Kevin Bresnahan

FWIW, if it bothers you, you can report this to ebay using "Key Word Spamming" as your complaint. They have forced listers to change the text on stiff like this in the past. The funniest one was where this guy put a disclaimer to key word spam. He had a disclaimer saying, "Ebay no longer allows me to use MFSL in my descriptions of gold CDs unless they are actually from MFSL". Now that was funny! Later, Kevin

Brad, I had that same problem with my Gordon set, which I have long since sold. I have the Herbie Hancock box set which is similarly packaged and my discs are always falling off the spindles. I have to be very careful when I open that box. It's also such an odd shape that it doesn't fit right anywhere in my Can-Am unit. If they reissue the Gordon box with standard jewel cases, I may opt to re-buy it. BTW, speaking of that Gordon box, has anyone ever gotten a booklet without the back cover being torn?? Later, Kevin

I just checked jazzbo's info and it does appear that Blue Note is trying to reissue this but if they do, it'll be in a different package. Apparently, the old packaging cost a lot to produce (which is why it listed for $109 retail). Michael says they're looking into what it would take to put the discs into standard jewel boxes and printing the booklet in a way to fit into a different box. He said, "Like the Robert Johnson & Bessie Smith boxes that Columbia put out." They won't do it if they can't redo the packaging. This would be good news for those trying to get their hands on it. Later, Kevin

I talked to Michael Cuscuna about a possible venue. He's gonna make a few calls and get back to me. He said that if there were "names" involved, it might make it easier. I don't know how these deals work so bear with me, but I gather that the "host" club would probably want to get some "name" players so they get a good draw so they can recover their operating expenses with the bar tab... just my guess. It sounded like a weekend might be nearly impossible unless you found a sympathetic club manager. Most places would probably only be willing to give up an "off" night. I'll let you know if I hear anything. Later, Kevin

I have been off all day and to sign in tonight and see this just brings joy to me... Please keep us informed how this goes... and please plan the event for a weekend. I want to be there and I will have shot if it's a Fri or Sat. A weekday & I'll have a tough time. Also, when you nail it down, make sure to let Guy Sterling at the New Jersey Star Ledger know. He's the one who started this whole thing. You guys are great. Later, Kevin

I finally spoke to Tom Evered yesterday and rather than take the low road and blast him for the way they handled the closure, I took the high road, talked to him about things in general (their recent move, new reissues, sales, etc.) and asked him when it might be re-opened. As I thought, they don't have anybody to work on it. Their one internet guy is also their IT guy and he's overworked to the max. Tom also said that "if" it re-opened, it wouldn't likely be until late May or June. And yes, he did say "if". I will add once again in this thread something I've said in other threads. Michael Cuscuna was not ever involved with the Blue Note board. As a matter of fact, he used me to get his word out to the fans. He posted twice on that board. Both times were a result of pleading by me to address constant questions. He is clearly puzzled as to why the board closed and why it remains closed. I still think they're clueless over at Blue Note that they destroyed an entire community... a community that really dug Blue Note. They just never understood what we were. I think Michael Cuscuna did, but not Blue Note. I sometimes think that they felt we were some kind of "cult". Hari Krishna... Hari Blue Note. Fellow BN poster Chris Albertson even said as much over at Jazz Corner's Speakeasy. Why do people think this way about the people from the Blue Note board?? I never got that feeling from people over there... not even from Tom. What was to not like about that board? I like Blue Note CDs and I think that other people who like them make for fun people to talk with. Why does that suddenly make me part of some "Blue Note love fest"? Bullshit! I like Blue Note but I also like Verve, Prestige, Riverside, Columbia, DIW, Bethlehem, Capitol, Atlantic, Contemporary, Emarcy and every other label that puts out Jazz music... that's the only qualification I ever wanted, good Jazz music. Later, Kevin

