sidewinder

Awesome - looks unmissable Too bad it's on a Tuesday though. Time to book a day's hol to hit the big smoke !

Hitsville USA - Complete Motown Singles Collection CDs 3 and 4

Damn, you beat me to it.

Thanks for posting this - very interesting.

Harold Land/Blue Mitchell 'Mapenzi' (Concord Jazz)

I didn't know about those. Thanks Allen. MG They can be obtained together in a paperback called 'The Best of Jazz' and published by Robson Books Ltd. Got my copy from the man himself some years ago, which he was signing at a gig. It starts off with the Original Dixieland Jazz Band and goes through to Roy Eldridge.

Carla Bley 'Night Glo' (Watt/ECM) Woody Shaw 'Solid' (Muse) Anthony Braxton 'The Montreux/Berlin Concerts' (Arista 2LP)

Woody Shaw 'Rosewood' (CBS, stereo)

I'll guess we'll look on the last 10 years as the golden era for buying jazz CDs in retail stores the UK. It's back to the dark ages now, by the look of it. Thank goodness though for Dusty Groove and US snail mail ! Anyway, I digress from Mike's original thread.

Ah yes, wasn't it HMV that bought some of the stores out? Not too many of them though (the one in Bath for example is now long gone). £17 for a Conn though takes things back to circa 1994. And these shops wonder why the internet is killing trade !

Pretty shocked yesterday when I saw their price for Conns - £17 ! Are these things linked to the petroleum index? Oh for the days of Fopp when these things were often £5 a pop. Other than RVGs at about £6 or £7 a pop, prices were high I thought. There again, I'm comparing it with prices in the boondocks. You may well be right though about price comparison with Rays. Everything in London is extortionate.

Yeah. I was really hoping to go and see his band over the coming months as they were still touring with gusto. Looks like the death was due to post-operative complications. Will definitely dig out the 'Humph at the Conway' LP on Parlophone. That one is great.

I have no idea - we get picked up at Heathrow and are taken straight to the venue, I have no adress or whatever. Kurdish organization borders on chaos, in most cases. Mikail Aslan's webiste hasn't any details, either. I have the exact flight details 'cause I booked it myself! Magical Mystery Tour ! If you are passing through the Picadilly Circus underground, you might want to try the old Tower Records site which is accessible from there, now rebanded 'Zavvi'. Was in there briefly yesterday - prices are ludicrous though (especially compared with good stores in Germany) and it's not as good as the old 'Tower'. 'Rays' remains your best bet (and the coffee is good there too).

"Midnight in Carlotta's Hair" from the CD High Life That's the one

BBC tribute: Humph RIP

More bad news. But he left some great music for us. That Mosaic set will be coming out this weekend, RIP. I'll also dig out 'Herb Ellis Meets Jimmy Giuffre' on Verve and the aforementioned 'Fusion' LP.

Great show again from Wayne and the band last night. It's about the 3rd time I've seen them at the Barbican and I think this was the best of the performances - Wayne mainly on tenor (for about 90%) off the time and much of the set being very impressionistic, brooding and abstract - reminded me a bit of late period Trane a la 'Meditations' but with a much lighter tone of course. The tunes were difficult to work out for me but I picked out 'Go' from 'Schizophrenia' which segued nicely into 'She Moved Through The Fair'. After the very impressionistic main set they tightened the focus very effectively for the encore ('Up In Carlito's Lair' I think, not sure) and with Wayne's switch to the soprano it was a stunning contrast. Good to see the great man play lots of tenor with some fantastic serpentine fast runs, playing off of Perez's piano flurries . The band to me also seem to get better each time - in particular, really enjoyed Mr Pattituci's arco bass work on this occasion. Always good to see this group.

So sorry to hear this sad news - RIP. He did great things for jazz (and broadcasting) in this country, his 'Best of Jazz' radio show was an education for me back in the 70s and 80s (no rubbish on that show, just fine music). I got to meet the great man a few years back and very kind he was too. One of a kind and totally irreplaceable. Was only reading in the paper last week that he was due to go into hospital this week for a heart op. Had my fingers crossed but sadly not to be.

Happy 80th Birthday to Johnny Griffin ! 'The Congregation' LP is going on a bit later in recognition. Saw him about 3 or 4 years ago in London - in a lineup with George Coleman.

Wayne Shorter and his Quartet in London tomorrow night.

I didn't realise Von had a "Chicago" sound. I always assumed he had a very individual, highly penetrating, sound and that there wasn't a bunch of other Chicago sax players with a similar approach. Looking for some hints, here; I have much to learn about Chicago stuff. MG I can hear some Von Freeman in some of Johnny Griffin's playing - or vice versa. Exactly !

World record for thin-ness - ABC Impulse circa 1976. Amazingly, they can often sound pretty good.

Sure was. The marketing hype was even big over here, in most of the popular music press. Heck, I even remember hearing one of Donald Byrd's 45s being played on BBC Radio 1 in their prime lunchtime pop music slot around 1976. Closely followed by John Handy 'Hard Work' on Impulse, of course.

The bats are out for first time tonight this year doing circuits in my back garden. A sure sign that Summer is nearly here Meanwhile in Western Canada isn't it like -20C or something crazy like that?

Carla Bley 'Heavy Heart' (Watt/ECM) Von Freeman 'Doin' It Right Now' (Atlantic green/orange, stereo) - Von Freeman, John Young, Sam Jones, Jimmy Cobb. What a great lineup ! Warming enormously to Von's quirky Chicago sound. Really nice LP - recommended !