MartyJazz

I've also been digging a lot of mid '50s Lennie Niehaus lately. These OJCs are all very good.

John Handy! I'm referring to his Roulette and Columbia sessions as well as his sideman dates with Charles Mingus. (He made some pretty awful commercial sides later on).

There are some actors, performers, that one perhaps inexplicably, feels an attachment to. In my case, Jerry Orbach was definitely one of them. From what one could gather from interviews both in print and on TV, he seemed to be a real mensch. In all the films and stage appearances that I was fortunate to see him, he had a real presence. I'll miss seeing him.

December 29th. Recorded on this day: 1) 1953, Oscar Pettiford Sextet with Charles Mingus: 2) 1958, Chico Hamilton chamber jazz group with Eric Dolphy, 1st day of a 2 day session: 3) 1961, Yusef Lateef Quartet with Barry Harris and Elvin Jones: 4) 1963, Bobby Hutcherson records THE KICKER with Joe Henderson and Duke Pearson: 5) 1979, Steve Lacy Trio with Dennis Charles: and as mentioned previously, Bud Powell's THE SCENE CHANGES (1958)

You've whetted my appetite. Where can one find a recording of Mr. McGann's?

Here are some more with varying degrees of Bird influence: Thomas Chapin Gary Foster Joe Maini Barney Wilen Pete Yellin A couple of outcats: Tim Berne John Zorn And here's one Asian for you, Sadao Watanabe.

Not one of my favorites but a very fleet motherf****r with a Bird heritage - Richie Cole.

Three favorites: Frank Strozier, Lennie Niehaus, Paul Desmond. (Aside to doubleM, neither is Jackie McLean. Methinks Mr. Brown (or is it Mr. White?) was kidding).

Bud's THE SCENE CHANGES session was actually recorded on the following day, i.e., December 29, 1958 according to the Bud discographies I've seen. For December 28th, we have the following: 1) 1943, Lester Young Quartet records four relatively famous tracks, "Just You, Just Me", "I Never Knew", "Afternoon of a Basie-ite" and "Sometimes I'm Happy", all available with alternate takes on: 2) 1958, Milt Jackson begins a two day session with Art Farmer and Benny Golson among others for the following United Artists record later reissued by Blue Note: 3) 1959, Bill Evans, Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian record this session for Riverside: 4) 1961, Clifford Jordan begins a Jazzland session that extends to January of the following year: 5) 1984, Phil Woods with Tom Harrell aboard begins a two day session on this album (Evidence CD): 6) 1990, David Murray and a quartet record an entire session titled SUNRISE SUNSET strangely released under the name, "The Bob Thiele Collective" (Red Baron CD). No image that I could find. 7) 1991, Joe Lovano records the entire session titled FROM THE SOUL (Blue Note):

December 27th. On this day in: 1) 1947, Woody Herman & his Orchestra recorded the initial version for Columbia of what was to become a signature piece for the next 40 years, "Four Brothers"; 2) also in 1947, Art Blakey's "Messengers" which included Kenny Dorham and Sahib Shihab recorded several tracks for Blue Note, ultimately reissued on the "New Sounds" CD (which co featured a group led by James Moody); 3) 1957, Jackie McLean recorded an LP of music titled "Fat Jazz" for Jubilee ultimately reissued on Fresh Sound 4) 1974, Charles Mingus began a recording session which culminated four days thereafter, the fruits of which were issued on "Changes One" and Changes Two" (Atlantic)

Thanks for the link but it's somewhat daunting to realize that there are twice as many shows now available on DVD (i.e., I count 28) than I have on the complete VHS series. Collecting can be a curse!

Well, as I said before my Japanese copy looks like, to all intents and purposes, an original Atlantic. Therefore the liner notes, duplicated from the original, specify the recording engineers as Tom Dowd and Phil Iehle.

Boy, you could say that again! I regretted that I had parted with the original stereo Atlantic (which also had the green and blue label) and had assumed that my Japanese reissue was exactly the same. The liner notes by Gene Lees seem to be intact and he mentions four of the tunes on the LP - "Days of..", "..Suede Shoes", "Embraceable.." and "Sometime Ago" neglecting whatsoever to mention the two remaining tracks. In any event, here are the timings for the tracks on my copy: Days of Wine and Roses (6:49) By Myself (7:11) My Little Suede Shoes (5:02) Embraceable You (7:02) My Kinda Love (7:14) Sometime Ago (6:26)

On December 26, 1958, John Coltrane recorded his last session as a leader for Prestige. Tunes performed that day in a quintet with Freddie Hubbard were: "Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful?", "Then I'll be Tired of You", "Something I Dreamed Last Night". Quartet recordings that day were "Bahia" and "Time After Time". Finally, Red Garland sat out and the Coltrane trio performed "Goldsboro Express". These were issued on various LPs and finally collated together on the Coltrane Prestige box set.

I have a stereo Japanese LP reissue (Atlantic P-7561A) which has six tunes including "My Kinda Love", composed by Louis Alter & Jo Trent. I did own the original stereo Atlantic at one time and this copy appears to be a faithful duplicate in all respects.

