ghost of miles

Bunny Berigan, GANGBUSTERS Teri Thornton, DEVIL MAY CARE Miles Davis, IN PERSON AT THE BLACKHAWK SATURDAY NIGHT Frank Newton, STORY OF A FORGOTTEN TRUMPETER Various, SONGS FOR POLITICAL ACTION (Bear Family) Billie Holiday, COMP. COLUMBIA disc 7

Styron has a beautifully lyrical touch, Thomas Wolfe with much more restraint, IMO. I was a big fan of his as a teenager and read everything but THE CONFESSIONS OF NAT TURNER, which I'm planning to read and write about for a local weekly come next February (it engendered a very controversial response, embodied best in a book called TEN BLACK WRITERS RESPOND). I wrote to Styron and he sent me an encouraging postcard, which I keep to this day in my copy of SOPHIE'S CHOICE. Sadly, I've come to think that he's overrated in some ways. SOPHIE'S CHOICE reads to me like a botched masterpiece, sabotaged by periodic bouts of self-indulgence. As a teenager I found SET THIS HOUSE ON FIRE pretty turgid going; I finished it only because I was a fan. I'd recommend Styron's 1953 novella THE LONG MARCH and his 1990's collection A TIDEWATER MORNING as a good introduction to his work; if you enjoy those, try LIE DOWN IN DARKNESS, and, yes, SOPHIE'S CHOICE, even though I hold the heretical opinion that the movie was better (I felt it eliminated the authorial self-indulgences which seemed so striking when I re-read the novel a few years ago). I can't say anything about TURNER because I haven't read it yet. Re: Eudora Welty. "Powerhouse." Re: Carson McCullers. REFLECTIONS IN A GOLDEN EYE and BALLAD OF THE SAD CAFE. Library of America published a nice volume of her work (they did a two-volume set of Welty, too--I love the LOA editions and try to pick those up whenever I can find them used or for a decent price).

Sitting here at WFIU playing Ellington's version of "Rhapsody in Blue." Happy 4th to all!

But whadda youse guys think of A FABLE? That one gets routinely drubbed... which, for some perverse reason, makes me curious about it.

I'm trying to think of stray late 30's/early 40's Lester sessions--there's one on the 3-CD FROM SPIRITUALS TO SWING Vanguard box of the '38/'39 concert (a small-group studio date that was presented as being "live"--the box also includes truly live Lester). And I think another shows up on the recent Sony 4-CD Charlie Christian box. These weren't led by Lester, but his presence on them is strong. I'll have to look up the dates and info when I get home from work.

Pryan, it may be obvious, and you may already have it, but don't overlook Lester's work with Basie. Even though his solos are shorter and not as plentiful, there's lots of prime Prez on Basie's COMPLETE DECCA RECORDINGS.

I generally prefer the approach that favors presence over surface cleanliness, although I know others who vastly prefer, say, the previous Sony Benny Goodman 1938 Carnegie Hall issue to the current one. One thing I noticed on several of the earliest Ellington sides when I picked up the red BMG complete set was a squeaky, squealing sound that grew louder as the track approached its end. I called BMG and talked to Joshua Sherman about this, and he explained it to me as "groove squeak." Anybody else familiar with this phenomenon? In any case, I'm so happy with the greatly enhanced sense of space and warmth of the new re-masterings over the old Blanton-Webster set that I don't mind--though it does seem that perhaps they should have made an exception in the case of "Jack the Bear."

I know, Mny, I was just playing dumb... (and no wisecracks from the peanut-gallery regarding the impressiveness of my performance!)

Whuzzat? Who needs to be whacked?

I've listened to the first two discs so far and am going to listen to disc 3 later tonight (traded in my old Roulette HIGHLIFE/UHURU AFRIKA before this came out, so I've already heard it, but I'm looking forward to the improved sound). Agree with Tony that the unreleased session is a real gem--in fact, I've gone back to that and PIANO-A-LA-MODE more so far than I have disc 1, which is also outstanding. Hawkins seems like a good fit for Weston on FIVE SPOT--did they ever record together elsewhere? In any case, I can see this set having a pretty broad appeal and drawing in a lot of people who haven't listened to Weston before.

