Pete C

Yeah! Cactus of Knowledge reminded me of another really interesting Enja: And that reminds me of Spaccanapoli - Lost Souls, great, raucous music from Naples on Real World records.

I'll add Muhal Richard Abrams to that list.

I actually agree with the illiterate.

I don't expect there was much overlap between acid & Kenton. Don Ellis, on the other hand...

I thought the Gary Peacock was a pretty bad sport when he refused to play behind Elvis Costello at Konitz's birthday gig, but he's still one of my favorite bassists. I guess both Jarrett & Peacock can be prima donnas. However, I heard the most glowing reports about what a great, down-to-earth guy DeJohnette is from a friend who worked with him once.

Uri Caine's take on Mahler, Urlicht/Primal Light is one of the more interesting "something different" things to come out of the jazz world in recent years.

I second that emotion.

The solo Maybeck performance is spectacular. I really like the duets with Art Pepper too.

Art Pepper Today is probably my favorite Galaxy studio session. The rhythm section is great: Stanley Cowell, Cecil McBee & Roy Haynes, plus Kenneth Nash on percussion on some tracks. The version of "Patricia" on the album is one of the greatest ballad performances ever.

What's so great about Hank Mobley?

I'm the furthest thing from a fan, however, I once saw a video of a late performance of hers and it was pretty impressive how she could tell a story with a song very simply, and with economical but significant gestures. Still, very few cabaret performers interest me. Only the ones who teeter on jazz.

I bought the Plugged Nickel box about 4 or 5 years ago. I still haven't opened discs 6 & 7. I'm pacing myself.

It's impossible to generalize about when anybody is "ready" for anything.

What does re-invention mean? Same tunes, new arrangements? Same tunes with new arrangements based on the old ones? These recreations of historical artifacts are usually pretty boring. Mulligan's "Rebirth of the Cool" certainly was. I've seen Sketches of Spain played live twice (Maria Schneider with Ingrid Jensen & Chicago Jazz Ensemble with Orbert Davis), and both times I felt that the smart thing to do would have been to forget about trying to "do Miles" and instead use a different solo instrument. The jazz repertory concept is always too damn literal and reverential.

Not a working band, but there is the Bird with big band and strings session that produced Autumn in New York & other tunes.

Sounds like creative hyperbole to me. I don't remember anything qualitatively different when I heard those recordings from other performances by the group.

Cannonball did a great job with "Fiddler on the Roof."

I love Phineas Newborn, but I don't get how he fits this topic.

If they threw the kinds of money around for jazz as they do for pop they'd lose their shirts. As it is, they lose on most artists they promote and make it up on the few who become wildly popular. And when they lose their popularity, goodbye. Why do you think Columbia dropped Wynton Marsalis when his sales started dropping? Sure throwing big bucks at jazz would result in greater sales, but never enough to warrant the money spent. Why is it that so many jazz fans think it's just a matter of getting the word out? Face it, no matter how good the music you like is, most people don't, or won't, like it.

Mellowed? She was too mellow in her early career. She really swung in her later years. There's an excellent documentary about her, Maxine Sullivan: Love To Be In Love Description This video profiles Maxine Sullivan (1911-1987), the legendary jazz singer who rose from humble origins in Pittsburgh to become one of the foremost black vocalists in America. Noted for her swing arrangements of classic ballads, she became known as “The Loch Lomond Girl” after her first big hit in 1937. Sullivan’s reminiscences are highlighted by a wealth of news clippings, photos, Hollywood musical clips, archival footage and testimonials from other jazz luminaries such as Ella Fitzgerald and Marian McPartland.

There's not too much Tapscott that's easy to find. Maybe his best is "The Dark Tree" on HatArt, with the amazing lineup of Tapscott, Cecil McBee, Andrew Cyrille, and John Carter on clarinet. The trio album, "Thoughts of Dar Es Salaam" is available and excellent, with Ray Drummond & Billy Hart, so that might be your best entry point.