Mark Stryker

The "Amazing Grace" variations piece is actually the Fourth Quartet. But I strongly second Hoppy's recommendation: It is a remarkable piece, full of honest emotion and sonic delight. The Kepler Quartet is in the midst of recording all 10 of Ben's quartets. There are two volumes so far. The first has the 4th on it; the discs pair works from different eras so you get a sense of the composer's trajectory, from early dense serial works through a return to tonality and overt Americana references, plus the ever-present exploration of mictrotonality (but don't let that scare you -- he is a very human composer with an ear for song.) The Kronos recorded the Fourth on an album called "White Man Sleeps" that pairs it with music by Bartok, Ives, an arrangement of Ornette's "Lonely Woman" and more. There's also an old LP by the Fine Arts Quartet that I think was reissued on CD that pairs the Fourth with Ruth Crawford Seeger's quartet and something else that I forget. I'll try and address the broader question -- works from the last 50 years I really like -- when I have a few free moments. It's a big, big topic. Many answers,

For what it's worth, bassist Peter Washington told me last week that he heard that Allen/Spaulding/Carrington trio (a cooperative by the way) and that the group sounded beautiful -- he was knocked out.

I'll let you in on a secret----against my better judgement: Fat Cat IMO is the hippest joint in NYC and the best deal. $3 to get in to hear musicians that smoke anyone you could hear at the Vanguard (except perhaps the Orchestra, which John Mosca has done a great job of leading for years now). Smalls is also a great deal. I admit my prejudice b/c both employ my friends and myself. But I believe I speak the truth. Plus 'the cats' can't afford admission and can only get in if they know someone or have saved their sheckels. Fat Cat and Smalls have never turned anyone away, and customers get to stay for every set of three different bands until 4 or 5 AM. Your call. Let's face it: The jazz greats that made the Vanguard what it was are long gone---either that or, like Sonny Rollins or Ahmad Jamal (both of whom I heard there in the glory pre-Lorraine days) won't work there anymore. I won't name names but IMO other than Tom Harrell most of the people playing the Vanguard are not even close to the best out there. So why not save money and let it---and Lorraine---ride? I'll give her one thing: it's not her fault the greats died off (actually, on 2nd thought....just kidding). She wants to stay in business and the name still brings in customers, so why not? But the Vanguard had its day, and more than earned its place in history. Now it's over. From the ashes will rise new Phoenixes. That's the cycle of life. Leaving Lorraine's personality aside and relative cost of clubs, this overstates the case so drastically it's laughable. First, to suggest that Sonny Rollins not playing the Vanguard is an indictment is to ignore the fact that Sonny hasn't played any nightclub anywhere in literally decades, stopping long before Max died. Second, here's the lineup at the club for the first quarter of the year. We can all argue about taste, and everyone can find fault with this guy or that guy and point to others that should get the gigs as we construct our own ideal line-up, etc -- I certainly am not enamored with all of these players. But just using these three months as a baseline, to say that "most of the people playing the Vanguard are not even close to the best out there" seems more rooted in stylistic preferences and prejudices than an objective survey of what's being offered. January 03 - January 08 BRAD MEHLDAU TRIO Larry Grenadier-b, Jeff Ballard-d January 10 - January 15 GERI ALLEN, ESPERANZA SPALDING, TERRI LYNE CARRINGTON January 17 - January 22 CHRIS POTTER QUARTET David Virelles-p, Joe Martin-b, Marcus Gilmore-d January 24 - January 29 BARRY HARRIS TRIO Ray Drummond-b, Leroy Williams-d January 31 - February 05 JEFF "TAIN" WATTS QUARTET David Kikoski-p, Marcus Strickland-sax, Orlando LeFleming-b February 07 - February 12 FRED HERSCH TRIO John Hebert-b, Eric McPherson-d February 14 - February 19 MARK TURNER QUARTET Avishai Cohen-tpt, Joe Martin-b, Marcus Gilmore-d February 21 - February 26 FABIAN ALMAZAN TRIO Linda Oh-b, Henry Cole-d, February 28 - March 04 KURT ROSENWINKEL QUARTET Aaron Parks-p, Eric Revis-b, Justin Faulkner-d March 06 - March 11 AL FOSTER QUARTET J. D. Allen-sax, Adam Birnbaum-p, Dezron Douglas-b March 13 - March 18 THE HEATH BROTHERS Jimmy Heath-sax, Albert "Tootie" Heath-d, Jeb Patton-p, David Wong-b March 20 - March 25 BILL McHENRY QUARTET Bill McHenry-sax, Orrin Evans-p, Eric Revis-b, Andrew Cyrille-d March 27 - April 01 ENRICO PIERANUNZI TRIO April 03 - April 08 CRAIG TABORN TRIO April 10 - April 15 TOM HARRELL QUINTET Tom Harrell-tpt, Wayne Escoffery-sax, Danny Grissett-p, Ugonna Okegwo-b, Johnathan Blake-d April 17 - April 22 JOSHUA REDMAN TRIO Joshua Redman-sax, Reuben Rogers-b Greg Hutchinson-d April 24 - April 29 ROY HARGROVE QUINTET

