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In 1979, Frank Rosolino and Carl Fontana played in Dallas together (in a group with Monk Montgomery and locals fleshing out the sextet). This was 6 weeks before Frank's unfortunate demise. I asked Carl and Frank to both autograph a piece of paper I managed to get my hands on. I had that framed. One of my treasured items. Unfortunately, while I was living in Germany, someone broke into my rental storage unit and cleaned me out of all such memorabilia. Sad thing is, the thieves certainly had no clue as to who those two were, and it probably ended up being thrown out. Oh well.

In my search for anything that Frank Rosolino played a solo on, I picked up this LP recently. It is the soundtrack from an old tv detective show (starring Lee Marvin) called "M Squad". Recorded in 1959, on RCA Victor. It is performed by the NBC studio orchestra, all big band and pretty good stuff. Musical director is Stanley Wilson, with co-composers Benny Carter and Johnny Williams (probably not the John Williams, but who knows)

Cards and letters are great memorabilia! In college, I was assigned to write a jazz paper, and I chose Roswell Rudd. After tracking him down, I based the paper on a series of telephone interviews. He is one the coolest persons I have ever had the pleasure of getting to know. Since that time he has sent me many letters and postcards (always the most unique and off the wall cards you could imagine). Over the years he has also sent me cassette copies of some of his OOP LPs and even some CD copies he burned. Obviously, I have saved all of these things. Priceless.

Having read a post under ebay madness made me think this would be an interesting topic. Do you have any autographed record jackets? I have become less and less inclined to approach players asking them to autograph anything, but I have made exceptions. Here are the two that I have: Urbie Green's "Green Power" (on which he plays that green lacqered trombone through an octave device). Good trombone technique, but a forgettable album). I got him to sign that LP in '75. Lacy Plays Monk. He appeared in Dallas with his sextet (the one with Irene on violin and vocals) in '96. Being a huge fan of Steve's, I had to ask, and he kindly obliged.

They don't make 'em like this anymore!

Can anyone fill me in on this percussionist/drummer? I have seen his name appear of some recordings here and there. Recorded with Sonny Simmons and possibly on other ESP releases. Also led his own band ZYTRO. thx

Here is an album that seems to be rather desirable. Cecil Taylor http://tinyurl.com/83psm

Despite the fact that those "this is Bob" ads continue to be aired, I heard that the company had been brought up on charges (by the FDA I assume) for making unsubstantiated claims. I am curious how the trial will come out. Anyone want to volunteer to "pole" the jury?

