ghost of miles

Called Mosaic this morning and they're still saying Wednesday. I've been reading the Berigan bio, which is whetting my appetite for this new set even more. Some sessions that don't show up on it (because they don't fall under its label purview) are the 1934 World transcription sessions Berigan did with "Bill Dodge," who is allegedly Benny Goodman. At least 24 sides were recorded; have these ever shown up on CD? A quick scan of AMG and a couple of online music retail sites failed to yield any evidence that they have.

A few years ago I had two wisdom teeth taken out and came home with a strong craving to hear Cannonball Adderley and Bill Evans' KNOW WHAT I MEAN? Yesterday morning I had a pretty bad bike wreck and had to be taken to the emergency room at the Bloomington hospital (I struck a curb going at a fast clip and hit the sidewalk with my right shoulder and right side of my head--no helmet. I was very lucky, and am now a helmet convert!). Fortunately my head was okay; my collarbone's broken and my right arm will be in a sling for several weeks, but other than a few abrasions I'm all right. As I was lying on the hospital bed, though, I swear I started to hear Adderley and Evans playing in my head. I kept hearing it while I was being X-rayed, and it gave me a beautiful kind of comfort. When I finally came home in the afternoon, I put it on immediately, and I felt the music radiating through me in gentle, restorative waves of bliss. Music is the healing power of the universe, indeed!

Broke my collarbone in a bicycle accident yesterday morning, so I am getting a lot of listening time in--and jazz sounds even better when you're on painkillers: Cannonball Adderley/Bill Evans, KNOW WHAT I MEAN? Oliver Nelson, MORE BLUES AND THE ABSTRACT TRUTH Herbie Hancock, MAIDEN VOYAGE & EMPYREAN ISLE Lou Donaldson, Discs 5/6 of the Blue Note Mosaic John Coltrane, COMP. VILLAGE VANGUARD (disc 1) Count Basie, BREAKFAST DANCE & BARBECUE Miles Davis, COMP. BLACKHAWK discs 1 & 2 (man, I love this set!) Duke Ellington, DUKE'S MEN V. 1 ...in a classic groove of late, I guess. Went hunting for the new Osby this morning, but both stores in my neighborhood were sold out.

Actually, Duophonic reminds me a bit more of another BNBB poster--that esteemed English author Mr. Warne's World.

I was just talking about that movie with some co-workers the other day after jokingly posting Billy Jack as a liberal talk-show counterpart to O'Reilly & co. in the Al Franken thread. Yeah, that movie really grabbed me as a kid... haven't watched it in years, but I still remember the dramatic closing scene and "One Tin Soldier." Didn't that come out the same year as DIRTY HARRY? Ideological avengers were in in '71, evidently.

One of my fave Gregory Peck flicks:

Actually--not really a sideman date, but GM years ago put out a great collection of Dolphy's third-stream work, entitled VINTAGE DOLPHY, that's one of my favorites. Some of the sides come from a Dolphy-led quartet, and others feature him in larger settings (performing several Gunther Schuller compositions, if memory serves me correctly). Well worth checking out.

THE FOX, with Elmo Hope. Also greatly enjoying a Land-Red Mitchell collaboration entitled HEAR YE!, and I'm sure others as well will steer you to more of Land's work with Bobby Hutcherson.

Well, I think Dolphy takes one of the most wicked "Round Midnight" solos I've ever heard on EZZ-THETIC. David Baker's trombone work is also outstanding, and the album, while rooted in Russell's more avant-garde approach, retains a weirdly boppish accessibility (to my admittedly somewhat unconventional ears). It's been a couple of years since I've listened to it; will probably dig it out again tonight as a result of this thread. I've heard the Poindexter only once, at a friend's house. I don't remember Dolphy's having more than a couple of solos, but it's a fun & varied big-band record that includes Dexter Gordon, Sonny Red, and Phil Woods. It's definitely on my to-get list.

Congratulations, Tony--sounds as if the new addition will arrive just in time for Father's Day!

I haven't heard the first two, Dr. J, but I'd like to, and I'm a fan as well of MACK THE KNIFE. Not sure if the date I"m going to mention qualifies as one of the more obscure ones, but I've always greatly enjoyed Dolphy's work on George Russell's EZZ-THETIC. And what about this larger-ensemble date?

Dr. J has to be Tony, based on a reading of said Dr.'s posts.

Mr. Milazzo has checked in!

Yes, I ordered it this morning, and lucky for me, too, before Jim's review sends board-members stampeding to deplete BMG's stock!

Damn--that sure beats hell out of the AMG review!

The major problem for me with Marsalis' prominence in the series stems not so much from his personality--I can actually understand why Burns chose him for a PBS-marketed series--but from (IMO) the sense that he, Stanley Crouch, and Albert Murray are all advancing the same notions of jazz history in the documentary, forming a hydrahead of ideology, as it were. A more diverse group of commentators, including perhaps somebody like Scott Deveaux, would have been welcome, from my POV. Now you've done it, conn--opened up the dreaded & proverbial can o' worms!

Hey, I saw that moniker and wondered... I remember mentioning him on this board once and eliciting several positive responses. I think Dan Gould was still in touch with him and mentioned that he perused this place from time to time. Glad he's here, if it is indeed him.

Sold!

How-do from a resident Hoosier (sheldonm's the other one). And don't let anybody ask you what your favorite color is.

The new kid on the block:

I've got a couple of freebies still coming from BMG, and they have the mini-LP Verve re-issue of Herman's Philips album 1963. Jim Sangrey swears by this period of Herman, and who knows if the alleged Philips "box" will ever come to pass, so I'm thinking of pulling the trigger--any thoughts from those who might already have it?

In memoriam:

Burnsbox

Well, we should have done one for the mothers... but I wanted to say thanks here to my father for all he did for me. He shaped my views on politics, literature, and more, and took me to see Bob Dylan (Street Legal tour) and APOCALYPSE NOW when I was 11 and 13, respectively--pretty cool things for a kid my age to see. He also turned me on to some interesting music, such as Brian Eno's MUSIC FOR AIRPORTS. Much more than that, though, he never gave up on our relationship, even through some pretty volatile periods in my teens and early 20's, and he imparted a sensibility of the humane that I still try--or hope--to emulate. He's a big Ted Williams fan, and at one of our lowest points, when we were barely speaking to each other, I met him for lunch in downtown Indianapolis. At the end of a rather strained conversation, I gave him a paperback copy of David Halberstam's SUMMER OF '49. He walked towards his car, looking down at the book, and he smiled then, and I remember thinking, "I hope we get along again some day." We do, and I'm lucky to be his son.

Yes, I finally got to listen to Disc 2 today, and "Neo" jumped out at me as well. So far (having heard none of this material before), I'm inclined to think that this is a very underrated period for Miles.