Exactly the ones I was going to mention, Joe (except for "Mistral," which I haven't read yet). The Zombies actually wrote and recorded a song called "A Rose for Emily," although they didn't really carry over the story's plot... no grim surprises awaiting upstairs at the end. I guess they just liked the title. I've been shamefully negligent regarding the novels--have read only AS I LAY DYING all the way through. It's getting nice and hot and muggy in Indiana right now, good weather for Faulkner reading, so maybe I'll pull out my old Modern Library copies of ABSALOM, ABSALOM and SANCTUARY and give 'em a go.

We are DEVO!!

Jutta Hipp, AT THE HICKORY HOUSE V. 1 & 2 Charles Mingus, THE CLOWN Cab Calloway, 1935-40 disc 3 Carmen McRae, GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK (1972 live date w/Joe Pass) The Three Sounds, LIVE AT THE LIGHTHOUSE Mark: I also really like Grant Green and Sonny Clark's version on COMP. QUARTETS.

My guess (as a former Borders music manager) is that it's a line sale, which would mean that all BN titles that midlist at $11.99 would be $8.99. That would definitely include all, not just some, of the RVGs. Just ask a music clerk.

Sitting in for the regular afternoon jazz host at our public radio station, playing Louis Armstrong. (And Ray Charles' "America the Beautiful," Peggy Lee's "Freedom Train," Paul Robeson's "Ballad for Americans"... really looking forward to it.)

Hey, congrats, Marcus! I really enjoyed this one.

Thanks, Joe, hadn't seen that title before.

Hey, thanks, Dan, I'll look around for that. I'd like to find the date Clay did with Billy Higgins for Contemporary, too (BRIDGEWORK). And thanks, too, Joe, for the discography and the reminiscences. Picking up the Morgan GNP will be an added bonus, as I'm a Morgan fan as well.

Yeah, I've been scouring AMG's discography, because I'd like to do a whole program devoted to Clay sometime. This is a longshot, but are there any Ray Charles tracks on which he takes a solo?

Yeah, Joe, I read that review too a couple of nights ago when the new issue showed up in the mailbox. I'm particularly interested in reading what he has to say about Thomas A. Dorsey, a figure who's long fascinated me, and about whom little seems to have been written so far.

Man, until last night I'd heard Clay only on Don Cherry's ART DECO and Wes Montgomery's MOVIN' ALONG. Then the package from Mr. Tanno arrived and I finally got to check out TENOR MAN--was he really only 20 when he made that record? He sounds as if he's 40, and I mean it in a good way. How do his Riverside dates compare? And does anybody around these parts have a copy of his TEXAS TENORS record with Marchel Ivery that they might be able to dub for me? I'd gladly send something in exchange. (I'm assuming, by the way, that it's OOP--if not, I'll definitely buy it.)

James Clay/Lawrence Marable, TENOR MAN (wow!) Cab Calloway, 1935-40 (new JSP set, discs 1-2) Reuben Wilson, BLUE MODE Earl Bostic, CHRONOLOGICAL 1948-49 Duke Ellington, EARLY ELLINGTON (disc 1) Don Cherry, ART DECO Wes Montgomery, MOVIN' ALONG

And a good Lunceford jam or two would be significantly more convincing as to the rightness of our cause! Rhythm saved the world!

The Yanks have been on a tear since their humiliating no-hitter at the hands of six Houston pitchers. I'm hoping that they've bottomed out. Hell, even Weaver threw a halfway decent game yesterday against the Mets--maybe the threat of rookie Claussen taking his place in the rotation has snapped him out of his funk.

Doing fine, thanks! I'm going to see the doctor again on Thursday. I'll have a slight bump in my collarbone for the rest of my life, but it could've been much worse. When I'm home from work I mostly sit around popping painkillers and listening to jazz. It's the life, I'm tellin' ya! Hey, NEW YORK CITY R & B is a kick*** record. I listened to another track from the Taylor Candid sessions the other day--"Jumpin' Punkins." Still some of my favorite Cecil, that period.