MartyJazz

Love FOUR FOR TRANE and the later TRAY OF SILVER as well. Got to see Archie quite a bit during the mid '70s-early '80s and he always put on a very swinging set alternating with his occasional "poetic" diatribes (e.g., "Poem for Mama Rose"). I enjoy his earlier, more adventurous "out" stuff (which I never got to see live) as well as the bop repertoire he played some decade and a half later (which I often did get to witness). He's a highly literate, intelligent artist and that facet of his being may be influencing my estimation of his artistry, nevertheless........ Admittedly, nothing much he has done during the past two decades has excited me (chops?), but I do think that overall a lot of good work recorded since the '60s has been underrated, in particular the quartets he led with Siegfried Kessler on piano, the duets with Max Roach, etc. BTW, my copy of TRAY OF SILVER is on vinyl. Marcello, if you're going to cut loose the CD, PM me.

While his onstage patter when not singing could be a real turnoff, e.g., his occasional lapses into a Kingfish dialect, there's no denying his prowess as THE male singer of the American pop standard book. His rendition of "Moonlight in Vermont" is a killer every time I hear it whether on a Capitol recording or here on this TV program from '66. As such, I cringe whenever I witness such pale imitators as Michael Buble and wonder how many of the current audience recognizes Sinatra's legacy.

Ditto on the observation that Coltrane and Rivers are very different tenor players and unique to the point that each is instantly recognizable. This difference was obviously discerned by Miles himself who used Coltrane in several of his recordings and live groups between 1955 and 1961. Rivers however simply appeared duing the Japan tour of July '64 following which Miles immediately opted for Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams verifying that Miles had no "eyes" for Rivers' tenor approach. I recall speaking to Sam many years ago (around '74) about this stint and he was gracious enough to state simply that Miles preferred to go in a different direction while he (Sam) was happy to hook up with Andrew Hill following the Japan tour.

"Opus No. Zero" from TOSHIKO AT THE TOP OF THE GATE (Denon), a quintet performance in '68 that features Kenny Dorham, Lew Tabackin with Ron Carter and Mickey Roker filling out the rhythm section. Really cooks, tempo changes, and of course, that gorgeous bittersweet tone of KD.

Indeed, I have a video concert of Stan done around '83 wherein he plays "Desafinado" and at the conclusion, he says rather dismissively, "OK, now that we got that out of the way.....", before launching into a non-Bossa Nova piece.

Forgive me if this question has been asked and answered before. I have a substantial quantity of Taiyo Yuden DVD-Rs which I naturally prefer to use and I've just received via a vine two DVD+R discs to copy. Should one be consistent when copying DVDs, e.g., DVD+R to DVD+R and DVD-R to DVD-R, or can you interchange?

Back in the late '80s, I recall going backstage at Mickell's (I believe) in NYC with a local tenor player friend, Jeff Hittman (now deceased at far too young an age, 47), and meeting Grossman who was headlining there while being heavily into a late '50s Newk bag at that time. We played a tape of Newk in Zurich '59 (since released on a bootleg CD, Moon label I think) for SG who had never heard the material before. His eyes lit up as he heard the tape and I had to promise him a copy (since delivered) as he didn't want to return mine. I also recall Joe Chambers, his drummer in the group, getting really pissed off because SG apparently didn't know when to end a set, playing an hour and a half at one point. Ah memories!

The question is what is happenin' in my pantaloons. Admit I got a rise re-listening to this LP after having many a year gone by with it sitting undisturbed whatsoever on the shelf. The version of "Alfie", in particular, which evinces quite a bit of the muscular Rollins I recall so well having often witnessed live during the '70s. Perhaps it was the opening non-happenin' track of "Powaii" that always did me in, to the point that I don't recall ever having previously heard the 2nd side. So I thank one and all for moving me to do a reassessment. But then again, check out "Alfie's Theme Differently" and "Street Runner with Child" from the Impulse ALFIE soundtrack. That's the proverbial "desert island" stuff for me.

Concert will actually take place at the Miniaci Arts Center of Nova University in Davie, just south of Ft. Lauderdale. Tix are only $30, $25 for South Florida Jazz members: http://www.southfloridajazz.org/

I too bought the LP way back in the mid '70s when it first came out and to this day, I think the greatest thing about the album is the cover. Gorgeous photo of Sonny in his early '40s. Music itself never did that much for me, although truth to tell, I've never hesitated to display my extreme partiality to the '60s taut tone, fiery, Sonny. Will crank up the turntable today for a new listen which hopefully will generate a positive reassessment. On another note, sorry to hear that David Lee is gone. I was at the Vanguard in March '72 when Sonny made his return appearance to New York after a 3 year hiatus and that rhythm section of Albert Dailey, Larry Ridley and David Lee really cooked.

