Don Brown

Bill Harris, trombone, and Bill Harris, guitar Willie Smith, alto sax, Willie "The Lion" Smith, piano, Little Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, drums Bennie Moten, Kansas City bandleader, Benny Moten, bass (Bennie's nephew I believe) Bennie Green, trombone, Benny Green, piano, and Benny Green, British alto saxophonist and jazz journalist

A few days ago, Sidewinder said he'd like to have heard Pat Patrick and Monk playing together. Well I did hear Patrick working as a sideman with Monk here in Toronto right near the end of Monk's performing days. It was at the Colonial Tavern but I can't remember the exact date. I know that It was the last time I saw Monk and it was sadly disappointing. As a big admirer of both men I really expected something special. I'd seen Monk at least half a dozen times with Charlie Rouse who was so reliable he'd started to become easy to take for granted. I was expecting to hear something fresh and exciting with Patrick in Rouse's place, but it was not to be. Mind you, Monk was suffering from a really nasty head cold during the whole week of this engagement and, as a result, his own playing was not up to his usual high standard. Patrick, who was playing tenor and not his usual baritone, sounded pretty ordinary and not even Wilbur Ware was able to lift the group out of its torpor. I'm damned if I can remember who the drummer was.

Jay McShann - Hootie's Ignorant Oil Charlie Parker - Parker's Mood Jay McShann - The Man From Muskogee

Sonny Rollins - The Bridge Kid Ory - Ory's Creole Trombone Henry Red Allen - Ride, Red, Ride Lester Young - Lester Leaps In Lester Young - Pres Returns Muggsy Spanier - Relaxin' at the Touro Milt Jackson - Bags' Groove

Back in the LP days I received a copy of Ornette Coleman's Chappaqua Suite on French CBS. It was a two-LP set and one of the discs in the gatefold album was from Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde album. What a schlemozzle. It took some time to get things sorted out.

A case in point; I ordered a CD set from Avid in England on Sunday, April 7th, it was shipped on Monday, April 8th, and I received it here in Toronto today. Meanwhile I'm still waiting for two items that were shipped from importcds in Irvine, California over a month ago. I've found importcds to be a very reliable company and such delays only began happening in the last few months or so, therefore I assume the problem must be with the USPS.

What on earth has happened to the U.S. Postal Service? Parcels that once took a week at the most to reach Toronto now take at least two to three weeks. I can order stuff (mostly CDs and DVDs) from the UK, Germany, Spain or France and receive them four to five days later. But I order something from California and it often takes a month to get here. Is the USPS service as bad within the U.S. as it is when ordering from outside the country?

According to Tom Lord's discography, Allen, Red Camp recorded on nine separate occasions - eight times for the Cook label and once for an outfit called Jazz Tex. He only made one album under his own name. On the others the leaders were clarinetist Charlie Boekman, singer Lizzie Miles, drummer Freddie Kohlman, and trumpeter Tony Almerico. While a couple of Camp's recording were made in Corpus Christi most were done in New Orleans.

There are six albums on which Ben and Cees Slinger play together: Then and Now from 1965 on Challenge Ben Webster and Don byas 1968 on Rarities Live in Amsterdam 1969 on Affinity For the Guv'nor 1969 on Imperial Ben op Zijn Best 1970 on Westside Wayfaring Webster 1970 on Daybreak

I remember that the Basie in London album was actually recorded at a concert in Goteburg, Sweden. I guess Granz had already paid for the posed cover photograph of Basie with a couple of "pearlies" and didn't want to waste it.

Three of the four Transition selections Pepper Adams played on were included in the Paul Chambers set from Mosaic. (Mosaic Select MS-005).

Southland Season Three.

Philly Joe Jones was another Big Sid devotee.

Sonny Rollins playing Irving Berlin's "There's No Business Like Show Business". Never cared for the tune until I heard Sonny literally blow it inside out. A wonderful performance from the album called "Work Time".

There were three Bennie Motens. The first, of course the great Kansas City bandleader but there was also a Bennie Moten who played clarinet and saxophone on recordings by Joe Jordan and Clarence Williams. Then there was a bassist I saw several times here in Toronto in the 1950s, Benny Moten, who was, I believe, a nephew of the Kansas City bandleader

Tadd Dameron Marky Markowitz Little Brother Montgomery Sweet Emma Barrett Dud Bascomb Pharoah Sanders Boots Randolph Muggsy Spanier

Mine was at the door when I arrived home this evening.

As king ubu says, the Arnvid Meyer box - which I've had for about three weeks now - is available at a far better price from Jazz Messengers in Barcelona. Their email address is www.jazzmessengers.com. The box is beautifully produced by Meyer's son Cim. And the DVD is really special. The camera has really captured the interaction between the players. It's wonderful watching Benny Carter and Ben Webster digging the Danish players, especially Meyer, John Darville, Jesper Thilo, and Hugo Rasmussen. After every one of tenorman Thilo's solos Webster reaches over and gives him a friendly pat on the shoulder. I would highly recommend the set.

What about the two great alto saxophonists whose sons both play drums? There's Johnny Hodges and Johnny Hodges Jr. as well as Ornette Coleman and his son Denardo.

Happy birthday, John. Any special music lined up for today?

Yes, I believe that's the one.

Marlowe Morris, a fine pianist as well as an organist, was a protege of Art Tatum's. In his liner notes for an LP, the title of which escapes me, Dick Wellstood told of once catching Tatum and Morris at an after hours session. Apparently someone had the temerity to challenge Tatum. Tatum felt cutting this cat wouldn't really require his participation so he turned to Morris and said, "Take him, Marlowe".

Glucosamine/Chondroiton does help. Even the doctors here now agree that it does. But another thing alocispepraluger might try is an injection of a substance - the name of which I can't remember at the moment, but I'll find it - that lubricates the knee joint for up to six months. When it was first being used my knees were too far gone to be helped, but I have two friends who are getting regular injections and they say it does wonders.

I know exactly what you're going through.I had the same experience with both knees. First it was the left then, a couple of years later, the right. After checking my X-rays, my GP sent me to to see an orthopedic surgeon. It had been confirmed that I was suffering from osteoarthritis in both knees. This was back around 1996 and in those days arthroscopic surgery to remove torn cartilage was a common treatment. I understand this procedure has not been found to be all that successful and is seldom performed in Canada today. After having both knees operated on arthroscopically - a couple of years apart - I felt some relief but still had to take pretty powerful pain killers. But then,in 2006 I had both knees replaced. My surgeon, who is considered one of the world's finest, replaced both knees the same day. I couldn't believe how quickly I recovered from the surgery. I was back on my feet in no time and I've never had a problem since. There's nothing I can't do now and I'm totally pain-free. There is a secret though. Never go to a general hospital for a knee replacement. Be sure to have the surgery done at an orthopedic hospital where that kind of surgery is all the surgeons do. I know lots of people who've had a knee replaced at a general hospital and are now unwilling to get their other knee replaced because of their bad experiences and poor results. Good luck.

According to Tom Lord, trumpeter Wilbur "Dud" Bascomb's bassist son also went by the name Wilbur "Dud" Bascomb, with "Junior" appended.