Mark Stryker

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

Implicit in Monk's statement is the recognition that there will be an audience, and that your music will be heard, and yeah, that's a good thing. So play for the people who will listen, even if they're not here yet. It's one thing to say follow your muse, there is worth there, people will see it someday and just saying, hey, this is what I want to do, I don't give a rat's ass if anybody ever likes it or not. The irony in that last statement is that somebody probably sooner or later will like it, so there's your audience that you weren't looking for, there's your "cultural relevance" that you didn't give a damn about, there's you getting the attention you never really cared about. But - if you really don't care if nobody likes it or not and nobody ever does, then what is the point relative to anybody outside yourself? That's pretty much rhetorical, though, because damn near anything and everything can find some kind of an audience. What is a fair question of Corea is this - what motivates you to be so many things so visibly to so many different people? I mean, this is a guy who has spent a lot of his time making "fusion" music of widely varying quality (some of it seminal, some of it...quite unnecessary, imo) who also admitted only a few years ago that he was "just now" discovering The Beatles. Cart before the horse, to put it mildly... It's all good if the music's good (or mostly good), and Chick's scorecard there over the last 35 years or so is certainly open for debate. Agree in many respects. Short on time today so can't elaborate but would quickly point out that at least for me Chick's best music (last 35 years and prior) more than makes up for the stuff I find marginal or worse. In the right setting with the right attitude, he remains a remarkable improviser and bandleader.

I'm not sure he's saying that, actually. He is saying that without an audience (support), music doesn't have a societal or cultural value. I don't think a corollary necessarily follows from this that whatever music has the greatest audience is by definition the best music or that it must be good. I do see a possible slippery slope and the tension between Corea's line of thinking and, say, Monk's famous quote that (I'm paraphrasing from memory) you should play what you want rather than what the public wants and let the public catch up, even it takes 20 years. I'd like to hear Corea go deeper into the topic to tease out the nuances and how he might (or not) reconciles the tensions.

These were new to me: Oslo, Nov. 9, 1971, if youtube is to be believed. Not listed in the above filmmography. Anybody know more? (Could this thrust/circular stage actually be the Berlin Philharmonie from Nov. 6 instead of Oslo? Just wondering out loud.)

This is why I dig Jazz Standard despite the music shading toward too conservative for my tastes. At Iridium/Birdland/Blue Note I feel like I'm getting ripped off no matter how good the show is. Smoke is OK and the Vanguard is of course the Vanguard, but Jazz Standard was the first NYC club where I really felt like the management cared about making sure people enjoy themselves. There's a reason for this: The Jazz Standard and its affiliated restaurant Blue Smoke are part of the empire of Danny Meyer, whose other restaurants include Union Square Cafe, Gramarcy Tavern. 11 Madison Park among others. Meyer's ideas about hospitality effectively revolutionized New York restaurants when he opened the Union Square Cafe in the 80s when he was in his late 20s.

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/sportingscene/2011/10/albert-pujols.html Roger Angell reflecting on Pujols' three homers, recalling Reggie in '77 ...

I think Larry's right that it's Weiskopf's rhythmic variety that animates his creativity and prevents him from falling into the overly determined kind of playing that makes "system" or "lick" players a bore. Also, he knows a shit-load of harmony and that can be rewarding on its own score too, though sometimes, as I said, I start hearing "harmony" rather than "melody." But to clarify: I'm a fan and consider Weiskopf as talent deserving wider recognition.

http://www.newmusicbox.org/articles/Rewriting-History-Alternative-Pulitzers/ A related take on some of this discussion. Composer John Luther Adams' list, compiled in 2000, of the works he thinks should have been honored with the Pulitzer. Hat Tip to an Alex Ross tweet for the link. I know many of the pieces on this list but by no means all, so I'll be using this as a guide to explore some works I should know. (I suppose this would probably be better suited to the Classical forum, but it seemed related to a longstanding conversation that grew out of Ornette's Pulitzer a few years ago.)

Generally, I like Walt's playing and writing, though sometimes he comes across to me as a more contemporary Eric Alexander, which is to say a lick player with tons of vocabulary who sounds like, well, a lick player with tons of vocabulary. But there's a creative spark to his best stuff. His composing/arranging elevates him beyond many similar players. In particular, try these two on Criss Cross: "World Away" (Goldings/Bernstein/Stewart) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002KORQAG/ref=dm_mu_dp_trk1 and "Siren" with a nonet http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002KORQAG/ref=dm_mu_dp_trk1 Also worth noting: I bought his book "Around the Horn" some 10 years ago when I was re-investigating my alto for a minute and found it a tremendously valuable book of scales/arpeggio studies that takes you through all the modes of the major, melodic minor and harmonic minor scales. Really expanded my ears and knowledge, and If I ever get back to the horn, I know I'll return to that book.

So, I was working at the Detroit Opera House last night reviewing Michigan Opera Theatre's season-opening production. Since I don't have a smart phone (don't ask), I ran across the street at intermission to a restaurant to check the score at the bar and learned that it was 2-0 going into the third. Feeling grand, I went back to the opera. After the show we jumped back to the bar and they flashed the line score and, well, fuck. 9-4. Oh, well, at least I didn't suffer. Bottom line: better team won. I'll be rooting for the Rangers in the Series. For anyone who is interested, here's a Detroit perspective from Mike Rosenberg from my paper -- a very funny and insightful sports columnist. The sports guys work on truly brutal deadlines. I don't know how Mike does it. http://www.freep.com/article/20111016/COL22/110160661/Michael-Rosenberg-Tigers-season-may-over-not-pride?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Sports

Re: Art Pepper I certainly understand the the point Larry makes above but would add that the very best of the late-period work re-imagines a similar equilibrium in more contemporary terms and, if anything, sounds more perilous than before, gaining an added charge (at least for me) because the stakes seem so damn high. For my taste, my favorite Art is the greatest late stuff -- especially "Today" from 1978 with Cowell, McBee, Haynes. But I sure as hell don't want to live without "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" from "Meets the Rhythm Section" and the rest of the best '55-'60 stuff. Luckily I don't have to. I wish post-71 Pepper was more consistent than it is and I recognize the issues. But if the gun is at my head, I'm grabbing "Today" first.

I think Cruz was looking at Verlander and giving him some serious attitude. I would not be surprisef if the next time Verlander faces him -- and that's probably going to be next year since after throwing 133 pitches today it's highly unlikely that he would throw at all in a game seven -- Verlander will undoubtedly put one under his chin. He might just plonk him. I'm not generally a believer in the retaliation game for real or perceived sins, including the whole you-disrespected-me-by-showing-me-up thing. (C'mon, guys, grow up.) But Verlander is old school and he's got a streak of Bob Gibson competitive nastiness in him. I'm just saying don't be surprised ...