Don Brown

What about that wonderful film The Gig with Warren Vache? And of course the Warner Bros. short Jammin' the Blues with Pres, Sweets, Illinois, Jo Jones, and Sid Catlett?

Just a couple of days ago I pulled out an old favourite on the Vanguard label - The Jo Jones Special. At the end of the opening selection, Shoe Shine Boy, the guys in the band crack up with sheer delight at what they've just committed to record. And what a pick-up group it was - Emmett Berry, trumpet; Bennie Green, trombone; Lucky Thompson, tenor, Count Basie, piano; Freddie Green, guitar, Walter Page bass, and the leader, Jo Jones on drums.

Speaking as a person who was there that evening I have to agree with you Chuck. The music was enjoyable - perhaps even a little more than enjoyable because of all the chaos and confusion surrounding the proceedings - but musically, as good as it was, it certainly was in no way "the greatest jazz concert ever".

One of the fine points I "misremembered" was which Toronto newspaper it was that printed Alex Barris' negative review of the 1953 Massey Hall concert. I'd remembered the Barris review appearing in the Toronto Evening Telegram but obviously I got that wrong. On the 30th anniversary of the concert, Barris and I were asked to appear on CBC Toronto's afternoon drive home program where we were asked to share our memories of the now historic concert. I took Alex to task over his bad 1953 review which I was still recalling as having appeared in the Telegram. But by this time he'd had a complete change of heart and tried to justify his 1953 opinion. The question now is which paper was it that printed Bob Fulford's negative review? As for the ads that Dick Wattam bought, sure there were a couple of insignificant spot ads (which I saw for the first time in Mark Miller's Cool Blues) but without any professional advice they proved to be totally ineffective. In later years whenever I talked to Wattam about the concert he claimed to have bought no ads. Even in 1993 on the 40th anniversary of the concert, when I interviewed Wattam on CJRT's The Jazz Scene - I was filling in for the vacationing Ted O'Reilly - he said he'd bought no ads. He firmly believed that word of mouth would be sufficient to fill Massey Hall.

I've always thought it was almost as good as the Oberlin concert - and that's a recommendation.

I just checked Jazz Goes to College on Amazon.ca and discovered that a new edition will be released on June 14th.

Rooster Ties asked me to share my memories of the now famous 1953 Massey Hall concert that featured Bird, Diz, Bud Powell, Mingus and Roach. The simplest thing to do is to click on to JazzWax and type in Massey Hall concert. Back in January of 2009 I sent Marc Myers a piece about the concert which he printed on his JazzWax site.

Yep, I was in Toronto's Massey Hall on May 15, 1953 and saw Bird with Dizzy, Bud Powell, Mingus and Max Roach.

I was as surprised as medjuck that before his post no one had mentioned Walter Mosley. Mosley is simply brilliant. I'd also recommend Mo Hayder, an English writer, whose novels are not for the faint of heart.

I had a 16 2/3 Prestige release called Prestige All Stars - Modern Jazz Survey: Baritones and French Horns. The baritones were Cecil Payne and Pepper Adams with Coltrane on tenor, and Mal Waldron, Doug Watkins and Art Taylor in the rhythm section. Selections included Dakar and Witches Pit. That was side one of the LP. Side two was by the Julius Watkins/David Amram Octet. I had a turntable that would play these discs but the music still sounded distorted to my ears which were still functional at the time.

medjuck asks how common 12" 78s were. Well, when I began collecting jazz recordings in 1949 I don't recall seeing all that many, but I did manage to end up with an even dozen. On major labels there were things like Goodman's Sing,Sing,Sing, Duke's Black, Brown and Beige (two discs), Artie Shaw's Concerto for Clarinet, and Fats Waller's Ain't Misbehavin' (backed by Moppin' and Boppin') from the film soundtrack of Stormy Weather. On Blue Note I had a couple of titles from the James P.Johnson session with Ben Webster as a sideman, then there were the two wonderful Comet discs (four titles) by Red Norvo with Dizzy, Bird, Flip Phillips, Teddy Wilson, Slam Stewart and J.C.Heard. There was also a single Comet by Cyril "Spider" Haynes that had Don Byas on tenor. And I can't forget the 12-inch Signature with what I still consider to be the best thing Coleman Hawkins ever recorded - The Man I Love. A teen-age Shelly Manne was the drummer on that date and the one and only Oscar Pettiford was the bassist. I also seem to recall having a 12 inch Blue Note by Sidney Bechet. Probably Summertime.