Impossible: James Newton - Romance and Revolution Leo Parker - Let Me Tell You 'Bout It or Rolling With Leo Pullen/Adams - Breakthrough or Song Everlasting Bob Belden - Turandot (pulled from distribution due to a lawsuit... never even made the US) Wicked hard... too many. Some, like Jerry Bergonzi's "Standard Gonz" seem to never show up in used bins but don't seem to fetch big bucks on ebay when the do. Others like Japan's "The Procrastinator" get big bucks on ebay and they're equally rare. Later, Kevin

"Solid" has to be in this poll! We can't leave that date off. If I had to choose only two of Mobley's, it would certainly never be "Curtain Call" & "Thinking Of Home". It would be "Poppin'" & "Another Workout". I actually consider Mobley's "Curtain Call" to be pretty weak. Also, in my opinion, Mobley's playing on Sonny Clark's "My Conception" is miles ahead of any of the aforementioned dates. Poor Leo Parker... he really doesn't get the credit he deserves. His "Rolling With Leo" could have been a Blue Note classic if only he didn't pass away, preventing Lion from releasing it to the acclaim it deserved. Later, Kevin

No, it's definitely not a big deal. However, I have been getting less & less time to "surf", especially since I now have three boards to check out (here, AAJ and JC). I would not have wasted the time & bandwidth to open this thread if it said "for auction" (as Hans said). So, it's not a big deal, but it is a small one. BTW, how would you feel if everyone who had jazz CDs over at ebay started coming here and posting them "for sale". It would make this forum meaningless. I love that board members can come in here and give fellow members a chance to get a CD without playing the "ebay game". One loony bidder and an ebay auction is useless. Ask Misteriso about those Larry Young boxes. Later, Kevin

I wouldn't go to this. No way I'm ever going to financially support T.S. Monk... not after the way he handled that composition controversy with the Sonny Clark tune that T.S. claimed was written by his father. Nope. I think T.S. was wrong. I dumped all of his CDs from my collection and I won't be buying another one either. Later, Kevin

As I said over on the All About Jazz forum, without any "Buy It Now" option, these CDs are not technically "for sale". This post does us board members no "favors" (not that any favors are required). I would prefer if you titled your thread with the term "for auction" to reflect the actual availability. Later, Kevin

I've actually owned Candido's "Beautiful" on a Japanese CD for a year or so and I've kinda grown to like it. I originally bought it for someone else (turns out he had it already) so I was expecting to use it as trade bait. It kept coming out of the "trade-in" pile so many times that I finally just decided to keep it. Nice, groovin' disc. Later, Kevin

Well, it looks like I can delete that link! In checking around for another supplier of the Jazz Factory label, I've discovered that this label is part of the Disconforme group. As much as I want this music, I don't think I'll be buying this CD after all. Disconforme is the slimeball company that rips off the work of Mosaic and Uptown... I just can't support them, even if they are selling perfectly legal CDs out of Europe under their 50 year copyright laws. If they didn't flat-out rip-ff the remastering work from other companies, I could probably be OK, but they seem to be pretty scummy about it. Later, Kevin

I was just checking around to see if Planet Music (http://www.planetmusic.es/) was going to carry the upcoming Jazz Factory releases and their link is now dead. Did they go under? A new web address maybe? I was really interested in how much they were going to charge for that new reissue, Wynton Kelly - "The Complete Blue Note Trio Sessions", which I assume is the same stuff that was out on CD as "Piano Interpretations" here in the US. I may buy this CD even though I'll feel like I'm ripping off Blue Note. Of course, if Blue Note had it in print.... Later, Kevin

I mix wine & Jazz all the time! They are perfect for each other. In fact, I even bought that wine/Jazz combo a few years back from Maria Schneider... I've never regretted it. However, Mondavi is not my wine of choice. Too bad EMI didn't ask around before aligning themselves with Modavi. Their primo stuff is good but overpriced and their resonably priced stuff isn't worth buying. There are so many better wineries out there. Later, Kevin

Lovano's "Celebrating Sinatra" wouldn't stay in my CD rack even at $4.78 ($1.99 + $2.79 s&h). Yuck. Shim's "Turbulant Flow" on the other hand is well worth that. Later, Kevin

