HWright

Here's the blurb on the concert from today's Washington Post: Monday, March 14, 2005; Page C05 Roy Haynes Roy Haynes led a remarkable quartet at the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater Saturday in a tribute to Charlie Parker, but the sold-out concert could have been billed as a salute to Haynes, who turned 80 yesterday. Drummer (and Parker collaborator) Haynes still swings with great power and finesse. The program, titled "Birds of a Feather: A Tribute to Charlie Parker," began on an exhilarating note -- the first of many. Alto saxophonist Kenny Garrett, who has a habit of opening his own concerts at full bore, ripped through the quartet's arrangement of Parker's "Diverse," feverishly reworking the theme, then improvising with a combination of headlong drive and harmonic ingenuity. The tune also showcased pianist David Kikoski, who engaged Garrett in a series of quick-witted exchanges, and bassist Christian McBride, who contributed a typically elegant and soulful interlude. Haynes wasn't always happy with the way his drums sounded -- he retuned the heads at one point -- but he was nevertheless in vibrant form, whether animating Thelonious Monk's "Green Chimneys" with tumbling commotion and sudden rhythmic displacements or using his mallets to create calms before the frequent, bop-inspired storms. Kikoski, a sorely underrated pianist, happily obliged the drummer's birthday request: a solo rendering of "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square," imaginatively re-harmonized. Part of the Kennedy Center's ongoing series on the 1940s and the arts, the concert ended with a deservedly long standing ovation. The band couldn't return for an encore -- there was a late show scheduled -- but Haynes left the stage beaming -- and looking even younger than when he arrived. -- Mike Joyce

Did anyone end up going to the Kennedy Center Show on Saturday? Haynes appeared with Kenny Garrett on alto, David Kikoski on piano, Christian McBride on bass. Everyone in the group was great but I was especially impressed by Kikoski. I'd only heard him on recordings before. I don't know what they played exactly although "Green Chimneys" by Monk was announced and Kikoski did a solo of "A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square." Some of the other tunes were no doubt from Haynes' "Birds of a Feather" album (I think that is the name of it) tribute to Charlie Parker.

I saw Jason Moran and the Bandwagon at the Kennedy Center. Although Moran and his group played mostly material from the new "Same Mother" album, there was no guitarist with the group. Perhaps to offset this the basist played electric bass, although not having ever seen the group before, I'm not sure if this was unusual in and of itself. I saw the first set in which they played: You've got to be Modernistic (James P. Johnson) Gangsterism on the Rise Aubade [a tune written by JM and Andrew Hill] Ellington Medley (inc. Kinda Dukish, Black and Tan Fantasy and Body and Soul) Jump Up Mixed Medley (inc. an original by the bassist, a Jobim tune and a classical piece) I'll Play the Blues for You (made famous by Albert King) For me the highlight of the show was the Ellington Medley which had a lot of energy and swing.

I saw Jeff "Tain" Watts at Blues Alley here in Washington, DC on Saturday. He played with more or less the same group as on his "Detained" live CD, although the piano player was different (I didn't catch his name but he is from PA, I believe) and there was no guitar player. During the first set the group played "107 Steps" (Bjork tune) "Ling" (this had a longer title but I don't remember it) "Vodville" (about vodka) "Stevie in Rio" (written for Stevie Wonder) "Pools of Amber" "JC is the Man" (Most of these tunes are from Watts' "Bar Talk" album) Watts was in fine form with a lot of energy. I was very impressed by him. He did not sing like on the last track on "Detained," but was very talkative.

I got this CD and am enjoying it. I am curious about the composition "I Have the Room Above Her," which is from "Showboat." I can't seem to find the lyrics on line though...If anyone has them I would appreciate it if you could post them here. Thanks.

I'm thinking about going to the KC show. Haven't bought a ticket yet though.

Brownie: Thanks. I hadn't seen that site before. Even thought the soundtrack material is available (as you point out), it doesn't look like there is a collection of the other "loose" material. To be more specific, I'm in particular interested in an EP Gainsbourg put out in 1963 called "Vilaine filles, mauvais garçons." It includes 4 tracks not included on any LP as far as I can tell: Vilaine filles, mauvais garçons L'appareil à sous La javanaise Un violon, un jambon I've heard "La javanaise" on my two-disc best of set and if its quality is any indicator, this collection should be as good as anything else SG did during that period.

