Mark Stryker

Great stuff. https://ethaniverson.com/david-sanborn-on-phillip-wilson/

Hell, yes. Rename the bridge for Sonny. http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/a-quest-to-rename-the-williamsburg-bridge-for-sonny-rollins

Funny story that. In the early '80s when I was in school in Urbana, some friends of mine drive up to see Lockjaw at the Jazz Showcase. They talked to him and asked about his set-up. I don't rember the specific now but it was a super- open Metal Otto Link mouthpiece and a ridiculously hard reed. (The rule of thumb is generally the more open the mouthpiece, the softer the reed.) I do rember that Jaws explained why he played that combination by saying, "I got a bite!" -- meaning he gripped the mouthpiece with a lot pressure in his embouchure-- biting down on the mouthpiece). I love Lockjaw.

Anybody know anything about the September label (September Records?). This fantastic Barry Harris records appears to be on the label. I'm listening via Spotify, but I've never actually seen it or heard of the label. I'm assuming it's a European label since this was recorded in Holland, yes? Solo : Barry Harris (p) Monster, Holland, July 29, 1990 Hallucinations September (G)CD5111 [CD] I know that you know - That secret place - My heart stood still - I should care - So far, so good - Monk's mood - Ruby my dear - Blue Monk - How high the moon - A tribute to the Duke - Just as though you were here - Don't blame me - I'm old fashioned - Cherokee

I wrote a piece for the Detroit Free Press about "Stardust"(nee "Star Dust") in 2002, when the song turned 75. Doug Ramsey reprinted it a few years back on his blog with permission. I included a list of 10 notable or curious versions at the end. http://www.artsjournal.com/rifftides/2011/12/correspondence-on-hoagy.html

Blythe's debut on record: Horace Tapscott's "The Giant is Awakened." April 1969, a month shy of his 29th birthday The Giant Is Awakened : The Horace Tapscott Quintet : Arthur Blythe (as) Horace Tapscott (p) David Bryant, Walter Savage, Jr. (b) Everett Brown, Jr. (d) Los Angeles, April 1, 1969 The giant is awakened Flying Dutchman FDS-10107, Novus 3107-2-N [CD] For Fats - - The dark tree (*) - - Niger's theme - - Note: Novus 3107-2-N [CD] titled "West Coast Hot"; rest of CD by John Carter, January 3, 1969. (*) This title also on RCA 2-1984. (*) This title also on RCA APL2-1984 titled "Leonard Feather's Encyclopedia of Jazz in the '70's"; rest of LP by others. All above titles also on Novus (Eu)ND83107 [CD] titled "West Coast Hot"; rest of CD by John Carter, January 3, 1969

Obituary: http://wbgo.org/post/arthur-blythe-powerful-alto-saxophonist-who-gracefully-straddled-styles-dies-76#stream/0

Footnote: Columbia released "Illusions" and "Miss Nancy" as a single in 1980. If that's not surprising enough, "Illusions" was the "A" side. http://www.45cat.com/record/ae71227

Arthur Blythe has died at 76. From his Facebook page: The first time I ever went to the Village Vanguard was the spring of 1982. I saw in the front row, right below the bell of Arthur's alto. It was his In The Tradition band with John Hicks, Fred Hopkins and Steve McCall. To say that I was overwhelmed would be an understatement. What a sound and presence. They played this tune that night.

Just a footnote to this story: Gary has the chronology wrong. This particular tour took place in 1973 -- there are videos and bootleg tapes -- but in the book Gary says that Roy Haynes had just turned 60 and that Burton himself was in his late '30s. Roy was born in 1925, so he turned 60 in 1985; Burton was born in '43, and was in his late 30s in the early 80s. I noticed all of this while doing research about Joe Henderson for my book. I sent Gary an email pointing out the issue with the dates and he wrote back a nice note of thanks and said he would try and have that corrected in subsequent printings along with (if I recall correctly) other discrepancies-errors discovered after the book went to press. I should note I don't doubt the veracity of the main pillars of this story or Joe's drug use.

Good news: Found "Tip Lightly/You'll Never Know" on Ebay for $10. Will have by Monday and report back for anybody that actually cares. That means of the four sides, only "Little Jim" is eluding me at the moment -- which is probably on the jazzier side of the street since it was apparently co-written by Little Benny Harris, who had in Tyler's band. But I digress ... Onward.

