ghost of miles

The Bad Plus, THESE ARE THE VISTAS Carla Bley, VERY BIG BAND/BIG BAND GOES TO CHURCH/BIG BAND THEORY Roscoe Mitchell, SNURDY MCGURDY & HER DANCIN' SHOES Various artists, THE WOMEN: CLASSIC FEMALE JAZZ ARTISTS, 1939-52 Art Blakey/Joe Gordon Verve Elite, BLAKEY

I'll be doing a radio show on Gigi Gryce and the new bio, Rat Race Blues, co-authored by our resident jazz scholar Michael Fitzgerald, on Monday, March 24 and Tuesday, March 25 from 3:30-5 p.m. Eastern time. Michael will be lending his expertise as a guest via long-distance telephone. There is a possibility that the show will be expanded into a two-part program continuing on the next day; I should have this finalized by the end of this week. You can find the link on Michael's web-page at Gryce or here: WFIU. I'll up this thread a day or so before broadcast, but wanted to let folks know in advance about the show.

A nice record that I just spun today--it's an all-Detroit line-up, with Hank Jones on piano, Doug Watkins on bass, and Louis Hayes on drums. What about Red's mid-60's work with Donald Byrd? As I recall, opinion about this period was rather divided on that old--you know, that other board where we all used to hang.

I'm actually kind of glad to see it temporarily put out of its misery... though I'll admit to occasionally enjoying the perverse desecration that was going on in the past week. And where will such BN stalwarts as Junk Bond, Dr. Achtung Freud Calling, and the Red Menace now roost?

Anybody hear the Ron Carter title? I'm still waiting/hoping like a ravenous necrophiliac for Carter's ALL BLUES. (But wait--Carter's still alive! Guess I'm off the hook.)

Somebody was hanging a dumbly reductive label on the box, which is wonderful, BTW, one I have no hesitancy in recommending. This is Illinois' so-called "Little Big Band," and yes, it did incorporate some of the late-40's jump blues sound--some might say a lot. I've always found that whole convergence of "blues, boogie & bop" (to cop a line from a Verve set) intriguing and pleasing, but the Illinois set comes with a healthy serving of straight-up swing/bop jazz, IMO. Some beautiful ballad-playing by Mr. Jacquet as well. For me, it's one of the most consistently satisfying sets to listen to, and all the more remarkable in that Mosaic had to license from a wide variety of labels; I doubt such a set would even be possible for them these days.

I had a feeling, Chuck--didn't he write the liner notes for one of your Von Freemans? I read the Clarke book back in '95 and wrote a very positive review of it for a local arts magazine. Is Clarke currently at work on any new projects?

Damn, that Kenny avatar is hard on the eyes! What's going on at the old board anyway? Greg still slugging it out over SACD? Which regulars are still posting there?

I've read WISHING ON THE MOON as well as the Nicholson book. I don't recall Clarke's style as particularly "singing," but he did have one advantage over Nicholson: access to dozens of interviews that a previous would-be Holiday biographer had conducted in the early 1970's with compatriots of Holiday's, many of whom were dead by the time Nicholson started his book. So Clarke has a lot of stories that are not in the Nicholson book, and I found myself preferring his bio overall--he also seemed slightly more sympathetic to his subject, though not afraid to offer up the more unflattering aspects of her tale.

Well, I am but a lonely one, but I'd snap it up. Cherry, Blackwell, and Grimes in a trio setting sounds mighty tasty indeed.

David Baker's presence on cello was one reason that I picked it up--it was recorded in Indianapolis and I hope to use it in a series on Indiana jazz. We need to line Mr. Nessa's pockets with loot so that he can re-issue SAGA OF THE OUTLAWS.

Start with either ELLIOTT SMITH or EITHER/OR, in the case of Elliott Smith. (You've asked an impassioned zealot--I'm giving fair warning!) They're both primarily-acoustic albums that he recorded for Kill Rock Stars in 1995 and 1997. Beautiful, beautiful songs, hushed and edged with lyrical menace, junkie lullabies is how I always think of them, a kind of musical heroin. For a long time he just about ruined other singer-songwriters for me. Great hooks and harmonies, and it sounds as if he recorded it in his living-room--I mean that in a good way. Those records have a really unusual intimacy to them. XO is also outstanding, but much broader-sounding, more produced, with keyboards and strings added on some tracks. It was his Dreamworks debut, coming out not long after he received an Oscar nomination for "Miss Misery," one of several songs he contributed to the GOOD WILL HUNTING soundtrack. FIGURE 8, which came out in 2000, is probably the brightest of his records--several outstanding songs, maybe not quite as many as on previous records, but the album is sequenced brilliantly. Another pop tour de force IMO, although many fans didn't like it as much as the KRS records and XO. His earlier work, both with a band called Heatmiser and on a record called ROMAN CANDLE, is worth seeking out too. He's been in limbo for the past couple of years because of on-again/off-again drug problems and a falling-out with Dreamworks (they supposedly rejected an album he recorded called FROM A BASEMENT ON A HILL because it was too "dark"--rumor has it he'll release it on another label or put out a double-CD of even newer material). Interestingly enough, Brad Mehldau has recorded Smith's "Bottle Up and Explode" (from XO) on a radio-only promo called DE-REGULATING JAZZ. Have I yakked enough about Mr. Smith?

