ghost of miles

Ancient Night Lights show on this topic that I was just contemplating revising and adding to the fall schedule this past weekend: Porgy And Bess: The 1950s Jazz Revival I also picked up this book a few months ago but haven’t gotten around to reading it yet: The Strange Career Of Porgy And Bess: Race, Culture, And America’s Most Famous Opera

I've since picked up the recent CD reissue of this as well (initially the label said they were doing only vinyl), but I'm spinning the LP in honor of the friend who waited in line with me for this on Record Store Day in 2017. He and his family are moving away to Texas tomorrow. Safe and interesting travels always, Sam:

There’s a new Mose box set on the way—can’t remember if it’s been discussed elsewhere on the board or not: Mose Allison: Complete Atlantic and Elektra Recordings 1962-83 (Much better price via Popmarket, btw)

Man, I’d forgotten how good this is:

Isn’t Scherzer still on the way to the Dodgers, along with Turner? And this will make you feel better, surely: earlier in the week there were reports Scherzer would veto any potential trade to the Yankees because he wanted to go to a “contender.” Ouch! How my mighty Bombers have fallen from the glory days of the Core Four. I’m happy about the Gallo and Rizzo acquisitions, but still 50/50 on whether or not they can secure a WC spot, and highly dubious if they do that they’ll be able to make any kind of deep postseason run. Although Taillon has improved and Montgomery seems to be giving us a higher ratio of quality starts, Cole is clearly still struggling in MLB’s post-sticky stuff era, and the bullpen is great one night, an absolute disaster the next. I think there are systemic team/organization kinks that are resistant to any kind of straightening this deep into the season, but I’d love to be proven wrong in my pessimism, of course. I was perusing Over The Monster last night, and I think one of the writers there said Schwarber had played 1B at some point in the minors? But I can understand why he’s not the ideal solution to Boston’s 1B issue—an issue the Yankees have shared, given Voit’s recurring injuries and the mediocre parade of Jay Bruces and Mike Fords and Chris Gittens who have taken his place so far, though DJ has been slotted in there from time to time. I’ll be curious to see what else goes down around the league before 4 p.m. today.

Been spending some time with this set as well, part of the same purchase from Tommy’s Jazz. Lloyd is pleasantly engaging enough, with a strong Trane vibe at times, but it’s Bobo Stenson’s piano that’s really hooking me:

I think that's fantastic--glad so many listeners got exposed to this track. God knows they're not likely to encounter it on most media outlets, including radio stations that play jazz to any degree. Most people you'd pull aside on the street today would have no idea who Ellington even is. That's sad, that's the reality of the kind of deep cultural illiteracy that Jim mentions, but I don't see the point of dunking on a DJ for playing it on a major-market radio station with a large listening audience, even if he/she doesn't have 300+ Ellington recordings, hasn't read Eddie Lambert's book at length, played numerous Ellington pieces in performance settings, or whatever measure of deep Ducal knowledge you want to use that's more likely to be in possession of posters on this board. Or dunking on a listener serving as a guest DJ who wanted to know how the host had come across this particular Ellington recording. Again, yeah, students in a better world would be required to take courses on music history, both American and global, with considerable time devoted to Ellington. And I'd like to help bring us closer to the kind of consciousness that might make such a world more likely... but the present-day reality is waaaaaaaay removed from that. And perhaps the presentation of this Ellington recording in this particular manner doesn't do it the justice it deserves, but at least it's being introduced to people, potentially a lot of people. Maybe some of them will go in search of more DKE on YouTube, Spotify, or whatever streaming service the young'uns (and the old 'uns) are using today. Maybe somebody turns into the next David Berger, I dunno. Or maybe none of that, but at least a significant Duke Ellington piece got played on a large-market, non-jazz radio station. Anyway, thanks for sharing the anecdote, Joe.