If you want to see Pullen kick ass on the organ, I highly recommend the John Scofield DVD issued by Blue Note, titled "Live 3 Ways", recorded around 1990. Pullen is present on the opening two tracks in a trio setting with Scofield and Marvin "Smitty" Smith. The tracks are wonderful and you can really see how much Scofield appreciates Pullen's comping and soloing. The tracks are "Bolivar Blues" (6:27) and "Charlie Chan" (5:58). (Incidentally the remaining "2 Ways" on the DVD include two tracks of a duet between JS and Dr. John, and 5 tracks of a quartet that includes JS, Joe Lovano, Anthony Cox and John Reilly). Worth picking up.

Looks like its coming out this month. Amazon already has the cover art, so it must be ready: Good news. I've had this date for many years on a bootleg tape relatively recently converted to CD-R. Here is the discographical info the way I have it: A) Sonny Rollins-Betty Carter Marounuchi Hotel, Tokyo 19 Sept. 1963 Personnel: Sonny Rollins (ts) Rashid Ali (tp) Paul Bley (p) Henry Grimes (b) Roy McCurdy (d) add Betty Carter* (drop ts, tp) 1) Moritat (21:46) 2) *The Way You Look Tonight (1:53) 3) *When I Fall in Love (4:19) 4) Oleo (22:18) - - - - - - - - - - - - B) Sonny Rollins + Japanese musicians Same date and location Personnel: Sonny Rollins (ts) Tetsuo Fushimi (tp) Akira Miyazawa (ts) Novio Maeda (p) Tatsuro Takimoto (b) Takeshi Inomata (d) 5) A Slow Boat to China (4:47) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Total time – 55:07

Where was this released before? I've tried to obtain all the grey-market Rollins I can, but haven't seen this one yet. Before the Rollins in Paris was released on a double CD with Ornette, I picked it up on an Italian LP (Jazzway label) that was released in 1985. It's a wonderful recording, as one might expect from that particular period. The 41 minute medley cited in "Late"'s #7 post above is deficient in terms of the song titles included. Rollins veers from tune to tune in the following order, sometimes repeating a tune played earlier in the set: "I Can't Get Started" (9:55), "Three Little Words" (5:05), "I Can't Get Started" (2:10), "Three Little Words" (0:40), "St. Thomas" (0:35) on Sde One. Side Two continues the medley with "There Will Never Be Another You" (9:25), "When I Grow too Old to Dream" (13:45), and concludes with a very brief "Madamoiselle de Paris (0:20). Altogether this accounts for the roughly 41 minute set.

Just a personal celebration although I'm sure various jazz stations around the country, e.g., WKCR in New York, will probably acknowledge it in some way. Listening now to the trio date with Hampton Hawes (Josie LP) this morning as I prepare to exit the house, and will surely play at least one or two cuts from "Blues and Roots" and "Tiajuana Moods" sometime during the course of the day.

Interesting article that alerts the reader to more jazz scores than one might have been aware of in a forthcoming exhibition at MOMA in New York City: From the article: "THE forthcoming exhibition of jazz-related movies, posters, video clips and merchandise at the Museum of Modern Art is dauntingly vast, but its title could not be plainer: “Jazz Score.” Those two words encompass the exhibition’s breadth and depth as well as its provocative omissions, and they allude to jazz’s complex, somewhat wary interaction with cinema — one that’s fundamentally different from the alliance between film and its longtime go-to music source, classical". Here's the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/13/movies/1...amp;oref=slogin

There are lots of great versions of this tune that have been done. Are you looking for a purely instrumental (big band or small group), or a vocal rendition, or what?

Thanks so much to Stereojack and Swinging Swede for the wealth of information provided. Will reprint and stick the info in the plastic sleeve that envelops this 2 LP set. Also, don't know why I thought there was only a single jacket on my copy, I do have the mono gatefold edition. (I guess they're all mono considering the pre-1957 recording dates). Just one question, "hg" is listed as the arranger on several tracks, yet not identified in the collective personnel. Who is he?