I believe if this transaction had gone through, the only company being "stuck" would have been Mosaic. Unless it's changed, True Blue Music, Mosaic's retail arm, handles CD orders from the BN site. Ed is right... it's at BMG and can be had for peanuts there. Anyone need a "referral" e-mail? I get 5 freebies if you sign up off of me. Later, Kevin

Bertrand, I gave Tom Evered's contact information to Guy so if there was a problem with royalties, they should be all straightened out. Guy did mention that Larry's brother has received royalty checks in the past for Larry's Arista LPs... not that they could have been big considering how poorly they sold. Later, Kevin

I know that there is already a "Larry Young Corner" but I felt this deserved a topic of it's own. Thanks to BFrank's posting of the link to the New Jesery Star Ledger's story on Larry Young, I contacted the author, Guy Sterling, to find out if Larry's estate was in contact with Blue Note Records, as I had been told there had been a substantial amount of money in Larry's royalty account. In talking with Guy, I could tell that he was glad for my call. However, he sounded sadder than I expected when I complimented him on the article. After talking with him for a while, it came out why he was so melancholy about Larry. He mentioned how upsetting it was for him when he went to Larry's gravesite only to find there is no headstone. He's decided to do something about it. He gave me permission to post about it here. Here are the particulars: WBGO-FM/Jazz Radio 88 in Newark is accepting contributions to defray the costs of putting a headstone on Larry Young's grave. The station's address is: WBGO/Jazz Radio 88 54 Park Place Newark, NJ 07102 All checks should be made out to "WBGO/Larry Young Fund." Guy specifically asked me to, "If possible, and for a couple of reasons, I would like to know about anyone making a contribution. One, I hope to write about this project and would like to give as much credit as I can. Also, I want to make certain all of the money that's contributed goes to the cause and that the headstone befits Larry's stature. It's OK for you to include my e-mail address with any posting." Guy's e-mail address is: gsterling@starledger.com. If there's anyway that you guys in Organissimo can head this way and give a benefit, I'd be there! Later, Kevin

Jim, I was talking to Michael Cuscuna about this recording and he thinks it's something coming from the bass amp... the bass amp resonating with a cymble? That sounds even weirder to me. It definitely seems to stop when drummer Charles Moffett stops hitting a cymble. Is it unusual for a bass generating output to couple so strongly with a cymble? BTW, Michael said that if this disortion weren't present, he would have been able to release a ton more from this session. He says that it gets much worse on the stuff still in the can. Too bad... this is some great Ornette. Later, Kevin

