Mark Stryker

Looking forward to Jim's Milestone survey! Meantime, here's the outline of a related Sonny Rollins essay I'm going to write. I've been toying with a Sonny Rollins Top 10 and Bonus Tracks list for a while now, including official releases and unauthorized material from a variety of sources. Not everything is set in stone, but this is my current thinking. YMMV and all the other caveats apply. Sonny Rollins: A Personal Top 10 and Bonus Tracks. 1. A Night at the Village Vanguard, 1957 (Blue Note) 2. Paris concert, 11/4/65 3. The Standard Sonny Rollins, 1964 (RCA) 4. Alfie, 1966 (Impulse) 5. Newk’s Time, 1957 (Blue Note) 6. The Sound of Sonny, 1957 (Riverside) 7. Saxophone Colossus, 1956 (Prestige) 8. Now’s The Time, 1964 (RCA) 9. Newport Jazz Festival, 7/7/63 10. Falling in Love with Jazz, 1989. (Milestone) Bonus Tracks in chronological order 1. There’s No Business Like Show Business (Worktime), 1955 (Prestige) 2. Misterioso (Sonny Rollins Vol. 2), 1957 (Blue Note) 3. Freedom Suite (Freedom Suite), 1958 (Riverside) 4. If Ever I Would Leave You (What’s New), 1962 (RCA) 5. Lover, Village Gate, 7/28/62 6. Oleo, Paris, 10/31/65 7. Three Little Words, Copenhagen concert, 9/6/68 8. First Moves (The Cutting Edge), 1974 (Milestone) 9. Best Wishes (Road Shows Vol. 1), 1986 (Milestone) 10. Darn that Dream (Old Flames), 1993 (Milestone)

Some backstory. I wrote about the late Jim Dapogny’s discovery and restoration of this lost James P Johnson score back in 2002 for the Detroit Free Press and attended the subsequent performances that led to the recording. The story was reprinted here: http://ml.islandnet.com/pipermail/dixielandjazz/2002-December/005443.html

Shades of Live in Japan ...

In addition to the remarkable two live clips that Michael just posted, I humbly suggest that folks check out the chapter about Charles in my book, Jazz from Detroit. Chares is as great as great can be. Proud that that he's also featured in the forthcoming documentary film that I'm coproducing, The Best of the Best: Jazz from Detroit, which is inspired by the book. We have a rough cut done and expect a 2024 premiere.

Fair point about the size of the press. I'm editing my original post to remove the qualifier. Thanks.

Gary self-published "Reflectory" as an e-book. "Saxophone Trailblazer" is a paperback version of "Reflectory" but it's an edited/condensed version published by an imprint of a university press. The original book was about 400 pages; this one is 254 pages. The earlier "Joy Road," published in 2012, was an expansive, annotated discography-chronology that was a precursor to the eventual full biography.

This copy with a hand-painted cover is up to $6,100 in bidding at Carolina Soul. Anybody know how many of these were pressed or anything about the cover? I'm curious as to why the insane bidding... https://www.ebay.com/itm/204404362114?mkevt=1&mkpid=2&emsid=e90001.m43.l1123&plmtId=700008&mesgId=3024&mkcid=8&ch=osgood&bu=44356787009&trkId=0a776638-7c2c-4019-9dd8-e32ef66cf5b9&cnvId=700003&recoId=204404362114&recoPos=1

FWIW, I put together this Playlist of some of Bennett's more jazz-influenced tracks (from his more jazz-influenced) records. Might be a place to hear some things that have eluded you.

Gang, what's the best Cab Calloway single CD/stream out there that is widely available/attainable that gives you the most substantial jazz stuff (Chu Berry, Dizzy, etc.) with a minimum of the jive numbers and hits?

Thanks to all who have picked up on this thread in the last week.

Newton essentially switched careers from playing to formal composition. Ethan Iverson has written about this music extensively and interviewed Newton. Recommend these: https://ethaniverson.com/2021/10/18/updates-on-james-newton-and-misha-mengleberg/ https://ethaniverson.com/interview-with-james-newton/

Can't answer for sure, but the fact that Gilmore is not indexed in Robin Kelley's Monk biography is a strike against the possibility.

