Fer Urbina

Same here F

Incorrect. Well, I may be misled by the various repackagings of the material. It's on Jackson's Wizard of the Vibes album (including the vocal tracks which seem to be absent from Genius of Modern Music Vol 2). Is it co-led, or what is it exactly? Never sounded like Monk to me on the Minton's material I've heard. A previous post on the material with Charlie Christian He was the house pianist at Minton's and there are a few recordings... F

Apparently the first bit of Bird's bio is already available for pre-order, it already has been assigned a ISBN number, and, according to Amazon, it will be published in 2020 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kansas-City-Lightn...r/dp/0679438149 As for what's been said about myths, I'm against them through and through for many reasons, one being that musicians like Ellington, Satchmo, Bird, Coltrane, Miles... not only don't really need any mythology added, but it may hinder our appreciation of their actual greatness. F

AFAIK, yes. F

Exactly. AFAIK Granz taped *everything* from that Festival and the complete tapes still exist (possibly two sets). F

I second Allen's comments. The biography part is very likely to be definitive. The musical analysis is very thorough (perhaps a bit heavy for someone with no musical knowledge at all - but it reads like an accurate representation of what Tristano's music is about). All in all, I think anyone interested in Tristano should get it. F PS BTW, I think I saw a copy of a Japanese CD reissue of Tristano's "Descent into the Maelstrom" go for more than $100 on eBay...

If I'm not wrong this is the site of the current owners of Mainstream, and AFAIK the email works. http://www.mainstreamrecords.com/ F

I agree with John Tapscott and Christiern, although it might be added that Herman's band from 1945-46 was quite a profitable venture. (There was a ban in 1948, that's the reason for the December 47 sessions by the Second Herd, "Four Brothers", "Goof and I", "Summer Sequence, part IV", etc) IIRC Donald Clarke's "Rise and Fall of Popular Music" adds to the mix the decay of public transport, at least in the West Coast, as well as the soldiers coming back from war to start families and not going out as much as before. Basie giving up the big band for the octet was probably the lowest point of all, or at least the most visible. F

Have compared the Definitive and JSP listings in allmusic, and they look exactly the same (titles and times), except that JSP has one more track, "South of the border", which makes it more interesting because it was never recorded in the studio by the Goodman/Christian combination. So, yep, Chuck's correct in many fewer words I'll shut up now F

I have checked with Chris Sheridan's biodiscography of Monk and apparently there's some contention regarding Monk at Minton's. Some say that he's not with Christian on the recordings (Henri Renaud) and some say he is (Brian Priestley). Apparently the labels on the original acetates say he *is* F (Gosh, it's true... )

Hi Cliff Relapse? Moi? F RE Costa, I don't make more promises... I'll let you know when it's ready (only last week yet another record turned up... )

Thanks, Brownie, I was afraid I was making things more complicated. According to Cliff Englewood's post with the tunes in the JSP set, all the tracks from the Esoteric/Fantasy CD that feature Christian are in the JSP set (as they are in the Definitive set), that is, the Fantasy CD has three other tracks without CC, with Don Byas and Dizzy Gillespie, I think. Again, none of the above (Fantasy, Definitve, JSP) have the "Stompin' at the Savoy" included in Masters of Jazz, vol. 9. Another thing that has been corrected in the last few years (it was first suggested in the early 1990s, IIRC), is that the pianist in "Swing To Bop" (Topsy - from Minton's) would be Kenny Kersey, not Thelonious Monk. As for the JSP and Definitive live sets, I know that in the Definitives there is nothing new compared to the Masters of Jazz. I guess that the same goes for the JSP. For the studio tracks, the Legacy set, in spite of the silly packaging, and the small mistake of the "... New Baby" takes, is incredibly good, especially regarding SQ. Another good thing is that they have un-done all the splicing that was made for the old LPs, especially with "Breakfast Feud". However - and obviously - the Legacy set doesn't include the non-Columbia stuff (the Edmond Hall session with CC on acoustic guitar for Blue Note, the Lionel Hampton small groups and one of two Metronome All Stars sessions on RCA) plus items with no relevant guitar solos such as a session with Ida Cox (originally on Columbia, the complete session is on an old UK Affinity CD) or the one with Eddy Howard (for Columbia, you can find it here http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&a...10:djftxqugldae). In any case, best place to check on line is Leo Valdés's site. F (ex Christian fanatic)