Interesting article found googling: Coltrane's Mind at Large by: Drew Scott What prompts artists to evolve even after they find a system that has brought them success? Why not stay with what obviously works? The fact is, what works on a commercial level is not always what works on a personal level in the heart of the artist. At times it is this initial commercial popularity that furnishes them with the necessary poetic freedom to choose a route closer tothe heart. Jazz saxophone legend John Coltrane sought continual evolution in his musical style much as The Beatles redefined rock from album to album. Yet the distance they traveled from two-chord simplicity to Sergeant Pepper-era psychedelia seems short in comparison to Coltrane's journey from hard-bop saxist to non-standard improviser to dying prophet. It was his change in religious faith that prompted him to increasingly drift from traditional jazz saxophone playing. Conversely, it was also this change in playing style that helped propel the development of his religious beliefs. Coltrane's initiative to break traditional boundaries fueled his desire to give the listener and performer alike the experience of the sacred. In examining the nature of Coltrane's musical change, one must examine the nature of the human mind itself. Eminent Cambridge philosopher, Dr. C. D. Broad proposed that "the function of the brain and nervous system and sense organs are in the main eliminative and not productive. Each person is at each moment capable of remembering all that has ever happened to him and of perceiving everything that is happening everywhere in the universe" (Huxley, Doors of Perception 22). As Coltrane decided, "As I look upon the world, I feel all men know the truth and each man has to find it for himself." Esteemed British author Aldous Huxley elaborated on this theory stating: according to such a theory, each one of us is potentially Mind at Large [ref erring to the ability to perceive all input simultaneously] To make biological survival possible, Mind at Large has to be funneled through the reducing valve of the brain and nervous system. What comes out the other end is a measly trickle of the kind of consciousness which will help us to stay alive (Doors of Perception, 23). Huxley feels that, while Broad's idea to perceive "everything that is happening in the universe" is a bit exaggerated, the elements of the "Mind at Large" do include the various "other worlds" with which human beings erratically make contact. Such beings can make contact through "temporary by-passes [of the reducing valve] acquired either spontaneously, or as the result of deliberate 'spiritual exercises,' or through hypnosis or by means of drugs" (Doors of Perception 24). Huxley continuously states that the "other worlds" mentioned often include "the world of Visionary Experience"(Heaven and Hell 85). As Coltrane's music transmogrified he was enabled to diminish the efficiency of his "reducing valve." Coltrane's unwitting aid to visionary experience was the buildup of carbon dioxide in his body while playing. In his novel Heaven and Hell, Huxley describes how "carbon dioxide transports the subject to the Other World of his everyday consciousness, and he enjoys very briefly visionary experiences entirely unconnected with his own personal history" (143). Huxley went on to explain: whenever someone breathes out more than he breathes in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the alveolar air and the blood is increased and, the efficiency of the cerebral reducing valve being lowered, visionary or mystical experience becomes possible. Hence the interminable 'vain repetitions'of magic and religion. The chanting of the curandero, the medicine man, the shaman; the endless psalm singing and sutra intoning of Christian and Buddhist monks; the shouting and howling, hour after hour, of revivalists - under all the diversities of theological belief and aesthetic convention, the psychochemico- physiological intention remains constant. To increase the concentration of CO2 in the lungs and blood and so to lower the efficiency of the cerebral reducing valve, until it admits biologically useless material from the Mind at Large (144-145). Coltrane's doorway to religious experience, his chanting or intoning, arrives through CO2 buildup caused by his saxophone playing. So why don't all saxophonists experience similar religious awakenings? Coltrane's employment of such surpassingly physically rigorous methods in his performances is the source. Coltrane's signature became based on extremely complex phrases which have been described as "preternaturally long." This style combined with Coltrane's increased use of overblowing techniques (in which air is blown so forcefully that the saxophone shrieks) facilitated the buildup of CO2 in his body allowing for the release of Huxley's visionary "Mind at Large". Trane also insisted on playing longer, tripling the typical jazz set to frequently more than three hours. Bill Cole, author of John Coltrane, remembers seeing Trane "play one piece, soloing for as long as two hours, only to come down from the stage to practice by himself before starting up again" (171). Cole also reflected on a conversation between himself and Coltrane's pianist McCoy Tyner in which he was told that "in San Francisco Trane once played so long and so intensely that he burst a blood vessel in his nose and didn't even notice until Tyner pointed it out to him" (171). Coltrane first identified a leak in his mind's "reducing valve" when he was able to stretch out and employ extreme techniques under Thelonious Monk. In the liner notes to Coltrane's breakthrough spiritual A Love Supreme Trane refers to this era indicating that "during the year 1957, I experience, by the Grace of God, a spiritual reawakening which was to lead me to a richer, fuller, more productive life." By 1964 when A Love Supreme was released, Coltrane's visionary attitude about performances grew. In the liner notes Coltrane states how "now and again through the unerr ing and merciful hand of God, I do perceive and have been duly re-informed of His omnipotence." So what was the effect of Coltrane's mystical experiences? In his own words: "To be a force for real good. In other words, I know that there are bad forces, forces put here that bring suffering to others and misery to the world, but I want to be the force which is truly good" (Cole 158). More and more towards the end of his life, Coltrane came to feel increasingly responsible "for creating nothing less than a music of theophany," music not only conveying experiences of the sacred, but embodying such an experience in itself. (Michael Bruce McDonald, African American Review 275) Coltrane's music was an outlet for his emotions during any and all visionary experiences. It was his goal to share the experience with the audience via their listening to his playing. And it worked. One of the most overwhelming signs of the effect of Coltrane's music on a spiritual level can be found inside a simple store front at 351 Divisadero in San Francisco. Here one will find Saint John's African Orthodox Church "which celebrates the search for Truth through the words and music of 'John Will-I-am Coltrane'." For three hours every Sunday an entire church congregation finds spiritual enlightenment under the healing force, bringing mind, body, and soul into harmony with God found in John Coltrane's compositions. There is also a plethora of cases on an individual level. Gerald McKeever, ex-con and eventual Coltrane confidant, upon seeing Coltrane for the first time, ran up to him saying, "Mr. Coltrane, you are my God." Compassionately and softly Coltrane replied, "Please don't call me that." Eventually, through Trane's influence, McKeever would go through many changes, learning to lessen his hostility against society and to love more people than he thought possible (Thomas, Chasm' the Trane 126). Describing the embodiment of the sacred at a John Coltrane concert, wife Alice Coltrane explained, "Call it Universal Consciousness, Supreme Being, Nature, God. Call this force by any name you like, but it was there, and its presence was so powerfully felt by most people that it was almost palpable" (Thomas 172). This presence of divinity was felt by guitar legend Carlos Santana as well: "I haven't heard anything higher than 'The Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost' from the Meditations album. I would often play it at four in the morning, the traditional time for meditation. I could hear God's mind in that music, influencing John Coltrane. I heard the Supreme One playing music through John Coltrane's mind" (Thomas 276). The question of whether or not Coltrane's music embodies the influence of a truly sacred revela tion is often debated. The question is posed by those whose philosophy is, as termed by Aldous Huxley in Heaven and Hell, "unduly 'spiritual"' (155). Huxley explains: God, they will insist, is a spirit and is to be worshiped in spirit. Therefore an experience which is chemically conditioned cannot be an experience of the divine. But, in one way or another, all our experiences are chemically conditioned, and if we imagine that some of them are purely 'spiritual,' purely 'intellectual,' purely 'aesthetic,' it is merely because we have never troubled to investigate the internal chemical environment at the moment of their occurrence. Furthermore, it is a matter of historical record that most contemplatives worked systematically to modify their body chemistry, with a view to creating the internal conditions favorable to spiritual insight (155). Debate or not, the music of John Coltrane is sacred. Whether or not the music was bestowed directly by God does not matter. It is the fact thai his songs have inspired so many and touched so profoundly that deems Coltrane's music sacred. The divine is found within us, not necessarily in a book or sermon. From whatever well we draw enlightenment, it is the enlightenment itself that is godly. The source is merely the sacred instrument of our soul.

