Bill Nelson

Could be the battery contact in Wig's ear trumpet.

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to his... uhh... fellow city bus drivers."

So Jimmy Smith was also a MENSCH? "No, but on this occasion it wouldn't hurt."

Tim Green tonight? What time?

Verse/Naxos moved on Bethlehem's catalog 15 years too late to make a profit -- and 10 years to break even on manufacturing physical product. (Unless they made numbered limited edition gold disc CDs personally remastered by Kevin Gray or Steve Hoffmann.)

I suppose Rick and Oscar simply ran out of time to listen to them all. I'm starting to get that feeling myself.

Happened to find an interview with Nancy Wilson's pianist and sometime music director Ronnell Bright, who was with her from 1963-66. At the time of this interview (DownBeat, Feb. 5, 1970), Bright was done touring and seemed ready to tell all about the singers he'd played for. On Nancy Wilson: "She's a charming lady with a very appealing voice, as warm as Nat, but she's not a jazz singer or a creative singer. I watched her grow from a sweet, humble talent to an over-assured person. She thinks she's a musician and tells conductors her opinions but she hasn't the experience or musical training to do that. Her talent lies in finding her own way. It's foolish for singers to talk to men who have studied 12 or 15 years about matters that they, the singers, don't understand." To give you some RB creds, in 1958 he replaced Jimmy Jones in Sarah Vaughan's trio. And it's him playing piano on 'After Hours at the London House', with Richard Davis and Roy Haynes completing the trio. About Sassy: "Of all the singers I've played for, Sarah is unquestionably the greatest -- the only one who can claim the very highest standards of musicianship. She could tell you to move from F# to E in the middle of a ten-note chord and she'd always be right."

My experience with the original Focus pressings gave me plenty of 'agita' -- the vinyl looks cloudy and plays with continual hiss. Atlantic Record Sales Co., Inc. may well have distributed them but they were likely pressed at a subsidiary of Pickwick. I've since gotten a Japanese pressing of McRae's 'Bittersweet' (Warner-Pioneer, 1980) and Dorough's 'Everything' on an Evidence CD. The Wayne 'Tapestry' is nice but not essential.

Let me echo Jeff's tribute to Ben and his very real jazz club, Hannah's. The time I went in May, 1992, vibist Dave Pike had brought his rig and was sitting in. The band swung even harder and Ben (then 61) was digging his scene. Since then, as I acquire West Coast jazz albums, I continue to find 'Ben Tucker, bass' in the credits. And the music is always solid underneath.

When parking at the truck stop, there's a secluded area in the back where, if you wait, a variety of other deals start at $8.

Just dug this out of one of my crates and put it on the TT to let it 'sing for its supper'. Hell yeah, it'll be filed into the main library. Liberty/Pacific Jazz gave Bud the green light to stretch with his buddies on this one. They're all on the cover of the gatefold jacket and the liner notes by J.William Hardy are detailed and worth it. Both tracks on the witness stand are so well-arranged, they synch with all other tracks. 'Grass Is Greener' doesn't sound like the Pet Clark hit 'The Other Man's Grass Is Always Greener'. Shank's 'Grass' is dynamite by comparison.

But wait -- there's more! Buy 12 copies for yourself and, with each book you can: exterminate exfoliate excise excrete execrate exhort exonerate expatriate expectorate expunge exuviate, and then extinguish the glowing ashes

Tomorrow it'll be the pig's turn to 'make a wish' at his parlor.

A follow-up to 'the Virtuoso Series' might have been Mal Waldron's 'Sweet Love Bitter' (Impulse 9142, 1967). There's a chamber-like quality consistently maintained for this soundtrack composed by Waldron. While there are moments the trumpet, alto, and tenor cut loose and swing, they otherwise stick to the score. That it was released six albums after 'October Suite' makes one curious why it didn't get the 'Virtuoso' tag. Perhaps because the date was a one-shot by the free-spirited Waldron, who was headed to Europe?

Let me enter it again for MG Jackson's YouTube clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqsz38Frxm8

The LP 'Heart and Center' (1979, Arista/Novus) by Michael Gregory Jackson (guitar, vocals). The record stiffed on impact. I've only seen promo copies with cut corners -- and usually for $5. It was too slick for the Novus jazz hardcores and way over the heads of everyone else. Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqsz38Frxm8 with: Pheeroan ak Laff, drums Marty Erlich, soprano sax Baikida Carroll, trumpet Jerome harris, electric bass Barry Harwood, organ

When hosting a party with vinyls in play, one might either charge admission or levy a damage deposit in advance. That should chill 'em down.

If I were Mosaic, I'd order-up and number 1,000 copies and then sit on 'em for a year or two. After the initial release, I see the Hines shifting units at the same pace as tectonic plates.

She worships at altar of Our Lady the Out-of-Tune, Astrud Gilberto. And she doesn't seem to care.

After re-coring the center, I end up holding the record down firmly and moving my hips from side-to-side.

Soothing, hey, glad it worked for you. I find Nelson's string arranging tepid and uncertain. Maybe these charts are sketches for a movie score that never happened. This obscure Verve album from '63 is easily topped by Rabbit's 1970 reunion with Nelson on Flying Dutchman's 'Three Shades of Blue'.

The first Singers' LP clinker was 'Just in Time' recorded in April '77 with L.A. big band charts arranged by Roger Kellaway. The prior two albums arranged by Pat Williams in '75 and '76 have enough redeeming moments I'm satisfied with. By the mid- 70s, Gene Puerling, having already created six stunning albums, seems to have eased his artistic control or interest. However, An exception to this malaise is the stunning 'SU With Rob McConnell and the Boss Brass' of June, 78 with the band recorded in Toronto. It's one of the best vocal ensemble with big band albums I've ever heard.

Those early Vanguards in mono (maroon label, silver print, 1955-63) and stereo (black label, silver print, 1958-63) have always been hard to find in any condition. Not because they're 'holy grails' but primarily due to channels of distribution beyond NYC. Speaking for the Southeast, it's a rare thrill to find an LP by The Weavers.

Side 1, track 1 is usually the arbiter of wear-n-tear because of: 1. getting scuffs cause it's protruding from the sleeve in the jacket 2. oil deposits from handling 3. vinyl edge warps are most pronounced on the first track 4. dropping the tone arm with unsteady hands 5. the track 1 song is ususally the 'hit' companies want DJ's and customers to hear first

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