ghost of miles

Recently I was putting together a radio program of spring songs and took a look around for "It Happens Every Spring," the theme from a goofy 1949 Ray Milland movie about a college professor who accidentally discovers a wood-resistant substance and goes on to become an indomitable baseball pitcher (sounds like an early Disney prototype, eh? I always wondered about the ethics of such an action as well!). Frank Sinatra sang it, and it turns up only on THE COLUMBIA YEARS: 1943-1952, a 12-CD collection of Sinatra's work for that label. Now, I am the fanatical type who will probably spring the bucks some day for this set just to get one song... only because I happen to like Sinatra and enjoy the 2-CD anthology of his work for that label. Does anybody happen to have this set, or know of a decent review of it? The AMG description is woefully inadequate.

Is this hypothetical, or does Mosaic truly have an Eldridge set in the works?

Good to hear that this is on target for the end of May. Man, I can't wait to take a look at the discography for this puppy...

Thanks for the notes on Shank, fellows, a fave of mine. I thought he lived in Port Townsend (a beautiful town on the Washington coast), but I guess he's moved to dryer climes.

I just noticed that Politics is far and away the most-posted-in forum on this board. Thanks to Organissimo for letting some of us politicized Blue Note exiles vent! Now that the war's over, it may die down somewhat... somewhat.

Thank ye!

Hans, what's the contact info for Mr. Tanno?

Hello fellow jazz proles, I'm doing some research for a radio program on jazz and postwar French cinema. One of the soundtracks I'm featuring is from LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES (1960), which was recorded by Art Blakey. According to the liner notes, however, the music used in the film itself was recorded in New York by Thelonious Monk, in a session made after Monk's Paris trip was canceled. The NY session, supervised by Marcel Romano, included Monk on piano, Sam Jones on bass, Art Taylor on drums, and Charlie Rouse and Barney Wilen on tenor saxophones. Romano says that this music was used in the movie but never released on record. True?

I'm using this soundtrack in an upcoming radio show on jazz and postwar French cinema. I think LIFT TO THE SCAFFOLD is acceptable, but I've been told that the preferred translation is ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS.

In no particular order... VALLEY GIRL STRANGER THAN PARADISE FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH KOYAANISQATSI AT CLOSE RANGE THE FALCON & THE SNOWMAN THIS IS SPINAL TAP THE PRINCESS BRIDE BLADE RUNNER HEATHERS

Ah, yep. Well, in regards to other board members anyway--I love 'em.

It was definitely Huey's SPORTS era that I was thinking of--"If This Is It," "I Want a New Drug," etc. My brothers were fans and always yelped happily whenever the videos came on, and I found myself getting a dumb kick out of them. (Said videos and brothers.) Al, my sympathies--now you know the pain I felt upon hearing that song again! Those 80's synthesizers, too, yow! I much prefer what Mann's done since leaving that group. That Amadeus video sounds hilarious. I'll have to claim Roth as hometown kin--he actually came from my fair city of Bloomington.

Don't be scared by the title cover of the Fifth Dimension... it's actually a real burner. There's also a Horace Tapscott tune, "This is for Benny," some strong, bluesy interprations of "Willow Weep for Me" and "Paris Blues," and the crack lineup of Cedar Walton on piano, Tal Farlow on guitar, Bob Cranshaw on bass, and Lenny McBrowne on drums. It's become one of my favorite Criss sessions:

Matsui with a grand-slam in the Yanks' home opener, baby!!! Go, Godzilla, go! How can you not like the Yanks? They're so international these days.

But that was actually kind of cool! Huey Lewis, on the other hand... I have no excuse.

Well, what can I say? About a month ago I put the cover of ALL MORNIN' LONG on my computer at work as a screensaver: I have the Coltrane Prestige set and sometimes program Discs 9-12, which run all of the Coltrane/Garland sessions in consecutive order--beautiful music that I never tire of.

Yep, it was Oliver Nelson who left his composing fingerprints on Steve Austin's theme music. Believe me, there's a radio show waiting to happen on TV music scored by jazz greats in the 60's and 70's...

I always enjoyed the English Beat's "Save It for Later," in which they danced around antagonizing pretentious bohemian intellectual types in a cavern-like club. One that annoyed me came up in conversation with my wife the other day. We heard Til Tuesday's "Voices Carry" on the radio and agreed that the video for that was ludicrous, with the ending in which Aimee Mann stands up to belt out the song's concluding lines in an opera house, outraging her abusive boyfriend and the audience around her. I really like Mann's solo work, but that song & video used to get on my alterna-guy nerves. God help me, but I found some of the Huey Lewis videos to be so dumb and goofy that they hit one of my lower amusement buttons somewhere.

Damn! Wasn't it a plumbing problem, if I recall correctly, that got him onto the Blue Note board in the first place? I hope his day gig doesn't interfere too much with his music. Thanks for the update, Chuck.

Kenny, I never heard the Shoes or the Records. Any recommendations on where to start & what's available? Even though I lived through that era, I know that a lot went under the radar...there was so much good underground pop coming out in the 80's that I inevitably missed out on some. Another band I heard occasionally and really liked was the Go-Betweens. A friend of mine is an absolute fanatic and has just about everything they've ever laid down or burped onto disc. He & I were/are also big fans of Felt, a rather twee English pop band that had quite an influence on latter-day popsters Belle & Sebastian.

Last 24 hours: Lee Morgan, CARAMBA (sounded much better the second time around when I played it late at night. Does all jazz sound better late at night?) Carmell Jones, Disc 1 of Mosaic Select set Count Basie, OCTET SOUNDS Various artists, NUGGETS II (disc 1)

I remember Christmas vaguely... I think my girlfriend at that time had the first two records, plus some early Wonderstuff... of course we're now getting into the late 80's/early 90's, or Pixies era as I like to think of it. Some of those bands showed up on an early Neil Young tribute called THE BRIDGE. I started getting into dreampop around then, but that's a whole different thread...

Another Coltrane quote surfaces in a later-era record by the Cowboy Junkies, a post-breakup song called "Sun Comes Up, It's Tuesday Morning": Too true!

Yes! I remember listening to that record (agreed that it was a letdown after DAYS) and thinking, "Oh yeah, John Coltrane, he was some sort of very heavy jazz musician... have to check him out some day." What an anti-jazz snob I was in my late teens. Little did I know the man would take up nearly a whole shelf of my music collection some day.

Just had an exchange of PMs with White Lightning in which our ol' fave J.J. Johnson came up--what are your favorite J.J. records? I love most of the Mosaic set, PROOF POSITIVE, and THE TOTAL J.J. JOHNSON. And is it true that he wrote the theme to "Starsky and Hutch?"