paul secor

Steve Lacy/Roswell Rudd/ Dennis Charles/Henry Grimes: School Days (Emanem)

As a friend of mine used to say, "Name names". Then things might really get interesting. My own thoughts concerning Mr. Peterson are mixed. He's played on a fair number of sessions as an accompanist that I've enjoyed. I don't have the energy to look through my collection, but the Verve LP he recorded with Louis Armstrong and the duo set on Pablo with Clark Terry come to mind. (The latter is a collaboration, but to my ears it's CT's show.) On the other hand, I've never purchased a recording simply because Oscar Peterson played on it - I guess that speaks for itself. On the one occasion I heard him play live (solo), I was so disappointed and frustrated (I felt like I was hearing a display of cliches - no, I WAS hearing a display of cliches) that I left at intermission. I'm sure that at least part of the reason for the knocks on Oscar Peterson is that to a lot of listeners he's one of the most overrated jazz musicians. If he didn't get the amount of press, adulation, and $ that he receives, his playing probably wouldn't receive nearly the amount of negative comments that it does. To name a name - and a Blue Note name: I find Herbie Hancock less interesting than Oscar Peterson - Oscar Peterson the accompanist, that is. That's strictly a personal opinion - I'm sure that many others disagree.

Indeed. Charlie Palmieri's LP, A Giant Step (Tropical Budda 003), is a fine recording. He recorded it after recovering from a heart attack and stroke, but you'd never know that from his playing. Don't know if this has been reissued on CD, but, if not, it deserves to be.

Byron Allen Trio (ESP)

Spontooneous has chosen me to pick the AOW for Sept. 5-11. Many thanks. A little background: Some people find ways to make things happen as simply as possible. Others tend to follow more difficult paths. I belong to the latter camp. When I decided I wanted to make a choice, I listed 20+ recordings as possibilities. Then I narrowed that list down to a dozen or so, and the "fun" began. Should I step out a bit and choose something from the more popular world - Sam Cooke's Night Beat or John Fahey? (OK - Fahey's not exactly pop music.) A blues record - Jimmy Yancey or The Memphis Jug Band? Maybe Floyd Tillman or Merle Haggard? One of my somewhat mainstream jazz favorites - Steve Lacy's Evidence or Wilbur Ware's The Chicago Sound? Something from the 20's or 30's - Jabbo Smith or Teddy Grace? A somewhat obscure personal favorite - Buell Neidlinger's Blue Chopsticks or a Boulou & Elios Ferre Steeplechase? You get the idea. I knew that some of these might not receive many responses, but I figured that would be all right. It's happened before on this thread, and as long as there have been at least a couple good responses, it's worked out OK. In the end, I went with the choice I made before I started thinking about it: Clark Terry's Duke with a Difference. This was one of the first jazz albums I ever bought. I had just developed an interest in the music, and a local record store was going out of business. As I remember, I got it, along with two other LPs, for $5. Right now, I'm on my third copy. I pretty much wore my original out in college, playing it on a cheap record player. Later, I bought an OJC LP. Then, a couple of years ago, I bought a clean copy of the original Riverside stereo issue from a friend who sells used records. He specializes in country music, but occasionally he has some jazz records, and, luckily for me, this was one of them. My copy doesn't contain Marian Bruce's vocal on "In a Sentimental Mood", but I don't miss it, as I never enjoyed that cut anyway. I questioned why this was left off on the BN Board, and Chuck Nessa provided the information that in the early days of stereo recordings, engineers occasionally left a cut off a stereo LP because they didn't have the knowhow to fit it all on. (That's a simplification - my apologies to Chuck if that's not what he said and meant.) Anyway, Duke with a Difference is a long time favorite of mine, and I still enjoy listening to it as much as I did the first time I listened. It was my introduction, not only to Clark Terry, but to Johnny Hodges, Paul Gonsalves, and everyone else who plays on it. I've gone on all too long already, so I'll only offer a few favorite moments: Johnny Hodges' solos on "Mood Indigo" and "Just Squeeze Me"; Paul Gonalves' "Cottontail" solo (I used to lift up the tone arm and play this again and again); Clark Terry's soloing throughout; Sam Woodyard's playing on "Just Squeeze Me" - hearing him on that tune makes me want to dance, and I can't dance a lick; Finally, Tyree Glenn's vibes playing - it creates a different sound and a nice change from the usual piano backing on most recordings. I hope that some others enjoy this record as much as I obviously do, and that someone who isn't familiar with it will pick it up and give it a listen.

