ghost of miles

Wow, so Chamber's doing a full bio, huh? I read what he's posted online a couple of years ago, but didn't realize it was part of a larger work-in-progress... That will be an interesting book. Always glad to see more coverage of the late 1940s/early 50's Boston scene as well.

I am all over THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD. I had signed up on Amazon's notification list for that one... really happy to see that so much is coming with it. My wife and I watch it every year on Thanksgiving Day, and I was really getting tired of hooking up the old VCR for the occasion. I'll definitely bite on TREASURE OF THE SIERRE MADRE as well. You're right about the CASABLANCA transfer, Berigan. If they've improved on the 2000 edition I'll really be impressed--only problem with these superlative transfers of older movies is that sometimes it's much easier to see how fake the sets can be! I've gotten used to it, but sometimes the fuzzy ambience of an unrestored pic can actually enhance the atmosphere for me.

Harold, This is what the new one contains: The one I bought last year, which came out in 2000, had this: I'd like to hear the radio production, and I think there are more outtakes in the special edition (I don't remember 10 minutes' worth in the first DVD edition). The commentaries interest me too... normally I don't go for movie upgrades, but I'm such an unabashed, unapologetic fan of this film that I think I'll take the plunge. Have you ever read Aljean Harmetz's book ROUND UP THE USUAL SUSPECTS? It's all about the making of the film--fascinating stuff. There were so many ways in which it could have gone awry. And it was originally cast with Ann Sheridan and Ronald Reagan!

I read it years ago when it first came out, and remember really liking it. I remember thinking that Dyer traversed risky waters and came back with some haunting, poignant stories.

Amazon has the Hazel Scott streeting Aug. 26. I'm definitely going to snap that one up--her early work has been hard to find.

I just bought the regular DVD of this a year ago, but I'll probably be a sap for the new one when it comes out in August. "Welcome back to the fight... this time, I know our side will win." CasablancaDVD

Could it possibly be their reluctance to endorse a site that's affiliated with a specific group? Again, far be it from me to defend Blue Note these days... Perhaps we should all use the "Contact us" function and suggest, in oh-so-loving-terms, that they add this board to their list.

Excellent advice. Yes, I always end my interviews with this question. (Great minds and all that, right, Dan? ) I also agree with the comments about thorough research and finding or framing questions that, by virtue of being somewhat fresh, are more likely to generate thoughtful responses. Some artists and writers who are frequently interviewed may have (understandably) some pre-programmed responses to certain inquiries, simply because they've been asked so many times about incident X or person Y. The toughest interview I've had so far was Odetta. It was a telephone interview, and we got off to a rocky start because she thought I was a print reporter and was asking her questions that were already answered in her press release... but I simply wanted her to talk a little bit about her childhood, as opposed to me reading some info off a sheet. First she became irate, then startled when she found out I was a radio interviewer--"Are we on the air?" she asked. I assured her that we weren't, and we ended up having a really good interview. But man, I was on edge for a few moments there! She's tough!

Hey, thanks, couw. I saw that CD on AMG but couldn't find a retailer who carries it... I'll check 'em out. A friend of mine here at IU thinks he has the material but isn't sure, and the Ellington CD looks like it might be a good one to have regardless.

(Unless I missed it earlier in the thread) A GREAT DAY IN HARLEM: I watch this about once a year and never tire of it. There's some amazing movie footage from the day that they took the picture, filmed by Milt Hinton's wife. The DVD adds a short documentary about Dizzy Gillespie and the infamous "spitball incident" that occurred while he was playing in Cab Calloway's band.

Wow, sounds fantastic! I love that pre-Third Stream Third Stream kind of stuff.

Just tried to drop in again on AAJ to check on a couple of threads and now I can't get on over there... ...OK, now it's there.

I'd be curious to hear it, being a longtime Bernie (and Yankee) fan. I remember seeing him play on Letterman after the Yanks won the Series in '96, and he seemed genuinely joyful to be playing with Paul Schaeffer's band. Can't remember much about his sound, except that it was pleasing (and I mean that as a compliment). He's a great guy; man, was I happy when he stayed with NY and didn't go to Boston after '98. How was/is Wayman Tisdale as a bassist? Gotta confess that I never checked him out--thought the marketing smelled of smooth.

Somebody posted this quote on AAJ, from a person who met Carter several years ago: I've been bumming all day about him.

Me as well... headed over to AAJ and saw a few other Organissimos about...

I noticed that today as well. Frequently there were 15-20 members online and just as many, if not more, guests. Or are more and more regulars going undercover?

Bit on a couple of used Artie Shaw Heps that I found online--EVENSONG (the early-40's band w/strings) and 1944-45, a 3-CD that collects just about all of that edition's studio recordings. There's some slight overlap with SELF-PORTRAIT, esp. on EVENSONG, but I love nearly all of Shaw's bands and am eager to hear the extra material that's not on the BMG set. BENNY GOODMAN PLAYS FLETCHER HENDERSON and Roy Eldridge's HECKLER'S HOP are on the way, too, so I'm hoping for a Hep a day in the mail this week.

Great record--I'd been searching for it for years, ever since reading David Rosenthal's mention of it in HARD BOP. (If memory serves me correctly, there was a certain tone of pathos in the way Rosenthal described the record's concept.) Recently a board member hooked me up with a copy. Weird, too, that John Gilmore, who doesn't turn up on very many non-Sun Ra albums, should be here as well. Francois Paudras' story in DANCE OF THE INFIDELS of Bud Powell finding Elmo Hope in mid-60's New York is very touching. (And presumably true, too--I don't write off everything in that book.)

Er, sorry. Thought this was a thread about the Organissimo board... well, toodle-oo, chaps, I'm off to the club, after putting in an hour of hard labor on my forthcoming memoir, BREAKFAST AT NOON: A MAN OF LEISURE LOOKS BACK ON LIFE.

Duke Ellington, THE V-DISC RECORDINGS Anita O'Day, I TOLD YA I LOVE YA, NOW GET OUT J.J. Johnson, JAI AND KAI (Savoy) Mary Lou Williams, 1949-51 (Classics)

Man, he lived and played a long life, though, didn't he? An incredible career and an incredible artist. I'll go home tonight and listen to "Harlem Wednesday" from JOURNEY TO NEXT--just one of the many, many wonderful compositions this musician bestowed upon the world.

It's come out on a double-LP of the second annual Esquire Jazz Concert (1945) and also on DUKE ELLINGTON: VOLUME 5, FRIENDS (part of a box set?). It's Anita O'Day singing "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" with the Duke (just over five minutes in length), and I'm hoping to procure a CD-R copy of it for a two-part radio program I'm doing on Ms. O'Day. If anybody has it and is willing to trade, I'd be happy to copy something OOP in exchange... drop me an e-mail or PM if you're inclined, and thanks in advance to anybody who responds!

Still in a state of disbelief, but through an unexpected series of conversations, it now transpires that I'll be interviewing Anita O'Day via telephone for a two-part radio program in August. I'll be sure to post the link when we broadcast...

I was going to start a separate thread about this (and probably still will), but through a strange series of events that transpired over the past several days, it now turns out that I'll be interviewing Anita O'Day for a two-part program that's scheduled to air on our local public radio station on Tuesday, Aug. 19 and Wednesday, Aug. 20. Please understand that O'Day is my second-favorite jazz singer of all time, right behind Billie. I ran cackling with joy across the parking lot after I got the e-mail reply from her manager--and Lord, am I nervous! I went home and listened to "Let Me Off Uptown" right away. I'm freakin' out, guys!