Rich? I ain't no filthy steenkin' reech man! My jazz habit is eternally grateful to Borders' employee discount and the "super" discount days. And Weizen--well, I thought I had him figured, but now I learn he believes the UN is the leading governmental authority and that he has a federal job. Wolf-Weizen has shed his costume to reveal that he's really a tender liberal lamb! Now that his hidden leftist agenda has come to light, I feel even happier to share with him the desire for a Jutta Hipp Mosaic Select set. Regarding the Hipp BN material, sounds like they could do a 3-CD set, a la Jones & Moncur.

Jack Purvis, 1928-36 (new Jazz Oracle set, and it's sweet, too! Well, not sweet sweet. Offbeat and hot, rather!).

Reply from Mosaic this morning:

DeepDiscount generally doesn't charge for shipping. I've ordered several items from them and have nothing bad to say about their service--just got a back-ordered item the other day: Charles Tyler's EASTERN MAN ALONE, $13.79 total.

Shameless up for broadcast in 45 minutes.

Mike, Was Haden dealing with a drug problem around this time? Forgive my hazy recollection, but I seem to recall reading that somewhere... Could be way off.

Howdy, stranger! Say, hoss, you don't happen to hail from a little burg close to the central seat of government now, do ya? I, too, would be happy to see a Jutta Hipp Mosaic Select. I have only the Connoisseur and like it a lot. Pardon the forwardness, stranger, but how much all can you reckon Jutta Hipp recorded for the (and pardon my language) Blue Note label?

I bought the CENTRAL AVENUE SOUNDS box several years ago just to get the taste it offered of late-40's Mingus, which is a little jump blues, a little Third Stream, and mostly just Mingus beginning to flower. The Uptown release is one of the most--ah, we're not in Blue Note anymore, are we, Toto--KICK-ASS re-issues I've ever picked up.

Yeah, it is a shame, but this place does have some of the old Blue Note BB vibe about it... how could it not? I think many of the BNers on AAJ will begin to come over here more frequently as well. It feels pretty damned cozy if you ask me. I suppose what I miss is the certain edge that the old board had.

My list is pretty close to Green Dolphin's: Andrew Hill Brad Mehldau McCoy Tyner Keith Jarrett Coin-toss between Jason Moran & Uri Caine, with honorary nods to Myra Melford & Marilyn Crispell

Matthew, I've got both of those LOAs but haven't read all of the pulp stories yet. Last summer I read THE LITTLE SISTER & THE LONG GOODBYE back-to-back... will definitely re-read THE LONG GOODBYE. I could stand to re-read the earlier ones, too. Library of America also put out two anthologies of crime novels covering the 30's/40's and the 50's, which included some great ones like Kenneth Fearing's THE BIG CLOCK, Chester Himes' THE REAL COOL KILLERS, and William Gresham's NIGHTMARE ALLEY. Are you a fan of either Hammett or James Cain?

RAT RACE BLUES, Michael Fitzgerald and Noal Cohen's fascinating, well-researched bio of Gigi Gryce. RADICAL HOLLYWOOD, a sympathetic portrait of lefties in the 1930's/40's/50's film industry.

Some sets I have and like include Louis Jordan's LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL (lots of good songs that don't show up on the various anthologies and compilations), Nellie Lutcher's AND HER RHYTHM, Julia Lee's KANSAS CITY STAR (some Benny Carter/KC jazz on that set), and the NASHVILLE JUMPS collection, which documents the Nashville indie R & B scene from 1945-55. Some surprising jazz cameos on that one from the likes of John Coltrane and Phineas Newborn, among others. For those interested in the American left, SONGS FOR POLITICAL ACTION is an intriguing set, although some of the music leaves a little to be desired. It contains the complete Almanac Singers recordings. Only problem with Bear Family is that they're really pricey; I picked all of these up when I worked at Borders and could get a good discount. There's one online site that has most of these for prices that average out to about $16 or $17 a disc--I'll see if I can find the link. The set I'm hoping to get next is Piano Red's DR. FEELGOOD. The Carter Family is a monster, but the sound's better than the Rounder re-issues, and Charles Wolfe, who's at work on a bio of the Carters, wrote good liner notes for the book.