Mark Stryker

Agreed. But it gets get wearisome after a while.

More notable for Sonny playing some of the purest bebop of his post-1972 career, but Laws sounds good too. Have always preferred Laws with others rather than his own dates. He's excellent on McCoy's "Together," recorded in 1978 — an all-star date that gels quite nicely. This is Laws' tune.

Great record -- I think it's the all-around best late-period Pepper and in a one-record, one-artist challenge it might be my pick, especially if I could include this track from the same session. Tremendous alto solo here.

Of the records that I know without Stanley Turrentine, I'm fond of "Shirley Scott Plays Horace Silver," 11/6/61, with Henry Grimes and Candy Finch. Great moment here at 2:45, after a couple seconds of silence. You think it's going to be a bass solo. But ...

I was saddened to hear of Wilson's passing. I heard a a number of his orchestral works here -- former Detroit Symphony music director Neeme Jarvi championed Wilson's music and, more recently, Leonard Slatkin conducted Wilson's "Lumina" eight or nine years ago. I also interviewed Wilson at length for a long-gone online repository of American music -- I can't remember now who organized it, maybe New Music Box or the American Music Center or the League of American Orchestras. But the idea was to create a reference site for orchestras looking to program new music. There were two components to each entry: a long interview with the composer and then an in-depth analysis of a major work. I wrote the piece(s) on Wilson and "Lumina." Somewhere I may still have the score. (I would like to find out whatever happened to that interview and analysis -- I haven't thought about it in a while; I hope I have a hard copy somewhere in my files.) Wilson was a deep man and composer. He knew an incredible amount of music and spoke with a distinctive, modernist voice. Not every piece was the same, and he could just as easily draw upon Stravinsky as Lutoslawski as African-American spirituals or post-war jazz -- yet everything came out organic, never pastiche. Rhythm, timbre and color were central and there was something improvisatory about his gestures, even when every element was fairly strictly controlled. He was an "ear" composer not a "system" composer, but he knew whatever system you wanted to lay on him. He was also a fine teacher by all accounts, and I know he and James Newton became close. He'll be missed.

Agree. He played it, even endorsed it, and I think I've seen references that some horns had his named engraved on it, perhaps as if it was a "Charlie Parker model." But that's not the same thing as it was designed for him. I'm by no means a saxophone historian,, but I've been around the instrument and players talking horns for most of my life and I've never heard folks say that King designed the Super 20 expressly for Bird. Doesn't mean they didn't,, but I want proof.

Re: Belgrave, Walrath and "Changes" I've researched this for my chapter about Belgrave in my upcoming book. Without going into too much detail here, I can tell you that Jack joined the band shortly before the "Changes" sessions and Mingus, as he often did with new members, put him through some bullying/ hazing rituals that had to do with whether Marcus or Jack would play a contemporaneous gig at the Five Spot and who would do what on the "Changes" recording sessions. One result was that Jack played more solos on the session, but Mingus cut them in the editing.

Thanks for the initial thoughts guys. A friend not on this board tells me that the United Artists twofer is indeed true mono. Good to know.

Gang, I've got the two Miles Davis Blue Note LPs in '70s pressings that descend from the lineage of "electronically rerecorded to simulate stereo." The sound of these records is inferior and I'm going to upgrade as the opportunity arises. CD reissues are a good inexpensive option. I suppose big bucks for original pressing LPs is another way to go. However, I'm curious if anybody has the United Artists twofer of this material that came out in 1971. I've seen this around in used stores and am curious about the source of the master's used in pressing and whether it's any better or just the same as the Blue Note LPs I have of similar vintage. Anybody have any thoughts? https://www.discogs.com/Miles-Davis-Miles-Davis/release/2465150

Per Gene Santoro's MIngus biography, the original deal he signed with Columbia was for only two LPs.-- Santoro writes the deal was actually for two records of Jelly Roll Morton compositions but Mingus changed his mind. Additional context from the book: Mingus received $2,336 in royalties from Atlantic in the first quarter of 1960. In August of 1960 he received $905 in royalties from Columbia, though it's not clear what time period that check covered. The book also says he received later in the year a "quarterly royalty statement" from Columbia for $790. Those royalty checks together add up to $4,000, which according to inflation calculators is worth $33,000 in 2018 dollars. That's not bad money. On the other hand, he apparently still actually owed Bethlehem $,5,304 on their advances.