Going through my big band vinyl the other day and I spotted this 2 LP set I acquired some time ago. Unfortunately, my copy happens to be a single sleeve, rather than gatefold, and thus there is absolutely no discographical detail, i.e., no personnel or recording dates, other than the listing of the compositions played. If anyone has any of the discographical details regarding this recording, I'd appreciate it. Towards that end here is a link to a CD reissue that posts the titles of the tunes, but nothing else. http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=3090792

Gee, I hope not. His mid-60s period is the apex AFAIAC. I have the September 68 Copenhagen TV set (at least it's the one I think that Jazz Icons will be releasing) on a bootleg DVD and while it is very good (quartet date with Kenny Drew, NHOP and Tootie Heath), I think the '65 set promises to be excellent. If it too was done in Copenhagen in the fall of '65, then other pieces performed besides "Oleo" and "St. Thomas" should include "There Will Never be Another You", "Sonnymoon for Two", "Darn That Dream" and "Three Little Words", at least those are the tunes that are played on an audio CD-R I have.

I second this recommendation. I just took out this DVD 2-disc set from a local library and it's quite entertaining. Not only is there wonderful input from Giddens and Jon Faddis (not Crouch), about the importance of the soundtrack both for jazz (Miles' modal approach predates Kind of Blue) and the budding career (at that time) of Louis Malle the director, but you do get to see film of Miles laying down the music as the film is played before him. The interview with Rene Urtreger, the only surviving member of the group, is also quite illuminating. After watching all these wonderful extras in this release, I'm now enjoying the actual film itself, one I haven't viewed in many years.

I agree and I enjoy that band's output very much as well. The reason I give the nod to the '44-45 aggregation is that its book of arrangements was completely original. The '49 band often recorded remakes of tunes, similarly arranged, that Shaw had done with previous bands. But you're correct about the fact that it also did record charts by such modernists as Dameron (e.g., "So Easy") et al. I do enjoy that band as well, too bad that Artie again broke up such a wonderful outfit for commercial reasons. Some of the output recorded thereafter by his lesser big bands is truly regrettable, e.g., "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles". Gunther Schuller in his work, "The Swing Era", has some cogent observations about Shaw's annoying habit of condemning the public taste yet occasionally capitulating to that same segment of the music listening audience.

I bought that 3 CD Hep set a few years ago at around $35 or so and it's just wonderful, partially because I think the '44-45 aggregation was his best big band ever. Sure, it had nowhere near the hits of the '38-39 "swing" band or the various '40-41 string orchestras, but it had wonderful "modern" arrangements, e.g., Buster Harding, Ray Conniff, Sauter & Finegan, and the personnel, e.g., Roy Eldridge, Dodo Marmarosa, Barney Kessel, Herbie Steward et al, was superlative. The Gramercy 5 output from that band is also quite excellent. I just really dig the overall sound of that band and I attribute its lack of commercial success to the fact that its more "advanced" approach, as a result of the newer musical influences prevailing at that time, was something the record buying public at the end of the war, was not ready for. That, coupled with the rising popularity of pop singers to the detriment of big bands in general. A shame really because when Shaw broke up that aggregation after his initial Musicraft date, in favor of a more commercial band with strings, Mel Torme & the Meltones, Kitty Kallen, etc., the quality of the output thereafter decidedly declined IMO. In any event, Shaw was tremendous, no clarinetist his equal before or since.

I agree. I personally knew and occasionally hung out with Rahsaan in the early '70s, and caught both he and Rollins (separately, of course) often whenever either of them were playing in New York. And never at any time, however much I could enjoy a Rahsaan show (usually at the Vanguard), did I ever think, feel or otherwise believe that Rahsaan could outplay Rollins. Even though Rollins' recordings once he began his long association with Milestone are never (IMO) at the level of the great stuff recorded earlier, in person, he rarely left any doubt as to his pre-eminence on tenor, musically, technically, rhythmically, whatever, particularly during that '70s decade when I would see him at least once every year.

I've replaced my Carter Gramavision LPs with CDs. What I'd really like is to duplicate on CD the two Revelation and two Flying Dutchman LPs that featured both Carter and Bradford. Those are wonderful recordings I've owned for many years.

I love all the later concerts he recorded with Kenny Barron on piano. And for a very special treat, I highly recommend the DVD of a concert he did with KB in Munich, around 1990 I believe. Click on this link for DVD