Here are Dan Morgenstern's excellent liner notes to Bobby Jaspar's CD, Bobby Jaspar In Paris - Disques Swing CDSW-8413 issued in 1987 by DRG Records Inc. These are some of the best liners that I have ever read. I hope you guys enjoy them as much as I did. Later, Kevin When Belgian-born Bobby Jarpar arrived in New York in the spring of 1956, very few foreign-born-and-raised jazz musicians had been able to establish themselves in the music’s homeland. Stan Hasselgaard might have managed, but sudden death intervened. His fellow Swede Rolf Ericson, who arrived the same year (1947), did well enough in the trumpet sections of some leading big bands but hardly became a household name. Toshiko Akiyoshi preceded Jaspar by three months but had just enrolled at Boston’s Berklee School. George Shearing, to be sure, was riding high, but he was an exception – and then, he wasn’t a horn player. Jaspar’s main horn was the tenor sax, perhaps the most competitive of all jazz instruments in the post-bebop era. He’d taken up the flute in 1954 and was already one of the outstanding jazz practitioners on it, but this instrument had not yet fully established its position in jazz. It speaks volumes for Jaspar that within two months of his arrival he had been hired by J.J. Johnson as a permanent member of the great trombonist’s new quintet, alongside bassist Wilbur Little and two recent settlers from Detroit, Tommy Flanagan and Elvin Jones. (Bobby was so impressed with the young drummer that he wrote a perceptive piece about him for the French Magazine of Jazz Hot.) In the 1956 Down Beat Critic’s Poll, Jaspar was voted New Star on tenor. He was 30, and life must have seemed full of promise. To be sure, there were some good things in store. After 15 months with Johnson, Jaspar has a brief stint with Miles Davis, no less – in between Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane. He does well as a free-lance, gigging and recording. There’s a successful European tour with Donald Byrd, Walter Davis Jr., Doug Watkins and Art Taylor, including three months at a Paris club and lots of reunions with old friends – from 1950 to 1955, Jaspar had been one of the City of Light’s leading resident jazzmen. Back in the States in early 1959, he continues to do well on the New York scene, where he prefers to stay, though there’s some touring with Chris Connor. Among the highlights are gigs with up-and-coming Bill Evans, and with Jimmy Raney, an old friend from Paris who’d insisted on recording with Bobby during a visit there in 1954, helping to establish the Belgian’s international reputation. There’s a short-lived “International Jazz Quartet” with Hungarian guitarist Atilla Zoller, Indonesian bassist Eddie De Haas, and American drummer G. T. Hogan, and a record date with his wife, singer-arranger-pianist Blossom Dearie; they remain good friends after their 1959 divorce. Back in Europe for an extended stay beginning in 1961, he impresses musicians and audiences with the strides he’s made, but it’s also clear to all who know him that he is not feeling well. After resting up, he joins forces with fellow Belgians René Thomas (guitar) and Benoit Quersin (bass), plus the brilliant Swiss drummer Daniel Mumair, They tour Europe to much acclaim, record in Italy with John Lewis and Chet Baker, and Bobby again takes up seriously his first instrument, the clarinet, also doubling on soprano and baritone. But not long after returning to New York he has a heart attack and is diagnosed as suffering from endocarditis. The disease and the attack have caused serious damage, and his sole and slim chance for survival, doctors say, is a bypass operation – a much more risky proposition then than now. He needs to rest for six months to gain sufficient strength to undergo the surgery. Knowing full well what confronts him, he retains the serenity of temperament that has endeared him to so many. The operation takes place on February 28, 1963 and requires 41 pints of blood. On March 4, two weeks past his 37th birthday, Bobby Jaspar dies. As this album – never before issued in the United States, and long unavailable anywhere – amply documents, Bobby Jaspar was a musician of uncommon talent. In his formative years, he was strongly influenced by Don Byas, who settled in Europe in 1946. But he was also drawn to Lester Young’s conception, and then to Stan Getz and Zoot Sims and Lucky Thompson. But even before he settled in New York, Sonny Rollins had begun to make an impression on him, strengthened by what he heard after his arrival. Always a thinking musician, he had, by late 1956, melded these influences into a very attractive and personal style. On the flute, there were of course fewer role models, and when it comes to this instrument, Jaspar must be ranked at the very top, with a more virile and venturesome approach than customary in the pre-Eric Dolphy phase of jazz flute playing. His single appearance here on clarinet shows that he had mastered this difficult horn, not much favored in modern jazz contexts. On all his instruments, he speaks the language of jazz without a trace of foreign accent. Jaspar was also a gifted arranger and composer, and one of his most appealing pieces is In A Little Provincial Town (a salute to Liège, where he was born). Tutti Frutti (also recorded on a 1957 Prestige session with Herbie Mann, on which Bobby carves his American colleague on both flute and tenor) and Clarinescapade are the other Jaspar originals here. Minor Drop is by Belgian pianist Francis Coppieters, an early musical associate, while They Look Alike stems from Manny Albam’s fertile pen. The remainder of the well-balanced program consists of first-rate standards and a bop classic, J. J. Johnson’s Wee Dot. Two sessions, recorded eight days apart, are represented here. On the first, Jaspar is backed by two colleagues from the Johnson group and a ringer. Tommy Flanagan, still in the first year of his recording career, already displays the remarkable touch, impeccable taste and swinging sensitivity for which he’s long been cherished. Elvin Jones, not yet as audacious as he would become with and after Coltrane, is nevertheless his astonishing self. The ringer, with credentials including work with Charlie Parker, is the excellent Palestinian-born bassist Nabil Totah. The second date has a somewhat different flavor, mainly due to the added voice of Galbraith’s guitar. The guitarist, veteran bassist Milt Hinton, and drummer Osie Johnson were them often teamed in the studios and work hand-in-glove; Johnson’s sound and accents were his own. The presence of Eddie Costa (1930-62) is an added attraction. Equally accomplished on piano and vibes, Costa was a truly outstandingly gifted player, and he’s in fine fettle here. He and Jaspar would record together again on several occasions, but this is their most unfettered and mutually inspiring meeting. Throughout. This music is consistently excellent, and it speaks for itself. Bobby’s tenor on I Won’t Dance is particularly nice, and it should be noted that he takes up the alto flute on Spring Is Here; somewhat larger than the customary soprano flute, it has a warmer sound, which Bobby explores to good advantage. But then, he was warm on all his horns. Thirty years after it was recorded, this fine memento of Bobby Jaspar’s brief career has finally found its way home. It should help us remember well a musician who had the courage to challenge the citadel of jazz and the resources to succeed – as long as fate allowed. Dan Morgenstern Director, Institute of Jazz Studies, Rutgers University (For details of Bobby Jaspar’s career, I gratefully acknowledge Edmond Devoghelaere’s definitive Bobby Jaspar: A biography, appreciation, record survey and complete discography – a labor of love – dm)

