paul secor

Duke Ellington: The Duke 1940 - Live from the Crystal Ballroom in Fargo, N.D. (Jazz Society)

He's not around now, but Doug Sahm seemed to get better with age. I like pretty much everyting he did, but I prefer his later recordings to his early solo singles or even the early Sir Douglas Quintet sides.

Another on the Art Ensemble and Sonny Simmons titles. I have to say that I bought these at least ten years ago and have shied away from West Wind in recent times because of the question of the legality of their issues. I wasn't aware of that in those days.

Hope that you have a great birtday!

I can remember reading an article in down beat about Cecil Taylor teaching a class (At the University of Wisconsin? Article written by John Litweiler? - my memory isn't THAT good) and playing a Gladys Knight record for the class to listen to.

Last night - my wife and I were both feeling beat up from the work week, so: Take out from Apollo's Restaurant in nearby Pleasant Valley: Grilled chicken, fresh green beans, rice, and bread pudding.

Thanks for the feedback. There aren't a lot of contemporary vibes players out there, and I was curious about him.

Interesting and informative responses - and interesting stories from Chris. Thanks to all for taking the time to share with us. It's a side of the recordings we all listen to and enjoy that I wasn't all that familiar with.

Happy birthday, Scott! Hope that you have a great one!

Questions for anyone here who has produced/supervised a recording session - if you're willing to share this: How did you function as a producer? - Did you decide on musicians & tunes, or was that left to the musicians? During the session(s), did you generally act in in a hands on or hands off manner - did you or did the musicians decide on how many takes, etc.? When the recording was released, did you decide what would be released, did the leader decide, or was it a joint decision? When the recording was released, who decided on the order of the tunes on the LP or CD? Did it ever occur that the tune order on the release was the same as the order in which they were recorded? I hope that this doesn't come off as being nosey. I'm just interested in knowing how these things happen, and I thought that others might too.

I'd be interested to know how Ted Kendall got involved in this. To my ears he did a fine job of remastering. And all credit given to the original engineer - you can't remaster what's not there to begin with.

Saw this listed in a Delmark catalog, and was intrigued by the musicians (Lin Halliday and Robert Barry among them) and some of the tunes. Has anyone heard this recording? Thanks in advance for any input.

I would say first, a distinctive voice - either vocal or instrumental.

This afternoon: Fats Waller Memorial (French RCA box) - LP's 1&2

Fine, fine record. I just checked the Cadence website to see if they still had copies available - thought others here might be interested - but they're sold out.

He was a wonderful musician. Thanks for all of your music, Mr. Bauer.

Me too, and there's a story that goes with it. In 1963 I bought copies of Mingus Ah Um and Sonny Rollins' Our Man in Jazz. I played Our Man in Jazz first, and, not having listened to much jazz before this, I felt lost - I just couldn't hear what was going on. I was a little depressed because I thought that maybe I just wouldn't be able to "get" contemporary jazz. Then I played the Mingus and it grabbed me on my first listen - still does, after many listens. It took a few listens to the Rollins to hear what was happening (at least some of what was happening) and that's become a favorite also.

I heard Benny Maupin play with Marion Brown (and, among others, Charles Tyler and Alan Shorter) in a group led by Sunny Murray in 1966. I remember being somewhat disappointed with his playing then because he didn't seem to take things as far out as the others. I don't know if my reaction would be different if I could hear that music now, but I imagine that it would be pretty similar.

Just picked up the Criterion Collection release of Jules and Jim. Now I have to find the time to watch both discs.

Raisin bran in warmer weather, oatmeal in colder weather. Bananas on both.

Clifford - missed your post right after Mike's. If I'd read it, I'd have realized that you planned to post the information. Apolologies if I stepped on any toes.

I don't have the Japanese CD, but have a Japanese LP. On that, all tunes ("Roy's Boys"; "Cinq Quatre"; "Musis Sacrum"; "The Leopard"; "Latino") are credited to Ted Curson, with the exception of "You Don't Know What Love Is" - D. Raye/De Paul.

Spirit Catcher on Nessa is my favorite W.L. Smith recording, but Divine Love (ECM) is also a very fine one. Fans of Mr Smith should also check out his playing on John Lindberg's A Tree Frog Tonality (Between the Lines).

Art Hodes: South Side Memories (Sackville)

Happy 22nd! If I try real hard I can remember back when I was 22. Have a great one!