Fer Urbina

Read somewhere that Harry James-Ziggy Elman-Chris Griffin used to drive Benny Goodman nuts because they used to tune up slightly sharper than the rest of the band to make their sound "brighter". Also, the trombones at the end of Glenn Miller's "In the mood", slightly flat, perhaps? Top off my head Jimmie Blanton playing arco with Ellington, Jackie Paris in his LP for Time Records. F

Can't check now, but several sites (Zweitausendeins?) were selling the Savoy Eckstine 2-CD set at a very low price. I can't think of a better set than the Proper for Hawk's (a main character in DeVeaux's book) 1940-45 stuff. French label EPM put out a 3-CD "Be Bop Story 1944/1945" that must be very OOP, as OOP as a Bebop Revolution RCA published c. 1990 (was mostly Gillespie). Or you can always wait for set 3 of Allen Lowe's Devilin' Tune F PS At least some tracks from the OJC Minton's and Monroe's recordings were pitch-corrected in the Masters of Jazz series (Charlie Christian vol. 7 or 8). If I remember correctly "Swing to Bop" (Topsy) sounds in B natural in the OJC and should actually be Bb.

As real as pianist Lawrence Keyes' or saxophonist/flutist Paul Horn's. F

As a last resort you can always try Alan Bates...

Looks like this could be helpful. F

"Oscar ... bowed very poorly. He didn't bow too much, 'cause he knew it... Listen to 'Tea For Two' from The Unique Thelonious Monk where he bows and picks. It's like two different people. On the cello it was even worse" Katz does not mention any bowed cello recordings, though. F

They might know at the UK's National Jazz Archive F

- Stardust - Lover come back to me F

Ditto here for the Evans reissue (about time). I am listening to "Lester Leaps In" from New Bottle Old Wine and either it's my computer speakers or when the band is blasting it sounds like an old LP, so let's hope for that sonic upgrade. F

Oops, thanks! Talking about Guys and Dolls CD, one place where Costa does NOT appear is in his own entry at allmusic.com There are three pictures taken from the booklet but none of them are Costa. Emailed them ages ago, nothing happened. F

Haven't counted the covers, but top of my head, he's on the Costa-Mehegan, the Cuozzo (both Savoy), the Newport '57 (Verve), the Quintet for Mode, the Memorial... and that's probably just about it. But last time I counted LPs in which he *plays*, they are about 140-150 (that includes a few instrumental albums with large orchestras.) F

If it's the Memorial Concert, Costa is only on the cover. Hopefully Mighty Quinn will reissue something actually featuring Costa in the future. F

Looks like it's going to be the "Memorial Concert", originally a Colpix LP taken from the in memoriam concert after Costa's death. The actual concert lasted well over seven and a half hours. F

Wonder whatever will happen with this A week to go... F

For Teddy Charles do check Noal Cohen's site and discography Wasn't this Museum of Modern Art thing Dan Morgenstern's idea? F

Person rather than company. Alan Bates is the name, there was a great interview with him in Jazzwise last year, can't remember the issue. He's in Castelnau Road, in lovely Barnes (SW London), not far from the Bull's Head. F

By total chance I saw the original Tomajazz webpage from three/four years ago, and what Pachi Tapiz (the administrator) has accomplished in that time is amazing for a Spanish site. Some of the things in it are pretty good. Top of that, his might well be the only Spanish site where you'll see a reference to Uptown at all. About the impossibility of stopping this CDs at the US border, if it's a question of lobbying people I wish someone like Wynton Marsalis threw his weight on this issue ... or is this complete b.s.? F

Brownie, none of the blurbs I've seen from Definitive mention Uptown at all. They do praise the recent discovery, as well as the five-star rating in Downbeat, but they do not mention Uptown at all. Your quote mentioning Uptown looks taken from Spanish website Tomajazz. Why do they have an Andorran address, then? From the business point of view, you don't just set up shop in Andorra, in the middle of the Pyrenees, with poor communications, not very good roads... what's the incentive? F

