sidewinder

Ha - that’s where Mosaic comes in useful again. The sound on their ‘Complete MJQ Atlantic Studio’ set is pretty good as well. Those old MJQ albums on Atlantic and London can be a bit of a gamble. I find that both Dutch and UK Fontana’s from the early 60s can be a bit iffy. Surface noise can be a problem.

‘Mumbles’ would be from one of those albums with the Big Bad Band. I remember him doing that one with the Big Bad Band on a BBC TV broadcast circa 1975/76, filmed in London. I don’t think it has ever been repeated that I know of, just a half hour show. Remember being surprised at the time that the trumpets included Richard Williams, along with names such as Chris Woods in the saxes.

Miles was the expert at on-the-fly conversions of bum notes into pearls !

The Record Store Day lineup beckons, I guess..🙄 On ‘Affinity’? - If so, I saw a copy of that one the other day and nearly picked it up. Is it really that bad?

One of his very best - not that there are any weak ones that I’m aware of.

‘Portraits’ does sound much better on the Mosaic CD set. Those Denons were very expensive over here too. Up there with Blue Note King releases and more.

I was just disappointed that there was nothing on flights to Tierra Del Fuego.

I saw him in Summer 1980 at RFH, London in a lineup with Michael Brecker as part of a George Wein concert bill ‘Tribute to Charlie Parker’.

Had a skim through it and there is good coverage of his jazz involvement. There’s mention of the Mike Taylor Trio, ‘Escalator over the Hill’, Tony Williams Lifetime, Kip Hanrahan and Graham Bond Organisation. There’s even mention of his friendship with Don Pullen. Bruce provided much input to the book - looks a good one. I think I’ll also pick up Harry Shapiro’s earlier book on Graham Bond too, if I can find it. The book on Bruce takes the story up to about 2010, when he was still alive. So good that his later years were, by the sound of it, happy ones. Theres a good story in there of Bruce and Larry Young seeing a UFO on the way to a Manchester gig by Lifetime in 1970 and being blown away by it. That was a bumper UFO period over here !

Disk Union

Just picked up a copy of the Jack Bruce biography ‘Composing Himself’ for £1! Wading in..

First Woody album I ever bought - back in 1974 ! Amazingly, my copy has no cutout and no significant ring wear. I want a refund.

Superb playing by Taft Jordan in particular. 👍 Appreciating this one - Thad had just left but there were some nice new arrangements by him on this one.

From the Mosaic Select

Need to dig out your old vinyl copy Bill !👍 A welcome respin of a fine album. This would make a good Tone Poet reissue on vinyl. Art was also featured in the piano-less Gerry Mulligan Quartet of course.

Interesting, I saw the Coleman Quartet on that tour and as mentioned, no Sam Jones but for London I recall it was Herbie Lewis (in dungarees) on bass. Maybe he was just filling in for Ray Drummond for that gig. I too was expecting Sam Jones but I remember hearing of his illness at that time. Wish I had a time machine to check out a couple more sets of that ‘Ronnie’s’ engagement.

Excellent !

Thought you might like that one. 😀

Another new one. Bergenfield DG mono pressing. A bit neglected but sounding great after a wash. Intensive clean - sounds fabulous, in typical RVG fashion !

Another decent find for a couple of quid. Even has Steve Voce’s Jazz Journal review included as an insert so a promo copy I guess. Lots of early 80s hype in the sleeve notes emphasising that this is a ‘Digital’ session. Jeez ! Seen this Telarc LP millions of times but never had a copy.

Just picked up a copy of this Herbie Mann/Oliver Nelson offering - don’t think I’ve seen it before. Carmell Jones takes the trumpet solos ! 2-Eye stereo.

CDs 1 and 2

No problem. Sorry if my response works out expensive ! Forgot to mention the United Jazz and Rock Ensemble releases as well. Barbara is well featured on all of those, along with husband Jon Hiseman.

My favourite is the double album ‘Paraphernalia Live’, recorded at Hornchurch I think. Another one too look out for is the debut LP by her group Jubiaba, a bigger group with more of a Latin feel. To be honest though your best bet is just to go for the BBC box set. There is stuff on there not represented in her LPs and the quality of most of it is first rate. Plus a fantastic Mike Taylor tribute broadcast where they really hit the mark. Also recommend a read of Barbara’s autobiography, obtainable from the good guys at Jazz In Britain.

I remember when ‘Chrome Waterfall’ came out on vinyl, it was quite a popular release at the time. Gibbs had some crossover success - maybe getting music credits for ‘The Goodies’ comedy TV show helped ! Last time I saw him live he was conducting a youth orchestra as part of his 80th birthday celebrations, covering his own arrangements, must have been in 2017. Very enjoyable.