Mark Stryker

I've been sharing this around on social media. I'm especially struck by the ever-modern Roy Haynes, who is hot in the mix, supper loose, aggressive, swinging, conversational, juggling syncopated accents in multiple dimensions of time. He and Bird are really talking to each other. This music was recorded 71 years ago and sounds as fresh as the morning dew. Good Lord, Roy's solo passages on "Ornithology." I mean, Elvin and Tony, sure, and of course Max, Philly Joe, Blakey, Higgins, etc. But Roy was playing the future before anyone else.

Well, the one that gets the most attention is Boss Tenor from 1960 with Tommy Flanagan, Doug Watkins, Art Taylor and Ray Barretto. It's GREAT -- in some ways greater than Jug. If I could take two Ammons records to the desert island, it would be those two. But the version of "Exactly Like You" on Jug tips the balance for me. YMMV. I will say that I think the real sweet spot in the discography is between 1960-62. There's obviously fantastic stuff before and after, and I have and love it all; but Jug is superman in that particular window.

No question it would be "Jug" (1961) with Richard Wyands, Doug Watkins, and J.C. Heard. (Sleepy Anderson plays organ on one cut, replacing Wyands' piano).

Stat of the day from Tyler Kepner of the New York Times: When retired San Francisco Giants pitcher Matt Cain was 5 years old, he turned three unassisted triple plays in T-ball. I should point out that this won’t help him get into the Hall of Fame — he’s on the ballot for the first time this year — but it should be considered.

Let me add my voice to others but with a direct prescription: What the world needs is a memoir from Michael about his alert and influential life lived within the marrow of the music business. THAT would be an ESSENTIAL read and revealing window into the last 50 years of jazz across the stylistic spectrum -- the musicians who made it and the people who produced and recorded it, packaged it, and sold and presented it, as well as the conditions in which they all worked. And for Jesus Fuck's Sake, would the NEA please give him the Jazz Master award for advocacy. It's a mockery that he remains unrecognized in this way.

Great record! I've been kicking around the idea of writing a column focused on J.J.'s composing and arranging skills.

One difference is that Glass Bead Games has now been reissued several times on audiophile vinyl so there are additional, available options beyond originals if you want it on LP. That's not the case with Blackstone Legacy. I also think that Glass Bead Games isn't as firmly planted in the "spiritual" camp because it's (a) less modal than Blackstone Legacy and (b) lacks some of the other loose markers of the genre such, say, as the African vibe of the cover and the word "black" in the title, vs. the typography-forward cover of Glass Bead Games and its Hermann Hesse-derived name. To be clear: I'm not condoning the collector mentality, just trying to explain it. Full disclosure: I do live partly in that world, but I'm not insane. There but for the grace of God and all that.

Two reasons I think: 1) Scarcity. It was released in 1971 in a relatively modest number and never repressed or reissued in America on vinyl. There appears to be Japanese vinyl reissue of it somewhere along the way. The only domestic CD version came out in 1999. 2) It's typically grouped in with the black "spiritual jazz" of its era and those records, for whatever reason, are intensely collected these days by folks both in America and overseas.

New to me. Thirty-five minutes of remarkable footage of the Cecil Taylor Unit with Jimmy Lyons, Sam Rivers, and Andrew Cyrille.

That time Keith Jarrett was on "Saturday Night Live." April 15, 1978. Two performances at 18:35 and 48:50. Also on this episode, Howard Johnson, who played baritone sax in the SNL band in that era, gets a showcase for his tuba band, Gravity, near the close! Also amusing to see Jarrett kibitzing with the cast at the end, particularly Gilda, who puts her arm around him. https://archive.org/details/saturday-night-live-s-03-e-17-michael-sarrazin-4-15-1978

Thanks for this. It made me me go back to my records to refresh my memory of "Kitty" -- glad I did. Greer is rocking.

Sonny played that Brooks Kerr gig for a long while I think. Would have loved to hear him in person.

I wasn't aware of these. Thanks.

Really enjoyed writing this one. https://jazztimes.com/features/columns/chronology-sonny-greer-and-sam-woodyard-drum-for-the-duke/

Many thanks! PM on its way.

In that era, "Blues for Philly Joe" is another masterpiece of thematic development. Not as iconic or extended as "Blue Seven" but more swinging and a lot more fun. https://dokumen.tips/documents/blues-for-philly-joe-sonny-rollins-solo.html

Gang, In the 1958 Downbeat Yearbook, there's a story about the Detroit scene with a photo of Paul Chambers (I think). The piece includes a great quote from Pepper Adams in which he singles out Barry Harris' mentorship as a key reason for the vitality of the scene, calling him "Uncle Barry. For the film documentary that I'm coproducing based on Jazz from Detroit, I need to track down a high-res color scan or a high-res phone photograph of that story, along with the cover of the issue. I think you can see where this is going. Anybody have a copy of that yearbook and, if so, can you help a brother out? mstryker63 (at) gmail.com. Thanks

Video of this concert has long circulated.

Wow. I had no idea he was still with us. A unique voice, and what a long and fascinating career. Note: There's a mistake in the obit -- the reference to "Gerald Clayton" should be in fact "Gerald Wilson."

I actually know what you mean about the sound of the rhythm section on The Panther -- there's a smoothness there but I think that's the engineering. But let's put it this way: All the best Dexter records on Prestige have Detroiters on them -- Panther (Tommy), Jumpin' Blues (Roy), Power (Barry) Maybe the sound of "The Panther" on 8-Track has more presence.

I was just concentrating on the earlier period between 1963-66, and this one was recorded in 1984, but, yes, there are a handful of small group appearances in Thad's later career. Would we agree that the best Dexter LP on Prestige -- by far -- is The Panther (1970)? Having said that, the master take of (old) "MIlestones" on Generation has strong and focused Dexter and the band is even better; but the rest of the record to me just doesn't reach the same heights.

FYI -- And Then Again is the last time all three Jones brothers appear on a recording together. (March 1965).

This slow blues solo is fucking extraordinary. The level of expressive dissonance is off the charts. Downbeat ran a transcription of this back in the day; I think it was by David Baker but I can't put my hands on it right at this moment. Thad's solo is cued up here.

Interesting questions regarding Thad. There's just not a lot of recorded examples of his soloing at length in the '60s. Mean What You Say (1966) is his only small group record as a leader in the 1960s and the only small group record with him in, say, a leadership position made between the cooperative Motor City Scene (1959) and You Made Me Love You (1975) -- the latter a Japanese release on Elec Records with Gregory Herbert, Mraz, Lewis; I don't think this one ever came out on CD and I've never seen nor heard the LP. The next small group record Thad made after that is the great live quartet date for Artist House in 1977 co-led with Mel and featuring Danko and Reid -- look for the CD, it's got two extra tracks, so two more Thad solos. There are a gaggle of large handful of small group appearances in the period between leaving Basie at the beginning of 1963 and the start of the big band with Mel in 1966, and like Larry says, Thad sounds consistently amazing. But you gotta dig for them. Here's one on a 1963 record. One remarkable trumpet (cornet) chorus over rhythm changes. BTW, that's a very young Chick Corea on piano. You really never know what Thad is going to play. I would love to produce/curate a survey of Thad's soloing in those years, drawing on the sideman dates for both small groups and larger ensembles where he gets a chance to blow.

Thanks for enlightening us.