ghost of miles

We need look no further than "Cow Cow Boogie!" The whole Ella Mae Morse saga is an interesting study in and of itself. Clem, I have a friend who does a great 40s-60s radio show called "Rhythm Ranch," devoted to country, r & b, and pop from that period. (He writes for AMG, too, and did the review of the Bear Family Morse set.) If anybody knows of a good Capitol set, it would be him. I'll drop him a line and report back.

BTW, not sure that Young's mentioned in the article, but Gunther Schuller wrote a piece called "Indiana Renaissance" for the September 1959 issue of Jazz Review that talks at length about Montgomery and David Baker's big band. Montgomery recorded with Baker's big band, according to Baker, but the tapes remain unreleased. In any case, Schuller was quite taken at the time with what was going on in Indiana. I'm not sure if the piece has ever been anthologized or not (it's not in MUSINGS, at least).

But--but--I thought Michael Bourne moved to WBGO years ago! I'm trying to track down Young right now myself. As Mike says, he does still play in Indianapolis--fellow poster sheldonm saw him play with Jimmy Coe's big band just a few months ago at the Jazz Kitchen in Indianapolis. I think he still lives in Indianapolis as well. There's an early 1980s documentary on Indiana Avenue (Indianapolis' main stem) in which Young can be seen periodically, playing a tenor sax in front of windswept abandoned spots on the Avenue. Young was in Baker's hard-bop band around 1959 or so (I haven't nailed down the dates yet), a group that was, as Mike points out, almost entirely absorbed into George Russell's working unit that recorded for Decca. They played a number of Indianapolis bars such as the Topper and George's; Indpls., as you may already know, had quite a thriving jazz scene in those days. Wes Montgomery (who had already been out on the road with Lionel Hampton's band years before) was "discovered" by Cannonball Adderley at an afterhours club called the Missile Room in 1959, where Adderley had gone to hang out after a Stars of Jazz concert at the Indiana Theater. (He was on a bill with Lennie Tristano; I'm pretty sure Duncan Schiedt's photo of Tristano and Warne Marsh in the Mosaic booklet was taken the same night that Adderley called Orrin Keepnews about Montgomery.) In any case, I'm hoping to interview Young in Indianapolis later this year for a series that I'm doing on the history of Indiana jazz. He's somebody whose playing I've always enjoyed greatly as well, and I'll post additional info as I find it.

Mark, I, too, love this set (in fact I just pulled it out last night to listen to the Joe Sullivan/Mel Powell sides). The Carter and Williams material is priceless, and there are nice stray sets of Anita O'Day and Kay Starr, in addition to the other artists already mentioned. There is a fair amount of trad/dixie early on (just a cautionary note--don't know your feelings about that music, but it's not enough to keep me from really enjoying the set. A little bit of it goes a long way for my own tastes). Given the ongoing Mosaic/True Blue sale, this seems like a prime moment to grab the Capitol set.

I voted for the first one. Christmas is good, too (love the scenes where Randy Quaid is emptying "the shitter," the Christmas tree blows up, etc.), but the first one just had too many classic lines and moments. And yea, though the Hindus speak of karma, I implore you: give, give her a break.

Hey, the "Babe" thread didn't get eradicated--it just moved here!

Yes, I did, but I wasn't fast enough for the three Hills and one of the two Holland/Rivers. I should've tried for the Taylor/Roach as well, but I was trying to hold back my spending--hell, if I'd known I'd get only half of what I ordered I would've put it in the basket! But no complaints--happy to get what I did.

More applause for Joe Milazzo! Late, I'm at work and don't have the book with me, but I'll check when I go home tonight. Yes, Tapscott was infuriated, and nearly walked out on the session until his wife talked him out of it. I believe it was Tapscott's working band of the time, the Arkestra, that was going to be on the session--I'll look it up and post tomorrow a.m.

Yes--this would remove him from the realm of the sport that I truly love!

