Brownian Motion

This is a woodcut by Kandinsky. It is from a book titled Homage to Kandinsky, and though the book was published thirty years after Kandinsky's death, it is an actual woodcut, printed directly off the block.

This is by the great California regionalist, Paul Landacre. It dates from the late 1930s.

I like wood engravings. This one is from 1937 and is by George Barford.

I picked up the Buck Clayton Mosaic plus 7 or 8 other Buck CDs for 112.00. The Mosaic set wasn't mentioned by the seller, but I could see it in the accompanying scan. I turned around and sold it for 260.00 the week after I got it. I also sold a couple of the other Bucks, and kept the rest.

These CDs came yesterday. Observations: The group is tightly arranged, with Fletcher and Vance probably doing most of the charts; the band sound is reminiscent of John Kirby's group. The only arrangement crdited is the work of "Frank McCarthy" {Who he?}. It's a pleasure to hear Lucky in a straight swing context. I particularly enjoyed his solo on "Soft Winds", but he doesn't play a bad note on any of his solos. I've never thought much of Vance's trumpet work; he was with Fletcher in the 1930s; and his style has always veered back and forth between lesser versions of Harry James and Charlie Shavers . But his one vocal effort on Louis Jordan's "She Dyed Her Hair Chartreuse" sounds so much like Johnny Mercer, who I think is a superb jazz-pop vocalist, that I began wondering why Fletcher never used Vance on records in the 1930s band, instead polluting his most commercial records with annoying and completely forgettable crooners. Who knows, Vance might have become a vocal star and helped extend Fletcher's Big Band career. Sound on these is decent, but the total playing time would have fit easily on one CD; of course then the company wouldn't have been able to charge me double.

Try an email.

I voted for Pops too. I could imagine his birthday becoming another summer holiday like the 4th of July, with picnics and cookouts and fireworks. Can't quite imagine that with Bird or Prez.

Well, I understand where Frank Driggs was coming from. "Blue Moments" plays most of the way through as an exceptional side with a great Hawk solo and an absolutely sublime trumpet solo from Bobby Stark. And then in the last chorus comes this coarse, inept trumpet work that really fouls an aural treat and leaves a bad aftertaste. Driggs' solution wasn't honest, but his improvements were real.

What about Rufus Harley's first album? Wasn't that on Atlantic? I'd really like to hear it!

I strongly recommend the Basie box that Past Perfect put out a couple of years ago. I picked one up on Ebay for 40.00 plus shipping--not a bad price for a 10 CD set. It contains about everything the Basie band recorded for Columbia and RCA in the 30s and 40s, including some stuff you may only listen to once or twice. None of the Decca sides from the 30s are included. No alternate takes. Sound quality is better than average.

No question: Harlan Leonard had a major league band . Besides the aforementioned Bridges and Beckett, the soloists included a pair of hot Roy-influenced trumpet players, James Ross and William Smith. Unfortunately for Leonard and his talented group, the band's recorded debut corresponded with a big band glut, in an era when less-than-mediocre white bands were often more commercially successful than top-of-the-line black jazz bands.

Thanks Catesta! It was Ray Codrington.

They were local semi-pro Durham musicians, but he was from out of town and he could really wail. I don't think he was performing regularly--maybe he was teaching.

I'm trying to recall the name of a bop trumpet player I heard play in Durham North Carolina in 1983. All I remember about him is that he was African-American, and that he was based in North Carolina. A couple of years later I found out that he had made a few records in the early 1960s with several well-known jazz musicians. I'd recognize his name if I heard it. Any help would be appreciated.

Leora Henderson, Fletcher Henderson's wife, occasionally played trumpet with the band. She is reputed to be the second trumpet soloist on Henderson's recording of "Blue Moments", a solo so incompetent that it was edited out when re-released on "A Study in Frustration" (according to Walter Allen). Does anyone know anything about a 1920s trumpet player named Doll Jones? Norma Carson plays trumpet on one track of the Clark Terry Verve Elite CD. The cut was from a mid-1950s album "Cats vs Chicks". Carson plays well, although Clark Terry overwhelms her with his technique. Why the whole date wasn't put on CD is puzzling, although stupid behavior on the part of THE GUARDIANS OF JAZZ is often the norm, so I suppose it isn't that puzzling after all.

This is good news. Oxford has done such a wonderful job of keeping the jazz flame burning.

I picked up a copy last month on ebay--not cheap at 96.00 but inexpensive compared to the copies listed on Bookfinder.com.

Sun Ra is listed in the book as having played with Henderson in '47 or '48, but there is no indication that he ever recorded with him.

Thanks! I ordered both.

According to Walter Allen's "Hendersonia", Fletcher Henderson's last working band was a sextet which featured a front line of Dick Vance on trumpet, Eddie Barefield on clarinet, and Lucky Thompson on tenor sax. Although this 1950 group made no commercial recordings, some well-recorded air-checks of the band do survive. Has anybody heard these, and have they ever been available commercially?

In the 1930s Bill Coleman and Herman Chittison and a bass player made a few sides itogether in Paris. In my opinion such sides as "Georgia On My Mind" and "I'm in the Mood for Love" are masterpieces, but, then, I'm quite partial to Coleman's trumpet work, as perhaps some already know.

It is a great disk. When I was doing the overnight jazz show on WDBS in Durham 20 years ago I used "Dawn Dance" as my out theme. It was perfect for 6 Am.

Marcus Roberts "Prayer for Peace", mentioned earlier, is a winner. Dave McKenna also made a nice solo piano album of Xmas music.

One of my favorite trios was Mary Lou Williams, Bill Coleman, and bassist Al Hall. This was a working band in 1944 and cut half a dozen sides for Asch records. Very fine little group with Mary Lou's arrangements and piano and Coleman's skipping trumpet solos. Unfortunately, the recorded sound wasn't anywhere near state-of-the-art.

This South African guitarist recorded an album, "Dawn Dance", for ECM in 1980 or '81 and then disappeared. Does anyone have any information at all about him?