paul secor

Scanned from the inner sleeve - not complete (I remember a Toch Piano Concerto). You should read Steuermann's wiki bio and try to find his Schoenberg lp. Will look at that, thanks. What do we get with the Vernon Duke stuff? FWIW, Stravinsky and Duke (Vladimir Dukelsky in his Russian days; at one point he was a Diaghilev protege) were not on good terms to say the least. Duke on Stravinsky: "Stravinsky is basically insecure, having traveled for many years with the slimmest musical baggage on the grandest scale but with the falsest possible pretences." Can't cite them right now, but I believe that Stravinsky had similar things to say about Duke. Does Concord own the rights to this material now?

Willie Walker: "South Carolina Rag" from Mama Let Me Lay It on Your (Yazoo) Willie Walker only recorded a handful of sides before he passed, but they were enough to make his reputation as one of the finest guitarists in the history of the blues.

Coleman Hawkins: Hawkins! Alive! At the Village Gate (Verve/Classic)

Miles Davis in Europe (Sony Japan) Jim was right - a very, very fine record. I hate the way Tony Williams' drums are recorded on this (and on Miles' albums in general). He was obviously a powerful drummer (sorry to say, I never heard him live with Miles), but his drums are recorded so distantly and politely that you have to imagine what he actually sounded like.

It's 2014. Time for another Birthday!

King Sunny Ade David LaFlamme Eddie "Guitar" Burns

Earle Lavon Freeman World B. Free Thelonious Sphere Monk

AEC: Reese and the Smooth Ones (BYG Actuel)

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/16/nyregion/in-the-church-of-difficult-music.html?_r=0

Marty McFly Fly Williams Cecil Taylor

Mama Let Me Lay It on You (Yazoo)

Happy Birthday!

Willem Breuker Kollektief: Rhapsody in Blue (BVHAAST)

I love Skip James music and like Rare and Unreleased. The music on it isn't as polished as that on the first two Vanguard recordings, but R and U shows another side of Skip James, doing songs that weren't part of his usual repertoire. If you're a Skip James fan and have the essential recordings - say, one of the Yazoos with his early recordings, the first two Vanguards, and the Biograph - this one, along with the two Genes, is well worth having and listening to.

About ten more inches of snow last night - too much. At least it was sunny today and the temperature got close to forty.

Comments like this are what make hanging out here worthwhile. I'll have to listen to In Europe again. It's been quite a while.

You probably mean Stephen Calt: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Id-Rather-Be-Devil-James/dp/1556527462/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1392401240&sr=1-1&keywords=stephen+calt+I%27d+Rather+Be+the+Devil Yes. I read Calt's Skip James biography and learned some things about Mr. James. Unfortunately, I learned a lot more about Stephen Calt, who has a poor writing style and an obnoxious personality (at least as it comes through on the pages of this book). Anyone who's read Calt's liner notes for Yazoo LPs will know that the man can't write worth a lick and that he's obsessed with guitar playing in the blues at the expense of all else, including vocals and lyrics. My advice would be to listen to Skip James' recordings and "skip" Calt's book.

Who is on that one, Paul? Mostly Freddie Spruell, but also Long Cleve Reed & Papa Harvey Hull, Tommy Bradley, Charlie Patton, and Otto Virgial. And Carl Martin plays on several of the Freddie Spruell tracks.

Audrey Meadows Barbara Lea HughDowns

Mississippi Bottom Blues (Mamlish)

About a foot of snow today and now frezzing rain. Hope tomorrow will be a better day. I'm sure it will.

The Ancient Mariner Captain Ahab Ray Stevens

Hard Time Killing Floor Blues (Shout! Factory) is a reissue of a Biograph CD. The recordings are from Skip James first rediscovery sessions in late 1964 (except for a live gig at the Newport Folk Festival some months previously). His voice is hauntingly lonely, which more than makes up for a some loss of facility heard in his guitar work on his early recordings. Well worth picking up. http://www.amazon.com/Hard-Time-Killing-Floor-Blues/dp/B00009ZYD8/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1392326486&sr=1-1&keywords=skip+james

Peter Falk Sammy Davis Jr. Sandy Duncan

Sorry to read of Karen's loss, Jeff.