ghost of miles

Cool that the Times gave him this coverage. If anybody on the board catches his gig tonight, I'd love to hear your impressions! It is an amazing story, isn't it? Somebody should write a book...

Not the "best," but the pianist that for you captures the Blue Note "house sound." (Yes, I know, a vague, categorical concept...)

Looking forward to hearing this. I still want to pick up his 1968 duets with Lee Konitz, which came out on CD as EUROPEAN EPISODE and IMPRESSIVE ROME.

That's the route I'll probably take. I'm on the hunt for the Sinatra Columbia box, too. (Forgive me, Lon!)

I really enjoyed JSP's CAB CALLOWAY: THE EARLY YEARS set, and now the followup is on the way, streeting June 10: Cab I don't have any of this material and am quite excited, as Chu Berry, Dizzy Gillespie, and Ben Webster, among others, show up on this set.

Thanks, man--I don't think I can ever have enough Duke! I'd been contemplating the 2-CD set, but I think I'll skip it and wait for the box. Verve put out so many great boxes in the mid-to-late 90's--the Bud Powell, the JATP, the Lester Young, this one... I realize it's a financially precarious practice (didn't they supposedly take a bath on the Young?), so I hope they continue to occasionally farm sets out to Mosaic (the Hodges, Roach, now the Mulligan and Eldridge).

Anybody around these parts own this box? (Surely somebody does!) Coted'Azur I'm thinking about putting it on my "to-get" list, if I can find a used copy at a reasonable price some day, or even a marked-down new one...

Well, better an imitation than the real thing. I managed to cultivate an offboard amiability with Greg, but I think that mostly dissolved in one of our last disputes... in any case, I haven't heard from him since the BNBB blew up. You're right about AAJ, I think, Lon. I still go there too, but the discussions just don't engage me. I'm not sure why. The visual appearance of the board doesn't draw me in either; Organissimo's colors and layout are just so damned comfy on the old .

I used to work as a musicseller, and then as a music manager, at Borders. We had a monthly newsletter, and I usually wrote the "music notes" column, often from the point-of-view of some fictional character, working some of our highlighted new releases into some (hopefully) humorous narrative. One month the long-awaited (by me, anyway) Miles Davis 60's quintet box was coming out, and so I wrote the column from the pov of "Ghost of Miles," basically imitating the tone of his autobiography, inserting plenty of asterisks and other marks to symbolize the curses. It went over really well and became a bit of a running joke--hence the handle. I also happen to love his music, and I'm a white guy who can't play a lick of trumpet. Ghost also alludes to "Ghost of a Chance," one of my favorite 40's jazz standards, and to the ethereal nature of maintaining an internet presence. OK, guess I'm done being an ex-English major now. When the old BNBB sank I registered elsewhere with different "Ghost" handles, but something about this site influenced me to resurrect my former one. I'm glad I did, because this really has replaced the BNBB in my heart-of-internet-hearts.

Hey, at least they never did a Beatles duet!

Oops--good point, Mike. I forgot about those, so maybe the Roost sessions will be re-mastered by Rudy (or somebody else). They came out years ago on a single CD, but the sound was pretty bad.

Yep, I think that's all that's been confirmed. I've heard rumors of a Gerry Mulligan Songbook Select (not to be confused with the supposedly imminent Concert Jazz Band set, which should be a fullblown Mosaic box), in addition to the news about a possible Crusaders release.

Birthday greetings to Mr. B-3'er, er, Jim. Thanks, too, to you & the rest of the band for providing the exiled Blue Note community with such a great new home. May your CD royalties one day surpass those of Jimmy Smith's!

Actually, I think Late did. (And thanks, Late, for the link to Rosolino--I didn't know that his wife and mother of his two boys had just committed suicide, shortly before his own suicide and shooting of his sons.)