To fans of Serge Gainsbourg, French singer-songwriter: I've been a fan for some time but recently I decided to collect his original French albums on Phillips. I have the first five, dating from 1959-1964. They're all quite good, very jazz influenced, somewhat like Frank Sinatra or Charles Aznavour. However, based on information on the web, it turns out that during the same period Gainsbourg also recorded a number of EPs, non-LP singles and tracks for movie soundtracks. Some of these songs are among his best. I know this because before I bought the original albums on CD I bought a two disc best of which included some of them. My question here is: have these "loose" songs ever been collected in one place? Or does one have to buy one of these enormous 10 disc box sets to get them? (Incidentally, I do realize that some of these songs may be collected on the three single disc best of collections that were released in the USA a few years back, but I'm not interested in those collections since most of what's on them is from the first 5 or 6 original albums. )

Thanks very much Bill and Hank! H.

Dear Friends, fellow board (bored) members, organ fans, Jimmy Smith lovers, etc: I recently picked up the Verve reissue of Jimmy Smith's excellent live album "The Boss" featuring George Benson. I've been enjoying it immensely (and highly recommend that you pick it up if you haven't already) but I have a small problem with my purchase. After I opened up the slip case, it looked like the disc had been rewrapped or inadequately wrapped. In fact there wasn't a booklet inside the front slipcase slot and I'm wondering if anyone who has the CD can tell me if they have a booklet in theirs (like with other Verve reisssues in that series) or if there is no booklet at all. Thanks P.S. - If there is a booklet, please describe its contents, if possible.

Billyboy: You're right! That's the book! Thanks so much! H.

That doesn't sound quite right, but thanks for the idea.

Dear Friends, I wonder if anyone can help me. Some years ago (perhaps in the late' 1980's or early 1990's) I saw a new British novel that was pubished in the US. It was written by a man and featured a strange title, something like "The Quinquilux." On the cover of the US paperback edition I believe there was a decorative Victorian design, a kind of arabesque. The reviews of the book claimed that it was a kind of modern Victorian novel, somewhat in the tradition of the Dickens of "Bleak House" or "Our Mutual Friend." I'd like to read this book now but I don't know the real name of the book or the author. Does anyone here have any idea? Thanks. H.

I saw the Dave Holland Big Band 7:30 show at the Kennedy Center here in Washington, DC on Saturday night. Even though there was a good deal of bad weather on the east coast, the band made it in their bus to the show, as Holland told the audience. The line up of the group was more or less that featured on 2002's "What Goes Around," with the important exception of Nate Smith, Holland's new drummer. They played the following tunes: "Bring it On" (apparently new) "Triple Dance" "Last Minute Man" (new) "A Rio" (new) "What Goes Around" Holland talked about a new album, due out this winter (February perhaps?) and I think he implied that all of the three new tunes will be on the album. However, he didn't indicate if the new album would be a quintet or big band album. I thought Holland put on quite a good show, although it was a bit less intense an experience than his quintet, which I saw at the KC in 2002. Highlights for me were the new tunes "Last Minute Man" and "A Rio" (dedicated to Rio in Brazil) and the strong version of "What Goes Around" that closed the set.

Thanks to everyone who wrote me. I have offerred the ticket to a board member.

"Stray Dog" is an interesting early Kurosawa movie from Japan, from 1949. It stars Kurosawa regular Mifune as a rookie policeman who loses his gun. Especially recommended if you already like other Kurosawa films set in the modern era (in other words, those that are not samurai pictures) such as "Ikiru" or "High and Low." The film could be considered a film noir or a policier but there is also a significant neorealist aspect to it as well since the investigation of the lost gun ends up becoming fairly sociological. I rented the Criterion DVD edition and found it to be a good transfer.

To members of this Board who live in the Washington DC Area: Due to unforseen circumstances, I have an extra ticket for the 7:30 pm Dave Holland Big Band show at the Kennedy Center on Saturday January 22. I do not intend to charge for the ticket. Please let me know if you are interested.

Another thumbs up for the Sonny Rollins BN RVGs. I have them all and have been enjoying them all, especially "Newk's Time," which is now my favorite Sonny BN album. Sonny's BN catalogue was originally issued on CD quite early in the CD era I think, and has been much greatly improved by remastering (in my opinion at least...I know the RVG series has its detractors!). In fact, I think the CD of "Newk's Time" was one of the first BN reissue CDs ever...It was certainly one of the first ones I ever saw, along with Coltrane's "Blue Train."

