paul secor

Thanks for posting that! When I was a kid I saw The Flamingos on TV performing their ballad hits - lip synching of course. Later on I heard some of their earlier up-tempo records, including "Jump Children", with it's cool bit of scat. But I had no idea that they were such dynamic live performers. They could have given a lot of people who had a reputation for live performances a run for their money.

No reason for anyone to browse if there's not much there.

Didn't mean to get into something. You read it one way and I read it another. 'Nuff said.

Here's the exact evaluation - "Few of these dates, however, are considered among Mobley's best." "Are considered", as in "you ask 10 people what the Hank Mobley records are and these are not likely to be among them" And from my experience, that would be accurate. Hell Marchel Ivery, who grew up in that era and dug the shit outta Hank, always talked about the Soul Station and beyond albums. Everybody I knew did. And truthfully, as great as those '50's sessions are, is anybody really going to seriously say that the '60's sessions, especially up to and including Dippin' aren't more refined in terms of both Hank's solo voice and his group concept? And Japanese LPs? In 1986? You're expecting a guy to locate a source (considerably easier now than then, believe me!) and spend big big bucks just to write an article the pay of which probably wouldn't cover the cost of those albums? Uh....yeah...sure. Just as we need to be able to listen "in context" of the times, so should we be able to read. I don't disagree with most of what you say. I just think that if he was familiar with them, those records shouldn't just have been blown off. And if someone was going to write an article and blow them off that readily, one would assume that he had heard the music. Just checked my 50's Mobley Japanese LPs - one of them still has a Tower price tag on it - $10.99. LPs went for what - $7 or so in the 80's? So that's not way out of whack - especially if you wanted to hear early Hank Mobley back then.

Have it - and you're right. It's a good one. Welcome aboard. Hope you'll keep posting.

The recording on Jazz Alliance of his appearance on Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz (1979) is well worth seeking out.

To my ears, perhaps not inept, but boring. They were a singles band, and there's nothing wrong, and a whole lot right, with that. Thanks to this thread, I've had Creedence songs running through my head for the past couple of days. Nothing wrong with that either, except I'm getting tired of it.

Absolutely, but to put the quote in the context of 1986, the Mobley Mosaic had not yet been issued, and next to none of these albums were readily available. So the "conventional wisdom" of It All Really Began With Soul Station was still the norm. In fact, I doubt if the author had heard all (or possibly any) of these albums. I know I had a hard time getting hold of them, other than the All Stars date w/Bags, which for some reason was always easy to find in the 70s. Maybe they weren't readily available, but most, if not all, were available on Japanese LPs. If someone was going to write an article on Hank Mobley, that person should have at least made an effort to hear those records before making a blanket dismissal of them. Then again, for all anyone knows, perhaps the author had heard them and just didn't like them.

Just ordered: Larry Young: Young Blues (OJC) Prince Lasha: The Cry! (OJC) Freddie Keppard (Retrieval) None of these were on the wish list I posted a few days ago, but they're what I wanted to hear today.

My wife is Irish - a Kavanagh, her ancestors were impressed into naval service by the British and sent to Newfoundland. I guess that St. Patrick's Day doesn't mean much to her, though. She forgot to wear green, and this morning I had to drive to the school where she teaches with a green scarf for her to wear.

Sorry to hear about Mr. Barry's health problems. I wish him the best and a full recovery. If monetary contributions are needed, it would be a good thing if someone in the know could post some info.

Cecil Taylor's Unit Structures

The Borders store near me didn't have a great jazz section to begin with, and the last time I visited - about 10 days ago - half of that was gone. I would imagine that 40% coupons are a way to sell off CD stock. Wish there were something to buy.

Have to say that Michael Bourne sounded like a shill to me when I used to listen to WBGO. Haven't listen to BGO in years, so I have no idea if he's still there.

Is Robert Barry alive and playing in Chicago?

Ella and Louis (Verve - France box)

Wish I had time and energy to listen to my entire collection. As it is, I listen to whatever I think will touch my interest and imagination.

Listening to clips, it sounds like there's some good Jimmy Knepper on this one. Might pick it up just for that.

Jo Jones: Papa Jo and his Friends (Denon 45 rpm) "Dissertation" - a Jo Jones solo - is a wonderful journey through time and dynamics.

Not "affordable", but available - http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=5796012 Oops - and not an LP. My bad.

Von Freeman Quartet: Young and Foolish (Daybreak)

With all the bitching and complaining that's gone on, guess it wasn't so obvious to some folks.

It's Mr. Uehlinger's label and I guess he can run it as he chooses. If people think that they can do better, they should start their own record company and do so.

I refuse to watch any game that Bobby Knight is broadcasting.