Mark Stryker

Question: What are generally recognized as the first attempts at fusing jazz and hip hop/rap? Not looking to start a long discussion on the topic but am interested in dating the attempts to bring the genres together and I'm frankly not exactly sure where ground zero actually is..

Coda: 2: As to Jim's question above, I can't think of any Wynton Kelly appearance on Blue Note after 1961, but Paul Chambers did appear post-61 (and as late as '66) with Hancock, Mobley and Morgan. It is true thought that Chambers' appearances slow dramatically after '61, but his overall recording slowed down too and not just with BN. That's reasonable -- as I said, it's slippery and it's not binary. Volume, texture, density, color, interaction are all independent variables and it's cumulative effect that creates the degree of what registers as aggression. My larger point is that I don't think Cobb's aggressiveness on its own would be the factor that would get him kicked off the Blue Note Island.

I understood what Larry was saying, but I would disagree that there was significant enough difference in aggressiveness to be determinative as it related to Lion preferring all of the other drummers in his stable. On the broadly defined "scale of aggression," I would say that of the Blue Note drummers, Blakey, Philly Joe and Elvin were generally more aggressive than Cobb, but that Cobb and Hayes were about equal and Cobb was more aggressive than Higgins and Harewood. Of course, these are slippery generalities. Still, I would also note that Cobb could bash the shit out of the drums when he was wanted to. Miles at Newport in '58 is exhibit A for the defense. Granted, Cobb did not play like this all the time, but holy shit ... Coda: What would be the unit of measure on the "scale-of-aggression." Would we say that Philly Joe is "two Elvins" more aggressive than Cobb?

How is it possible that Jimmy Cobb, among the most recorded drummers of the hard bop era in the 1950s and '60s only appears on only one Blue Note LP? Two tracks on Detroiter Sonny Red's "Out of the Blue" that were taped on Jan. 23, 1960. Totally weird. Could he and Alfred Lion have gotten off on the wrong foot?

"... hundreds of recordings from Mr. Rollins' rehearsals and practice sessions ..."

Did the circle get closed on this for everyone?

I spoke at length yesterday with Jerry Dodgion to try and get some clarity about some issues regarding "Big Band Modern" that have come up in research for my book. Reporting what he said here because I know that if I care about these details then so will you guys. Jerry was just 21 when he appeared on the record. He'll be 85 in August (on Bird's birthday, the 29th) and wasn't as sharp as when I've spoken with him in the past. But he seemed sure on a number of points, some of which contradict the discographies, including Lord and what's on some of the CDs. 1. The flute soloist on "Lotus Land" is Bill Green. Jerry himself is the flute soloist on "Algerian Fantasy." 2. The trumpet soloist on "Bull Fighter" is likely Allen Smith. 3. The sessions took place in Los Angeles over the course of a couple of days while the band was playing a full week somewhere -- he couldn't remember the club. 4. Contrary to discographies: (a) Clark Terry is not on the record; Jerry says he didn't meet Clark until later, (b) The baritone saxophonist is Harold Wylie (whose only recorded appearance according to Lord is with Brew Moore in 1957. (c) Bill Green played second alto; Jerry played lead alto. (d) The presence of Paul Gonsalves remains a bit of a mystery. It's obviously Paul playing the tenor solo on "Romance," but Jerry said he was not actually in the band and doesn't even remember him in the studio or meeting him at the time. On another front, if folks don't know, three of the compositions on "Big Band Modern" are on borrowed themes. "Lotus Land" is by English composer Cyril Scott, "Romance" is an adaptation of the third movement of Khachaturian's "Masquerade Suite." and "Bull Fighter" adapts the fanfare melody known as "La Virgen De La Macarena." Exit question: Does anybody recognize the gorgeous saxophone melody of the piece called "Theme" as from another source? It may well be Wilson's original composition, but something about it, the title and the fact that other material was adapted from other sources has me wondering.

Best for the coming year. Happy birthday.

Mike -- thanks much for this. Appreciate it.

More: Entry for Buddy Collette in first edition of "Encyclopedia of Jazz" says he played with Gerald Wilson 1949-50. Supports the later date -- though this book is by no means infallible, but it was the players themselves I believe who filled out questionnaires with career detaiks for inclusion.

Thanks. Lord has this entire session and those four sides as 1947. I tried digging into the matrix numbers via online discographies and ended up with no good info but a pretty reasonable headache. Hmm, thinking more about this: Wilson rather famously shut down his first band in 1947 because he wanted to study more. A 1949 recording date doesn't make sense in the context of that timeline -- yet it does make sense viz other factors like the Afro-Cuban angle. Speaking of headaches ...

Can everybody tell I'm writing about Gerald Wilson at the moment? Today's mystery has to do with the Afro-Cuban piece called "Guarachi-Guaro." Tom Lord's discography says Wilson's band recorded this in 1947 on Excelsior 542 with the title spelled "Guarchi" (Parts 1 and 2). However, in the Chronological Classics series devoted to Wilson, the CD1946-54 shows this having been recorded in 1949 -- I'm going by the back cover, which I can see online. I don't have the CD itself to see if there's more specific discography notes insides. So, which is correct? And who wrote the song itself? More fodder: Dizzy Gillespie famously recorded the same arrangement for Victor in December 1948 and had been playing it since the fall of that year. It's always spoken of as a chart that that Wilson wrote for Dizzy. The label credits Dizzy with the composition and Gerald with the arrangement. Is the melody Dizzy's or is it a traditional song that was "adapted." Or is it Gerald's. The dates matter. If indeed Wilson wrote the chart in 1947, then that's REALLY early Afro-Cuban jazz --contemporary with even preceding the recordings of "Manteca" and "Cubana be/Cubano bop," which were done in December 1947. One more intriguing note: Wilson's recording includes both flute and oboe. Who in the band would have been playing those woodwinds in that era? The great Bill Green -- a pioneering black studio musician played both instruments and he worked a lot with Wilson later (he's on Big Band Modern in 1954 and appears in the later bands on Pacific Jazz). But Green is not listed in discographies that I've seen as playing with Wilson in the '40s. Thanks as always for the research assistance or informed speculation. .