An Australian friend recently turned me on to a somewhat obscure Japanese fusion album (apparently not even mentioned in AMG). It's called "Butterfly" and it's by the Japanese Singer Kamiko Kazai. It was cut in 1979 I believe, during one of Herbie's tours of Japan. I'm not sure, but I think some or all of the Headhunters are on it too. It's quite entertaining and features versions of two Herbie compositions (the title track and "Maiden Voyage") with words, as well as a nice cover of Stevie Wonder's "As." As far as I can tell it is currently available either as a Japanese import or from Europe (see attached link to German amazon), in case anyone is interested. http://www.amazon.de/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000...7906973-7474463 Anyone like this album too? Care to share? I'd be also interested to know if anyone knows any stories about the making of this album (I haven't even read the liner notes, so I am not even sure about the most basic facts here.)

Follow up to my previous post: Last night I read the sections dealing with "Astral Weeks" in Clinton Heylin's new book on Van Morrison. Heylin says that Producer Merenstein made the call to Richard Davis, selecting him as the studio boss of the session (he was considered very reliable, talented and well organized in this respect) and Davis then recommended the other jazz session players to Merenstein, who then approved their participation.

About the question of how jazzers Richard Davis and Connie Kay (and Jay Berliner) happened to play on "Astral Weeks," based on what I've read I would suppose they were called in by producer Lewis Merenstein. Although we know those musicians as jazz improvisers, I think they were also doing a lot of quite remunerative session work at the time and were playing on everything from tv commercials to pop sessions. To them "Astral Weeks" was probably just another gig (I believe Richard Davis has been quoted as saying so, in fact.) At the time of the "Astral Weeks" sessions, Van was living in Cambridge, Mass, and gigging with mostly local musicians there. However, the only one who made it on to the record was the flute player John Payne and apparently the original plan was to replace him as well. I think it was probably Merenstein's idea to bring in the session musicians. Although almost everyone now considers the results classic, I'm not so sure how happy Van was with the decision at the time. While on the subject of Van reissues, I'll bet that a lot of people didn't even notice that some of Van's '70's albums were remastered and released on CD a second time. Outside of the fact that there was no publicity, I would attribute this to the fact that the packaging was not significantly different. I'm not a big fan of creative packaging and I don't think the album cover should be changed, but it seems to me that if you make an upgrade of a prexisting product you should do SOMETHING to distinguish it somehow. This can be done through the CD spine, the part of the case next to the cover (whatever you call that), the back card, etc. Instead all Warner Brothers' did with the Van remasters was put a measly little sticker on the new versions of the new Van CDs. They did the same thing when the remastered Joni Mitchell's catalogue as well. This is not the way to sell music! In contrast, Elvis Costello's catalogue has been done three times ( first originals on Columbia and Warner, then reissues on Ryko Disc, now reissues on Rhino) and each set is distinct and easy to identify. Less dramatic positive examples are the Dylan and Rolling Stones remasters issued in recent years.

I agree that the overall effect is a bit ragged. The sound is not at all dynamic, in fact it's a bit flat at times. Perhaps a result of the limitation of the masters or maybe that was just the way the group sounded. I would also add that I am not very impressed by George Cables' electric piano playing on these sessions, the recordings drag when he solos especially. I should add though that in general I find that the electric piano is a hard instrument to make interesting in a jazz context. I would say this is doublely so in a live recording context. Think of how problematic Miles' live recordings from 1969-1970 are in this respect. The only one that really works (for me at any rate) is "Live/Evil," and Keith Jarret has a rather limited role on those sessions (behind the horns and John McLaughlin) compared to what Chick and Chick and Keith did on the other dates.

I picked this up as a Spanish import when I was in London over the summer. Very enjoyable.

I'll look into the Chris Welch book. I read his Yes biography and enjoyed it, so his Led Zeppelin book might be enjoyable as well. Side note: according to amazon, Welch has also written a biography of Peter Grant, LZ's manager.

I've been a fan of Led Zeppelin for many years. The only book on them I've ever read is "Hammer of the Gods." While I think it's an important and useful book, I've read it a hundred times and have been wondering lately if anything else has been written about them since that book came out. I did a search on amazon.com, but all I came up with was books about the group's partying and occult activities. Is there anything else? I'd be especially interested in a critical biography...a book written by someone more interested in their music than in their personal lives. Is there such a thing out there?