sidewinder

What really staggered me was a comment in one of the papers that when this tortoise was born around 1750 the Battle of Culloden (last major land battle in mainland Britain between England and Scotland) was still very recent history. Jeez !

Robertson Davies Margaret Attwood Mordecai Richler

Maceo Parker Charlie Parker Baronness Pannonica de Koenigswater

Just giving this beauty a listen after it has been stuck in the racks for far too long. Far better than my recollections from the last time I heard this. Grooves lick heck with fine George Braith and Tommy Turrentine is a good fit with some of the tracks. Recommended ! Wonder why it stayed unreleased for so long? (presumably they had a large backlog of good Patton material at Blue Note in the early 60s).

Named after 'Sir Humphrey', the evasive and machievellian Permanent Secretary in the UK TV comedy 'Yes Minister' and a big favourite of Mrs T. I always associate this cat with the Thatcher years (often seen coming and going through the front door of No. 10) but apparently the Blairs were never fans of this moggie.

Just working my way through this set. At £42 with a £15 Amazon voucher it came to £27. The price was right !

Yes, that is John Gilmore and the performance was recorded by the BBC in London during March 1965 as part of the BBC2 'Jazz 625' series. Victor Sproles on bass and John Hicks on piano. I have the VHS in my hand as I type this. The full performance of 'Buhaina's Delight' lasts for just over 8 minutes. The session is musically excellent and well filmed/recorded by the BBC, in the B&W format of the time. Both Morgan and Gilmore are in good form. This series was a landmark as far as jazz on TV in the UK was concerned. My copy of the video was for sale by PNE video around 10 years ago (I think there were 16 titles in the series. Wish I'd bought the lot. )

The Four Freshmen set was suprisingly good. Time to procrastinate on the 'Mildred'.

Are they heading down to the South/South West in the near future?

Can't say that I've ever heard of this one or seen it in UK shops. I'll take a look next time I'm shopping for CDs in Bath ! 'Space' and 'Under The Jasmine Tree' are MJQ faves of mine. Will dig out the SAPCOR vinyl later tonight. I'm also very fond of the early Prestige sessions (some of which have Kenny Clarke) and the Atlantic 2LP 'Last Concert'/'More From The Last Concert'. One of the most incredibly civilised evenings I ever had was listening to a solo John Lewis recital - in fact I was standing right next to him with my drink - at a Toronto piano bar. Unforgettable..

Grachan Moncur III 'Some Other Stuff' (BN NY USA mono) 'Forum West - Modern Jazz From West Germany 1962-1968' (Sonar Kollektiv 2LP)

I've missed news of this being a possible project--the 1967 quintet, I take it? On Mosaic vinyl perhaps ?

Jackie McLean 'Swing Swang Swingin' (BN 47W63rd DG mono). Great album - and interesting to hear the young Jimmy Garrison in this context. Andrew Hill 'Lift Every Voice' (BN Liberty stereo)

Slide Hampton 'Jazz With A Twist' (UK London mono)

Stan Levey 'Grand Stan' (UK London mono) - UK version of the Bethlehem LP Hank Jones 'Have You Met Hank Jones' (UK London mono) - UK version of the Savoy LP Stan Tracey Big Brass 'Seven Ages of Man' (UK Columbia Lansdowne stereo) Stan Tracey Big Brass 'Alice In Jazzland' (UK Columbia Lansdowne stereo) Acker Bilk with Stan Tracey Big Brass 'Blue Acker' (UK Columbia Lansdowne stereo) Horace Silver 'Finger Poppin' (BN 47W63rd DG mono)

Ferrara is also on that collection of 1957 Gerry Mulligan arrangements put out by CBS (I think it's called 'The Arranger') which features some very Gi-Evansish arrangements for a 15-ish size band. I think Ferrara is featured on 'All The Things You Are' on that collection. (I've heard Humphrey Lyttelton describe that one as 'A FairIsle sweater of an arrangement', which sums it up quite well.

Strangely enough just as I was buying my first beer at the bar of the Jazz Cafe this guy with a beatific smile and mega-cool turban on walked through the entrance and right past me towards the stage area. He'd gone before I had fully registered the fact... No sign of any blondes !

One of the fascinating things about seeing Lonnie in action at close range was to watch his work on the foot pedals. Amazingly nimble and he seemed to be keeping the movement to a minimum on the left foor so the footwork was very efficient. What he was doing with his feet was incredible in itself but combine that with the simultaneous contortions on the keyboard with masterful control of the dynamics and you have a truly great player. I'm still stunned several days after seeing all of this.

I am still slowly working my way through the Nat Cole vinyl set so I have enough for now !

The Doctor and Lou played a couple of great shows in London this week and they were awesome ! I had the good fortune to watch one of these performances less than 1 foot away from Lonnie's keyboard as they performed to perfection the likes of 'Alligator Bogaloo', 'Reverend Moses' and 'Blues Walk'. Dr Smith was amazing - I'd expected great things from his recordings but in person he is a phenomenon. For my money the greatest jazz organist active in the world at this time. Lou was also great - some suprisingly fast runs through the likes of 'Cherokee', some very soulful blues and very hip vocals. Staggering that he can still pull this sort of thing off with aplomb. It sounded like the sort of stuff he was doing in the Scorpion Club back in 1970 but - hey - that's fine by me. Big thumbs up too for guitarist Randy Johnstone, who with his Benson-ish style is the perfect complement for this group. Hope they are back again soon !

Likewise - I am still recovering from the Guiness, Laphroig and extra hot Curry to follow.

Hank Jones/Oliver Nelson 'Happenings' (Impulse stereo original) Oscar Peterson 'Recital By' (Clef deepgroove mono original). Picked up today in NM condition for £6 !

How could I forget that one ! 'Daipur' is one of Norma's all-time greatest performances. Amancio D'Silva too !

Uh oh - another Cellar Door style fiasco in the make?

Ghost was right, thats the one. 'Songs and Lullabies'. Off to the library we go !