MartyJazz

Oh yeah! It's one of my favorites. Peter O'Toole really brings Henry II to life! And Katharine isn't too shabby either. It is very amusing to see young versions of Anthony Hopkins & Timothy Daulton, but their parents steal the show. Completely different sort of movie, but if you want more O'Toole after this and haven't seen My Favorite Year, it's another role that Peter nails. As an added bonus, it also stars the actor to the right in Aric's avatar. Anybody know if Peter O'Toole's THE RULING CLASS is out on DVD? Quite a film which I last saw when it came out, sometime in '72. I wouldn't mind re-visiting that one, hopefully with good special features.

Totally, totally agree

To actually exhort the buyer to "burn it" and then "return it" is to invite possible legal action, I would think. Whereas, if he were to state that CDs returned within a day or two of purchase would result in a 70% credit to the buyer.....well, buyers could figure it out for themselves as to what that is about. But maybe I'm naive in that it's possible this dealer is asking for trouble regardless of how he goes about it.

Being a Mingus completist, I'm very familiar with the Candid recordings which are uniformly excellent. I hadn't been aware that the Mingus-Dolphy version of "Stormy Weather" is underappreciated. It certainly shouldn't be as well as Dolphy's exposition on "'Round Midnight" with George Russell, both terrific recordings. As far as underappreciated Mingus, I would nominate EAST COASTING (Bethlehem). In the short stretch of 1957-59, Mingus recorded quite often, including the albums TIJUANA MOODS, THE CLOWN, BLUES & ROOTS, and MINGUS AH UM. All of these albums are discussed more often and are generally considered the best of this period. I think EAST COASTING belongs in that select group if just for the track "West Coast Ghost" alone. There are other wonderful tracks as well on this terrific album.

Thanks for the link. It's very good to know that there are such hip happenings going on where you are.

March 11th. Recorded on this date: 1) 1952, Johnny Smith 5 with Stan Getz, Sanford Gold, Eddie Safranski & Don Lamond record (Roost LP, Blue Note CD): "Where or When", "Tabu", "Moonlight in Vermont", "Jaguar". 2) 1959, Sonny Rollins 3 with Henry Grimes & Kenny Clarke perform live in Aix-en-Provence, France: "Woody'n You", "But Not for Me", "Ladybird" (Royal Jazz). 3) 1963, Jimmy Heath + Brass record SWAMP SEED (Riverside): 4) 1980, Pepper Adams 4 with Tommy Flanagan, George Mraz & Leroy Williams record THE MASTER (Muse): 5) 1999, Tom Harrell & orchestra record TIME'S MIRROR (completed on 3/12, RCA Victor):

What do you plan to do, drop him through a hole in the ice?

I ordered that just the other day once I belatedly discovered that GS has a couple of earlier releases on the Criss Cross label. Previously as I stated earlier, I had caught him at a club in late 2002 - I actually went at Michael Weiss's suggestion - and really enjoyed hearing him, the '60s Newk influence being very evident in his playing. Prior to seeing the latest Jazzmatazz, I had erroneously thought that he hadn't recorded yet. So I was quite surprised to see that Criss Cross has a couple of early '90s releases with him as the leader. As we all know here, our curiosity must be assuaged, so I'll order the Eric-Grant once it becomes available again. Thanks one and all for the input.

OK, I gave this disc a 2nd listen and I've come up with some tune IDs and perhaps some decent guesses as to personnal 1) I can't listen to this for long 2) funny, but too short to know who's talking, at least for me 3) "Sunny Side" done in a Hodges vein, but that gorgeous sound doesn't come through for me on this, so I suspect it's someone else. Can't ID the vocalist, but certainly not Louis 4) Tune is very familiar but can't place it. Trumpet is in the Cat Anderson pyrotechnic vein. Now I think I've got the tune pegged - the old Jimmy Lunceford piece (at least I think he's the composer, maybe not), "For Dancers Only". 5) Sounds like later Duke, Jimmy Hamilton on clarinet. Don't know the piece. 6) Could this be Duke's band at some kind of party because otherwise I don't think "Basin St. Blues" is normally his thing. Vocalist reminds me of Ray Nance. 7) "Mood Indigo" by ???? 8) This is "The Star Crossed Lovers" from Duke's SUCH SWEET THUNDER suite but no idea who the tenor or pianist are. 9) More Duke, having trouble placing the composition; in my head, the theme goes much faster than this tempo. 10) "Fly Me to the Moon" - what instrument is that? Whatever, NMCOT. 11) I already ID'd the tenor. Piano very good, but no clue. 12) I thought I had every version of "B&S" on tenor but not this one. Don't know who. 13) I'm gonna guess that the voice is that of Thad Jones, having seen him so often back in the early '70s Monday night at the Vanguard. 14) "Jada" - too old timey for my tastes