Good God ...

Sort of depends on your definition of "amazing." Pianists with extensive classical training tend to have active and independent left hands with more facility and the ability to play counterpoint. Tatum, Roland Hanna and Brad Mehldau come to mind. That's a very different notion of "amazing" than, say Silver or Weston, whose distinctive left hands are used in the service of their own (sometimes idiosyncratic) sound world. One's not better than the other, but we're talking about difference roots and different aesthetics. I mean, Tommy Flanagan had an amazing way of orchestrating details on the piano that brought his left hand into full play, even though he was "right-handed" pianist in terms of letting this right hand carry the melody ala Bud. Complicated question.

Thanks for the info guys. If anybody knows more, please chime in,. Moderators: I accidentally created this thread in the wrong place, so please feel free to move to Discography.

This record just made it on to my radar. Lord disocgraphy says 1956, which would make by a couple of years the earliest Roland Hanna on record. Yet I don't see it listed in discogs, and I'm confused as to why I didn't pick it up some months ago when I last was looking into Hanna. Anybody know anything about this or have a copy that gives any clues about exactly when it was recorded or mentions Roland in the liner notes? The Seldon Powell Sextet : Jimmy Cleveland (tb) Seldon Powell (ts) Sir Roland Hanna (p) Freddie Green (g) Aaron Bell (b) Osie Johnson (d) New York, 1956 Woody'n you Roost LP2220, Fresh Sound (Sp)FSR-CD93 [CD] She's funny that way (jc out) - - 11th hour blues - - Button nose - - Missy's melody - - I'll close my eyes (jc out) - - A flower is a lovesome thing (jc out) - - It's a crying shame - - Note: Fresh Sound (Sp)FSR-CD93 [CD] titled "Seldon Powell Sextet Featuring Jimmy Cleveland"; see flwg session for rest of CD.

I'm trying to determine how many LPs were made in the 1955-60 that were specifically named for Detroit and/or intended to highlight the city's increasing presence on the national scene: What all is out there beyond these five? Kenny Clarke, "Jazzmen Detroit" (Savoy) Thad Jones, "Detroit-New York Junction" (Blue Note) "Keepin' Up with the Jones" (MGM) The two LPs that were both called "Motor City Scene" -- one led by Pepper Adams on Bethlehem and one led by Thad on United Artists.

Tha Ah, thanks for this, and thanks to all who weighed in. MS

Hey, thanks. Saved me a mistake in the book. I had it "Artists" up until this moment.

Hey -- very helpful. Much obliged.

Can anybody shed some light on who the bass player is on Gerald Wilson's 1947 masterpiece "Dissonance in Blues"? My "Sounds of Swing" LP lists the bassist here as Robert Budd, but as near as I can figure, there was never any bassist by that name. Tom Lord Discography says its Red Callender, which makes sense from a time/place perspective, but Lord is by no means infallible. So If anyone has another source -- perhaps the personnel on a Chronological Classics? -- or any other helpful conjecture, I'd be grateful.

I own "Super Chief," the four-volume Lester Young Story on CBS two-record sets, the French CBS Basie series, the Mosaic Box and the CBS CD box. I can't seem to get rid of any of them. Not that I really want to, but I'm at the point in my life where I am shedding duplicates in favor of acquiring stuff I don't have in any form. But I can't seem to part with any of these. I guess I win, but it kinda feels like I'm losing.

"Super Chief" included six tracks never previously released on LP -- "Shout and Feel It," "Where Shall I Go," "I Ain't Got Nobody," "Goin to Chicago Blues," "Who?" "Upright Organ Blues." I just checked recently and didn't see those tracks duplicated on the French CBS series and they are not on the more recent CD box. Am I overlooking them?

Gang: Kenn Cox was black. All of the members of the Contemporary Jazz Quintet in Detroit were black, except drummer Danny Spencer.

Thanks guys. Appreciate it. If any others come to mind, please chime in.

Who are the white musicians who recorded as leaders for Blue Note in its pre-1980s revival era? I can think of Art Hodes, Sheila Jordan, Jutta Hipp, Gil Melle, J.R. Monterose. Any others I'm forgetting?

I think the font is Peignot rendered in bold.