Mark Stryker

VERY early Donald Byrd, who had only relocated to New York from Detroit in June and had only made two studio dates by the time of this gig.

Please read this surprising and deeply meaningful piece. https://admissionsprojects.com/2021/07/06/mulgrew-miller-saw-us-through/?fbclid=IwAR3XBa9YUpERRXiJyrPFRPuMQmUG93lPcZ2D8McSwPirjFZPxnkxy05NNoc

Happy birthday to Della Reese, born July 6, 1931 in the Black Bottom neighborhood of Detroit. Here she is in 1960. Man, she was born to sing. Dig the multiple endings -- when it feels this good, you don't want to stop. I think the only person who didn't dig it is the director, who keeps panning back when he thinks things are coming to a close. Oops.

I think the black flute/piccolo player on our left is likely Bill Green.

From the regrettably short-lived Redd Foxx Comedy Hour, yes?

Gang: I'm trying to track down a story about Howard McGhee that ran in Downbeat in the August 15, 1963 issue. I have the issue before this and the issue after this is my collection, but, alas, I am missing the one I need. I'd be grateful i anybody that has it could take some phone pics and email them to me. PM me if you can help and I'll send you the email address. Many thanks -- MS

It is. I fucked up. Fixed. Thanks.

Via Ethan Iverson, here's a 36-minute interview with Hemphill conducted by Terry Gross in 1976. Fascinating stuff. Coda: Gross has been doing this a LONG time. She began doing Fresh Air in 1975, so she's about 24 at the time of this interview. https://freshairarchive.org/guests/julius-hemphill

Right! What Shepp had no way of knowing is that Joel LOVES to play fast, so he took that instruction as both a challenge and license. The faster he goes the more comfortable he gets. Anyway, sounds like it was one of those memorable moments that always happen at the best festivals. Would like to hear it.

One set I've always heard about but the tape hasn't shown up in the archive is the 1982 (I think) appearance by the Archie Shepp Quartet. Drummer John Betsch was delayed for some reason and because the set was being nationally broadcast it HAD to start on the button. My old friend Joel Spencer, who had just finished playing with a big band, was quickly recruited to start the set, and by all accounts played his ass off. Betsch arrived after a tune or two but Shepp waved him off and Joel played the entire set. A young Kenny Werner was in that band too. Not if you're stressing about deadline! That shit will take its toll -- if not the walk, then the post-filing alcohol (or whatever) to calm the adrenalin. YMMV. I always tried to have at least my lede written in my head before I reached my computer, whether it was formed on the walk/drive back to the office or actually while sitting in my seat at the performance, where I would jot it down in my notebook. Made a big difference to me to get rid of the blank screen as soon as possible -- even if I eventually ended up rewriting the lede.

I was lucky with the Detroit Jazz Festival all the years I was on the beat, because the footprint for the festival was a 5 to 15 minute walk from the newsroom depending on where exactly you were starting from. Those extra minutes were a godsend on deadline. Still, in later years, I'd take my laptop and often file from the festival grounds.

Threadgill, Hopkins, McCall at the Chicago Jazz Festival, the national WBEZ broadcast. I'm sure our Chicago board members like Larry Kart and Chuck Nessa were there. https://archive.org/details/air-trio-chicago-jazz-festival-1981-wbez/04-Air+Song.mp3

Off topic, but nectarine -- "half a peach, half a plum; it's a helluva fruit."

You know, when I played this the other day, I noticed a couple of spots in the saxophone solo on "Plantation" where I thought I heard a skip -- it wasn't a repeating skip, but a barely audible "jump" that sounded almost like a clumsy edit. I took the record off and wiped with a cloth to see if there was a speck of dust or something stuck to the vinyl. Played it again with same result. I couldn't feel anything with my finger, so I was confused. Then I played it again with my eyes right at stylus level to see if I could actually see the "jump" but I could not see anything unusual, but I still heard the jump. I was about ready to take the record back but then the next time I played that spot, the record seemed to play fine. So: (a) I guess I am not the only one who noticed an issue. (b) My record apparently is possessed and it is sometimes going to jump and sometimes will play fine just to fuck with my mind.

Before Kenny Garrett played with Mel Lewis, he toured for three years with Mercer Ellington -- rather than enroll at Berklee, which was his original plan. Rickey Woodard played with Ray Charles in the '80s. Cecil (and Ron) Bridgewater played with Thad and Mel in the '70s. For that matter, Dee Dee. Bridgewater also sang with Thad and Mel in the early '70s. I saw a reference earlier in this thread to Branford Marsalis and Conrad Herwig playing with Clark Terry in the '70s. Actually, that band formed in 1980 or 81 as I recall -- I heard them in Fort Wayne, Indiana at a high school jazz festival in spring 1981. Branford played alto. Others in that band included Conrad Herwing on trombone, Bryon Stripling on trumpet, John Campbell on piano. Veteran Chris Woods was a featured soloist on alto. Clayton Cameron and Suggie Otis and played with Gerald Wilson in the '80s. John Clayton played with Basie in the '70s and Gerald Wilson in the 1980s. Anthony Wilson started playing with Gerald Wilson in the late '80s. George Mraz played with Thad and Mel in the '70s. Gary Smulyan played baritone saxophone with Woddy Herman c. 1979. Jim Snidero played with Toshiko in the mid 80s. Jeff Ballard played with Ray Charles in the late '80s. Jim McNeely played with Thad and Mel in the late '70s. Dick Oats and Rich Perry started with Thad and Mel in the late '70s and are still with the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. Tom Harrell, Kenny Berger, David Berger, Claudio Roditi, Bob Mintzer, and Gregory Herbert all played with Chuck Israel's National Jazz Ensemble in the '70s. Jack Walrath played with Ray Charles in the early '70s. .

It’s not often that obituary writers actually break news, but Matt Schudel has done so today in the Washington Post by reporting that Fuller, contrary to received wisdom, was born in 1932 rather than 1934. Fuller’s daughter confirmed the earlier year to Schudel after she looked at his passport records and other similar documentary sources. In “Jazz from Detroit,” I have Curtis' birthday in 1934 per not only all the standard reference books and liner notes from his early recordings but also, curiously, his own confirmation when I double-checked it with him the last time I interviewed him at length in 2012. Birthdays can be particularly slippery "facts," and the reference books are wrong in an alarming number of cases. With someone like Curtis, whose early years are hazy because of his rough childhood, the ease with which incorrect information can enter the bloodstream of popular media and even scholarly books is the kind of thing that keeps historians and fact-obsessed journalists up at night. Curtis was never particularly consistent or concerned with the veracity of dates he might give in interviews, so sorting out the timeline is a challenge. I have no doubt that all the things he said happened to him or that he experienced are true, but as to WHEN they happened, well ... That's when you have to do as much research as you can to corroborate, crosscheck the data, pray you find multiple documentary sources, weigh and synthesize the evidence, etc. You can be SO careful yet still make mistakes. It's maddening, but accuracy is everything. Curtis' birthday never seemed in doubt, yet here we are. When my book goes into another printing or appears in paperback, I'll be able to get it right. (Of course, due diligence will require I check the information myself with the daughter.) In any case, the jazz world owes Mr. Schudel a hearty “thank you” for setting the record straight.

FWIW, the Lord discography now lists 241 entries for "Stolen Moments." Virtually all of those are surely the Oliver Nelson tune and not some other tune with the same title. All 241 may well be the Nelson tune but without looking at each entry I can't be totally sure. Coda: I always assumed that Blues and the Abstract Truth (2/23/61) marked the debut of the song but, in fact, it's first appearance is on the Lockjaw's Train Whistle (9/20/60)

If you amortize that additional $20 over the rest of your life, it's not that much. Let's say you've got 30 more years, that's 66 cents a year for Passing Ships in (perhaps) breathtaking analog.Of course, I'm not saying this is necessarily THE record on which to break the bank, and I certainly understand the slippery slope issue. But having said that, if you're really feeling it ... you're the one who always says Carpe Diem!

It's possible that they've stuck with CDs for the Blue Note material because BN won't license the material for LP. After all, BN is deeply involved with vinyl via its own high-end reissue program (Tone Poet) and "mid-priced" program (Blue Note 80/Classic). I suspect they don't what to undercut their own efforts by licensing LP writes to others.

Thanks for the heads up. This Lawson session in 1977 ("Prime Time") was his long overdue debut as a leader. He only made three recordings as a leader. The other two are "Colour" (Soul Note) from 1983 and "Casablanca" (Somethin' Else) from 1989.

These are the 17 released LPs recorded in the '60s. With the other sundry Morgan sessions, plus alternates, that would a HUGE set -- at least 11 CDs I think, maybe as many as 13 or 14? Hard to imagine the company taking that kind of risk, though if you could sell a 9-CD Mobley box, I would think you could sell the Morgan. Lee-way The Sidewinder Search for the New Land Tom Cat The Rumproller The Gigolo Cornbread Infinity DelightfuLee Charisma The Rajah Standards Sonic Boom The Procrastinator The Sixth Sense Taru Caramba

Coda: Just dropping in here to note that you don't invest thousands in an audio chain to play "a" $30 dollar record, you invest to thousands to play a whole fucking basement full of them. Carry on ...

Look, if we don’t continue to buy music we’ve bought multiple times in multiple formats over the last 40 years for just marginal gains at best, then the terrorists win.

Thanks for your input. For the record, I had several on CD but sold those to finance other things when I realized I was doubling down on LPs ...

Recommendation sought: Leaving everything else aside and focusing just on the sound-quality claims for this set, should I get this yes or no considering the following facts about what I have on LP. 1. I have original New York stereo pressings of "Inner Urge" and "Mode for Joe" -- both in VG+ or better condition. 2. I have the recent BN 80/Classic reissues of "In 'n Out" and "Page One." 3. I have a 1980s DMM of "Our Thing" (hangs head in shame), but am hopeful that in due time that will get reissued in the ongoing BN Classic in due time. Now turning from the sound quality, one additional recommendation sought based on content of the set and this fact: I have none of these records on CD, so I do not own the four alternate takes that have come out previously; but I have listened to these alternates on streaming services. . Whaddya think? Yes.