Byrds' "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n Roll" star for years, ever since I was a kid, and only recently when I was studying the liner notes to one of their re-issues did I learn that it was Masakela on trumpet! Was Mel Torme's TORME supposed to be part of this round? Hopefully it's coming in the October batch... Supposed to be a damned fine Torme record (yes, I am a fan ).

Bad news about the delay, but glad to hear that the advances sound so good. BTW, beautiful Von Freeman-Jason Moran duet of "I Like the Sunrise" on Freeman's last Premonition CD.

Talk about reaching critical mass! That place is gonna blow (in more ways than one ). AAJ and JC are both very good boards where I tend to lurk much more than I post. As for this place, what we need is some humble, underpaid flunkie who'll cut and light our cigars for us while we ruminate on various topics jazz and non-jazz. "Dammit, Weizen, my good man, if your GOP brothers would just acquiesce to a lift of that pesky Cuban trade embargo, we could be smoking in style!"

Yeah, I know, John, I had the very same reaction when I read those notes!

WL, I'm planning to pick up CRISSCRAFT, which I think just got re-issued by Savoy. (Hell, how can I resist when AMG says its "tones" are Sophisticated, Intimate, Amiable/Good-Natured, Rollicking, Passionate, Reverent, Reserved! B) ) You're right, Hawes does show up on some of those jams... The Fresh Sounds CD I have is the 1959 session that came out on Impulse with the Dorham Jazz Prophets date (both originally ABC?). Wynton Kelly is the pianist. Didja get my PM?

Recently I've been hitting the Criss Prestige sides hard (and Late's AOTW choice only spurred me on even more). What is it about Criss' playing on these albums that make me return to them again and again of late? Even something like I'LL CATCH THE SUN, which seems to be written off as one of his lesser efforts in that (late-60s) era, still comes across to me with a magical vitality that infuses even material like the title track and "Don't Rain On My Parade"--and when he gets his hands on "I Thought About You" and "Cry Me a River," look out. Damn, I wish he'd gotten to record with Hampton Hawes more. In any even, records like PORTRAIT OF CRISS, THIS IS CRISS, and SONNY'S DREAM are in my CD player all the time these days. The other night I listened to the 2-CD Imperial set, and while it's a fine collection of 1950s Criss (hell, the only collection, I think, outside of the Fresh Sounds CD and some of the stuff that turned up on Xanadu), the Prestige years sound like a great leap forward to me. I still haven't heard THE BEAT GOES ON and ROCKIN' IN RHYTHM, but that's just one of the many, many things I have to look forward to...

Miles Davis, LIFT TO THE SCAFFOLD John Zorn, SPILLANE Jackie McLean, DESTINATION OUT darkside I've got another CD at home that collects some of the original soundtrack themes from various film noirs, but can't remember the title offhand... will post it tomorrow.

I'll see you double!!

Yeah, I've been on the hunt for this one for some time--hope you picked it up!

Joe Pass, GUITAR VIRTUOSO (disc 4) Various artists, GENNETT RECORDS GREATEST HITS Avishai Cohen, LYLA Don Friedman, WALTZ FOR DEBBY Lee Morgan, SEARCH FOR THE NEW LAND Billie Holiday, SOLITUDE

I'm on a pre-ordering roll myself--doing all 3 Mosaics tomorrow, and just pre-ordered both the forthcoming Basie set and the new translation of SWANN'S WAY. (One of these things is not like the others... )

Well, Dan, I think you better keep it up there then! The talismanic superstition of baseball is actually one of the things that's always attracted me to the sport. I also have to admit that even though the aesthete in me knows that the novel of THE NATURAL is better than the movie, the kid in me is crazy about the flick. I swear to God, I get choked up when Redford shatters the clock on the wall with his home-run. In real-life, the moments that have come closest to that for me are seeing Fisk hit the homer in Game 6 (I was a little kid, a big Fred Lynn fan, and so my dad let me stay up late to watch the end of the game), watching the Yanks' two bottom-of-the-9th, game-tying home runs in the 2001 World Series, and seeing Ripken hit a home-run on his last at-bat before officially breaking Gehrig's record. Those moments are just mythic for me--in some weird way they tie into visions of dreams and possibilities that I've had ever since I was a child.

Not sure--have the two Chambers/Blakey duets come out before?

What I wanna know is what the prize is for making post #50,000--howza 'bout a nice, bound copy of BEST OF THE BABE THREADS?

Just a little over three weeks left, and every division in the American League is still in play. Even the Yanks are all but clinging to first--thankfully Wells finally got back on track and they salvaged the last game of their series with the Bosox. And I'm rooting hard for the Cubs to pull it out in the NL Central. Brother Berigan, what's yer verdict on the Braves for the playoffs?

One of them can't come over here. B) Doubtless he'll start haunting Jazz Corner soon if AAJ doesn't resolve its problems... a Middle East thread in the Alley would smoke him out!

I've never picked this one up because I have nearly all of the master-take material already (save for the Cole Porter session, which I've heard but haven't gotten around to getting yet). Still, it sounds like a great buy, Tony--if I ever see it for a price that low, I'll be sorely tempted (and I don't have that Cole Porter date yet! Easy justification, even at $74). I'll tell you the one I'm hungering for--the Savoy/Dial set, although I have nearly all of that already as well. What's the sound quality on that one like vs. the Denon mini-LPs and the 4-CD Complete Dial set?

Isn't there also an extra track on the jewelcase version that wasn't on the longbox?

A very cool book (in spite of a few copyediting errors--kinda ironic in a book about journalism) entitled PM: A NEW DEAL IN JOURNALISM 1940-48. PM was an experimental, liberal New York daily that introduced some of the design and content practices that have since become common in newspapers: And the Bangs book is awesome! Esp. the two-part piece from the June/July 1976 Creem detailing his visit to Jamaica to write about the emerging reggae phenomenon.

What a damned drag, but it sounds as if he made the most of the time that was left to him. I was a kid when EXCITABLE BOY came out and it rocked my world for awhile--in 1978 he was a beacon of hope on the dim pop landscape. Also liked the one-off he did with R.E.M. (aka The Hindu Love Gods); not long ago I played their version of Prince's "Raspberry Beret" on the radio.

They're goin' fast...

Mike, yes, it's the 1992 Denon CD. I'm assuming it's OOP, although I haven't checked. Correct track listings would be great. Thanks for the offsetting opinion--I'll probably pick it up tonight.