Don Brown

The Miles Davis/Gil Evans and the Bill Potts are both essential and they both belong in any respectable jazz collection, but the Mundell Lowe mentioned by JohnS is in the same league. How could you go wrong with Art Farmer and Ben Webster? And Tony Scott's great here on baritone as well. This was an RCA Camden budget LP which, unfortunately, seems to have been completely forgotten. (Well, almost.)

I was very impressed with the Fletcher Henderson biography. The author has used the same approach Scott Deveaux did in his excellent book on bebop. While there are numerous musical examples (often intimidating to the non-musician) I found the book very informative.

"Slow Drag" Pavageau Zutty Singleton Jemeel Moondoc Bam Brown Geezil Minerve Bardu Ali Cootie Williams

Wonderful news. Thanks, Chris.

Right, Peter, Dizzy's "The Greatest Trumpet of Them All" is one of the great ones that's still missing in action on CD. I can't believe Universal Music has overlooked this one. Gigi Gryce, Benny Golson, Ray Bryant, great tunes, great arrangements...what more could one ask for? Some others I've just burned to CDR are the Coleman Hawkins Documentary on Riverside, Ben Webster's "Webster's Dictionary" on Philips, Ray Nance's "Body and Soul" on Solid State, "Woody Herman '58" on Verve, and Woody's "My Kind of Broadway" on Columbia. And what about the great Rod Levitt albums on RCA? Then there are the Lew Tabackin-Toshiko Akiyoshi RCA albums...on CD in Japan, I guess, but not here. And, of course, the Woody Herman Philips albums that Mosaic wanted to issue. Jazzmatazz shows this stuff coming out from Universal, but can we believe them?

Bill Gottlieb.

I'm with you Chuck. Nice to see someone mention the great Big Sid Catlett. Now there was a musical drummer. And, of course, he was Philly Joe's principal inspiration.

Happy birthday, Lon. So you're going to be fifty. Well, looking at it from my perspective, that's the prime of life, old boy. And it's really no big deal as long as you can manage to stay young inside. The music will do it for you, my friend. It's sure worked for me. I'll be 73 in November and I get just as excited about buying new recordings, and listening to live music, as I did when I was seventeen. I bought my first 78 rpm record at that age and I still feel seventeen inside. (Damn, now if only my knees worked properly. I'm on the waiting list to get knee replacements, but they're still not bad enough to keep me out of record stores, book stores and comic shops.) But enough about me. I enjoy your enthusiasm on this board, Lon, and I somehow figured you were about ten years younger than it turns out you are. See, there's proof right there if you need it that the music does keep you young. Anyway, once again, Lon, have a very happy birthday!

Zoot Sims recorded Monk's "Bye-Ya" August 10, 1956.

The album's called "Body and Soul" and it's on Solid State SS 18062. It's only been reissued (on LP) in Japan except for three titles that were bootlegged, once again just on LP, by the Italian label, Unique Jazz.

Wow, this Ray Nance thread really did get off the tracks didn't it?. Just thought I'd mention another little known Nance violin album. I'm currently in the process of getting another batch of rare LPs transferred to CDR. One of these, on Solid State, was recorded in May of 1969 by Ray Nance with two pianists, Jaki Byard and Sir Roland Hanna (Hanna also plays organ on the date), two guitarists, Tiny Grimes and Tommy Lucas, bassist Carl Pruitt and drummer Steve Little. There's no trumpet playing here from Nance, just violin. He also sings a bit and he did the arrangements. And tenor saxophonist Brew Moore is added on two numbers. The album's another of those sleepers that seems to have been totally overlooked.

I 've had my copy of this one for about three weeks now. There's a couple of really nice things on it by the "president" himself, John R. T. Davies. He plays some really knocked-out alto (and a bit of baritone) on "Peg O' My Heart" and "You're Lucky To Me". J.R.T. was one of a kind, but thank goodness he trained Ted Kendall really well to be his successor. Just listen to the wonderful Diz and Bird Town Hall concert on Uptown for proof.

To answer Allen Lowe: no, I don't think Frank Sinatra sucks. I would have to agree with you that he was one hell of a singer, but I still understand what Lon is saying. The beautiful thing about most jazz music is its honesty. But sometimes it's difficult to understand how someone like, say for example, Stan Getz could make music that touches you really deeply even though you know what kind of a person he really was. I think it's the same kind of thing with Sinatra. First, you get seduced by his music, then you say to yourself 'this guy sure is one hell of an actor'. I think what Lon is saying is that he has trouble getting past that pose.

Well said, Lon. Couldn't agree more.

Ted is also working on a collection of vocals by Dolores O'Neil.

Oh, and something I forgot to mention, Lon: Ted laughed when I told him that you thought it had been 17 months since the last Baldwin Street release. Maxine Sullivan/The 1950s "Swinging Miss Loch Lomond" 1952-1959/BJH-314 came out six months ago.

Talked to Ted Ono this afternoon. Everything's moving ahead just fine. The next Lee Wiley is just about ready and another Bea Wain is in the works.

I see Ted Ono every Friday at our regular mid-day gathering. I'll pass on your concerns. I do know he's currently working on on the next Lee Wiley as well as a Nat Pierce collection. There are other things in the works as well, but I don't know if I'm at liberty to mention them at this time. The reason for the hiatus in operations is a major move and ensuing renovations.

No, not the the Ben Sidran piece. I'd forgotten about that one. What I was referring to was a long interview with Adams in Cadence Magazine. He got extremely nasty talking about Chaloff.

mrjazzman, while you're certainly entitled to your opinions you shouldn't be surprised when others happen not to agree with you. We all have our likes and dislikes. Even musicians, or perhaps especially musicians, have their prejudices. For example, you list both Pepper Adams and Serge Chaloff as two of your favorite baritone players. They're both right up there on my list as well, yet it seems Pepper Adams hated Serge Chaloff's playing. Try to find the Cadence Magazine interview in which Adams savages Chaloff. I couldn't believe my eyes when I first read it. I'd always felt Adams had been influenced by Chaloff. But, as Fats Waller said, "One never knows, do one?"

Just checked. My copy's signed by Mr. Koyama as well. But the music will sound every bit as good on the unsigned boxes. As Chuck Nessa so sagely points out, the important thing is the music, not the artifact. (Having said that, I can't complain about the prices collectors are willing to pay for original editions. And many of those collectors just happen to be in Japan. A guy there paid me $1,400.00 for a first edition Blue Note by Jutta Hipp - the one with Jerry Lloyd and Zoot Sims - a pleasant enough album, but certainly not a desert island disc. It was rare though, and near mint. Those guys are really stamp collectors.)

Keynote, not Keystone

A little late getting into this, I realize, but what the hell. Last night my daughter took me out for dinner to a local Japanese restaurant here in Toronto - Gojima. After ordering our drinks we decided to order the large sashimi "boat". After taking my daughter's order, the waiter, a young man obviously from Japan, returned to the table to make sure she knew sashimi was raw fish. "Yes, I know that," said she, and off the waiter went to the kitchen. At this point, my daughter, whose late mother was Japanese, asked if I thought she looked Asian. I told her I did, but obviously the waiter didn't. The sashimi was wonderful.

Mary Lou first played the Rhythm-a-Ning variant of I Got Rhythm in her solo on Walkin' and Swingin' recorded with Andy Kirk and His Clouds of Joy on March 2, 1936. She also wrote the arrangement.

Pee Wee Russell Sonny Rollins