ghost of miles

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

So, I read the first book years ago and didn't get hooked, but I trotted down to our downtown indie bookseller last night to pick up the latest as a surprise for my wife (a doctoral candidate in Victorian lit, so no literary slouch she). A longtime fan of the series, she's been immersed in HP5 all day... I think the whole phenomenon is pretty cool, actually. I was hoping to have my own Harry Potter moment of magic on Friday, in the form of a Bunny Berigan Mosaic set arrival, but alas, alas! I must wait until Monday, at the earliest. (Did luck into a copy of Mark Tucker's THE ELLINGTON READER late Friday afternoon, though--I was as excited about that as the rest of the world was about J.K. Rowlings' latest.) I'm certain that those on the board with children have vicariously experienced Pottermania, but how many of you have read the books yourselves? I know quite a few adults who do--and Michiko Kakutani's review of the newest entry was on the front page of the Times today. Interesting to think that all around the world today, hundreds of thousands of people are reading the same book. No wonder it's been so damned quiet!

On the website today: Now we simply have to hope that a series of disasters does not befall our individual orders...

It is a pleasant enough record, but am I ever going to feel compelled to pull it out and listen to it again? I think I can say, with some certainty, no. In fact, the only CDs of Hargrove's that I ever return to are PARKER'S MOOD and WITH TENORS OF OUR TIME. This hiphop/funk release is the latest in a series of projects (Afro-Cuban, with-strings) from RH that I've found to be competently forgettable. I'll keep following him, because I still think he has the potential to make a wonderful, artistic-breakout record--how about something live?

Yes, yes, yes to the Pullen/Adams, Braxton, and Orchestra U.S.A. suggestions. And is there anything in the vaults from George Russell's Decca era? FIVE SPOT came out as a Verve Elite; KANSAS CITY remains unissued on CD; and I'm pretty sure that David Baker told me there's more that was recorded but never released. If it still exists, there might be enough there for a 3-CD set.

... a bandleader I've never really bothered to check out, but the other day I came across Gunther Schuller's glowing references to him in THE SWING ERA, and now I'm intrigued by the 1939-45 era. Any suggestions on where to start, compilation-wise?

I noticed that on the website and thought it must be a new release, but it's been around for several years. Looks really good, though, and I might order it--but not from True Blue. It's four bucks cheaper at Borders/Amazon, and probably even cheaper elsewhere.

What about the drummer (whose name I forget)? He was a pretty notorious junkie... although in the end you can't blame anything but the power of heroin.

Just a post in observance of Juneteenth, the African-American holiday that commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union general Gordon Granger announced the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas, officially freeing the last of the slaves. I did a whole program of emancipation jazz last night and got a lot of very positive phone calls--I'm hoping to further awareness of this anniversary, which has gained more attention in recent years. If you've got the Bear Family Louis Jordan set, give "Juneteenth Jamboree" a spin today!

Weather Report, BLACK MARKET Cannonball Adderley, new EmArcy re-issue Chick Corea, RENDEZVOUS IN NEW YORK Greg Osby, ST. LOUIS SHOES Nina Simone, SUGAR IN MY BOWL Bunny Berigan, PIED PIER: 1934-40

Just bought it late last night and am hoping to give it a spin after work and my radio program. Good summer for Cannonball re-issues, it seems--I really like FIDDLER ON THE ROOF.

Really glad to see this thread, as I'm a longtime Twardzik fan & recall previous talk of him on the old BNBB. I hear Twardzik as coming out of Bud Powell in anticipation of Cecil Taylor. Definitely pick up the Pacific Jazz re-issue--Hiroshi Tanno at Early Records may be able to get it for you. The Baker in Paris, the Chaloff, the Baker/Gullin in Europe, and esp. the Parker Boston '52 are other dates with Twardzik that I favor. And Carl Perkins! Hell, we need another thread entirely to celebrate that Hoosier great.

I love jumptheshark--have killed some time there during slow work-periods, reacquainting myself w/some of the shows I watched as a kid. Two I really want on DVD are "The Dick Van Dyke Show" (Season 1 on the way this fall) and "Hill Street Blues." And this obscurity: Before "Sex and the City," there was: Anybody else remember this early-80's show w/Sarah Jessica Parker?

News to me, but both sets look good; I've heard only the music that was released in the West Coast Classics series.

I'll probably pick up the Classics, but I'm still hoping Mosaic will do up a set. Through '45, huh? Cool... I'm esp. interested in hearing "The Band That Swings With Strings," and they recorded in late '44/early '45.

Today is the 99th anniversary of what is now known as "Bloomsday"--June 16, 1904, the day that James Joyce went on a date with his future wife Nora, and the date on which Joyce's novel ULYSSES takes place. I have the crazy notion to show up in Dublin next year for the 100th anniversary. Anyway, I love DUBLINERS, have a high regard for PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN, and hope to actually finish ULYSSES this year (have started it several times, but always seem to bog down around chapter 5). As for FINNEGANS WAKE--may save that one for old age. It sounds beautiful, I've found, when read aloud--and this was evidently part of Joyce's intention in writing the book the way he did. Well, that and "to keep the critics busy for 300 years," as he once said. I think he's succeeding.

Thanks for the lead, Lon--I should've thought of looking under Goodman's name. Will definitely pick these up.

I've been listening to the Proper Gene Krupa box and wondering if Mosaic might some day put out a Krupa 40's Columbia box. With the Krupa Capitol still in print and the Herman Columbia slated for next year, I doubt they'd be intererested anytime soon... but would anybody else here be intrigued by such a set? I'm guessing it would be pretty large, given Krupa's lengthy stay on the label (although there are two chronological gaps, of course, from the recording bans).

Thanks for all the get-well wishes, gang. It's a bit painstaking to type with one hand (particularly when it's the one I don't normally use much), but one hand's all I need to program a CD player. Another old-slipper CD for me is THE GENTLE SIDE OF JOHN COLTRANE. I bought it when I was first getting into jazz, and it long ago became redundant as I picked up all of the albums from which it was drawn, but I've kept it and sometimes throw it on when I want 60 minutes of loveliness. (Although "Alabama" always struck me as an odd choice for that compilation, given the circumstances behind its creation, and the simmering, elegaic discontent that the piece captures.)