OK, anybody have these sides or heard them? I believe these are Thad Jones' first recordings. "Take it Away" is on youtube, but, alas, there is no trumpet solo. I'm dying to know if Thad solos on the other cuts. Help a brother out? ----- Jimmy Tyler And His Orchestra : Jimmy Harris, Thad Jones (tp) Rufus Wagner (tb) Jimmy Tyler (as) Danny Turner (ts) Bill Dorsey (bar) Fletcher Smith (p) Al Morgan (b) Clarence Johnston (d) Los Angeles, December 28, 1951 F224 Tip lightly Federal 12067 F225 You'll never know - F226 Take it away 12080 F227 Little Jim

Actually, Kenny Burrell did not attend Cass Tech. He went to Miller High School. This is thoroughly documented in a variety of places. I thought at one time he may have spent a year at Cass, before transferring to Miller, but that's not correct. Per Kenny's oral history with the Smithsonian when he was asked specifically about Cass Tech versus Miller: "I just felt with all of this special training I was getting at Miller that I didn’t have to go to Cass Tech. Plus, I could walk to Miller, it was walking distance to my house. And Cass was on the other side of downtown, out of the neighborhood."

To be To be clear: The contradiction I'm focused on is between (a) the author's initial statement that Granz booked the big hall for the orchestra and the recital hall for Bird's quartet and (b) the later statement that the original idea for Bird's session was a duo with Tatum. The original idea for Bird's session couldn't be both; it would have had to be either the quartet or the duo. (The author also writes that only after the Tatum didn't show up did Granz resort to putting a quartet together on the spur of the moment.) Will update if/when I learn something.

Thanks. I'm literally typing up an email to Hershorn right this moment to try and get clarity.

OK, here's something I'm trying to untangle to make sure I don't misstate the facts in my chapter about Hank Jones: In Tad Hershorn's biography of Norman Granz (pages 136-137) he writes that Granz booked Carnegie Hall (main stage and recital hall) on a December day in 1947 for a recording double header. Hershorn first writes that Granz had arranged to record Bird's quartet in the recital hall and Neal Hefti's orchestra in the big hall. When Bird dropped in on the Hefti session, he ended up sitting in on "Repetition." So far so good. However, Hershorn also writes that the original plan had been to record Bird and Art Tatum duets, but when Tatum didn't show, Granz scrambled and called Hank Jones and Ray Brown, and borrowed Shelly Manne from the Hefti date long enough to record one title, "The Bird." Hershorn also quote's Granz: "I had rented Carnegie Hall for an afternoon to record just the two of them in this enormous place. I thought it would be great to get that big sound." That makes it sound like Granz was going to record the two of them in the big hall. But that would seem to be in opposition to the earlier passage about using both the recital hall and main stage simultaneously. Any know any more about this particular topic? Thanks.

Where in the hell is this guy -- "Joe Louis" -- getting these tapes?

Medjuck: I'm not sure I had ever heard that Cannonball wasn't on the show because he was sick. Do you have a source on that? Here's the video. You can see Trane on alto as the camera pans on the opening "The Duke," but the best shot comes during the closer, "New Rhumba," at the 10:30 mark.

Agree with Larry above about O.P. Too often overlooked because of the reasons cited but he was a profound musician.

Coda: All-Detroit rhythm section ...

According to Tom Lord's "The Jazz Discography," Ron Carter's first recording session with a Feb 1960 date with Don Ellis on the Enrica label. A footnote says the company went out of business before the LP was released and remains unheard/unissued in the Ellis archives at UCLA. Does anybody know if this is still the case? Don Ellis (tp) Jaki Byard (p) Ron Carter (b) Charlie Persip (d) New York, February, 1960 Roland rock Enrica LP2003 Up stream - Debi - Homeless - Someplace else - You got me way out chere - Ballade - Theme and variations - Back to back - Note: This set was apparently projected to be released as Enrica LP 2003, but Enrica went out of business before the album could be released. The tapes sit in the UCLA Don Ellis Collection, unused and unheard.

For the record, in a one artist-one record challenge I'm taking " Transition." And for dessert: the five-minute tag from the 1962 "Bye Bye Blackbird"

Six takes of "Just Squeeze Me" from an ultimately rejected Kenny Burrell session for Blue Note from 4/12/59. With Tommy Flanagan, George Duvivier and Elvin Jones. This was one of three tunes they tried that day.

Thanks for the confirmation.

Of course, taste. But I would note that "Gettin' Around" has a much different vibe than the others -- they were going for something much more laid-back, a feeling I think is captured by that cover picture of Dexter on a bicycle, enjoying life outside of the rat-race; and that relaxed vibe is epitomized by the two best tracks, "Heartaches" and "Shiny Stockings.". Having said that, it's not my favorite of the Blue Notes either. In a fire, I'm grabbing "Our Man in Paris" first and if there's room picking up "Go" as I flee.