ghost of miles

Rereading this for a Night Lights show in progress—highly recommended for anyone with an interest in Hazel Scott:

You're preaching to the choir, at least in my case. Plenty of room for Brother Jack McDuff's "Rock Candy" and Cecil Taylor's Unit Structures and everything in-between, sideways, up and down ways, etc. Not advocating an embrace of mediocrity, rather the greater interest of an expansive musical universe and the hidden and not-so-hidden relationships within.

Well, I think the conventional jazz history take--and there's a dangerously reductive term/concept to use in and of itself--has been that jazz, starting with bebop, moved towards becoming more of an art music, and that hard bop and soul jazz were in part responses to that, an attempt to shift jazz into a more groove/gospel-derived and influenced direction. That is a really simplistic explanation of it, and not accurate, or at least not that basic, in a lot of ways. But that's the line that's often been touted, in my experience. Plenty of counters to be found to it as well, though, in jazz writings of the past several decades. Informed by the highly-charged spirit of the (mid/late 1960s) times in which the pieces in Black Music were written, perhaps? 2020 quite a different vantage point for viewing all of this, but I like to think things are less prone to factionalization now... I could be quite deluded on that account, however. But there should be room enough even in the narrowest of musical mindsets for Jimmy Smith *and* Cecil Taylor *and* James Brown. I mean, the listener's loss if he/she wants to write off entire artists/genres of music because they're too "commercial" (a slippery definition anyway), though of course nobody should be obligated to like what they don't like. Jumping ahead a few years, did Baraka ever offer up any opinions on Herbie's Head Hunters?

Present and accounted for!

Eh? Very respectable years, actually (1972-74): Lee May stats--Baseball Reference I think the first baseball card I had of him was as an Astro (1974 set), though he landed with the Baltimore Orioles not long afterwards. He was still an Astro on the 1975 Topps card:

Really glad that Mark posted that conversation between Early and Iverson, because the smooth jazz analogy had been on my mind since I first started following this thread. There’s another conundrum for modern-day white critics, whether they’ve come around on soul jazz or not... make room for another elephant!

It’s an excellent, in-depth read—and definitely seek out the unabridged UK edition. About 200 pages were lopped off from the American version.

Not sure what to think of Cashman's role. I am of the school of thought that he inherited the work of Gene Michael, Bob Watson and others when he came on board in 1998 and doesn't deserve all that much credit for the late-90s run of championships. All of the core 4 and other homegrown players like Bernie Williams, the guys they'd picked up in trades like Paul O'Neill--that was all pre-Cashman's arrival. He and/or the people working for him have made some great trades in recent years, a la Gio Urshela and Luke Voit, position players who bloomed with the Yankees. But we seem to be way behind the curve in developing and improving pitchers, using analytics in the smartest/most effective ways possible, etc.--at least compared to Tampa Bay and Houston. And the AL East is only going to get tougher, with Toronto coming on, Boston having Chaim Bloom (Rays connection again!) in place to rebuild the Red Sox, and the Orioles seemingly on the upswing as well. So yeah, we might be better off with a younger wizard like Bloom running things, but agreed that it's unlikely Cashman will get the boot. And he has put a competitive team on the field nearly every year. Biggest priority this off-season, besides resigning DJ (which should be a no-brainer, unless he wants 5-6 years) should be beefing up the pitching. I doubt we'll see Bauer in pinstripes, though, despite the attractiveness of his claim to wanting only a one-year deal. He and Gerrit Cole would have to smoke the mother of all peace pipes for that to come to pass. And while I find him an entertainingly provocative athlete, not sure the Yankees would want to chance the possible drama of having him aboard... we're still not that far removed from the A-Rod era, after all. Lots of questions around the pitching, though. How effective will Severino be coming back mid-season after having hardly pitched for 2.5 years? Will Montgomery become a more consistent backend starter? Should they resign an aging Tanaka? Can Garcia or Schmidt bust out as a starter? They probably let Paxton walk, which is too bad... a highly-effective pitcher when he's healthy, but that's the catch. Domingo German is another question mark as he returns in 2021. I'm hoping that Matt Blake can work some wonders with the current staff and prospects in the pipeline.

Yeah, I fortunately missed out on most if not all of his post-player career in that regard, though I certainly heard about his subpar commentary and the Sandberg business. Great player, though, and though I'm not sure that 1971 trade was quite as lopsided against the Houston Astros as it's generally portrayed (Lee May did have several pretty good years for Houston iirc), it was still quite an overall haul for the Reds.

Rabshakeh, I know you're looking for something lengthy that's folded into a broader history of jazz in general, rather than a specialist book like Bob Porter's. But re jump blues, this touches on it to some degree--I read it many years ago when I was on a big jump-blues kick: Honkers and Shouters: The Golden Years of Rhythm and Blues Could be remembering incorrectly, but I think jump blues also factors into the narrative of the Los Angeles oral history Central Avenue Sounds (and is represented on the corresponding box-set as well).

Damn--Joe Morgan has died. Such an integral part of those 1975-76 Cincinnati Reds teams, which belong on any top 10 list of ultimate powerhouse World Series champions list.

