Fer Urbina

It seems that the "Enlightment" label is releasing a number of boxes of pre-1962 (inclusive) recordings, some only as mp3 downloads. They've done Quincy Jones, Roland Kirk, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, Earl Hines (1951-1961), Art Farmer, Odetta, Mose Allison, Pete Seeger (x2), Ramsey Lewis, Freddie Hubbard, Jackie McLean (x2), Johnny Griffin, I don't have any idea re: sources and sound quality. F

That was reissued as CD2 of Best of the Best. F

Both of those are far from any sort of confirmation. FWIW Scott Elias of Random Act was a good friend of Drew. Another friend and fellow pianist, Tom Becker, has also reported his passing. F

Although not in the best sound (Live in Australia) or the best of the tour (Live in Paris - according to Will Friedwald, IIRC), I have a soft spot for small-group Sinatra. And on those, the duets with just piano or just guitar are worth a listen. Here's a bit of footage. There were plans for a studio recording with Red Norvo and the sextet, but it never came about. As for the rest, there are 2-CD sets of early Sinatra (with and without Dorsey), and I agree on Live at the Sands (try to sing along the beginning of "Don't Worry About Me" breathing when he does...) and the Capitols. There used to be an official no-frills box with all the albums... ah, it's called the Capitol Concept Albums. F

It's been confirmed by Scott Elias of Random Act Records. Fellow pianist George Colligan has written this very insightful blog in his memory. F

FWIW, guitarist Duke Robillard has tried the glue method and it's reporting the (positive) results on his FB page. F

Another one with some counterpoint and the main line still close to ATTYA is Bill Smith's "Freeway" (with Herb Geller and Jimmy Gourley). I have it on a Impulse/GRP CD called Americans in Europe. F

We're positive it's not a contrafact, right? The counterpoint line could be something similar to Kenny Dorham's 'Prince Albert'? The only baroquesque version I know is, at least in the intro, Sal Salvador's. There's some counterpoint on Clifford Brown w/ Gigi Gryce. F

My candidate for the alto sax is... F PS I think he does look like the guy in the picture, plus his playing would fit Larry's description IMHO.

He doesn't look like Quill to me. I don't think it's Romeo Penque either; he might be Phil Bodner, but I can't remember any images of him from those years to compare with. F

If this was recorded in NYC, which is likely, the only black guitarist I know that did quite a lot of studio work at the time is Everett Barksdale. F

Of the ones I've spoken to, Danny Bank, Hal McKusick, Herb Geller, pianist Moe Wechsler, Al Caiola, and Peter Ind have been incredibly generous with their time (Bank even rang me, international call). Jimmy Heath, Bill Crow, Dave Holland are really nice. Hank Jones was incredibly sweet in my first interview in English ever. I've only chatted briefly with Conte Candoli and he was really nice too. Clark Terry is a category apart. Have never spoken to him, but Terry Gibbs is hilarious (he's on FB). F PS The highlight of my list should be a phone chat with Billy Bauer, 89 at the time, not long before he died. We ended up singing Charlie Parker's solo on 'Now's the Time' in unison

http://jazzwestcoastresearch.blogspot.com/2013/08/way-out-wardell-james-a.html F

CDs 1 to 7 are 28 tracks each, CD 8 has 30, CD 9 has 26 and CD 10 (jazz), 17. All close to the 80 min. mark, I suppose. F

I'm not a fan of the Charly label, dreadful sound, often from vinyl. But the set will be interesting listening and broad in scope (120 different artists for the 269 cuts). Haven't listened to it yet, but it's a sturdy long box, with a thick booklet in landscape format, not the easiest to handle. Plenty of images, not much text, and no detailed discographical data, only year of release. As for copyright issues, there's a note saying that I haven't seen any mention to sources or master tapes. F

I was just listening to Benny Golson's tenor-bass duet on "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" when I remembered a whole album by Stephen Riley, Once Upon a Dream on Steeplechase, which I discovered after Larry Kart's recommendation in this forum. This one is from that album. In that vein there's Don Byas and Slam Stewart's duet at Town Hall 1945 ("I Got Rhythm" and "Indiana"). F

Romualdo, Everything is exactly as you say. I checked some years ago. The mistake about "I Just Got the Message" is also on the Rhino edition of this record, possibly the source of that mistake, since it's the first time the alternate takes were issued (as far as I know). "Summertime" from that single is indeed from the "Porgy & Bess" sessions. F

Ed Berger, dear friend and biographer of Joe Wilder's, has reported his passing earlier today. From his FB page I've put together some of his music on my blog. F

There's actually a Giants of Jazz compilation devoted to the trio with Barksdale (see back cover). I think the originals were Capitol (?). F

Jasmine has some competition from UK label Acrobat (which I didn't know about till recently) Dizzy Reece Complete 54-62, Tubby Hayes Tempos, Jimmy Deuchar Tempos. The little I've heard sounds good enough. F

Not that it is terribly important, but FWIW Nat King Cole first recorded with the trio in 1938. The weirdest drummerless group has to be Benny Goodman's orchestra, on September 25, 1941. As in "The Earl". F The circumstances behind "The Earl" were a bit odd -- according to pianist (and the composer of the piece) Mel Powell, a dispute between Goodman and Sid Catlett led Catlett to leave the studio -- but the performance itself isn't weird; it's superb and swings like crazy. True, that. I meant rarest (as in a drummerless swing big band), rather than weirdest. F

As far as I know current CD reissues are PD. Sound quality is good enough for me (no audiophile). F

Not that it is terribly important, but FWIW Nat King Cole first recorded with the trio in 1938. The weirdest drummerless group has to be Benny Goodman's orchestra, on September 25, 1941. As in "The Earl". F

Amazon UK carries both 8-CD Art Tatum Complete Masterpieces sets (2010 reprints, European, possibly Italian) for just over £18 each. Solo / Groups F

Thanks. I've updated that, the Billie Holiday (no liner notes), and Miles's Chronicle as described by Ubu. F