As a longtime newkophile, I recently picked up this book which, I had not been aware, was originally published in 1998. The revised edition, which I have, has a 2004 copyright. At the beginning before the Preface, Mr. Palmer acknowledges Peter Keepnews for correcting "a number of factual errors which nobody had picked up" in the '98 edition. I'm only on page 54 and already I've seen a couple of factual discographical errors that simply amaze me to see in any serious study of Rollins' work. 1) On page 35, Mr. Palmer states: "The fall of 1954 saw his first collaboration with that quirky and influential enigmatic genius, Thelonious Monk,...." For years I've enjoyed the session that took place the previous year, that of November 13, 1953 wherein Rollins is featured in a Monk group performing all Monk compositions, i.e., two takes of "Think of One", "Let's Call This" and "Friday the 13th". In October 1954, Rollins joined Monk for the second time performing standards, e.g., "The Way You Look Tonight", etc. 2) On page 49, Mr. Palmer states: "The fall of 1957 saw five sessions that together document the full range of Mr. Rollins's mature art. NEWK'S TIME, a quartet date cut in September for Blue Note is........" 1957 was indeed a fertile year for Rollins but NEWK'S TIME was cut in September 1958, one year thereafter. This is not a picayune point because Rollins was very shortly to go into one of his extended sabbaticals so any music recorded just before that period has to be analyzed within that context. 3) On a number of occasions Mr. Palmer states that Rollins only recorded in a big band context (13 members) on one occasion, in July 1958, (TRIO & BRASS, Verve). To my mind, his recording a decade later of the soundtrack to ALFIE constitutues a big band setting (10 members), one that employed the arranging talents of Oliver Nelson. Don't get me wrong. I'm still enjoying the book. I'm just slightly appalled that's all. edited for spelling, NOT discographical, mistakes

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone! On this day: 1) 1948, Charlie Parker Quintet were recorded via broadcast at the "Royal Roost" performing "Half Nelson", "White Christmas" and "Little Willie Leaps" (Savoy) 2) 1949, Charlie Parker and the Stars of Modern Jazz (Jass). Groups led by Bird, Bud Powell, Stan Getz, Lennie Tristano, etc., and featuring Miles, Serge Chaloff and others, performed at Carnegie Hall. Great CD if you can find it. Any studio recordings on Christmas day? - highly doubtful I would think

1. Yes. 2. A short list of recommended Pullen CD's: The Sixth Sense. City Gates (with Adams). Live Again, with the African Brazilian Connection at Montreax. Ode to Life, with the African Brazilian Connection. Live at the V.V, with Adams, two volumes. Tomorrow's Promises, with Adams. I'm waiting for the Mosaic set. I would add: Life Line (with Adams, "Run John Henry, Run" alone being worth the price of admission) New Beginnings (Pullen's trio debut with Blue Note)

I was fortunate to catch Don Pullen with Mingus back in the mid '70s, and then later as part of the Adams-Pullen Quartet, both groups featuring Dannie Richmond on drums, mostly at the Village Vanguard. Every time was exciting, but one I really remember was a free concert they gave back in the early '80s at the Prospect Park bandshell in Brooklyn, NY. With a free concert, many people show up who may not have a clue as to what they're going to see. That's the impression I got that day from many in the crowd. Anyway, Adams and Pullen put on a tremendous show, captivating that crowd in the process. It was great to see people excited, cheering and clamoring for more when it ended. Both Adams and Pullen left us much too early.

Thanks Dan for pointing out where track #17 comes from. Good to know I was pretty much on the mark but I had no idea what session that track came from. Now I know!

Today is the 50th anniversary of one of the most famous jazz recordings ever made, one that no serious jazz collection should be without, i.e., the Prestige session under Miles Davis's leadership which featured Thelonious Monk and Milt Jackson. Two takes of "The Man I Love" as well as two takes of "Bags' Groove", etc. Miles' anger with Monk's comping has been well documented and discussed throughout the jazz literature. Nevertheless, some essential as well as beautiful music was made the day (or was it night?) before Christmas.

Exactly!! I could have written this word for word. Couldn't disagree with the two of you more. POINT OF DEPARTURE is a great, great album, easily Andrew Hill's best of which I too very much like BLACK FIRE, JUDGMENT, ANDREW!!!! (when will that ever get released on single CD?). The Hill Blue Note that still strikes me as the furthest out he did and one that I've never been able to get into is COMPULSION. Now, for years I couldn't get into Coltrane's OM album on Impulse. And then one day recently, I put on the headsets and listened and discovered that I still can't get into it.

I listened to WKCR for many years prior to moving to Florida 11 years ago. I also taped many a broadcast emanating from Columbia University via WKCR that I still have and value. "Jazz Alternatives" the nightly show was always my favorite. The one negative and evidently I'm in a minority about this, considering all the acclaim the man gets, is the ubiquitous presence of Phil Schaap. I assume that per minute his show is on the air, there is still more of him talking than music being played. When I would drive to work in the morning, I would put on his "Bird Flight" program. I could sometimes do the entire 20 minute commute without hearing a note from Bird, just anecdotes and questionable analyses galore from Mr. Schaap. (Mind you, this is a commercial-free radio station)! A friend of mine used to refer to him as Phil Schud-up already! What really bugged me is Schaap's implicit attitude that you, the listener, know nothing about the history of the music. Very patronizing IMO. Still, WKCR is a wonderful jazz resource in the New York metropolitan area. And I suppose that if you know nothing about jazz and are eager to learn, then Phil Schaap will be right down your alley.

Thanks for the link. One item not mentioned in it is the fact that he hosted what I believe was the best televised jazz program of the '60s, "Jazz Casual". I have all of the ones issued on VHS, 14 of them, and they are superb not only for the music but for the commentary and interviews conducted by Gleason. Highly recommended as I know a few of them, e.g., the show with John Coltrane, have been reissued on DVD.

When I lived the single life in New York City, late '60s to early '80s, my favorite radio station was WRVR-FM. Ed Beach was the host of a jazz program that each day devoted two hours to a particular artist. Ed was quite diligent in that he always seemed to play the best stuff and if it was a prolifically recorded artist, he would devote two shows. He would give biographical as well as discographical information, all in a very resonant baritone. I learned a lot about the music back then. Wish I would have taped just one of his programs.