I'm a bit of a Rip van Winkle to many TV shows, partly as a result of not having had cable for many years, and just not being much of a TV viewer in general--of the shows that have really hooked me, I think Mad Men was the only one I watched as it was actually being aired. Recently I finally got around to watching My So-Called Life, which I greatly enjoyed, and which led me to pick up the Blu-Ray edition of Freaks And Geeks. My freshman year of high school was 1979-80, so the chronological setting certainly resonates. I watched the pilot and the second episode last night and was immediately hooked--the show's already living up to its legend for me. Going to watch a couple more episodes tonight when I get home from work... great to see that there are some fans of it here.

Appears that her early 1950s Coral and Capitol (Hazel Scott's Late Show) sides have never been reissued on CD. If anybody has a lead on these tracks in any form, could you PM me?

The Karen Chilton bio that Moms references above is very good--currently rereading while I work on a Night Lights show about Scott (it's her centennial year, but I've been meaning to do a program ever since I first read Chilton's book not long after it came out).

Currently working on a Night Lights Hazel Scott show, and while "The Yanks Aren't Coming" is probably something that wouldn't make the final cut anyway, even if I could track it down--it does appear that it popped up at one point on an LP of music from Pins and Needles, as well as the aforementioned Theater Arts Committee 78: Hazel Scott "The Yanks Aren't Coming"

Finally got a hold (well, it’s on its way) of a very reasonably-priced copy of the Complete Columbia Albums set. I have the Mosaic and the Stepping Stone reissue, but really wanted the extra live tracks from those same Vanguard dates that Stepping Stone draws on.

Genuine appreciation for your understanding that. Getting to actually see a game in person after so many years of watching, listening, and in the early days mostly newspaper box-score following, was also a real joy. I just wish I’d been able to go to a game in the old stadium. Only other MLB stadium I’ve been to was Fenway, as a kid in the 1970s. Still hoping to get in a visit to Wrigley one of these years. The Indianapolis minor league team actually has a really nice downtown stadium—great place to take in a game. Yeah, I don’t think pulling Cole there was an incorrect move. The problem was that there was nobody Boone trusted enough to bring in at that point besides Britton and Chapman. The Rays, OTOH—just look at last night’s game against the Astros. They won 2-1 with Snell going only 5 IP and without using either Anderson or Fairbanks. All the more crucial to have a deeply-developed, high-performing pen that you trust in a postseason where there are no off-days in a series.

Shock and Awe: Glam Rock and Its Legacy, From the Seventies to the 21st Century

I referenced the # of championships in response to Dan’s boast about Boston’s WS run over the past 15 years. That’s not something I ever bring up unless somebody else initiates some kind of unprovoked nah-nah-nah patter. And yes, it’s disappointing as a Yankees fan that they’ve won only one WS in the past 19 years (is anybody trying to deny that?!)—which is all the more reason why obsessive Yankee hatred is increasingly irrational. They’re a consistently highly competitive team, but they ain’t no dynasty. As somebody who’s followed them for 46 years now, though, I’m still proud of the effort they put forth—and having been to NYC five times in the past three years has made me love the team even more. So yeah, today’s a depressing one... but I still love NY, I still love baseball in general, and even this crazy not-quite-half-a-season has been a pleasant distraction at times from the country constantly being on fire in one way or another (sometimes literally). So I’m grateful for that as well.

I should add that the U.S. in general reported 57000+ new cases and 995 new deaths yesterday—so the overall national picture remains quite grim as well.

Seven-day high for new cases this past week in Indiana. Things are not going swimmingly, especially with cooler/colder weather on the way.

I’m not sure—I actually don’t have that album. A friend who does shared the digital file with me, but not sure if it was transferred from a CD or the original LP. It’s unfortunate that the planned second set reissue of Lateef’s Savoy recordings never came to pass.

How am I trying to put a positive spin on it?! And did you see my comment that the Rays are the #1 seed for good reason? And yes, as somebody at PSA noted this morning, the Rays are somewhat reminiscent of the late 1990s Yankees—a team where the sum is greater than the whole of its parts. (That’s a compliment, since I guess I have to amplify loudly all due respect for the Rays.) Re the third pitch, the ump had been calling similar pitches strikes all night long. But even that wasn’t an attempt to excuse the loss—as I went on to say, NY was running out of bullpen options anyway. The loss last night was primarily on the bats’ ineffectiveness against the Rays’ top-flight pitching.

Yankees still 27-13 in championships over the past century. 😉 And the longest, still-ongoing-streak of consecutive winning seasons. They’re in the hunt just about every year and IMO will remain so for 2021-22. Definitely a disappointing conclusion to this season, no doubt about it. Re lack of bullpen depth, Otto lost the plot badly this year, Kahnle went down for TJS, Green is middling, and after that it goes downhill fast. Sure, Britton and Chapman are very good closers, but there’s no reliable effective middle relief. You saw that last night when Boone went straight to Britton/Chapman after pulling Cole in the 6th. And even if Chapman had gotten through the 8th unscathed, gotten the third borderline pitch called a strike instead on Brosseau, who would the Yankees have wheeled out for the bottom of the 9th? Rays had a better overall pen, and that’s to their credit. They seem to do a better job with developing and coaching their pitchers. Maybe Matt Blake can up NY’s game in that regard next year with a full season in which to do it... remains to be seen. Rays are already there.