Albert Ayler = really blare

Duke Ellington comes out as "liked long tune".

I had one three days ago, twelve years after my first. The doctor found one polyp which he removed but was unable to retrieve. He was unconcerned however since it was so small. He told me that if I was younger he'd suggest I come back for another procedure in four years. But since I'm in my 79th year he told me I'd likely die from something else before bowel cancer would ever be a problem.

Teddi King

#501 arrived at my door with this morning's mail. So far I've only had a chance to play disc one. There's certainly a lot of detail in the sound, particularly in the rhythm section. I've never heard Sonny Greer, jazz music's great colourist, so clearly.

Thank you all for your good wishes. It's a shocker to look at a calendar and realize I just turned 78. But the good side of that is that being so ancient I had the opportunity of seeing and hearing people live like Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Bird and Diz, Oscar Pettiford, Lady Day, Ben Webster, Clifford Brown, Ellington and Basie, Woody Herman, Henry Red Allen, Pee Wee Russell, Bud Powell, Mingus, Johnny Hodges with his own little band, Al and Zoot, Jimmy Rushing, Big Joe Turner, Art Tatum, Meade Lux Lewis and Pete Johnson, Mary Lou Williams, Julius Watkins, Buck Clayton, Roy Eldridge, Charlie Shavers, Kenny Dorham, Lennie Tristano with Konitz and Warne Marsh, Gerry Mulligan, Paul Desmond, the MJQ, Monk, Miles, Eric Dolphy, Earl Hines, Teddy Wilson, Erroll Garner, and countless other giants who are no longer with us. Thinking along those lines makes being old seem worth it.

My copy arrived in today's mail. Haven't had chance to play it yet.

Just pulled out an out-of-print Columbia CD called The 1940s - The Small Groups: New Directions VCK-44222. It contains nine tracks by Woody Herman's Woodchoppers, five by the Gene Krupa Jazz Trio, and two by Harry James and his Sextet. The James group plays Pagan Love Love Song and Tuxedo Junction. James is on trumpet with Carl "Ziggy" Elmer, trombone; James Cook, clarinet; Edward Ross, tenor sax; Bruce McDonald, piano; Hilmer Trimbell, guitar; Ed Mihelich, bass, and Maclin Combine, drums on the first title, while alto saxophonist Willie Smith replaces Cook on the second.

It happened in a motel shower. Apparently the cold water failed and before Buddy could get out of the tub he was badly scalded.

Elmo Hope Booker Little Pete Brown Serge Chaloff Bill Harris Sonny Berman Johnny Dyani Tadd Dameron Wardell Gray Clifford Brown Ernie Henry Philly Joe Jones Herschel Evans Oscar Pettiford Eddie Costa Doug Mettome Gigi Gryce Dick Wilson

That's the one from Grinnell College isn't it, Chuck? I had a couple of concert LPs by Dizzy's big band recorded there. Great music but terrible pressings unfortunately

I've been told that the situation with the Boris Rose recordings is a little different. Apparently when Rose died his daughter took charge of his recordings and was leasing the material to interested record companies. I know that Ted Ono dealt with her to get airchecks of Dinah Washington, Bill Harris and others for his Baldwin Street label. Bill Savory's recordings on the other hand have been sold outright to the Harlem Jazz Museum by Savory's son.

The first Ellington I heard was in 1948 (I was 16). It was the 1940 recording of Cotton Tail which Dick MacDougall used as his theme on the CBC's Jazz Unlimited program. Shortly after I bought my first 78 by Duke. It was a British pressing on the His Master's Voice label and had Harlem Airshaft on Side 1 and Sepia Panorama on Side 2. I was hooked for life.

The presence of Lennie Tristano on this session isn't all that surprising considering the fact that it was bassist Chubby Jackson, one of the greatest talent scouts in jazz, who had talked Tristano into coming to New York from his native Chicago.