sidewinder

It was HMV’s sale but I suspect it has now sold out.

Yes, ‘Scott at Ronnie’s’, another good one. There’s also his ballad album ‘The Night is Scott and You’re So Swingable’. That came out on Fontana LP and on CD on Redial. A rare studio outing from the 60s and an interesting ballad/MOR link to Land with his ‘A Lazy Afternoon’ session.

Maybe ‘The Simpson’s’ next? After all, Jackie Mac has been on it..

Yeah, sounds great. I have it on a NY mono copy but great to hear it in stereo and they have done a really fine job with the mastering. Another winner !

I’ve always felt that some of Ronnie Scott’s finest work was with the sax section of the Clarke/Boland Big Band, where he was featured fairly frequently in solos. So pretty well all of those MPS albums really. I think Acrobat have done a collection of his early Esquire releases, which are well worth a listen. Also the Jazz Couriers stuff of course. I’ve always felt that he was strongly influenced by Hank Mobley and heard that he used to get all of Hank’s Blue Note albums when they came out. He’s in print also as saying that he disliked studio recording as it didn’t capture him well. Having said that, ‘Serious Gold’ on Pye is really good, as is that live CD put out by Acrobat with Mike Carr and Bobby Gein of a mid 70s pub gig in Wiltshire (albeit a location recording, not audiophile). Was fortunate to see him play at his club quite a few times and hear some really fine playing, in some excellent bands. Generally, if there was a US main act on his band would often open the show. The first band of his I think I saw was the one with Louis Stewart on guitar, followed by the quintet with Dick Pearce on trumpet/flugelhorn. Later on he added Mornington Lockett on second tenor. Used to hear that Mobley influence pretty strongly, although some Getz influence also. As you mention, he could build up those long solo lines logically and to great effect. Also an incredible stand-up comedian. Always hilarious, although incredibly his own opinion was that he was embarrassing and not funny. In truth, totally the opposite.

Remember buying this as a youngster and getting spooked out by ‘Rated X’ big time ! 🤣

I have that Stateside LP with the Geller/Dorham session. It was also reissued by Vogue as ‘West Coast Scene Vol 3’ but only half the LP was included and I don’t think Vol 4 ever came out !

Nice gap filler at 50% off !

King. Wonder what the croc is all about ?

Blue label mono

Newline 2LP - sonics cleaned up quite a bit compared to other versions I have (not that it is the greatest of recordings) and in stereo. The unreleased ‘Billie’s Bounce’ on LP2 is a real find.

Neil Ardley (Australian World Record Club)

‘Neil Ardley and the Danish Radio Big Band, 1968’ (Jazz In Britain, mono)

Just arrived - for a busy afternoon’s reading.

My copy of the Neil Ardley bio has arrived. It looks every bit as good as the pictures, packed with personal photos, correspondence, flyers etc. A real labour of love. Quite a sizeable and weighty volume so the shipping is justified - over 400 pages. Strongly recommended ! The two CDs are very interesting too. CD1 has Neil leading the Danish Radio Jazz Orchestra from 1968 with material from ‘Dejeuner..’ plus extras and a prototype early version of ‘Greek Variations’, a real find ! CD2 has 80s material on synth by Neil, some with Pepi Lemer vocals plus recordings from the 2003 St Cyprians concert by ‘Zyklus’, his last live performance.

3LP compilation and booklet compiled by Derek Jewell. Some great choices.

Conn ‘Wally’ issue of the LP, signed by Wayne on the back. Sounding surprisingly good, to my ears.

Northern Lights seen from Stonehenge last night (Thurs).

Blue label, mono. Great sounding LP.

‘Jazzwise’ this month has a review of that Cafe Oto gig. There was mention of a serious bout of pneumonia back in 2021 I think.

I’ve got the feeling that it was 10 of the favourites selected by Mike Hennessy. ‘Hub of Hubbard’ was one of them. Around 1980.