Related: Yes, Thad sounds fantastic with Monk because of the balance of thematic unity and total spontaneity of his trumpet solos. Those same qualities would have made also made him an ideal trumpet player for Sonny Rollins and the one track that survives with both improvising, "52nd Street Theme" on The Standard Sonny Rollins, proves it. Frankly, Thad really was a better match for Sonny than Don Cherry in the sense that Thad and Sonny's natural aesthetics were closer, both deeply rooted in bebop and abstracting the changes from a place of deep knowledge and technical control. I love Cherry, but if Sonny and been willing to keep a band together for longer, Thad would have been a GREAT longer-term solution -- at least for Sonny. Not sure if that would be great for Thad's ultimate destiny as a composer, arranger, and band leader, but it would have been a perfect showcase for his imagination as an improvisor. Imagine Sonny, Thad, Cranshaw, McCurdy c. 1963-66. Now add Bley. I'd like to either of those records.

FWIW, I reviewed this record positively when it came out specifically for the Latin rhythmic flavorings, breezy melodicism, party vibe and the rehearsed and focused sound of the band. Cuber's spirit is undeniable no matter what is going on around him, but I also like what's going on around him here and how he relates to it. Of course, everyone's mileage can and will vary and that's fine. I still play this record on occasion and always enjoy it when I do.

Makes sense. I know the writing but not the man, though I did cross paths with him once for a minute in the Dallas Morning News newsroom in 1999 and was able to tell him I like his work.

I just gave him a shout out on Twitter, asking if he might weigh in to tell us what Mosaic titles those are. Of the books, I see Gary Giddins' Visions of Jazz, George Wein's autobiography, a couple of Penguin guides, etc

Thanks. Read them on Discogs. Yeah, Charles! I've had this conversation with him about Stitt before, but he also says some stuff in these notes that was new to me. Great stuff.

I don't have the set so haven't read what Charles has to say, but he's so smart and hyper-articulate about the music and those who make it. I learn something every time I talk to him.

Yes, I meant Rhino of course. Made the correction, thanks

Just a quick side note to point out that as strong as the two Changes LPs are, the live performances of the band playing this material in 1975 that are out there -- Bremen & Montreux (especially the former) -- are even better. Just insanely great and powerful and more of a 3D impact of what this band was capable of. Whatever one decides to do viz the Rhino set, I strongly recommend checking out these concert performances.

In my long interview from a few years ago about saxophone players with Ethan Iverson, I spoke a bit about Blythe. Lenox Avenue Breakdown and Illusions are tremendous records. In the Tradition is let down by the insanely bright and shrill sonics. Still, throw it into the mix and that's a remarkable trilogy of consecutive LPs with a unique sound and point of view. Anyway, a nice memory for me: "The first time I ever went to the Village Vanguard in the spring of 1982 I heard Arthur Blythe play with his In the Tradition band with John Hicks, Fred Hopkins and Steve McCall. I sat at the front table, close enough to reach up and touch the bell of the saxophone. Recordings simply did not capture how full and rich Arthur’s sound was. I remember Phil Woods in a blindfold test once complaining about engineers who had made Arthur sound like a kazoo, and I know what he meant. The rhythm section that night was super loose — sloppy, actually, but in a musical way and with so much personality. I also remember having a one-hitter and lighting it up at the table. In those days you could literally smoke a joint at a table in the Vanguard. I felt like I was at the center of the universe— 18 years old at the Village Vanguard, having a taste, and hearing Arthur Blythe."

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/01/arts/music/abdul-wadud-by-myself.html

The two best ideas here would be sets devoted to to Mary Lou Williams and Geri Allen -- both artists deserve the treatment and there might actually be a market for them.. A well-curated Mary Lou Williams set that cut across a variety of labels and bands in the first half of the century, tracing her development as an arranger and pianist, would be a true contribution. Nothing like this exists does it? I'd have to think more about how to frame it, but conceptually I love the idea. There's also probably sets to be done with a more defined parameters focused on other periods in her career, but I'd have to mull that too. As for Geri, Allen, I think a tremendous set could be built around her initial records as a leader for Minor Music, JMT, and Blue Note -- almost all of which have been unavailable in physical form for 15 years or so and which as a group, tell a real story about about influential and eclectic contemporary pianist-composer coming of age on the left-wing, searching for a grand synthesis or outside/inside influences and slowing evolving back toward the mainstream -- Printmakers, Homegrown, Open on All Sides, Twylight, In the Year of the Dragon (with Haden/Motian), Nurturer, Maroons, Twenty-One.

Noted and corrected. Thanks

My three favorite Mariano recordings come from the same early to mid '60s period, all as a sideman -- the aforementioned "Black Saint and the Sinner Lady" and "Toshiko Mariano Quartet" -- and Elvin Jones' "Dear John C." I mean, good Lord. The pure sound and rhapsodic glory of this ballad is from another planet.