COLUMBIA - Only studio tracks, and not all of the music, IIRC. I think the "Benny's Bugle" rehearsal sequence is not complete in the Sony/Legacy set (it is in Jazz Unlimited JUCD 2013). Also, the takes of "I Found A New Baby" are incorrect: alternate is master and viceversa. There's some rehearsal material, but the crown jewel IMHO is the complete warm-up leading to the Smooth One/Air Mail Special session, from 1941. LIVE MATERIAL - Bear in mind that there are no "new" tracks on any of the reissues. Goodman and co (most of the music is by Goodman's combos) played on radio and concerts the same tunes they recorded, so you may find different solos, but not different tunes. The exceptions are the Minton's/Monroe's stuff and the Minneapolis 1939 jam session with a teenager Oscar Pettiford on bass, Jerry Jerome on tenor and Frankie Hines on piano (three tunes, "Tea For Two", "Stardust" and "I Got Rhythm" - Rhythm is actually two takes which are usually spliced together, and Tea normally has the first bars of CC's chordal intro and a few bars of Jerome's tenor solo cut off). The guys at MoJ did all the recollection of rare broadcasts and put them together on CD, in chronological order along with the studio tracks. Then came the Definitive and JSP boxes (in that order, IIRC). The MoJs corrected the speed and pitch of the music from Minton's (thus Swing to Bop goes down to Bb from B natural), but they used an annoying source with fake applause added. "Incidentally", the Definitive have exactly the same versions (corrected pitch, fake applause...). Many moons ago did A/B the MoJ and the Definitive, not noticeable difference in SQ. Haven't tried the JSPs, but I suspect they'll be more or less the same. On the Minton's stuff, there's one extra track in Masters of Jazz, volume 9, a "Stompin' On The Savoy" from Minton's never before released (volume drops down to zero for a few seconds). Don't know of any other issues that have that one. In the second edition of his bio, Broadbent also proposes that on a "You're a lucky guy" from Minton's, where someone shouts the names of Lester Young and Benny Goodman, Christian would be on bass (he also played bass). My personal favourites from the live stuff are the "Tea For Two" from Minneapolis, the live "Honeysuckle Rose" with the Goodman Sextette from the Spirituals to Swing concert, the three tunes from same with the Kansas City Six, a "Sheik of Araby" from April 12, 1940 where he does a wild lick that surprises Lionel Hampton, and a very fast "Benny's Bugle" from May 1941. F

I wouldn't necessarily trust an Hampton's words on that, especially if the interview is from c. 1945-7, when bop was being "sold" as a trendy fashion (the glasses, the berets, Monk being the "high priest of bop", etc). IIRC Hampton even explained the difference between "be-bop" and "re-bop" in terms of one being related to harmony and the other to rhythm. Hampton was quite a businessman and a showman. That said, he had a formidable natural talent, and he probably was one of those musicians who are able to say something interesting in any given situation. F PS I've always linked the whole-tone scale thing mentioned by Larry to Duke Ellington. Did anyone do that before Duke?

In my book "broken chords" is exactly what you said about Danny Barker, as opposite to "block chords". F

PM-ed about Mal Waldron with Eric Dolphy and Booker Ervin - The Quest Booker Ervin - The Blues Book Chet Baker Quartet - Russ Freeman, Chet Baker (Pacific Jazz 55453, red cover - still sealed!) F

OK. Have listened to the second volume of the AVIDs and the sound is very good, very clean, no click or pops. Source records are said to come from a big fan of Hampton's. The stereo simulation is not too intrusive, and there is a nice separation of instruments (quite easy to follow the different horns in Benny Carter's arrangements in the "When Lights Are Low" session). That said, for some reason I'm not wholly confortable with the sound, I'd probably rather have a direct transfer from clean 78s (what Schaap did for the BG Carnegie Hall concert should work marvels with clean, nice 78s, right?) Half the liner notes are by Brian Priestley, very informative, as usual. Tune selection include a couple of broadcasts, very good sound too. All in all, for that price (in the UK), I'd definitely go for these. F

FWIW, Ozzie Cadena is a staunch defender of mono. Savoy did have a stereo series, though, it's called "World Wide". IIRC, it started c. 1958, towards the end of Cadena's time there. I'm fairly sure that series was done by RVG too. F

Just got Hampton's volume 2 on Avid. Have yet to listen to it, but in the back it says Not a good start, at least for me. We'll see. F

Where he really cracks the whip is in Coleman Hawkins' The Hawk In Paris I can't recall whether this LP is as lame as it seems, but he starts saying One and 1/2 stars. That said, there were around 400 record reviews in Downbeat in 1956. The book says "all records not initialled by Jack Tracy or Ralph J. Gleason are reviewed by Nat Hentoff". So I guess he did the lion's share of those reviews. Somebody had to, I guess F

Review by Nat Hentoff in Downbeat (1956 - don't have the exact date, got it from the 1956 DB record review book). Hentoff gave it three stars (Handyland, USA got five). F PS Typo edited.

PM sent F

RE: Klook's Clique I'd need to listen to it properly, but I've played it in my PC and it sounds good enough to me (not an hi-fi fanatic). My only (minor) criticism to this set, interesting as it is for having not so common material, is that it's not very representative. There's no Teddy Hill at all, no Minton's (Klook smokes playing with Charlie Christian), no Modern Jazz Quartet (his part in La Ronde). By the way, I've read above that Klook didn't have as much technique as Max Roach, which is probably a futile argument. Just listen to him in Bud Powell's Monk album (recorded in Paris, a trio with Pierre Michelot), on the first track, "Off Minor", he only plays the snare drum with brushes, absolutely nothing else, IIRC, and he keeps it varied, interesting and unobstrusive. What a drummer! F

Gatemouth's first album for Alligator is actually a compilation of material licensed from Black and Blue. "Pressure Cooker", IIRC it includes some Louis Jordan tracks. From allmusic I very much like "Real Life" too, with a smoking "Take The A Train". And the original "Okie Dokie Stomp" (Peacock) is essential. F

I can't remember exactly, but I think RVG worked out a weekly routine by which Prestige, Savoy and Blue Note used different days to record at his studio. If someone has the patience it shouldn't be too difficult to work out a RVG discography for, say, the mid-to-late 50s and see what his weeks were like. A hard job but someone had to do it, I guess F