Don Brown

Marky Markowitz Sam Staff Hymie Schertzer Sam Marowitz Sam Margolis Shorty Rogers (Milton Rajonsky) Al Cohn George Wettling Marty Flax (Martin Flachsenhaar) Lou Stein Chubby Jackson Sid Weiss Lou Fromm Joey Bushkin Max Kaminsky George Wein

Neither Dave Brubeck nor Paul Desmond was Jewish, although Paul Desmond apparently thought he was. Desmond's real name was Paul Breitenfeld but I guess that was simply a German name. I can't recall where I read it (it may have been in Ted Gioia's book on west coast jazz) but it's been established that Desmond was not Jewish.

Jeez, what great memories. Toronto was one of the principal cities on the circuit in the 50s and 60s for jazz groups and big bands. I first saw Ellington in 1951 (the band with Louis Bellson) then at least twice a year up until 1973. Then there was my very first big band: Lionel Hampton (with Milt Buckner, Paul Higaki, Curly Hamner and Billy Mackel) in 1950, followed by Woody Herman (the MGM band with Sonny Igoe on drums - not really the Second Herd but earlier than the Third Herd), Cab Calloway (with Jonah Jones, Ike Quebec and Panama Francis), Tommy Dorsey (with Charlie Shavers and Sam Donahue), and Count Basie (the first time with Joe Newman, Paul Quinichette, Lockjaw Davis and Charlie Fowlkes). Ellington, Herman, Basie and Hampton each played Toronto at least once a year but usually twice, sometimes in concerts at Massey Hall, but also for dancing at the Club Kingsway, or at the Colonial Tavern where the trumpet and trombone sections were crammed onto a stage designed for a small group, while the saxophones sat on folding chairs down on the floor in front of the stage. The piano was also on the floor. If you got there early enough to grab the right table you'd be close enough to Ellington, or Basie or Nat Pierce (with Woody) to reach over and touch their right hands. It was pure heaven! In later years we heard Carla Bley's band, the Toshiko Akiyoshi-Lew Tabackin Big Band, and Sun Ra. I saw Sun Ra three times, once at Humber College and twice at the Horseshoe Tavern, a country and western bar. The looks on the faces of the waiters at the Horseshoe was worth the price of admission!

Comic art.

Does no one here know who any of the other players might have been?

I remember reading somewhere that the album was recorded in Chicago with local musicians. I'm pretty sure the alto player is Bunky Green. Can't remember who else was involved.

The music from this concert which, by the way, is excellent has been issued both on LP and on CD by the Celluloid label. Lonehill claims the music is previously unissued, but then the Lonehill/Fresh Sounds/Blue Moon/Definitive conglomerate seem more than happy to mislead jazz collectors. To be fair, they have put some good stuff back into circulation: the Manny Albam sessions, for example, but one must do a little careful research before ordering their CDs.

What Duke Ellington was to music Will Eisner was to comics and graphic novels. A great loss.

Chuck Maures

Hope I'm not too late to wish you a happy birthday, Chris. (You make me feel so young. It'll be another thirteen months before I hit 73!) Seriously, all the best to you. You are a voice of sanity on these boards.

72 next month, but I realize that if I hadn't reached this advanced age I'd have missed hearing the following artists, and countless others, in person: Ellington, Louis, Bird, Pee Wee Russell, Coltrane, Monk, Billie Holiday, Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Henry "Red" Allen, Willie the Lion, Miles, Clifford Brown, Dizzy's big band with Lee Morgan, Ernie Henry and Benny Golson as sidemen, Woody Herman's various Herds - beginning with the Third, Count Basie, Sammy Price, Bennie Green, Bill Harris, Buck Clayton, Charlie Ventura, Charlie Shavers, Roy Eldridge, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Lonnie Johnson, Sleepy John Estes, Lennie Tristano with Konitz and Warne Marsh, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Art Tatum, Erroll Garner, Pete Johnson, Mary Lou Williams, Meade Lux Lewis, John Lewis, Robert Nighthawk, The Art Ensemble of Chicago, Sun Ra, Cecil Taylor, Arnett Cobb, Wardell Gray, Johnny Griffin, Archie Shepp, Marion Brown, Oscar Pettiford, Mingus, Jimmy Knepper, Pepper Adams, Gerry Mulligan with Bob Brookmeyer, Jim Hall, Wes Montgomery, Sarah Vaughan, Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, Eddie Condon, Wild Bill Davison, Bobby Hackett, Bud Freeman, Phil Woods, Steve Lacy, Ralph Sutton, Ruby Braff, Illinois Jacquet with Milt Buckner and Jo Jones, Jimmy Rushing, Muggsy Spanier, Joe Henderson, Carla Bley, Gil Evans, Gene Krupa, Max Kaminsky, Tony Scott, J.J.Johnson & Kai Winding, Elvin Jones, Dannie Richmond, J.C.Heard, Shadow Wilson, Cozy Cole, Shelly Manne, Cliff Leeman, Andrew Cyrille, Eddie Blackwell, Earle Warren, Tab Smith, Earl Bostic, Buddy Tate, Jay McShann, Vic Dickenson, Roswell Rudd, Tommy Flanagan, Teddy Wilson, Marian McPartland, Barney Kessel, Tal Farlow, Dexter Gordon, Buddy DeFranco, Ornette Coleman and Dewey Redman.

