ghost of miles

I've been pulling the BMG trigger a lot lately, signing up two friends (and I have a buddy who's signed up his cat--hey, he says he knows people who've signed up "Captain Kirk," etc., but BMG doesn't seem to care) and getting great freebies like Woody Herman's 1963 and the VMEs of BOSS TENORS IN ORBIT & SOULVILLE, + the Jobim Verve 3-CD set for $22, incl. shipping. BMG's jazz selection beats hell out of Columbia House right now, IMO.

Are these straight-up re-issues of the originals? Given the wealth of outtake material that appeared on BIOGRAPH & BOOTLEGS V. 1-3, as well as the aesthetic strength of the LP configurations, I wouldn't be surprised.

I recently ordered from Mr. Tanno and was not going to use PayPal, after reading what some folks on the Internet had to say about it. He accepts international money orders as well; however, my broken collarbone precluded a trip to the post office, so I reluctantly undertook the PayPal route. I also know that they were hacked not too long ago--my wife had to have her credit card changed because of that.

I ventured north to Indianapolis last night w/my wife to catch this concert... highly recommended for fans of either the Jayhawks or Matthew Sweet, who helps front the Thorns. Very melodic, Neil Young and 70's-influenced pop, and both bands did long sets. At the end Sweet joined the Jayhawks for two of their four encore songs. A very good time.

Dave, is THE FALL OF BERLIN written by the same author who did STALINGRAD a few years back? That was a grim read... Late, I'll ask Sean about the Oxford. Good to hear they're putting together that anthology. Another acquaintance of mine, Sascha Feinstein, did his graduate work here and helped Yusef Komunyakaa edit two anthologies of jazz poetry in the 1990's; he now edits a jazz literary magazine called BRILLIANT CORNERS. Melville: I've read only MOBY DICK, BILLY BUDD, and "Bartleby." Meaning, I've read what I had to read in high school. However, my grandfather was a huge Melville-head, and I'd really like to read PIERRE and some of the short stories.

Only a couple today before I had to go to work, but they were long-awaited beauts: Benny Goodman, PLAYS MEL POWELL Eddie Costa, HOUSE OF BLUE LIGHTS

But sometimes they come together and the distinction between the two is blurred. Yes, and I'm fascinated by the intersection. Harold, I think, is simply stating that one should be able to enjoy the music of an artist regardless of political convictions held by either the listener or the artist. Otherwise, you're shutting yourself out of a lot of good music (Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer, whose songs form a considerable part of the jazz standard canon, were both hardcore rightwingers, while Duke Ellington and Charlie Parker played benefits for the Communist Party). But the 1930's and the 1960's--two periods in which jazz and politics seemed to twine together more overtly--are very interesting chapters in the saga of the music. David Margolick's STRANGE FRUIT: BILLIE HOLIDAY, CAFE SOCIETY, AND AN EARLY CALL FOR CIVIL RIGHTS, the notes to the recent Vanguard box-set for FROM SPIRITUALS TO SWING, and Valerie Wilmer's AS SERIOUS AS YOUR LIFE all address this issue in one way or another. I'd also recommend sections of Michael Denning's CULTURAL FRONT, Scott Deveaux's THE BIRTH OF BEBOP, and a book I'm currently reading--Eric Porter's WHAT IS THIS THING CALLED JAZZ--for anybody who's intrigued by political influences in jazz.

I just e-mailed Mosaic about the Shaw material & will post their reply.

Are these CD reissues? Jim Sangrey will probably have something to say about Mr. Caliman.

And now--the man, the legend, the BNBB superstar... AricEffron! Welcome, Aric.

Oh, the links my co-workers send me when they're bored... I gotta admit that I perused this one for awhile: TheAList

Rub it in, Tod, just rub it in! I'm hoping mine arrives tomorrow, along with the Weston and the Green.

Praise be to ye, because that sounds wrong. It's a frequently-used allusion in headlines for stories about the Potter phenomenon... in fact, I came across two today after I posted.

Ralph Ellison had some association, too. For whatever reason, good or bad, the Communists were more aggressive about promoting civil rights in the 1930's than anybody else, including the NAACP. There's a good book, COMMUNISTS IN HARLEM DURING THE DEPRESSION, by Mark Naison, that's not too hard to find used online. Also HAMMER AND HOE, by Robin Kelley, which looks at the Communist Party and African-Americans in Alabama during the Depression. James Goodman's STORIES OF SCOTTSBORO provides a lot of insight into the machinations of race and American Communists in the 30's in the context of the Scottsboro trials.