Big Al, your request made me think of a book I read years ago, which was poignant as well as funny--Larry McMurtry's ALL MY FRIENDS ARE GOING TO BE STRANGERS. It's actually the only McMurtry novel I've ever read, and I think it's one of his earlier books--but I remember it making me laugh out loud frequently.

One of the better 1000th posts I've seen... Congrats, man! I saw that you were edging up on it yesterday. Wonder if Fox is gonna sue Organissimo for my new signature?

Roy Eldridge, HECKLER'S HOP Air, AIR MAIL Anthony Braxton/Max Roach, BIRTH AND REBIRTH Marchel Ivery, 3 Grant Green, GRANTSTAND (RVG) Dave Holland/Sam Rivers, VOLUME 2 Benny Goodman, PLAYS JIMMY MUNDY

I played a lot in junior high and through my sophomore year in high school, then drifted away from it. Anybody know of a good, free, online play-the-computer site? I'm thinking about getting back into the game, but I'd prefer to get my butt trounced by a cyborg first, before venturing back into the arena of human competition...

I majored in journalism and English in college, but fiction-writing was what I really enjoyed doing--I started writing short stories in first-grade. (Used to put all of my friends in them and read the stories out loud to the class, which was cool until my best friend threatened to punch me for having him kiss one of our classmates.) After college I pursued the time-honored slacker/bohemian/restaurant worker path (see Orwell's DOWN AND OUT IN PARIS AND LONDON, except my locale was much less glamorous--Indianapolis). Also did a stint on a salmon processor in Alaska for one summer season. Ended up working in record stores because of my love of music and became a Borders manager. Around that time I got into community radio, landed a jazz program, and am now working part-time for our local public radio station as a jazz programmer and announcer, in addition to a fulltime gig as a library circulation supervisor. Doing jazz radio has become my professional dream, and hopefully it will find fruition in the next few years. I do freelance writing on the side, too, mostly book reviews. I'm currently in the process of beginning a novel, but we'll see how that goes--I'm also finishing a one-hour Ellington program and planning a five-part series on the history of Indiana jazz. Not enough time!

MIA again today in the late afternoon/early evening.

For those who are interested, check out Tapscott's autobiography, SONGS OF THE UNSUNG, for some of the details behind this session.

Yeah, yeah, YEAH!!!

Another poster was kind enough to tape this album for me, and I'm now in search of the original LP. Anybody who has it and who might be interested in selling it can contact me via PM or e-mail. Thanks!

I think it must be the same book. THE SWEET FOREVER does ring a bell. In addition to VOICEOVER: THE MAKING OF BLACK RADIO, I'm also reading ON A FIELD OF RED: THE COMMUNIST INTERNATIONAL AND THE COMING OF WORLD WAR II. Fascinating stuff!

Air, AIR MAIL Roy Eldridge, HECKLER'S HOP Cannonball Adderley, WITH STRINGS/JUMP FOR JOY

I like what I've read of Pelacanos, which is little--THE BIG BLOWDOWN and a novel set in D.C. in 1986 (can't remember the title, but the saga of Len Bias is referred to several times throughout the book). Jason Bivins, an improv musician who used to live here in Bloomington, turned me onto him. Good stuff. Art Pepper's STRAIGHT LIFE is insane! Wait till you get to the prison parts.

I really liked the JAZZ AT THE BISTRO Telarc that came out recently. Which surprised me, because a guitar-piano standards set probably sounds like dinner music to most, but there just seems to be some kind of charge between Malone and Green that breathes fresh air into their approach. Hope you have a great time!

Yeah, I'm really surprised that the J.J. set has stuck around as long as it has. You won't regret getting it, that's for sure--it's some of his best work, I think. Good luck with the smuggling operation!

Hey, this is great news! I remember a thread about this movie either here or on the old board. We have a VHS copy here in the library, but I'm definitely going to wait and check out the new DVD version.

Jutta Hipp, AT THE HICKORY HOUSE V. 1 Boston, BOSTON (Nope, I'm not kidding--I'd forgotten how great this record is.) Uncle Tupelo, 89/93 Billie Holiday, SOLITUDE Bill Evans, LIVE AT BIRDLAND 1960