Thanks for the recommendations. "Regeneration" I have (vinyl). Wonderful! "Change of Season" is the one I don't yet have. I will look for it. Speaking of Rudd..... I was just listening to "Archie Shepp and Roswell Rudd live in NY" (on soundscape) earlier today. I don't understand why some people criticize that recording. I have listened to it many times, and even though I do hear that some of the tunes aren't really as tightly prepared as possibly they could be, the energy on this date is wonderful as is the choice of tunes. I especially like Archie's singing. There are spots where I sense the energy and focus slips around a little. The 'fact' that this group wasn't working steadily, but was pretty much put together (in my opinion) for the production could explain a lot. Had they been touring (and maybe they had been. I could be wrong), the group would have been more 'one pointed' than it seems to be here and there. But all in all, this is a session that I am glad to own, and I come back to it time and again. Sorry to get off topic!

I picked this up for cheap on an ebay bid, and I am very pleased with it! "Dutch Masters" under Steve Lacy's leadership with: Steve Lacy - sop sax George Lewis - tbn Misha Mengelberg - piano Ernst Reyseger - cello Hans Bennink - drums orig rec. '87 (my first hearing) Beautiful interplay, and great tunes. They cover 2 monk tunes ("Hornin' in" and "Off Minor"), 2 tunes by Lacy and 2 by Mengelberg. The band is exceptionally tight, but not overly so (for a session with these guys). Recommended highly!

Hi No not yet, but I did find a website/store that services Naks and they have an adaptor. Unfortunately, it costs more than my budget will allow at the moment.

I was tempted to bid on this LP, but budget got in the way. Is anyone familiar with it? Here is the link to the Ebay ad. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...me=STRK:MEWA:IT

http://tinyurl.com/c5ahu

I have three unplayed copies of the Time Life Louis Armstrong 3 record set. I am not entirely familiar with the quality of these releases, but they cover a wide span of his recordings, and a very nice booklet comes along with it. I am keeping one copy for my own use, but I am willing to sell the other 2 copies to anyone interested. The LPs are pristine and unplayed as stated above, but the outer boxes show some wear. Booklets are perfect. Email me if you are interested. Thanks!