I've used PayPal with him, and he also takes International Money Orders, if you're wary of PP.

Thanks for the tip on this--what issue did it appear in? I've wanted to find that Hamilton album for a long time. Much of THE SUBTERRANEANS, which was out on CD in the early 90's, re-appeared a couple of years ago on a 2-CD anthology of MGM soundtrack jazz: I love Carmen McRae's "Coffee Time"...

I know many will prefer the TOJCs anyway, but isn't GOIN' WEST being "considered" for Connoisseur release? That said, I'm tempted to go for it anyway, along with Mobley's A CADDY FOR DADDY, one of the few Mobley BNs I haven't picked up, on the premise that it will eventually be remastered.

I remember talking about this artist and this release on the old board, and pulled it out this morning for another listen: Newton may be best-known for being the trumpeter on Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit," but he led a number of dates of his own. The Jasmine, a 2-CD set, has good sound and features him with Bessie Smith, Teddy Hill, Mezz Mezzrow, and a number of others in addition to his own leader work. A 20-page booklet provides some historical background on Newton, who was also a painter and a participant in leftwing politics. Plus, Deep Discount has it on the cheap: FrankNewton

I just finished a couple of poetry books myself--JELLY ROLL, a collection of blues poems by Kevin Young (who teaches here at IU) and DISCOGRAPHY, a book of poems with jazz motifs by a former IU student and friend of mine, Sean Singer (he won the Yale Series of Younger Poets prize for it). Right now I'm absorbed by Graham Greene's THE QUIET AMERICAN (anybody see the movie they made of this? Not the 50's one, which I hear is atrocious, but the recent one) and Eric Porter's WHAT IS THIS THING CALLED JAZZ?, which I think would be enjoyed by anybody who liked Scott Deveaux's approach in THE BIRTH OF BEBOP.

Shrdlu and Greg are here now--can "Warne's World" be far behind? Glad to see you here, Shrdlu.

Your nephew has nosed out my wife, Lon. She started around 10 yesterday morning and was up until 3 a.m. in a similarly absorbed state--then resumed and finished this morning. The books aren't my cup of tea, either, but (on the basis of having read the first one) I respect what Rowlings is doing, and it is great to see such excitement over a literary endeavour. I don't think any adult readers need to make excuses for getting caught up in the series. I've been thinking about giving Hammett another spin myself, Mark, but I'm too immersed in Graham Greene right now--THE QUIET AMERICAN is great!

While I've gotten great entertainment kicks out of following the Heaney-Albertson wars on other boards re:Marsalis and other matters, I found this one less amusing, because it seems Heaney was out to impugn Chris' professional reputation. Pretty low, crossing the line from obnoxious to personally offensive, and I'm glad you were able to fend him off so adeptly, Chris. Why doesn't he just stick to moaning about the Mets?

I had a nice moment of serendipity with this one. Thursday night I was doing some research for a radio project and checked it out from the library where I work. It's a nice-sized volume--a "tome," as some (one in particular) might call it--with a wide variety of articles discussing Ellington and his music, beginning in the late 1920's and going all the way up to the late 1980's/early 90's. Especially fascinating is Richard O. Boyer's three-part New Yorker profile, "The Hot Bach," published in 1944. The volume is edited by Mark Tucker, whose bio EARLY ELLINGTON is high on my to-get-list. Friday afternoon I ambled over to our downtown used bookstore, thinking how great it would be if a used copy of THE ELLINGTON READER were to suddenly appear on the shop's "new arrivals" shelf. I entered the bookstore, and lo and behold--there it was! Dear readers, I fairly whooped with delight! I am currently wishing for a nice, reasonably-priced used copy of the Ike Quebec 45s Mosaic set to appear in the window of my local used-CD store...

I noticed Greg posting vigorously in the audio forum last night and was glad to see him here. Felt like another member of our online, slightly dysfunctional family had finally shown up. Here's to knowledge and spirited, lively repartee! Welcome to the board, Greg.

Charles Mingus, MINGUS PLAYS PIANO Art Pepper, HOLLYWOOD ALL-STAR SESSIONS Duke Ellington, Discs 8-10 of the RCA box Charlie Parker, various big-band sessions Miles Davis, disc 3 of the Blackhawk box Andrew Hill, BUT NOT FAREWELL (thanks to a kind fellow board-member) Dave Brubeck, VOCAL ENCOUNTERS