sidewinder

The mystery deepens. Mike F's chronology has an entry for Feb 27-March 8th 1964 at the Manne-Hole, followed by the Jazz Workshop in San Fran. The line-up is Morgan, Shorter, Fuller, Walton and Workman. First listing entries for Hicks and Sproles are in October 1964...

Fascinating, Bertrand ... this is starting to develop like something out of Sherlock Holmes ! B) Incidentally, the only reference I can see to a 1965 Blakey session with Sproles is 'Soulfinger' on Limelight. Recorded in May, it has Lucky Thompson on tenor and soprano. John Hicks was still in the band for this date ..

I've just checked the Jazz 625 video. Victor Sproles is quite a tall and gangly guy. Sounds like a very possible candidate for your bassist ! Strangely enough, on the 625 performance Sproles has what looks like a bandage on the back of his left hand ..

The Messengers' UK session for Jazz 625, which was recorded during March 1965, had Victor Sproles on bass ...

She plays very nicely indeed on Billy's 'Soul of an Angel' album. Very solid stuff ..

- Kenton/Holman/Russo Mosaic - Bill Evans 'Complete Riverside' disk 8 - Oliver Nelson 'Full Nelson' (Verve) - Oliver Nelson 'Main Stem' (Prestige) B) - Sam Rivers 'Fuschia Swing Song' (BN)

Checked my disk 8. Just Evans playing 'Very Early', no angsty harmon mutes in sight .... B) . All of these sets are great, even without the notes. The sound quality of the transfers sounds pretty good too. Fantastic deal all round. The 'Art Pepper Complete Galaxy' set is particularly recommended, along with the phenomenal Monk and Evans collections...

Amazingly, there was an original mint Liberty LP pressing of this that sold on ebay last week for £9 from a UK seller. Someone got one heck of a deal !

- Andrew Hill Big Band BBC Recording - Shorty Rogers 'Complete Atlantic/EMI' Mosaic set - Don Ellis 'Autumn' (CBS) - Serge Chaloff Mosaic set - Woody Shaw Mosaic set - Jackie McLean 'It's Time !'

I don't have this one yet John but will keep an eye open for it and pick it up. In fact I still need to get hold of 'Dusk' and 'A Beautiful Day'. Just keeping up with the Hill Conn's has been almost a full time activity in itself over the last few years. I have the two later BN sessions - 'Eternal Spirit' and 'But Not Farewell'. I like them both and suspect that 'Shades' will be somewhat comparable to these in style ..

Must put in a word for Joe's work on 'Delightfulee' by Lee Morgan. There are a couple of smoking quintet tracks on this album which burn as well as 'The Melting Pot' from the 'Blue Spirit' album. Also thumbs up for 'The Prisoner' by Herbie Hancock. Joe's tenor work on this album is typically workmanlike and inspired. If there's one thing he always imparted on albums with which he was involved it was 'value added'. All time greatest from Joe for me must be his work on 'The Sidewinder'. His contribution should receive due credit for making this such a landmark BN album... I saw Joe just the once, in a small club with quartet backing just before the public started to take notice. The thing that stands out is the unique, rounded sound and almost foggy he got out of that old sax he was playing (maybe this was the instrument he used on 'Our Thing' and other BN sessions - the lacquer was quite worn?) Truly distinctive sound, instantly identifiable. I can still recall that fantastic solo he put in on 'Recorde Me' that night. Phenomenal ! :rsmile:

There's always a good vibe and warmth about his recordings - which draws the listener in. I suspect that this reflects the character of the man himself, from opinions I've heard from those who worked with him. Very, very honourable mention also for his work on Hank Mobley's 'A Slice of the Top'. Duke did the arrangements whilst Mobley was in jail I believe, from sketch arrangements supplied. The results were predictably excellent.

Just checked it out on the radio. Sounded even better on this recording than at the concert (location up front made it a bit difficult to pick out the orchestral voicings at times). Hill's piano playing comes across magnificently on playback ..

Looks like they are on such a roll of late that they'll be bringing back the vinyl issues next ...........

I'm a big time fan of the two big band albums on Blue Note - 'Introducing Duke Pearson's Big Band' and 'Now Hear This !'. Both very nice sessions, conventional big band material but with an adventurous edge with inclusion of material by the likes of Chick Corea. Also the cream of the NY session players at the time, many of who also participated in the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. One over-riding impression of Duke from these sessions is - GREAT TASTE ! They are also very listenable and 'user friendly' recordings. Again, characteristics of most of Duke's material. Other larger group material to check out is on the very fine Blue Mitchell Mosaic set and for excellent mid-sized group sounds check out 'Wahoo' and 'The Right Touch' (both under Duke's name) and 'Little Johnny C'. The latter was put out under Johnny Coles' name but is effectively a Duke Pearson session with all of the virtues that this entails ... :rsmile:

When it comes to droids, this guy is the biz ...... :rsmile:

Its bad enough just keeping up with the OOPs ...... The backlog of the newer stuff is now getting critical !

I'll second that ! :rsmile:

And it can only go up from here too ! :rsmile:

I'm not suprised to hear this very positive report - and in the very grooving environment of the 'Jazz Bakery' on Helms, that sounds like one heck of a nice gig. The one time I saw Solal in solo recital performance was a jaw-dropper, a real revelation. Those big band albums (on Verve and Dreyfus Jazz Line) are also to die for - I've yet to locate the vinyl. Will also have to check out this new BN release, thanks for the reminder !

I just hope that they sort out the permission thing re: the potential Tal Farlow Complete Verve box. That set is going to please a lot of Tal and Mosaic afficionados !

I'll second the comments about the CD stall. Some good things on there (I picked up a 'Colin Towns Mask Orchestra' and John Mayer's 'Indo Jazz Fusions 2001' for £18 the pair, not bad) and there was a stack of old copies of Coda, which I usually raid on my annual visit to the fest. Any CD stall with about 15 copies of Mike Osborne's 'Outback' for sale is pretty cool in my estimations ! The best venue at Bath for my taste was probably the 'Tramshed'. It was the perfect venue for Lester Bowie's Brass Fantasy about 15 years ago (I used to have a video of this concert but it was accidentally wiped over ) . I believe that they have now converted the Tramshed into yuppie flats now though (or something of this ilk ...) I rather like the Guildhall - it was best in the days though when there was a wine bar just outside the recital room serving wine by the glass instead of plastic receptacles ! Very refined. Highlight at this venue was Martial Solal solo recital, again many years ago.

Lee Morgan's 'The Rajah' is a five star in my view but it always seems to get lukewarm reviews. Worth buying for the tasty rendition of 'Is That So' alone !

From this list it would have to be 'Smokestack' but my all-time faves would have to be: - Sam Rivers 'Dimensions and Extensions' (way cool ..) and 'Contours' - Johnny Coles 'Little Johnny C' - Johnny Griffin 'The Congregation' (another Warhol - nuff said !) - Horace Silver 'The Jody Grind' (check out Horace's chicks ! )

Yes Bev, he was very enthusiastic about this band and was very relaxed in his interactions with some of the UK musicians who were hanging around back stage (altoist Tony Kofi for one). I personally thought Baptiste played extremely well and he interacted nicely with Greg Tardy. Suspect that economics had a lot to do with the joint US/UK composition of the band. Yes, the Afro-Caribbean community has enriched the UK jazz community immeasurably over the years. I was reminded of this recently listening to Joe Harriott and Shake Keane on my LP copy of 'Indo-Jazz Suite'. Messrs Baptiste, Kofi and co. are carrying on this honourable tradition .. Of course, Andrew himself has that strong Haitian connection too ! :rsmile: