Mark Stryker

Thanks for the additional context. Done.

I loved the book and was asked to blurb it. This appears on the back cover and I stand by it: "Life in E Flat is a gift, a compelling and entertaining memoir by one of the leading alto saxophonists in jazz for 60 years. Woods is a charismatic storyteller--literate, funny, insightful, self-aware, with a keen eye and ear for details that reveal character and wise observations about the music business and the jazz life laced with sardonic wit." I would add here that whether one likes or dislikes Phil's playing at any particular period is irrelevant to the success of the book or the value a reader might get out of it. He knew everybody, was in all kinds of interesting places at the right time, has opinions about all of it, and isn't afraid to express them, even when they reflect poorly on himself.

Ooh -- good info! Thanks. I guess I'll stay the course.

Gang — What is the best sounding option for Bud’s Roost material? I have the Blue Note box from the mid ‘90s that includes the Roost stuff, but I’d like to sell it because I have all the BN material on LP or later CDs that trump the sound of the box. But that would leave me without the essential early Roost session. So, options?

Exactly, Nobody ever played like THAT except for Sonny, and not even Sonny did after 1964-68. That's the whole point.

Now THIS is the Organissimo-only content that I've come to expect! Sorry you're pissed, but please stay mad if it leads to posts like this when needed. Having never been in possession of the bootleg (hangs head in shame), this is an extremely helpful roadmap.

You rock, Jim! My email is mstryker63@gmail.com

Gang -- I'm trying to track down a story in Downbeat about Roy Brooks that appeared in the issue dated August 10, 1967 Any chance someone out there has it and could take phone pics of it and send them to me or post them? Many thanks

From Tom Lord Jazz Discography: Calvin Hughes (tp) James Buxton (tb) Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson (as,vcl) Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Harry Porter (ts) Wynton Kelly (p) Franklin Skeete (b) Lee Abrams (d) Cincinnati, Ohio, August 30, 1949 K5781 I'm weak but willing King 4331, LP634, Gusto GD-5035-X, King CD634 [CD] K5782 Sittin' on it all the time (*) (unissued) K5783 Featherbed mama King 4442, LP634, KS1087, Gusto GD-5035-X, Rare Bid (G)BID8023, King CD634 [CD] K5784 No good woman blues King 4335, LP634, Gusto GD-5035-X, King CD634 [CD] Note: All titles, except (*), also on Zircon Bleu (F)BLEU503 [CD], JSP (E)JSP7760 [CD], Classics (F)5042 [CD].

And Wynton Kelly!

Yes. As I wrote elsewhere, anyone who has ever worked at — or been a regular at — a special bar, restaurant or especially a jazz club made of the Right Stuff will be moved by this. Bless the writer, Emily Olcott, and everyone in the jazz ecosystem.

Worth reading. https://medium.com/@emilyolcott_94288/i-remember-the-jazz-standard-b1fab2de8389

Lotta money in caramel suckers.

Coda: One of my favorites in the series is by my old friend John Campbell. Here' he swings the hell out of Just Friends toggling between keys. .

Here's the story of how the Maybeck series got started as reported in the San Francisco Examiner in 1992. Joanne Brackeen deserves the credit for the initial inspiration, but Jefferson -- reluctantly at first -- soon recognized the opportunity. Interesting stuff. --- "One pianist who responded to the Maybeck mystique was Joanne Brackeen, an old friend of Whittington's who was scheduled for a Bay Area concert in June 1989. Trying out the hall the afternoon of her nighttime gig, Brackeen; was so excited about it that she i phoned her record-label boss, Carl Jefferson of Concord Jazz Records, and insisted that her upcoming album be recorded at Maybeck that night. Jefferson, though he had not yet visited the hall, agreed without really believing it could be done on such short notice. But engineers Bud Spangler and Ron Davis, accustomed to live recording for the See's Candy jazz series on Sunday nights on KJAZ, brought digital audio equipment in at 5 p.m. and taped the session. The results of Brackeen's excited pianistics on Maybeck's Yamaha S400B small concert grand reportedly exceeded even Jefferson's no-compromise reputation for audio excellence. Brackeen's 'Live at Maybeck Recital Hall' became the first in a series of Concord issues honoring the format." --- A quick Detroit-related footnote: The Bud Spangler cited in the story is the Detroit-bred drummer, radio producer/broadcaster and audio engineer who appeared on a few Strata LPs and was the guy responsible for broadcasting some of the Strata Concert Gallery concerts on WDET public radio, including the Mingus appearance that was recently released commercially. He's also the uncle of the Detroit drummer and Organissimo board member RJ Spangler.

"Detroit is dominating American musical life at the moment." https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/12/07/what-does-it-mean-to-reimagine-an-orchestra-season

Thanks

Many thanks.

Bumping to ask if anyone has heard the recent Tone Poet issue of Minor Move and whether the cymbal distortion that pops up at times on earlier issues, most prominently on “Star Eyes,” remains audible.

"When Leary noticed that Ferguson's face was glowing like an electric toaster, he decided to join them."

I learned about Dave as a by-product of following his son, Matt -- a film/TV critic and author -- on Twitter. A few years ago, Matt sent me several of his father's recordings. He was the real deal and his personality came through the music. There has been a lot of tragedy in Matt's family. He lost his wife recently to cancer, and I think that she might have been the second spouse he's outlived. Now his father. Matt has chronicled a lot of this on social media -- surely a form of therapy for him. I wish him and his children peace.

That was my first thought too ... if you go to YouTube and search “Ernie Andrews” and “West Coast Blues” it comes up.

Anybody know anything about this Riverside 45 issue of West Coast Blues? (B side is Candy.) Can’t find any discographies details. Harold Land recorded the tune in 1960 with Wes for Riverside cousin Jazzland so one possibility is that it’s from that session, but the tenor on the single does not sound like Land to me. In fact, it sounds more like Yusef, but maybe the tempo and studio are playing tricks on my ear.

Spyro Gyra's "Morning Dance" is better than you probably remember. So are Bob James' four CTI dates.

FWIW, Botti when to Indiana University (David Baker), same age group there as Robert Hurst, Ralph Bowen,