ghost of miles

Yeah, I just tried to answer all five of John L.'s PMs to me--I wondered what was going on! John, I'm sending you a reply via carrier pigeon.

Heck no, Berigan... I thought I was gettin' it from you for Christmas! Ya won't let me down, will ya? :rsmile:

Somebody told me that Joe Torre has said he's going to retire at the end of this season. Was said somebody on le drugs? I can't find any mention of this on the Internet--but maybe I missed it.

Good review of the new single (available as a 45 only, limited edition 5,000) on the Pitchfork site:

Thanks, P.D. I thought (or imagined) that there was more material missing than that.

Good suggestion, Tony, as the four titles listed by AMG probably wouldn't fill out 3 CDs. Probably much more of a Select possibility. Here's what they show for Pomeroy: 1955 Jazz in a Stable Transition 1957 Life is a Many Splendered Gig Fresh Sound (originally on Roulette, I believe) 1958 Band in Boston United Artists 1958 Detour Ahead United Artists I'm going to e-mail Mosaic and see what they say, and I'll include your idea regarding the Mariano.

Right now: Ray Brown, FINAL RECORDINGS This weekend: Bennie Green, MOSAIC SELECT (all of it) Jason Moran, BANDWAGON Sam Rivers, FUSCHIA SWING SONG Jack Montrose, BLUES AND VANILLA J.R. Monterose, IN ACTION Charlie Parker, BIG BAND Randy Weston, MOSAIC SELECT (disc 2)

Agreed. I have the two CDs that came out several years ago, but didn't he do four or five albums for Vanguard? I know that the CDs were a distillation of his work for the label. I recently picked up one of Powell's classical CDs used, but haven't had a chance to listen to it yet.

I haven't heard of this writer before, but today's NYTimes Book Review supplement has a piece on a new biography of him, entitled VANISHED ACT. In addition to writing poetry, fiction, and art criticism, he evidently did some writing on jazz as well, including a piece on Fats Waller for Time, and recorded with blues musician Jesse Fuller. In 1955 his car was found abandoned on the approach to the Golden Gate Bridge; he's assumed to have been a suicide at the age of 40. Here's the link: WeldonKees

Paul, Just got an e-mail from my friend mentioning that very set--he'd just remembered it, but says it's long OOP. Clem might want to keep an eye out for it in the used bins, though; sounds like a good anthology.

I may try to put some of the interviews up on WFIU's website when the series runs. I've heard Baker's playing trombone again, too. I'll ask him the next time I see him.

Herb Pomeory--the Complete Transition/Roulette/United Artists Big Band Recordings. (If not a Complete, then how about a Select?)

We lucked out here in Indiana and didn't get hit. The latest stories I've seen say the source of the outage may have come from the Midwest, though, targeting Ohio as the likely area. Damn Buckeyes!

I think I have this already, and remember it as being really good--I'll have to check when I get home. I know I have THE MESSAGE and the Blue Note, and I think I came across the Bainbridge used years ago. This thread also inspired me to put on hold another cheap disc that's been sitting used in a local store for a couple of months, by an artist whose name is often confused with that of the thread's subject--Jack Montrose, BLUES AND VANILLA.

Yes, Lon, I'll second your ringing endorsement--I remember you and I discussing how wonderful the Powell material was on that, erm, what was the name of that board again? Didn't Powell record some music for Commodore? I'm trying to run down all of his jazz stuff. The Capitol sides are a treasure! I think Ocium swiped them for their Powell CD, though.

Clem, here's the reply from my friend: He goes on to say that he's skeptical that such an anthology will ever be issued, owing to commercial reasons. There might be a market for it, though, with some buyers (and I'm potentially one of them) who have an interest in this stuff, but not enough to pick up individual BF boxes or even the Capitol Collectors titles, which are becoming increasingly harder to find. You know, Gennett's another label with a country/hillbilly angle to its legacy that doesn't get talked about too much. Gennett recorded some of that music, but the 78s haven't turned up as much as the jazz ones did--partly, I guess, because there was a fanatical breed of jazz collectors long before a similar class of country ones emerged.

Checked SONGS OF THE UNSUNG this morning and all Tapscott says is that the original group was made up of "cats from the Ark." You're right about Everett Brown--he was the only one who actually made the date.

Sir Duke.

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.