sidewinder

Got it ! Think I paid £80

Sh#t. I'm sure one of the guys at Mosaic is keeping a watch on the 'Mosaic' forum and programming in these 'running lows' just as a form of torture to the Org Board Mosaic fetishistas.

very deep groove

Rendell/Carr Quintet 'Shades of Blue' (Columbia Lansdowne mono) Oscar Peterson 'The Trio' (UK HMV mono). With Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen.

Thanks everyone for your best wishes. Too bad I had to work for most of it but the booty this year did include a Mosaic.

Ouch ! Get well soon..

Now there's dedication to the cause for ya..

Yikes - is it really that many? Thanks, chaps !

Big Al Big Bad John Mr Big

Julie Andrews Andrew Anya the Vengeance Demon Enya Bono Val Doonican

It's come as one heck of a shock for me. I'd recently seen a listening for a regular gig by Ian's group in the Brighton area and was looking forward at some stage to checking it out. Sadly, the possibility is now no longer there. I did catch him though playing lead trumper in Kenny Wheeler's Big Band a couple of years ago and - I have to say - he was magnificent.

The very sad passing of that very fine trumpeter Ian Hamer has just been confirmed. The following is taken from Simon Spillet's tribute over on AAJ: "I have received the very sad news of the sudden death of trumpeter Ian Hamer after suffering a massive heart attack last night. He was nine days away from what would have been his 74th birthday. I am sure we all extend our condolences to his family. Ian's career exemplified the excellence of the generation of British jazzmen to which he belonged. A more then capable jazzman, a consistent session musician able to function in all manner of contexts, a fine composer and arranger, and an excellent highly skilled exponent of his instrument, his professional life stretched back over fifty years and included stints with Tubby Hayes (playing on all but one of Hayes' big band albums), appearances with Woody Herman, recordings with Mike Gibbs, and many famous "session" duties (The Beatles Got To Get You Into My Life is one such example). Ian's own sextet, formed in the middle 1960s, was a sporadically active vehicle for his own compostions and arrangements. The calibre of his "sidemen", which variously included Tubby Hayes, Alan Skidmore and Dick Morrissey, is a tribute to the excellence of the leader's music. The recent 2-CD set Acropolis by this band (issued on the Jasmine label) illustrates Hamer's unsung skills perfectly. Hamer was extremely proud of this CD, and was delighted to have his "debut" album issued at the age of 72. The album met with universal praise in the jazz press, most recently garnering a glowing review by Tony Hall in Jazzwise magazine In recent years Hamer played less often in high-profile settings. He had semi-retired to Brighton where he led the Sussex Jazz Orchestra, a band he coached through scores by the very best of British jazzmen such as Kenny Wheeler, Tubby Hayes, Stan Tracey and himself, as well as the unhackneyed repertoire of Thad Jones-Mel Lewis, Peter Herbolzheimer and others. Hamer's most recent appearances included a sextet gig at Brighton Jazz Club, and a session with Kenny Wheeler's Big Band at the Appleby Jazz Festival earlier this summer. He and Wheeler had been friends for close to fifty years and Ian played in virtually all of Kenny's big band and brass-centred line-ups, including the trumpeters 75th Birthday Tour in 2005, where he shared the stage with international stars such as Lee Konitz and Dave Holland. Ian Hamer b. Merseyside, September 11th 1932 d. Brighton, Sussex, September 2nd 2006" A very fine lead trumpeter and soloist who will be sorely missed on the UK scene. The 'Acropolis' CD is a most worthy tribute.

BFT has arrived Luca. Many thanks - and a real nice listen so far.

Have a great one !

Happy birthday Bill !

That's really sad news . There were rumours that Andrew would play a gig in London earlier this year but in the end nothing came of it - presumably due to the health problems. Here's wishing him the very best.

That would certainly be in my top 2 or 3, for sure !

Very sad news to start the day - RIP.

Reid had LOTS of cars! He would somtimes drive a '47 MG TC and I know he had a '41 Continental V-12 convertible. Not sure about a Jaguar, but it wouldn't surprise me if he had one! Reid wasn't a big time jazz listener, really. He used to BLAST Opera in his car, I know that for a fact! Amazing story Allan - thanks for sharing. Did you get him to sign some covers? One of the Marsh/Callingham books has a picture of Reid Miles with his collection of vintage cars, all on show in a huge great gallery that was his 'home base'. I'm not suprised to hear that he had opera music blaring out. Read somewhere (in one of those books I think) that he got rid of all of his 'courtesy' copies of the Blue Note LPs just after being given them as he wasn't a fan of the music. 30 minutes to 2 hrs per design eh? Amazing !

'Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers' (UK HMV stereo) Miles Davis 'Porgy & Bess' (Dutch Fontana stereo)

Karen Carpenter James Mason Bill Plummer Little Plum Desperate Dan Bash Street Kids

Tommy Flanagan 'The Cats' (New Jazz DG mono). Nice fidelity ! Woody Shaw 'Stepping Stones' (CBS)