ghost of miles

I know, Weizen, I much prefer those as well. I have a number of those Savoys and am still on the hunt for THE CHARLIE PARKER STORY... I have both Jutta Hipp Hickory Houses and the Walter Davis Jr. In those instances I picked them up primarily because they're not available stateside (same as the James Clay TENORMAN, Eddie Costa HOUSE OF BLUE LIGHTS, Barry Harris BREAKIN' IT UP, and Joe Pass SOUNDS OF SYNANON that I've picked up recently). I like the JRVGs and the Japanese Universals--both sound and presentation style (the mini-LPs are cool)--but am wary of developing another big-spending jazz habit.

Not so much jazz yesterday: Various artists, NUGGETS II (great 60's international garage rock... Them's "I Can Only Give You Everything," the Poets' "That's the Way It's Got to Be"... I love that slightly sinister 60's grunge sound) Beck, SEA CHANGE Yo La Tengo, SUMMER SUN 10,000 Maniacs, THE WISHING CHAIR Stan Getz, PLAYS (early-50's Verve) Rachmaninoff, PLAYS RACHMANINOFF Willie the Lion Smith, Chronological Classics comp. (hope the Mosaic still comes out some day)

I'd also recommend that Carmen McRae SINGS MONK CD as well, which got re-issued a couple of years ago in the new Bluebird series. I've been listening to a lot of McRae lately, and plan to re-visit that one soon.

Ahoy, Organissimos! I thought it most important that I brin't'your attention t'fact that Friday be International Talk Like a Pirate Day! I'm off from work and will be lazin' about, listenin't'me vast plundero'jazz CD treaayes. Joy and good tidin'st'you, mates! talklikeapirate

tjazz, just looking at the listing on CD Universe (and not having the Essentials in front of me), it looks like there's a fair amount of overlap, but by no means will this set contain everything that was on the Essentials. (I'm sure it will be in much better sound, however.) None of Disc 4 is on the Essentials, though--that's all live material (which I think has, for the most part, been out before on several different labels).

Yeah, I'd say we're less likely to see titles such as George Russell's KANSAS CITY ever see the light of day on CD now.

You know, Tony, the ironic thing is that I ordered the set primarily for the Krupa, too (haven't gotten it yet--it's coming with the three new releases), and thought, "Eh, the James will be interesting too..." and shortly afterwards I went on my James kick. So my excitement about that set has doubled. I also stumbled across a remaindered paperback of TRUMPET BLUES, which looks like a decent bio of James, and I'm really looking forward to the Hindsight set. Thanks for everybody's recommendations. I'm now eyeing the James/Basie Hep...

Thanks for posting this, Kinuta. I just recently read Le Carre for the first time (THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD, of course) and am hoping to give the Smiley trilogy a go as soon as work/projects allow it. I've heard great things about the BBC series and will definitely have to check it out.

An old maid named Dodo?

You haven't heard it yet. You're only whetting my appetite! Man, I'm starting to feel like this is the cursed big diamond in an Uncle Scrooge story I read as a kid. Whoever got it was glad at first, till lightning and hail started hitting him and hurricanes broke out over his head...

Harry James, ALL OR NOTHING AT ALL (Hindsight) Sam Rivers, FUSCHIA SWING SONG Various, 50 YEARS OF DELMARK JAZZ & BLUES Stan Getz, LOST SESSIONS: BOSSAS & BALLADS Various, BIRD UP (Charlie Parker re-mixed)

OK, another guy I sloughed off for a long time as a nascent young jazz snob (outside of his early hot work as a sideman, of course). But lately I've been listening to him more, particularly the '39 band, and I just ordered the Hindsight box BANDSTAND MEMORIES 1938-48, as well as the Krupa/James Capitol set. Any other recommendations/thoughts on this trumpeter?

His "loss" will be my "gain"! Thanks, jacknife!

Yeah, word in the industry has been that it sounds somewhat like his 70's stuff... I'm eager to hear it, as well as the forthcoming Al Green. Wonder if their label has a BB where fans can discuss these exciting new releases?

Thanks for the opinions, Ray & Ed. I'm really looking forward to hearing it.

I'm still waiting on the Hazel Scott... pre-ordered it from Deep Discount and still waiting for it to show.

Good news about the Auld, and even better news about Lil Green! Her stuff is really hard to find on CD (or on vinyl, for that matter); I keep hoping that Bear Family or Mosaic will do a set of her. That is quite a coincidence, Swinging Swede, that we were both talking about Shaw's abrupt departure on the same day.

Glad to take it off your hands! I passed this one up years ago, but I'm such an Ike fan (and Grant Green) that I want it anyway--neither one will be putting out new records again. Just curious--why do you guys regard this as one of the worst Conns? Are her vocals really that bad?

Excellent! You guys are priceless--thanks!

That is quite a coincidence, Swinging Swede! And thanks for the account, Matthew--does it give a date for that performance, BTW? I'm really hoping to track down the specific night...

Hey all, anybody know of eyewitness accounts or otherwise to the night that Artie Shaw walked off the stage at the Cafe Rouge in New York's Hotel Pennsylvania circa November 1939? He gave up his big band and disappeared for a couple of months--re-surfacing in Mexico, I believe. I don't know if our library's Downbeats go back that far, but I'm very interested in any stories about this night that have been printed anywhere. Surely Shaw's talked about it before (he mentions it fleetingly in the SELF-PORTRAIT liners, I think).

Scores from tonight: Yanks 13, Baltimore 1 Red Sox 8, Tampa Bay 2 Texas 6, Seattle 4 Looks like the BoSox have a good shot at snagging the wildcard... Baseball books sitting on the shelf that I need to get around to reading: THE CATCHER WAS A SPY and Arnold Rampersad's bio of Jackie Robinson (he also wrote a two-part bio of Langston Hughes)

Sounds like a haul to me, man! The Urso, Benny Powell and Upper Manhattans sound particularly intriguing.

Wow, already? Didn't they license that for 10,000 copies? Whether it's sold that fast--or sold that little--in 4 years, I'm surprised. In any case, yes, get it while you can! SO many good albums hear--SYMPHONIC ELLINGTON, AFRO-BOSSA, JAZZ VIOLIN... this, in fact, is one of my favorite Ellington collections, and one that I re-visit often. Not to be missed! Hell, I even like the Mary Poppins stuff (you ain't heard it till you've heard it arranged by Strayhorn); that album was one of the unexpected delights for me when I picked up this box.

Jimmy Lyons, BOX-SET disc 1 (yeahhhhhh!) A.K. Salim, PLAYS PRETTY FOR THE PEOPLE Bunny Berigan, Mosaic set discs 1 & 2 Red Garland, MANTECA