Definitely sounds interesting. I know that I really like the meeting of Joe with Hawk and Clark Terry at Newport '63 which RCA fortunately captured. Their version of "April in Paris" knocks me out every time. Joe in front of a quartet with Ben as the sole horn should hopefully be as good.

At this point in time having amassed so many recordings over the years, both commercial and private, by all the musicians mentioned in the article and by those who quite likely visited Mr. Smith from time to time, I am far more interested in what would constitute oral history, i.e., the conversations, diatribes, interviews, etc., captured on tape.

Getting back to the original post, while I enjoy and own many of the various Jazztet recordings, I have never found the group to be - possible sacrilege here - essential, much less revolutionary. At the time of the recordings documented by Michael F here and of course by the Mosaic box, i.e., 1960-62, great recordings and performances were being made by Miles, Coltrane, Mingus, Ornette, Blakey, Silver, Cecil, Dolphy, McLean...., I don't need to go on. While the Jazztet was certainly a part of that wonderful, fertile period for the music, the caliber of competition for the devout jazz listener was obviously quite high.

Thanks for the correction. My fingers evidently were in automatic mode. I edited my post to reflect it.

Thanks Brownie. And here's the link within the article to the Jazz Loft Project site: http://cds.aas.duke.edu/jazzloft/index.html

Fascinating article about the photojournalist W. Eugene Smith who evidently amassed over 40,000 photos and 3,000 hours of taped conversations with various jazz figures in the great years of 1957-65. There's also a link within the article to a site devoted to the Jazz Loft Project: NY Times article (free subscription required)

March 10th. Recorded on this date: 1949, Serge Chaloff with Al cohn, Red Rodney, Earl Swope, Terry Gibbs, Barbara Carroll, Oscar Pettiford & Denzil Best record: "Chickasaw", "Bopscotch", "The Most!", "Chasin' the Blues" (available on THE COMPLETE SERGE CHALOFF - Mosaic) 1953, Django Reinhardt 4 with Maurice Vander, Pierre Michelot & Jean-Louis Viale record "Blues for Ike", "September Song", "Night and Day", "Insensiblement", "Manoir de mes Reves", "Nuages", "Brazil". (available on PECHE A LA MOUCHE - Verve) 1955, Charles Mingus 4 with Thad Jones, John Dennis & Max Roach record: "One More", "I Can't Get Started", "More of the Same", "Get Out of Town"; The trio without Thad also records: "Ensenada", "Machajo", "Cherokee", "Seven Moons", "All the Things You Are" (available on THE COMPLETE CHARLES MINGUS DEBUT RECORDINGS - Fantasy) 1955, Tubby Hayes group featuring Jimmy Deuchar records: "Jordu", "Orient Line", "May Ray", "Monsoon" - SWINGING GIANT (Jasmine) 1960, Miles Davis with Gil Evans & Orchestra record (Columbia): "The Panpiper", "The Song of Our Country". 1962, Eric Dolphy appears with Barry Galbraith, Chuck Israels, Art Davis, 'Sticks' Evans & others at Everson Museum, Syracuse, NY performing "Night Music", "Variants on a Theme by Thelonious Monk" - (available on VINTAGE DOLPHY (GM)) 1963, Eric Dolphy 4 with Herbie Hancock, Eddie Khan, J.C. Moses plus the Univ of Illinois Brass Ensemble & Big Band on two tracks - ILLINOIS CONCERT (Blue Note): 1968, Hampton Hawes Trio with Jimmy Woode & Art Taylor - BLUES FOR BUD (Black Lion): 1969, Dexter Gordon 6 with Dizzy Reece, Slide Hampton, Kenny Drew, NHOP & Art Taylor - A DAY IN COPENHAGEN (MPS). 1975, Dexter Gordon 4 with Horace Parlan, NHOP & Tony Inzalaco - STABLE MABLE (Steeplechase). 1977, George Russell & Swedish Radio Jazz Orchestra record "Cubana Be, Cubana Bop" (Soul Note).

