JohnS

Now disc one.

Presently disc 6 - Sunship

Happy Birthday Hans

The running times on the cd notes(and as given above) are incorrect. No extra music on the cd.

Have a great day my friend. I'll raise a glass to you later.

Very sad news. His Byrd's Eye View is an all time favourite and very influential in my listening. I'm especially fond of his Savoy recordings too. Thanks for all the music Donald.

Spot on ! I thought he looked familiar - I'm sure I've come across him at Mole and yes, he was manic ! I saw him at Tower once and his technique didn't quite translate to CDs! He looked very grumpy. That's Jackie Docherty. Well known London collector. Curiously he taped all his lps, retained the jackets and sold the vinyl back to Ray. Ray had a special bin marked Jackie's Bag for the coverless albums. I have a few. Jackie worked in Tower for a while when they first opened but I don't think he lasted too long, I doubt his customer service skills were that great. I'm told he was a North Sea JF regular.

Perfect title, too. Agreed - Dishwater is amazing, great playing from Kelly, Root and Grey, astonishing Lee Morgan.

Not having seen Wes, Benson is probably the finest guitarist I've seen live. He performed at Ronnie Scott's in a purely jazz role in a quartet with Earl Klugh on second guitar. The group, somewhat augmented can be heard on Body Talk. I find the earlier CTI things very listenable. The Columbia sides have their moments and his numerous sideman appearences elsewhere are always good.

Disc 1, Interesting viewing for Murray fans.

I have both, to my ears the new version is preferable

'trane's Sweet Saphire Blues

Miles Davis; Live In Europe;The Bootleg Session Vol 2 DVD

Bill Evans; Consecration. Disc 5

Harry Babasin; Inglewood Jam. Jazz Chronicles ( Bird and Chet at the Trade Winds)

My best wishes to him too.

Sad news. Got to see him with David Murray yeras ago.

Tony Scott, 52nd Street Scene. Not on cd?

The golden age of jazz has gone. For example on Joe Lovano’s last visit to this part of the world he failed to fill the smallish but excellent concert hall on the university campus and Jazz festivals have to include world music and big names from outside jazz. Not very encouraging. Of course we need more money in jazz and to get the audience out but the audience is not that big any more. There is little or no exposure to jazz, the nearest most people come to hearing jazz is when their ears pick up to the background music in a tv commercial. I help manage our local club, it’s a university town with a large potential audience. We have no local authority funding or sponsorship. I’d guess that about 60% of our audience are, like me retired. No students attend. To put on a gig our standing costs are in excess of £200 to hire the room and the sound guy plus other expenses. Fortunately we have a core audience of about 70, entrance has to be in excess £12 currently to cover band fees. So it doesn’t take much to work out how much we can pay the musicians. We mostly break even but it’s a hand to mouth existence. A very poor night would put the venture in jeopardy. We are also very conscious of the audience tastes, we have to stick to mainstream/modern bands, most of which are excellent and we get the biggest names we can afford. But sadly we can’t afford be too adventurous. Next year will be our tenth year and whilst things aren’t looking too rosy we’ll probably be able to carry on.

Now moved on to disc 7

Complete Gil Evans Live at Sweet Basil. Electric Bird (Japan) Discs 5 and 6

It's worth the trip John (regardless of my comment) - I have been many times. Not too far from Swindon and about as different from Swindon as you can imagine, in a very good way I might add. Bev is right, in that you can stroll amongst the stones pretty well freely, across the top of the circular enbankment. A good 'Sunday' place to visit and may I suggest a leisurely stroll on the Ridgeway and viewing of the Uffington White Horse to top and tail it.. The chalk downland near Mere/Kingston Deverill in SW Wiltshire is excellent too - much more open/spartan but very atmospheric. You can combine that one with a trip to Stourhead. Thanks Bob, I'll make sure I visit when the weather improves.