I didn't know that was on CD. Anyone got details? MG Trivia point: The electric pianist on this date, Emmanuel Riggins, is the father of the great young Detroit-born drummer Karriem Riggins (Ray Brown, Mulgrew Miller, Roy Hargrove, etc.), who is also a major league hip hip producer and drummer (Common, J Dilla, etc.)

RE: black-white, women-men, etc. Frank and Ella, 1960 -- he puts his arm around her when tney go to the bridge for the last half chorus in their duet. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQyf1BeWmYs Kirk and Uhura kiss, 1968

"... must have collector doll for Frank Sinatra fans and Barbie Collectors alike ..."

Nicely put.

Long profile from today's Detroit Free Press http://www.freep.com/article/20120108/ENT04/201080393/Detroit-born-jazz-singer-Sheila-Jordan-can-still-bring-listeners-tears?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Entertainment

Speaking of Sheila, I've got a major profile running of her in Sunday's Detroit Free Press. I'll post a link in the Jazz in Print forum when it's available. Stand by.

At the State Dinner held in conjunction with the Kennedy Center Honors, President Clinton gave what I think was a truly remarkable toast in honor of Sonny. Here's a link to the text if you haven't seen it: http://www.sonnyrollins.com/billclinton.php On a related note, here's a phone interview with Sonny that his folks have posted on youtube in which he talks about the experience with Clinton and a couple of other things. I was surprised to hear a familiar name arise in the course of his conversation.

Wonderfully ridiculous list by New York Times TV critic Neil Genzlinger of the top cameo appearances by baseball players on a TV series (no talk shows, SNL, etc.) One quibble: He makes up a few rules and eliminates Seinfeld appearances as "too lazy" and that knocks out the great Keith Hernandez/Kennedy/Oswald show. But otherwise, this is a pretty entertaining exercise in, as the writer puts it, hot-stove frivolity. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/24/arts/television/all-star-lineup-major-league-baseballs-all-cameo-team.html?_r=1&ref=television

Several folks on Twitter, including Terry Teachout and John Goldsby, are reporting that Bob Brookmeyer has died. Haven't yet seen other confirmation. Edited to add R.I.P. to thread title after this post. http://www.artsjournal.com/aboutlastnight/2011/12/tt_bob_brookmeyer_rip.html

Yes, by all means: Happy Birthday to Barry Harris, one of the all-time great Detroiters!! Here he is cutting everyone on stage w/Cannonball in 1960, paced by another Detroiter, Louis Hayes, on drums. (In fairness, Cannonball plays his ass off too, especially in the coda. where he slyly quotes "They Didn't Believe Me.") Also note the sound is horrible for the first two minutes but improves considerably after that. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmDss1K5ftE

Mad as in "crazy" or mad as in "pissed-off" (or, perhaps, both ...)

You made this list too: http://outsideinsideout.wordpress.com/

Valerie: Yes, the instrument, of course! -- Bish comps beautifully on that track. Mike: Respect your opinion but must disagree, though I admit Jackie's pitch gets pretty wild on "Inta Something." But the Blue Note Quintet with Sonny Clark, Butch Warren and Billy Higgins is one of my favorites, though it didn't start out that way. This was my first Jackie McLean record in high school (got it as part of the two LP set "Hipnosis") and it took me a while to warm to the sound/intonation and concept. But once I got it I fell really hard and Jackie became, and has remained, my favotie alto player and one of my greatest heroes. I grew to love this particular record so much I transcribed most of the tunes and played them with my group in college. Coda: Always tried to play the melody of "It Could Happen to You" like KD does here -- lots of slick little winks, ornaments and asides ...

May have posted this before, but this, for me, is KD's greatest single recorded solo. Captures everything that was unique about this beautiful musician -- expressive sound; snakey melodic lines and remarkable flow; colorful harmony; marvelous pacing, alert wit and lively sense of drama. I do wish the piano didn't suck, however.

Previous Weiskopf discussion here: A number of admirers here, including myself.