Boy, do I remember Sparton pressings! Absolute crap. Most of the Impulse albums available in Canada were pressed by Sparton. The stereo pressings were even worse than abominable. In order to hear the great Coltrane, Mingus, Shepp, Gary McFarland and Pee Wee Russell albums from Impulse we had only one choice: buy the mono pressing. The monos weren't great, but they were at least playable. The stereos, forget about it. Earlier, Sparton had wreaked the same havoc on Atlantic albums. Sparton at one time had been licensed to manufacture Atlantic albums in Canada. Migawd they were awful. I'll never forget Pyramid by the Modern Jazz Quartet. All that delicate interplay buried under an ocean of surface noise and out-of-phase stereo. Even the mono on that one was a disaster. Bad memories. Strangely enough, this is not an indictment of Canadian pressings. Albums from the major labels, Columbia and RCA in particular, sounded far better in the Canadian pressings than they did in the American originals. It's not as though great LPS couldn't be manufactured north of the border, it's just that Sparton couldn't do it.

Like Chuck Nessa I got a copy of this from Ren Brown at World's Records a month or more ago. Overall the sound is fine...except for a noisy audience.

Harold Z is so right. The wonderful Jimmy Rushing album "The Smith Girls" still awaits reissue. Since Jimmy is backed by a big band it would not have been appropriate for the new Mosaic set but damn, it should be reissued. Maybe Collectables?

Here are the personnels on Marlowe Morris' "Play the Thing". Mathew Gee, trombone; Buddy Tate, tenor sax; Morris, organ; Ray Barreto, congas; Jo Jones, drums Buck Clayton, trumpet; Edmond Hall, clarinet; Buddy Tate, tenor sax; Morris, organ; Ray Barretto, congas; Jo Jones, drums on some titles Gus Johnson replaces Jo Jones Marlowe Morris was a protege of Art Tatum and is the piano player in Norman Granz and Gjon Mili's landmark Warner Brothers film "Jammin' the Blues". Morris also was the pianist in Big Sid Catlett's quartet with Ben Webster on the Commodore label.

Just got a list of the albums included from Scott Wenzel at Mosaic. Ruby Braff All Stars - Philips Buck Clayton & Marlowe Morris Trio - Epic Ruby Braff/Braff!! - Epic Marlowe Morris Quintet/Play the Thing - Columbia Buck Clayton, Ada Moore & Jimmy Rushing/Cat Meets Chick - Columbia Buck Clayton Special - Philips Buck Clayton/Songs For Swingers - Columbia Coleman Hawkins & Clark Terry/Back in Bean's Bag - Columbia Ben Webster & Sweets Edison/Ben & Sweets - Columbia Illinois Jacquet - Epic Herb Ellis/The Midnight Roll - Epic Kenny Burrell/Bluesin' Around - Columbia All they missed is Sir Charles Thompson & the Swing Organ from Columbia

It'll be a real treat to finally get Buck Clayton's "Songs for Swingers" on CD. Does anyone know if Sir Charles Thompson's "Swing Organ" or Marlowe Morris' "Play the Thing" are included? They were a couple of fine albums that seem to have been completely forgotten.

Cotton Tail (the 1940 Victor original) - Duke Ellington West End Blues - Louis Armstrong Parker's Mood - Charlie Parker Ghosts (the original version on ESP) - Albert Ayler Brownie Speaks - Clifford Brown & Gigi Gryce Choose Now - Tadd Dameron with Clifford Brown Blue Serge - Duke Ellington Rhythm-A-Ning - Thelonious Monk Excursion on a Wobbly Rail - Cecil Taylor Chelsea Bridge - Duke Ellington Chelsea Bridge - Ben Webster & Gerry Mulligan Blueport - Gerry Mulligan with Art Farmer Haitian Fight Song - Charles Mingus Burgundy Street Blues - George Lewis Stars Fell on Alabama - Jack Teagarden Stars Fell on Alabama - Stan Getz Just a handful of opening notes that stir the blood and spirit of this elderly listener.

Escalator Over the Hill/Carla Bley Mingus Ah Um/Charles Mingus Tomorrow is the Question/Ornette Coleman The Crust/Steve Lacy The Blue Potato and Other Outrages/Ran Blake Roots and Herbs/Art Blakey

Chrome asks about the pronunciation off Betty Roche. Her name was actually Betty "Roach", but Duke Ellington decided to make it more classy by changing the spelling to "Roche" with an accent on the final "E". It was pronounced "Roe-Shay".

Don't know if anyone else has noticed but Mosaic's last major release - The Gerry Mulligan Concert Jazz Band - also has a reversed photograph on its cover. You sort of expect this kind of thing from graphic designers who aren't particularly interested in music or musicians. But Mosaic? Geez!

Don't know if anyone else has noticed but Mosaic's last major release - The Gerry Mulligan Concert Jazz Band - also has a reversed photograph on its cover. You sort of expect this kind of thing from graphic designers who aren't particularly interested in music or musicians. But Mosaic? Geez!

This is for Clementine re: "The Dixieland All Stars". The session you're referring to was recorded in Boston sometime between June 6 and 18, 1959. All 13 titles plus 3 tunes recorded for a local TV program on June 3, 1959 are on a Jazz Unlimited CD (JUCD 2037). Check the Storyville Records web site for current availability. The correct personnel is: Buck Clayton trumpet; Vic Dickenson, trombone; Pee Wee Russell, clarinet; Bud Freeman, tenor; Lou Carter, piano; Champlin Jones, bass (not Arvell Shaw), and Jo Jones, drums. The tunes are: Someone To Watch Over Me Strike Up The Band Sweet Sue Billboard March Ballin' The Jack Muskrat Ramble Somebody Loves Me Bugle Call Rag Synthetic Blues When The Saints... Embraceable You Fascinating Rhythm St, James Infirmary and from the TV show: Deed I Do Dinah Sunday

And don't forget Lucky's magnificent solo on Miles Davis' "Walkin" on Prestige. Wow!