Benny Carter/Dizzy Gillespie: Carter, Gillespie, Inc. (Pablo)

Jo Jones: "The Main Man" (Pablo) His drum solo on "I Want To Be Happy" is wonderful. Everyone involved seems to be playing near the top of their game. I wonder if they knew that there wouldn't be many (or any) more chances to play with Papa Jo?

Noble Watts was one of the great r&b tenor sax cats in the 1950's - early 60's. Rest in peace. Thank you for sharing your music.

The New Yorker and Stereophile. I don't consider the latter a music magazine.

Boulou & Elios Ferre: Gypsy Dreams (Steeplechase)

The Way Out Voices of Lambert, Hendricks and Ross (Columbia Jazz Odyssey)

Sorry to interrupt the argument, but I'm slowly making my way toward #1000, and thought I'd slip one in.

Louis Jordan: Rockin' & Jivin' Vol. 2 (Bear Family) - Mercury sides

Welcome to the Board, Peter. I agree. I was listening recently to the OJC reissue of Jon Eardley's first two Prestige albums. When I bought this, it was strictly to hear J.R. Monterose, one of my favorites. This time out, though, Jon Eardley's playing was right there in my ears, along with J.R.'s. He was a good one.

I've listened to this recording several times before posting. Jim has written eloquently about Frank Hewitt's music, and I agree completely with his words. I would like to add a few thoughts: Frank Hewitt sounds like a man who was playing for himself. I'm sure he welcomed listeners, but it sounds to me that what he played was for himself. He was not playing to please an audience. It's obvious that he was a master musician. He may not have been an innovator, but he was an individual. He sounds at one with his playing. The introductions he plays to the tunes are fascinating. Every time I listened to his recording I was surprised. I'd be listening to something he was playing with his right hand, and he'd play a different rhythm with his left. I would expect to hear a certain sort of pattern or rhythm in his playing, and he'd take me somewhere completely unexpected. That's what jazz is supposed to do, and it's not something you learn in academia. I hope that at least some of the members of this board will listen to this CD. There's not a lot of newly recorded music like this these days, and unfortunately it seems to be growing scarcer every year.

Coleman Hawkins: Hollywood Stampede (Capitol/Holland) Good listening - Hawkins is especially fine on the ballads - but a bit of a personal embarrassment. When I took this off the shelf, I found that it was still sealed in shrink wrap. It had been sitting unopened and unplayed for over 15 years. So much for knowing my collection.

The Louis Armstrong Legend 1927-28 (World Records/EMI)

Lee Konitz & Karl Berger: Seasons Change (Circle)

Just began reading and am enjoying Michael Dirda's Readings - Essays and Literary Entertainments. Picked it up beacause it includes an essay on Guy Davenport, perhaps my favorite essayist. What's happened to this thread? Doesn't anyone read in August? B-)

A couple of highly recommended records from the Timeless contemporary list: Machito and his Salsa Big Band 1982 - Timeless 161 Machito!!! - Timeless 183 And not just recommended to lovers of latin jazz!

Memories of watching Magic Johnson play basketball.

Unless the CD has additional material that is not on the vinyl, I'll choose the vinyl... Ditto here. Unless the vinyl is from a digital master.

Charles Mingus: Let My Children Hear Music (Columbia)

Yep, it was on Turner. I watched the end of Rear Window then the one after it, although I missed the beginning and didn't see the name. He was a clerk in a store and had a letter-writing romance with a woman. He later found out who she was and it was one of the women he worked with. It was also a Christmas movie so there was lenty of good feeling all around. Stewart was very young in it. The film was Ernst Lubitsch's The Shop Around the Corner. I started watching it after watching Rear Window, and fell asleep about a half an hour into it. I have to try and get younger so I can stay up.

Buster Bailey: All About Memphis (Affinity - reissued from Felsted)