JohnS

Just arrived today, at long last. A nice slightly belated birthday present. Playing will have to wait until tomorrow. Thank you Sony, thank you Amazon.uk

Thanks everybody, finished off the day nicely with the David Newton trio.

Have a very happy birthday Mike.

Happy birthday Hans

Have a very happy birthday

Thanks for that, good to know he's still with us and active.

The late Peter Clayton was kind enough to take me to a couple of sessions at the Maida Vale Studios for the live segement of the Saturday evening Jazz show on BBC radio hosted by Humphrey Lyttleton. One was by a big band , I can no longer recall the name. I can however remember being at the recording of the Joe Harriott/John Mayer Indo Jazz group. Lovely stuff. The thirty minute broadcast was put together in a couiple of hours max.

I'd better get this one out and give it a spin.

Happy Birthday

Persevere it with the label, after all their loss is nowhere near the money you paid, they should replace without question. If not we'll name and shame them. There is always the local trading standards office as another avenue of approach. I've had very little trouble, a package from Fresh Sounds didn't arrive but they replaced it very quickly. I've had one or two delays, nothing like three months though. Chasing sometimes gets some curt replies in my experience.

Another player from my formative jazz years gone, sad news.

Rarely, but if I'm on holiday in the US I'll probably get in four of five visits in 2 weeks,

Brad Mehldau kicks off UK tour tonight in Southampton. I'll be there with fellow board member Gary.

A nice and unexpected choice. I doubt it's been off the shelf for years so chalk up another winning aotw. I've had this one on vinyl since it first came out and I've always enjoyed it. I'm not a great lover of synths or overdubs but this one sounds fine, Dejohnette's synth is tasteful and adds to the enjoyment of the album. There's a nice variety of tunes and moods and Jack plays some tasty piano. A bit of an oddball disc maybe but it works out well. A big plus is Freddie Waits, a fine and very underrated drummer.

This morning Dexter Gordon:GO Paul Bley and Gary Peacock (ECM) Lester Bowie; The Great Pretender.

Gerry Mulligan Select, disc 1

I'm a dedicated Murray fan too. I was a bit cool about this one when I first heard it but it's grown on me a lot since. I don't think it's an essential addition to Murray's discography but it is an interesting date, more so than some of his Gwo-Ka sets. I'd like to hear him do another string project. Presumably it was recorded in Cuba around the time of 'Now is Another Time'. Good to know that Murray is still finding new ways to perform his music. The variety of lineups he's used over the years has done a lot to keep his music interesting Some of this music has been performed live I believe in New York and Israel, maybe elsewhere. An advertised London concert complete with Puskin texts was cancelled.

Sonny Stitt, disc 3

"Social function", very nicely put. Sums it up nicely. Looks like I'll have to dig out Drives and Mozambique next.

I had the pleasure to be able to talk briefly to Teddy when he played at our local jazz club when he was touring Europe as a single in the ewarly 90s. He seemed an aimiable and easy going guy. This come out in his music which has a nice natural flow. This is a very nice disc, second to none in his discography imo. Teddy writes nice tune too and the rhythm section is first rate. Recommended.

I am guessing JohnS meant this should be in the artists or new releases category versus album of the week. Anyway, thanks for the info - didn't he play on a Hank Mobley album in the late 60s? That's right, artists, recommendations, new releases rather than aotw. Still it's interesting that Eddie Diehl is still active.

Maybe it's me but the sound from my euro Rare Grooves cd doesn't exactly leap out of the speakers so maybe I'm missing something here. Liked the opening and closing tracks but I get the feeling there's some cruising going on. Cuber sounds fine but the grooves are a trifle coarse for my taste. Probably great on the night but like I say maybe I'm missing something here.

Not the right place for this!!

Have a great day Adrian, Best wishes from the south coast.

Mario Pavone's Nu Trio 'Remberering Thomas (Knitting Factory). Great trio album.