The Dragon CD added a some live concert material (from the same day as the broadcast), with Joe Harris on drums . A Moon CD contained some four tunes from 3/8/59, with LaRocca back on drums. All is dandy. I have the Aix en Provence material (the trio with Klook) on a 1989(!) Royal Jazz CD, and yeah, it's pretty spellbinding. Sonny is just playing, no worries or distractions, at least that I can here. About as "pure" of an example of his playing from the late 50s as can be heard, but I can also hear moments of frustration, like he's wanting to go somewhere that he can't quite get his hands on. The sabbatical makes sense after hearing all this material, but damn, what a way to go out! What's left on this new boot is probably stuff that's been circulating in some fashion, but I've not aggressively pursued it. I expect it to be of lesser sonic quality (or possibly, but not necessarily likely, not even from 1959 at all, the quality standards on boots these days has gone all to hell...), but oh well about that. Thanks for the report ...

As I was saying, I saw this yesterday at the store and I'm sure I'll be getting it, perhaps as early as tomorrow. Of the material on the '59 set, I have heard maybe half by total timing. I have a Dragon LP that covers the March 4 Stockholm radio broadcast with Grimes/LaRoca, plus a live "St. Thomas" recorded on the same trip. I haven't listened to this in a long time, but I recall the playing as good in the studio but nothing earth shaking -- but that "St. Thomas" is from another planet! Always wished everything on the LP was as smoking; according to an online discography (which certainly has some holes)there appears to be just one other cut ("Paul's Pal") from the same date as "St. Thomas." I also have a CD that has three pretty spectacular tracks with Grimes and Kenny Clarke from Aix-en-Province ("Woody'N You," "But Not For Me," "Lady Bird"). Long tracks, Sonny plays A LOT, though I sometimes wish there was a little more variety in the tempos since all are at nearly the same medium 4. But that's a nit. Tremendous flow to Sonny's playing. Anybody else heard the rest of the 1959 material? Interesting time -- the last known recordings I gather before the first sabbatical. What I did buy yesterday was something called Sonny Rollins Trio, "Live in Munich 1965" with NHOP and Alan Dawson. Oct. 29, 1965. Material listed as "Darn that Dream," "Standards Medley into There Will Be Another You" "The Song is You," "On Green Dolphin Street/Night and Day." I had high hopes, especially because this same trio is responsible for the the Copenhagen concert recorded just a couple days later and issued on the recent Jazz Icons DVD -- for me, that's some of the greatest, most jaw-dropping Sonny ever captured on film or audio, period. Anyway, the Munich concert disappointed me. Sonny sounds distracted, out of sorts (jet lagged?), and he doesn't actually solo that much. The a cappella intro into "There Will Never Be Another You" is fun as he runs through snippets of some familiar tunes, including sticking with "Pent-Up House" long enough that the trio joins in. But I get the feeling that Sonny just didn't really know what he wanted to play, and probably wished he didn't have to play anything. Caveat emptor.

Not sure of official forum policy and I'll leave that to the moderators and follow the rules. But I was under the impression that discussion was allowed about any release but posting direct links to the sources for bootlegs (however they are defined) such as file sharing sites was a definite breach. I am less clear about whether it's ok to link to, say, the specific recording on a legit site like Amazon. A clear statement of policy would be helpful I think. For what it's worth, I saw that Sonny 1959 set yesterday at the store in the New Release/Import bin. Will discuss further specifics once we get a ruling ...

Yesterday Christian McBride sent out a cryptic tweet asking if anybody knew of any James Brown bootlegs from Nov. 1969 and March 1970 and any recorded shows from 1972. I'm a JB fan (who isn't?) but my understanding of the discography is limited and I know the career details only casually, so I responded by asking Christian why he chose those specific dates. I suspect he may have gotten several such replies, because he posted a longer, meticulously detailed summary here: http://christianmcbride.com/scrolls/scroll_mythang_output.html?id=169 Definitely worth a read.

Freddie Hubbard is in there twice, too. He's the second clip (with Elvin), then one a little later.

Bassist John Goldsby tweeted this today. I thought it was worth re-posting here. Discuss ...

Heard Hal Galper's Trio last night in downtown Detroit. Fantastic -- very free and full of surprise, though the band is still fundamentally playing tunes with strong harmonies ("Alice in Wonderland," "Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry," old "Milestones," Hal's originals, etc. It's Hal's rubato concept. There's time and pulse but it's super loose rhythmically, all three players swirling around an amorphous but definite groove. Everyone once in a while they fall into straight time but not often. Hal, Jeff Johnson and John Bishop have been playing this way for years and they breathe as one. They're playing the the Showcase in Chicago on Monday and Tuesday and I'd highly recommend it. I wrote this short critic's pick a few days ago: http://www.freep.com/article/20111103/COL17/111030346/Pianist-Hal-Galper-brings-his-trio-Carr-Cultural-Arts-Center