Many years ago, I was on a business trip to AT&T (now Lucent) in Murray Hill, NJ and while at lunch, I saw that they had a "vendor area" set up for employees. One of them had CDs for sale. I poked through the stacks and found this odd-looking thing: Bobby Jaspar with Tommy Flanagan - Nobil Totah - Barry Galbraith - Eddie Costa - Milt Hinton on the Disques Swing. It said "Recorded in New York 1956" on the cover and yet the CD's title is "Bobby Jaspar In Paris". On the back it says, "Originally released as French Columbia FPX 123 except for "Minor Drop" which was released as French Columbia ESDF 1142a". There are excellent liner notes by Dan Morgenstern which I will type up later today for everyone to read. They are wonderful. The disc was a whole $1! A very nice disc. It sounds like JJ's band without JJ (which it basically was). Jaspar should have played more clarinet. He had a very nice sound on it. One of the best $1 CDs... nah, make that the best $1 CDs I've ever found. Later, Kevin

I was a member for a while back in the early 90s and I was appalled at the lack of interest in any post-WW2 Jazz. I expected there to be at least a couple of people who had a similar interest but sadly found none. It's funny, I actually joined on Michael Cuscuna's advice. He said it might be a place where I could find people who had access to hard-to-find hard bop vinyl. It turned out to be quite untrue. They used to have a catalog of members with the name, address, phone number and "area of interest". I searched this thing for one person on my neck of the woods who might have even the slightest interest in my favorite, hard bop... no luck. I would consider looking into it again if what Mike says is true. They did seem like a nice bunch of guys... they just didn't like to talk about the stuff I liked. Later, Kevin

Well, this is a very well timed thread!! I was just coming here to ask about these myself. You see, there's a local store that has a whole bunch of Bethlehem CDs in a special "2 for $10" rack. These are the late 90s remasters, not the Avenue Jazz ones. They have the Ellington which I was leaning towards and a Chris Conner that I've read is very good. How is the Charlie Persip date? Later, Kevin

The fact that Hunter released 7 recordings is a big hint about the timing of any artist parting ways with a label. That's the standard contract length. I figured this was the reason, so I gave Michael Cuscuna a call. Hunter's contract was up. This was the reason he's no longer on BN. The "parting of ways" was mutual. Hunter's contract was up and they talked a bit. Maybe BN didn't offer enough? Maybe Hunter wanted more? I don't know why, but they decided to let Hunter go and Hunter agreed. BTW, I was able to extract one of the October Connoisseurs from Michael too. I'll have to post about that. Later, Kevin