ghost of miles

Really enjoying Jack Walrath's playing on that new Mingus Bremen release from Sunnyside.

One of my favorite Blue Note Bulletin Board memories is the uproar that ensued when word got around that the announced George Braith and Don Wilkerson 2-CD Connoisseur compilations might not come to pass after all. Iirc somebody started a thread titled “WE DEMAND THE RELEASE OF THE GEORGE BRAITH AND DON WILKERSON DOUBLETIMES!!!” Up against the wall, m#%*^%*#ers! We were ready to march on EMI’s corporate suites, clutching CD openers in our clenched fists. ✊

Yes, Hardbop, who often butted heads with Chris Albertson over WM. The usual pattern iirc was Hardbop jubilantly starting a thread about some Marsalis/JALC release or event (after awhile his exuberance almost seemed to have a baiting quality to it), Chris responding with a sour rebuke, and away they’d go. Also, Hardbop referred to any book he was reading or considering acquiring as a “tome.” Definitely keeping you in my thoughts, Allen. Btw was recently singing your praises to Ricky Riccardi, who sang them right back. A lot of profound respect out there for you.

Came across mention of Tatro in Derrick Bang’s new book Crime And Spy Jazz On Screen Since 1971: >>The scoring assignment (for The Manhunter) went to veteran clarinetist and saxophonist Duane Tatro, known for stints with bands fronted by Stan Kenton and Mel Torme, and as the composer of his one and only swing LP; 1956’s well-received Jazz For Moderns. Tatro subsequently gravitated toward television, and The Manhunter was his only solo assignment; he gives the show a strong blend of period jazz and Americana. ”The most fun I ever had was with The Manhunter,” he recalled. “I got to stretch out musically. I had sort of a 12-toned score, which was very helpful in creating edgy music and slipping into country themes. We used a lot of guitars. I used a gut-string guitar on the pilot, interrupted it with an orchestra when they’d get to a roadblock. The series theme came from the theme I’d written for Ken Howard’s character in the pilot. It combined country with a contemporary sound.” Guitars are indeed prominent in Tatro’s title theme; so is the aggressively growling piano that anchors an agitated rhythm section. The melody doesn’t immediately emerge from the cacophony of brass and reeds, and—when it does—the motif is as twitchy as the rest of the cue. The theme plays against a montage of sepia-hued photographs that evoke the era, with additional clips appearing in fat arrows that point toward and away from the four points of the compass. Brass flourishes then synch to all four arrows as they emanate from a close-up of Howard. Tatro’s underscore cues often employ harmonica and accordion against tasty jazz orchestration, to evoke the American ambiance. The series and Tatro’s music have slipped into obscurity, although the title theme finally popped up in 2019’s The Quinn Martin Collection, V. 1: Cop and Detective Series.<< I haven’t listened to Jazz For Moderns in quite awhile (though Tatro’s recent passing should have sparked me into taking it off the shelf), but memory allows that calling it a “swing LP” would be quite a conceptual reach by most standards. I assume Bang meant to imply that it was Tatro’s only jazz album. Anyway, that’s not to denigrate the book, which provides a chronologically encyclopedic overview of its subject, with running commentary similar to the passage above.

And the vinyl initially listed for several dollars more. (Often the vinyl editions of any of these releases are much more expensive--my favorite point of comparison is the Brad Mehldau box-set that came out a few years back, which listed for about $30 on CD and $129 on vinyl.) So glad the cheaper CD version with more material was available! Like Jsngry I grew up with vinyl, nothing against it (well, except for what it's doing in terms of disrupting potential additional content for CD releases, as discussed in this thread) and still occasionally buy new or used LPs, but almost always only if there's no CD counterpart available.

I didn’t realize this, but you nailed it, Bill! I just glanced at the back cover for attribution, and that’s exactly what it is.

I was just thinking about Joe Christmas the other day--didn't he serve on a submarine? Quite a time-travel trip to see that board again... looks like I was member no. 620, joined January 2000, just in time for the new century. Finding the BNBB was exciting and revelatory.

Has the Roost material had a more recent reissue on Japanese CD that was also pitch-corrected? I can't recall right now for sure--perhaps Lon or some other board members might be able to weigh in, but I have a faint recollection of somebody mentioning such a release here. And yeah, definitely an essential session! EDIT: this Discogs entry lists some relatively recent (in the grand scheme of things) CD reissues from Japan. But I can't vouch for what they sound like or whether or not they've been pitch-corrected.

Another one from NYRB Classics (can't praise that series enough)--have read only the title story so far, which vividly evokes the vibe of mid/late 1940s Brooklyn for culturally-aspiring twentysomethings. Looking forward to the rest:

I need to pick this up. I'm a fan of Williamson, and the Mosaic Kenton Presents set doesn't include these sessions.

Have I missed prior discussion of this finally becoming available on CD? Picked it up at my local record store a few days ago:

Still getting some kicks, I hope!

Notions of “wrong”’and “right” can also be pretty damn fluid and always subject to change/evolution. Ornette Coleman is one example that comes to mind, as somebody who was accused of playing “wrong” when he started making waves in the late 1950s. But I always liked this response from Mingus (who as far as I can tell was ambivalent about Coleman at first) in a 1960 DownBeat article: “It’s like organized disorganization, or playing wrong right. And it gets to you emotionally, like a drummer. That’s what Coleman means to me.” It’s too bad that Fantasy never put together a general-overview box-set for Milestone as they did for Contemporary, Prestige, Riverside, and Debut. Those were all exceptionally well-done IMO.

Next thing you know CDs will be making a comeback! I was 34 when I joined the BNBB. That is quite a stretch of time, you’re right. Geez, the Yankees were reigning World Series champions... that’s how long ago that was! (My Christmas gift to the legions of non-Yankee fans here. 🎅)

Bulletin boards, forums, what have you definitely do seem like an anachronism, I'm sure, to those under 30, or maybe even under 40. But I still find this particular forum the best and most convenient way to read and discuss jazz-related and other topics online, as opposed to Facebook and Twitter--both of which I use, especially Facebook, but which don't have neatly-divided topic areas like "Mosaic and other jazz box-sets," "Recommendations," etc. This old house still works well for me!

We’re re-airing this show this week and I’m upping today in honor of Willis Conover’s centenary: Conover’s Coming Over: Willis Conover And Jazz On The Voice Of America

I think we’d clean them out!

Sad news--perennially undersung pianist and composer.

Just turned 55... now eligible for free popcorn at the Historic Artcraft Theatre in Franklin, Indiana.

Haven't heard the Rollins yet (picking up a copy either today or tomorrow) but catering to the uber-hip vinyl crowd is a growing irritation of mine as well, when it affects CD sequencing, amount of material that's used, etc. (Not to mention the often-exorbitant pricing.)

Seems like an excellent signing for the Sox, Dan. Not really hot-stove news, but still of great interest to all of us baseball fans here, I'd imagine: MLB to reclassify Negro Leagues as major league From the NY Times article: The first step in merging the record books will be a thorough review of available information by the Elias Sports Bureau, keeper of M.L.B.’s official statistics. Its findings could result in several records changing, and could affect the career totals for any players who appeared in both the Negro leagues and the National League or the American League — a group that includes players like Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays and Satchel Paige.

Just finished Leonard Gardner’s Fat City, a beautifully-written novel set in the Steinbeck-meets-Bukowski milieu of 1950s/60s skid-row Stockton, California. Highly recommended. Gardner adapted it for the 1972 John Huston film (available for free if you have Amazon Prime), which I intend to watch at some point.

Dude, sorry I'm so late... I was hanging out by the food machines. Happy freakin' birthday!