JohnS

It's a tasty set. Funny how Potter sounds better on other people's dates (for me anyway)

When this double lp first came out is was something of a lighthouse in a sea of mediocre electro jazz. I liked it from the start. Jordan's gathered a nice bunch of attractive and sometimes striking compositions for this date. None of them are overlong and Jordan makes the most of the melodic and rhytmic possibilties. And what a nice sound he has. Of the two piano/bass teams, I find Stanley Cowell and Bill Lee preferable. Billy Higgins is okay too!! Nice one jacknife.

"River Of Life" is fine but as DrJ says "Two Flowers On A Stem" is the cd to buy. One of my all time favourites.

Cecil McBee's "Mutima" lp is something of a mixed bag. A long arco bass duet with McBee overdubbing, a sprited freeish piece, a Pharoah Sanders like number with tinkling percussion, a groovier cut with McBee Jnr on electric bass and two short pieces, presumably the openings to longer works.

These illustrations remind me of some cassettes of BN material I used to have, purchased in the United Arab Emirates. The inserts were very similar to those pictured above. No notes or personnel, just a track listing. Presumably the material was released unofficially.

I've got around a dozen or so Strata East vinyls. They are still in the collection so I must like 'em all. Best of the bunch "Rhythm X" by Charles Brackeen with Cherry, Haden and Blackwell. "Capra Black" is a classic. Harold Vick's "Don't Look Back" is a tad disappointing. I'd have to play some of the others again to comment but I can recall some nice playing on the Sonny Fortune, Charles Sullivan, the Composers Workshop Ensemble and Joe Gordon discs despite the trendy (for the time) tinkly percussion that crops up here and there. Sorry guys I didn't keep any of the Tollivers. Interesting label. I wish I'd kept a few more but one or two that came my way were pretty awful.

Difficult to decide. All the Blue Note Classics/Reissue Series were fine. Great music, a lot of it previously unheard, nicely produced (except for the odd one which was unreadable(was it a Chick Core with yellow print on beige). Good essays too. "High Step", "Back From The Gig", "One For One", "The Procrastinator", "Here To Stay" all come to mind as being a bit special. I still have a few.

Around 15. Like most teens I caught the music bug through rock and roll but nothing satisfied me until I discovered jazz. That was a awful long time ago.

"Minor Move" for me, one of the great albums.

I've always had a soft spot for "Virgin Beauty".

I think it's inevitable. It's easy to overload. Sometimes though I just need a change. At the moment I'm a hard bopper but after a while I'll want to drift back to something a bit freer for a while, then I'll drift back again. Not Bird though. A weekly dose of Parker keeps everything in perspective.

Not so long ago James Carter toured here playing baritone only. A huge sound, much freer playing and with none of the swing mannerisms which have been features of a lot of his recordings.

The string writing on Don Cherry's "Relativity Suite" is different and works well.

I'll second the recommendation for this one, Jasper and Thomas have plenty of room to stretch out.

Overlooked Ken Vandermark. Good to hear him on the big horn too.

I don't have this now but when I heard it I found it tough going. Not for me.

Well, apart from Jacknife, I'm pretty much outnumbered here. I've had the cd a while but (surprisingly) it still doesn't do a lot for me. Nice enough not to part with but fairly ordinary. Anyone else share this view?

I love the sound of the big horn. Favourites, Mulligan, Chaloff, Gullin. But how about Heywood Henry with Erskine Hawkins' band for someone from the swing era. Henry Threadgill's played it, Stan Getz, Prince Lasha, Roscoe Mitchell and Joseph Jarman all to good effect. Sun Ra as has been said made great use of the lower horns and I remember one of his London concerts when he had two baritones wandering among the audience-wow what a noise-unforgetable.

I saw the Mosaic comment on the Verve set but it didn't register. My only complaint is that I could have saved a few £££ in customs duty and shipping. That's life.

I've just had a an email from my usual music store telling me that the complete Mulligan CJB is due out on Verve in the UK early next month.

Classic BN period. 60s and post 60s progressive, provided the roots are there, comes a close second.

My Japanese vinyl has no drummer. I suspect that all recent issues are "correct".

A word of warning. I've used poly and clear vinyl outer sleeves for years and most of the jackets still look like new with no ring wear. However some early Japanese jackets (King, Toshiba)with very shiny covers became welded to the vinyl outer completely ruining two jackets and spoiling a three or four more more to a lesser degree. I've also found that poly inners can stick to the surface of the disc as David mentions. Maybe both of these are due to record being stored under too much or too prolonged pressure.

Love Priester too. Thanks for the recommendation Ronald, I've read about this one and thought it looked tasty. I guess I'll be taking the plunge now. Didn't I read on the "old" board that some of these early ECM tapes had deteriorated?

I don't go out of my way to get autographs but if I go to local performance where I know the musicians may be accessible then I sometimes take a cd along. Kirk Lightsey was the most recent and Teddy Edwards on his last tour. Also came across John Scofield and David Murray unexpectedly at different times, both were happy to sign in my notebook. Ray Anderson signed his cd "Bonemeal" when I bought it direct from him.