Why, surely she heard it on this Night Lights show when it first aired several years ago! ☝️ Ah hahaha... ha. Delusions of audience reach aside, DJ Spooky is a fan of the record and has talked it up, for whatever that’s worth. And I think interest in Ellington’s late-period, post-Strayhorn recordings has grown in recent times.

I love that Mastery Of John Coltrane V. 2: To The Beat Of A Different Drum. Thanks for this sorting of discographical information.

Disc 1:

Guess I’ll start to climb this mountain:

A good Paul Westerberg solo collection that I pull out every couple of years—often (though not this time)—as a coda to a Replacements binge.

Message sent on the Kenton and Wayne Shorter.

Jazz pianist Billy Taylor was also a broadcaster and educator who helped found the Jazzmobile organization in 1960s Harlem and wrote the civil-rights anthem “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free.” Celebrate his centennial today with a new Night Lights show that includes clips from his appearances on the 1958 TV show The Subject Is Jazz and his work as a jazz journalist for CBS News Sunday Morning With Charles Kuralt: The Teacher: Billy Taylor

We recently Clark’s Last Leap: Sonny Clark 1961-62, and I’m upping today in honor of what would have been his 90th birthday.

I’ve never seen this happen before: Pirates score three on infield dribbler while Mets argue fair/foul call

Close—it’s called “the Judge’s Chambers.” Verdict for the 2021 season looks like a mistrial so far... In other MLB matters, it’s been fun to see some of the new young stars like Tatis Jr and Guerrero Jr really busting out this year, not to mention Ohtani. Bummer about Acuna going down for the remainder of 2021, though.

Sellers? Sellers?! Surely you jest, sir—why, the 2021 Yankees are a record-setting team! Yet another colossal bullpen meltdown in what should have concluded a road sweep of Houston + the Covid debacle has left me thinking they’re all but dead in the water for even a WC spot. Not sure who they’d move in a seller scenario, though—a lot of potential chips are either injured or have decreased in market value. And I haven’t jumped aboard the small crazywagon of NY fans calling for Judge to be traded (though one could make a logical argument for it, given his age and approaching free-agent status in a year and a half... he’s never going to be as valuable as he is right now. But he’s pretty much the face of the post-Jeter Yankees—they’ve got a freakin’ special section for Judge fans in the RF stands, so I really don’t see that happening.)

Up for Mary Osborne’s centenary today, and because we’re re-airing the show this week in honor of it: Mary Osborne: Queen Of The Jazz Guitar

Got it on order at Landlocked here in Bloomington, along with the Hargrove/Miller and Bill Evans releases that come out the same day. About five years ago I saw a used copy of the 32 Jazz reissue of The Free Slave at Dusty Groove's Chicago storefront for $25 and passed, after some hesitation--I was aware of the album's reputation, but the price was just a bit steep for me, or so it seemed at the time. Now I'm like, "What was I thinking?!" Maybe this new release will help bring about new life on CD for TFS (from Japan, perhaps?).

Albums like this make me think Billy Taylor’s compositional and pianistic verve were overshadowed by his accomplishments as an educator, broadcaster, etc:

Yes, I loved both the context-setting and the participants reflecting and reacting to seeing the footage so many years later. And the musical performances are riveting. Some of Nina Simone’s performance has been floating around on YouTube for years—I remember linking to clips in the web-post for a Night Lights show about her RCA era.

Complete agreement here with both you and Bertrand—in general, NO desire to hear that song done by anyone anywhere at any time, but if you had to pick somebody to do it, Abbey would get my vote. Saw Summer Of Soul this past weekend—my first venture into a movie theater since January 2020. Damn, what a film... go see it!! (Or dial it up on Hulu) Some of the Nina Simone footage has popped up on YouTube from time to time over the years, but it’s crazy to think that nearly all of those taped performances were gathering dust for 50 years. I thought the documentary did a great job of putting it all in the context of 1969, and it was moving to watch some of the attendees and artists reacting to what they were seeing again five decades later.