Hey all, I'm doing a radio program tomorrow afternoon from 3:30-5 p.m. EST that draws on a box-set called THE VICTORY COLLECTION: THE SMITHSONIAN REMEMBERS WHEN AMERICA WENT TO WAR. The show will feature topical music from WWII (Wingy Manone's "Stop the War, Cats Are Killin' Themselves," Fats Waller's "That's What the Well-Dressed Man in Harlem Will Wear," Carson Robison's "Grab a Gun, We're Fixin' to Kill a Skunk" and "Mussolini's Letter to Hitler," as well as some non-box selections like Martha Tilton's "I'll Walk Alone") and American propaganda radio ads, in addition to some bites from interviews with people who lived through the era. Here's the link: WFIU1

I wish Mosaic would do a set of Holmes on Pacific Jazz--e-mailed them about it last year, but they said too much of it had been readily available in the past few years.

Hey all, I'm looking for an OOP 1994 Moon Records CD release of Louis Armstrong entitled RADIO DAYS. It consists of a 1943 and a 1945 broadcast that Armstrong did; I'm particularly interested in getting a copy of the track "Blue Skies," which is a duet between Armstrong and Frank Sinatra (hoping to use it for a July 4 radio program). PM me if you have this and are interested in some kind of trade, CD-R or otherwise...

The RVGs are indeed a big improvement in sound (at least on THE AMAZING BUD POWELL V. 1 and V. 2--the only ones I have so far). However, the Roost sessions, particularly the '47 that leads off the box-set, and the '53 that ends Disc 2 as well, are superlative, and they haven't been RVG'd (and won't be, I'm assuming, as I'm pretty sure Rudy didn't engineer these sessions). The booklet's most interesting segment is an excerpt of an interview that Alfred Lion did with Michael Cuscuna. If you can pick up the box for $30 or so, I think it's worth it, even if you get the RVGs later on.

Alan Wald's WRITING FROM THE LEFT: NEW ESSAYS ON RADICAL CULTURE AND POLITICS. Wald is writing a three-volume history of 20th-century American leftists and authors (only published volume so far is EXILES FROM A FUTURE TIME). Fascinating to read how many radical writers went underground into the pulp industry after WWII; anybody who's interested in leftist culture, history, and art should check out his work.

Kansas City Confidential, a 1952 noir with John Payne (played the young lawyer in Miracle on 34th Street) as a veteran who gets framed for a bank-heist masterminded by a corrupt ex-cop. I think James Ellroy got more than just a title from this flick...

Leroy Vinnegar, LEROY WALKS AGAIN! Various, COMPLETE NOCTURNE RECORDINGS (discs 1 & 2) Various, THE VICTORY COLLECTION: THE SMITHSONIAN REMEMBERS WHEN AMERICA WENT TO WAR Charlie Parker, ROCKLAND PALACE 1952

Interesting that some of us came to vocal jazz later rather than earlier. Many people I know who like jazz entered into it through vocal jazz, primarily, I think, because they were used to hearing songs with words, and it was a more comfortable point of departure on the jazz journey. I was always drawn to the well-known greats, such as Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole, Jimmy Rushing (who gave me my first moment of jazz satori), and Sarah Vaughan. These days I listen to a lot of vocal jazz; some of my current faves include Teri Thornton, the aforementioned Nina Simone and Betty Carter, Anita O'Day, Una Mae Carlisle... more than I can think of right now, actually, and I always seem to be discovering new ones.

Jim, Thanks for the extensive, thoughtful, and well-written review. I solicited this as a promo for our community radio station and it hasn't shown up yet--if it doesn't come soon, I'll probably buy it. I'll probably buy it anyway, because it sounds like something I'd like to have to listen to around the house, and because I'd like to support the artist. There is something about straightahead jazz played by vets like Freeman, Mariano, and Edwards, guys who hit their late 70's/early 80's and still have their chops, that just can't be replicated by anybody else. Whenever I hear Freeman playing "I Like the Sunrise" from THE IMPROVISER, I get choked up--I feel like I know the man, as well as you can know anybody from a recording. I feel all of his years in that sound.

Moi aussi, mon confrere. I'm hoping it shows up before I leave for vacation.

The Impossible Shapes, LAUGHTER FILLS OUR HOLLOW DOME (great Bloomington underground pop band) Killer Ray Appleton, KILLER RAY RIDES AGAIN (Indy drumming legend w/Slide Hampton and Charles McPherson) Martha Tilton, COMPLETE CAPITOL RECORDINGS