Bobby Hackett - "Gotham Jazz Scene" Capitol 1857 rec. 1957 Pretty involved arrangements for a dixie music set. Good solos (esp by Hackett which is no surprise)

I spotted this DVD for sale. I have chance to pick it up for a reasonable amount of $, and I wondered if it was worth having. It sounds very interesting. From the ad: Tying in the career of avant-garde jazz legend Sun Ra with political and racial unrest in American society, documentarian Edward O. Bland filmed this feature in 1959. Bland illustrates his sociological commentary by drawing parallels from within the music industry, utilizing the work of Sun Ra to allow his message to powerfully resonate. The footage of Sun Ra is rare and barely seen before, making this an enjoyable film for jazz purists and political scholars alike. Anyone have a take on this? Thanks

If memory serves me well (that is debatable), I recall seeing a Jarrett record in his name on which he played all instruments - and a buttload of them too. In addition to piano and soprano sax, he played guitar (and bass I think) Overdubs obviously. I am pretty sure this LP existed, but the name of it escapes me.

That case copy is hilarious. Here is my '79 Ibanez Artist 2630. I spotted it in a pawn shop for only $599! In its OHSC too - with the key. Needs a pickguard though. Any ideas? I had to have it rewired though, because the coil tap wasn't finctional. After that repair, and a good set up, this baby plays like a dream. Being a closet guitar player, it has much more potential than I do!

I am glad to have these LPs, but its a real drag to know that they were scissored up by a producer. Oh well. I was just sent this by a friend in England. It is an obituary that appeared there; much more detailed than any of the previous ones posted on here. http://tinyurl.com/co48z

Couw Do you have "Tension" on CBS (rec. '63 with same personnel as NJR) Pics are below. On this earlier LP: side one Club Trois Blues du Domicile Set 'em up side two Varie Tension Ballade for Jessica Rose As you see, four of the tunes also appear on NJR, but on this release, they stretch out (except for "Ballade...", which ironically is - to the second - the same length take as recorded on NJR! I was lucky to land these early Albert sides. A friend from college and record collector decided he needed a car, and he asked me to liquidate a big part of his sides. The first thing I did was pull the ones I wanted, then I sold the others and made him happy. That was over 20 years ago. (I KNOW he regrets it now! The car is undoubtedly long gone)

The Mangelsdorff and his Friends album features 6 duets with 6 different players: Don Cherry, Elvin Jones, Karl Berger (vib), Attila Zoller, Lee Konitz and Wolfgang Dauner. Indeed a very interesting album, but be prepared for some outward playing. Most of this is mid tempo stuff without a clear song structure but full of melodies developing and degrading. Live in Tokyo features the quintet sans Kronberg. It has been a while since I spun the LP, I'll need to dig it out. I remember it as a pretty loose affair, at least when compared with Now Jazz Ramwong and (One) Tension. Of course it being live explains a lot in that respect, but there is also a departure towards freeer structures from the group dynamics that characterises NJR and (O)T. This live album is still song oriented with themes and players taking turns soloing though. Sauer is one of those intense screetchy players with very distinct tone and phrasing. Lenz is simply amazing. If you get a chance, check out Now Jazz Ramwong by the quintet, an absolute classic. ← I am a big fan of the "pre-multiphonic" stage in Albert's career. Those quartet and quintet recordings are fantastic. After Albert started becoming known for his MP playing, somehow his basic trombone playing ability got overshadowed. Not in all circles mind you. But when you mention his name, it seems everyone comments on the MPs. This is understandable though. But when it comes to the issue of chops, range, tone and technical prowess (in the traditional sense), Albert could stand next to any jazz trombone player; his chops and technical prowess was top shelf. He could flat out play trombone well. His first role model for trombone playing was JJ....listening to Albert's clean technique and pure tone, it is easy to see. (and he played the JJ horn; the King 3B) While admittedly he didn't swing in the conventional sense; he had his own thing going on. Jazzscot, I wholeheartedly concur; Now Jazz Ramwong is most definitely a classic...on any continent! The tempos of those tunes were mad! (ie: "Set em up") Great tunes on the entire album. Okay, even though its 3 in the effing morning, I am going to go play that record as soon as I finish this post!

Also most probably influenced by Olivier Messiaen's works based on bird songs, notably 'Catalogue d'Oiseaux' among other compositions. Messiaen taught at the famous Summer school in Darmstdat a number of years. ←

I was thinking about bassist/groovemeister Wayne Dockery lately and was wondering what he is up to. Is he still active as a player...healthy, etc? Anybody know?