paul secor

Raphael Rabello & Dino 7 Cordas (Caju/Milestone)

Not a formal haiku, but three phrases and seventeen syllables - and well known: The night was clear And the moon was yellow And the leaves came Tumbling down.

The Six and Seven-Eight string Band of New Orleans (Smithsonian Folkways)

Tatum and Ben

Dan Pickett & Tarheel Slim (Flyright)

Steve Lacy - Roswell Rudd: Monk's Dream

Some great Booker. Still have my Island LP.

The New Wave in Jazz

James Booker: Spiders on the Keys (Rounder)

Disc 2

Sonny Boy Williamson: The Chess Years - disc 1

Okay - If you know more, tell the rest of us.

Happy Birthday, MG!

Mine too.

Coleman Hawkins: The Centennial Collection

Very good late Bud. Two great ones. And another favorite. Plenty of good music being listened to today.

Johnny Dyani Quartet: Song for Biko

Happy Birthday!

Sent an email to a friend yesterday, and mentioned Don Ellis and Al Francis. Received the following today: Your comments about D. Ellis got me wondering what ever became of Al Francis. The one time I met and played with him (and I think he was playing drums, not vibes) was 31 years ago--don't know if he's still around. A Google search turns up nothing but references to records he's on, which leads me to think he may no longer be around, or, if he is, no longer active in music. No, wait--after I wrote this I tried Al Francis, vibes instead of vibraphone, and found this, from his LinkedIn page, writing about himself in the third person, apparently: Dr. Alan Francis received his doctorate from Harvard University in 1976. His thesis, Picaresca, Decadencia, Historia, was published by Gredos in Spain. He was a student of Julio Rodríguez-Puértolas and Raimundo Lida, both considered to be the most distinguished Hispanists of our time. Al Francis, the jazz musician, was a student of Chas. Smith, BSO, and Jaki Byard, one the great pianists and arrangers in jazz. Alan Francis worked as a teacher in NYC public schools for 17 yrs., 8 mos., 6 days, before he retired on April Fools Day, 2005, to protest the Bloomberg holocaust of teachers and racist destablization of the public schools there. He is currently working on a book, The Upside Down Schools of capitalist education. So it seems as if Al Francis may still be with us.

Fats Waller: Piano Solos 1929 - 1941

Phil Seamen C.C. Sabathia J.R. Rider

Walt Dickerson Quartet: To My Queen Revisited Liner notes by Don DeMichael, former Down Beat editor. He and Pete Welding, also at Down Beat, helped get me started listening to the music in the early 60's.