One last thing: this matter has been discussed many times without reaching any conclusion that actually works. To me, the main reason for this is that the current law just doesn't work: in the US stuff that shouldn’t be there keeps coming in; in the EU stuff that shouldn’t be reissued without permission keeps coming out. And in both cases, it is virtually impossible to trace the sources of a reissue. The regular buyer will assume that what’s in mainstream shops is legal. Few of us will stop to consider previous reissues, sources, sometimes even sound quality. FWIW and speaking of mainstream, Disconforme/Definitive have been to the latest editions of MIDEM. IMHO as long as the law is not actually applicable, we’ll only be able to pass moral judgment, which at the end of the day is pointless, a more complicated quagmire than it seems, and something I personally would rather not do. F

David, you're right on target when you ask where are these guys based. Disconforme/Definitive give a PO Box in Andorra, Lonehill say nothing. But even if they're based in Andorra, a year ago I sent an email to the Government of Andorra. They referred me to this (bold are mine): As for Italy, it is true that copyright law used to be different from country to country, and Italy was a very special case (some of the legal arrangements they used to have re copyright are... hilarious?), but today I'm fairly sure it is 50 years too, like in the rest of the EU. As for Pujol (who, admittedly, has released some excellent sets) and his "cousins... following his footsteps", I wonder if it sometimes his "cousins" don't get too close for confort? (like in the "Complete Hal McKusick Recordings with Barry Galbraith...", which was allegedly lifted from 4 previously issued CDs, three of them reissued by Pujol himself, two for Spanish BMG, one for his own Fresh Sound label). FWIW, Pujol is on record saying the following. What do his cousins make of it, I wonder: F

If Peter Johnson has no Basie at all, I'd forget about the Definitives, and get the 1-CD compilation Swingmatism (Decca/GRP) as a taster of the early band. It's cheap, probably very easy to find (and I seem to remember that has better sound than the 3-CD set) and IMHO it's representative of the 37-38 band. Haven't tried the Definitive Deccas, but I seem to remember that the Columbias were crap sound-wise (and sound quality can be a huge difference with recordings from these years). Talking of which, how's the sound in this 2-CD Lester Young set - The "Lester Young Memorial Album" (Sony)? It has quite a bit of early Basie in it (the late 1936 Lady Be Good, Dickie's Dream, Lester Leaps In, Taxi War Dance, Tickle Toe...) F

The studio "Taxi War Dance" (from early 1939, Columbia) is available in the Legacy 4-CD set mentioned earlier in this thread. The French Masters of Jazz (Count Basie 1939 MJCD 153) also has the alternate take. Lester Young's solos are worth comparing (in the master take he starts with a quote of Ol' Man River, the alternate with kind of Tea for Two.) F PS Re Sound Quality, I don't have Universal's "Swingmatism" (a 1-CD compilation of Decca recordings) any more, but I seem to remember the sound was crispier than in the Complete Deccas 3-CD set.

That's easy then. Let him shed the limelight, retire to write the definitive and monumental biography of Charlie Parker, and then return to wide academic and public acclaim. F

If you're new to Basie's Deccas, I'd try first any of the single-CD reissues (Best of Early Basie or Swingsation) By the way, I don't have my Decca set with me, but re: the awful SQ, wasn't it remastered by JRT Davies too? "Swingmatism" was, as far as I can remember. As for the "New Testament" band, IMHO the "Count Basie Story" (a Roulette 2-CD set) is the one to keep your neighbours awake. F PS The AMG review I've linked to Best of Early Basie seems to be the wrong one. Tune titles seem to be correct. PPS The Columbia 3-CD set has great music presented in a weird way. Some years ago I tried a "Definitive" set of Basie's Columbias and I seem to remember the sound was crap.

He died a couple of months after recording this (his last studio recording?), so that may be why he looked thinner. Fantastic album, nice contrast between Tatum and Webster. F