Thanks. I actually checked with the Basie organization and the current music director Scotty Barnhart says he didn't know of the suite and as far as he know it's not in the band's library. Next step is the Wilson family. I'm intrigued ... Re: "Out of this World." There is a vocal version captured in air checks from the Jubilee radio program in April 1946 with Herb Jeffries. I have it on this CD. Worth the investment. https://www.amazon.com/Jubilee-1946-1947-Gerald-Wilson-Orchestra/dp/B00KB49KSI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494542886&sr=8-1&keywords=gerald+wilson+and+jubilee

Getting warmer: Found a reference in the Pittsburgh Courier of May 8, 1948. Columnist Billy Rowe's writes: "The critics reserved some fine words for Count Basie's 'Royal Suite,' which he put to instruments for the first time during his recent Carnegie concert." Unfortunately, the columnist gives no indication what exactly the critics said ,,. Still, nice to confirm that the concert actually happened.

Thanks -- I had seen the Smithsonian interview. I've also seen short news stories in Billboard and other places that reference an upcoming Basie concert at Carnegie in April and the "Royal Suite" but have found no review after the fact yet. https://books.google.com/books?id=mWZjiRBQJBkC&pg=PA102&lpg=PA102&dq=count+basie+and+royal+suite+and+carnegie+hall&source=bl&ots=dGy3hEqnN8&sig=8FCY6iObtAl1rILLiBDPooMvr2k&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjX0LD6j-jTAhWqsVQKHT41BnkQ6AEIIzAA#v=onepage&q=count%20basie%20and%20royal%20suite%20and%20carnegie%20hall&f=false

Here's another question for the group: Does anyone know if a Gerald Wilson work for Count Basie, "The Royal Suite," which apparently was premiered at Carnegie Hall in April 1948, was ever recorded in full or in part under that title or something else? Wilson spoke about it frequently, but never in much detail and information is scarce and it's unclear the size, scope and character of the music. I've seen references to it being as few as three movements and as many as seven.

Anybody know any details about the pianist named Vivian Fears? She played and recorded with Gerald Wilson in the mid '40s and also appears to have cut a few tunes in 1964 as a vocalist issued on a Crown LP that's otherwise includes what appears to be bootleg Billie Holiday Decca material. Fears appears to have also recorded as Vivian Glasby in the mid '40s with Fletcher Henderson. Wilson seems to have found her in Chicago when she was working with Henderson. I came across an ad in a Los Angeles area newspaper in 1969 in which she's billed as Vivian Fears, the "female Nat Cole." Not crucial to me, but my curiosity is piqued.

FWIW -- Jimmy Bunn was a key member of Gerald Wilson's first big band and is on the remarkable sides the band recorded for several labels between 1945-47, among them "Groovin' High," recorded in 1945 -- the first big band chart on the song -- months after Gillespie after introduced it on record.

Speaking of not mistaking niceness for weakness, Basie's time is incredibly strong in the opening sequence of "Whirlybird" that started this thread. I mean, everything he plays whether he's moving "slow" or "fast," perfectly clarifies where the beat is and what the tempo is. The time of the entire band is emanating from the piano bench. Smile, Count. You're on Candid Camera 50 years later and you're killin' it.

Have not heard this material but would like to. The first three musical tracks -- "Fried Bananas," "Strollin'" and "You've Changed" -- appear to be those from the October 25, 1976 gig at the Village Gate that was available at one point on a Spanish bootleg CD. Anyone know the source of the rest of the material? Would think it's probably from the either that same night or another night during the run at the Village Gate.

Coda 1: That big picture over Parran's shoulder in which you see a large owl-like demon is almost assuredly an oil on paper by Bob Thompson,a major figurative expressionist painter, very much jazz influenced, who died an overdose of heroin in 1966, about a month shy of his 29th birthday, He's the inspiration behind Archie Shepp's "Portrait of Robert Thompson (as a young man)." Coda 2: JD Allen is from Detroit.

Depends. Corn isn't typically ready until mid July and after.

I have no idea about Lovano's recording status, but the group he calls his Classic Quartet just completed a long tour both in the states and abroad, and he'll be co-leading a quintet with Chucho Valdes that will be touring later this year, including a stop at the Detroit Jazz Festival.

Nothing really that odd. This was originally produced for a BBC radio program honoring the 40th anniversary of Coltrane's death. Though they are listed as co-leaders, Liebman was the point person on the original performance not Lovano, and I assume Dave probably negotiated the right to issue the recording on his own if he could find a label. Fast forward nearly a decade. Liebman either never found someone interested or perhaps never got around to it since he's always doing a zillion things at once. When Zev Feldman at Resonance learned about the recording, he and Liebman started talking and, well, here we are. Coda: The Saxophone Summit was/is a rewarding group both live and on record. What I like is the way the group really becomes a different quartet with each saxophonist.

If you owned a record store, you would be like Jack Black in this scene (as would I).