Please don't take offense but "nice" doesn't cut it. It's on the same wavelength as saying something is "pleasant". With so much music and such a finite amount of time, I won't buy unless I suspect the CD is really worth having. That's my understated way of saying (assuming you like Eric Alexander) that the CD is worth having. (It's hard for me to be too verbose on four hours sleep.) Fair 'nuff. But I'm more interested in the presence of Grant Stewart. To your ears, is he overshadowed by EA or is it a meeting of equals with somewhat differing styles?

Please don't take offense but "nice" doesn't cut it. It's on the same wavelength as saying something is "pleasant". With so much music and such a finite amount of time, I won't buy unless I suspect the CD is really worth having.

Lots of stuff here that's NMCOT, I'm afraid. But I did like a few versions of the standards, especially: Track 11: "Whisper Not", however this time it's obvious that we have the composer on tenor, Benny Golson. Sounds very, very good.

Here's another March 9th date: 1955, THE FIVE - Arrangements by Shorty Rogers (RCA Victor) Shorty doesn't play on this date although he's given credit on the CD spine as the leader. Personnel: Conte Candoli, Bill Perkins, Pete Jolly, Buddy Clark, Mel Lewis. 12 tracks.

I dig Bill Evans also however a poll like this is difficult to respond to in view of the dissemination of all the Riverside material first into 2-fer LPs back in the '70s which I purchased at the time, then into the wonderful 12 disc boxed set which I've owned and listened to for quite some time now. As a result I no longer can look at a poll such as yours and distinguish what favorite cuts belong to which of the original Riverside issues The exception of course is the SUNDAY AFTERNOON AT THE VANGUARD session. But what is the title of the equally excellent companion album to that - is it PORTRAIT IN JAZZ? I really don't remember. So I took the easy way out and voted for SAatV, as it certainly is up there in terms of Bill Evans material I listen to often. More problematical perhaps are the slew of albums he made for Verve. Choosing strictly among those would be interesting in view of the greater variety of contexts found there, e.g., solo, overdubbing, orchestra accompaniment, duets as well as trios, etc.

Glad you agree. Now I can't wait to find out who's the player and possible tune thief on your track 10.

Oh, I'm sure it's great. RAY is high up on my Netflix queue, I am anxious to see it.

March 9th. Recorded on this date: 1938, Benny Goodman & his Orch record 3 tunes with Martha Tilton (vcl) plus "Ti-Pi-Tin", "Make Believe", "Blue Room" (RCA Victor). 1950, Miles Davis with J.J. Johnson, Gunther Schuller, John Barber, Lee Konitz, Gerry Mulligan, Al McKibbon, Max Roach & Kenny Hagood (vcl)* record "Moon Dreams", "Deception", "Rocker" *"Darn That Dream" (Capitol). 1958, Cannonball Adderley 5 with Miles Davis, Hank Jones, Sam Jones & Art Blakey - SOMETHIN' ELSE (Blue Note): 1965, Archie Shepp with David Izenson & J.C. Moses record "The Chased" (3 takes), "The Pickaninny", "Malcolm, Malcolm Semper Malcolm" (Impulse). 1998, Yoron Israel 6 with Eric Alexander, Steve Turre & Bryan Carrott perform live at the 'Blue Note', NYC - CONNECTION (Half Note):

I'd love to be able to refute your comments but then I thought of Al Pacino's ridiculous hammed-up performance in SCENT OF A WOMAN (1992) which got him an Oscar, and I reluctantly concede that you may have a point. You can also add Oscar winners Jon Voight (COMING HOME - 1978), Tom Hanks (FORREST GUMP - 1994), and Geoffrey Rush (SHINE - 1996).