paul secor

Does anyone have the Art Ensemble of Chicago book done by Lincoln Beauchamp? I'm considering getting it, but I'd like to know what opinions others have before I lay out the cash. I've never read a review, so I'd like to have some sense of it before I go for it. Thanks for any feedback.

A few that come to mind: Ornette at the Golden Circle with Izenzon at the Golden Circle, 1965. Albert Ayler with Cecil in Denmark. Billie and Pres in the studio - any date would do. Bird at the Open Door, 1953. Ellington's 1927 "Creole Love Call" date with Adelaide Hall.

Do I agree with this list? Hell, no! Do I want to waste time making additions or subtractions? Hell, no! Did I waste precious time responding to this thread? Hell, yes!

How 'bout Cecil and Albert Ayler?

My favorites are probably the Cecil and the Herbie Nichols. Both introduced a wealth of new material to the music audience. I believe that each of these boxes doubled the amount of music previously available, and in each case the unreleased music was/is well worth hearing. As an afterthought, both also have unique booklet liner notes, by Roswell Rudd and Buell Neidlinger, respectively. I have to put in a word for the HRS Sessions box, because I had only heard a very small amount of that music before I bought the Mosaic, and I was surprised and amazed by the music in that collection. Great stuff! (Thanks to those here who recommended it. I might not have picked it up if not for your recommendations.)

It sounds as if he's made a decision that he's comfortable with, at least for now. There's nothing wrong with changing at any point in one's life. I hope that he's happy and that he's enjoying himself. His band was the first live jazz that I ever heard, and I thank him for that.

Sent a check today. Thanks for releasing this, Chuck. Hope you're back on the road again.

I spent an hour or so this afternoon letting my eyes feast on two books of drawings that I received as Christmas presents: The New Yorker Book of Baseball Cartoons. Highly recommended to all baseball fans. The World According to Sempe. One of my favorite artists.

As a Yankee fan, this didn't surprise me at all. It's almost like it was something just waiting to happen. Red Sox fans shouldn't depair, though. A-Rod still has to prove that he's a winner, rather than just a numbers guy. And the Yanks still need pitching - you can't win without it.

Claude Williams: Swing Time in New York (Progressive) Various Artists: Hot Violins (Robert Parker/Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Clifford Hayes and the Dixieland Jug Blowers (Yazoo) Oliver Nelson: The Blues and the Abstract Truth Dave Bailey Sextet: One Foot in the Gutter

Cachao y su Orquesta: Descargas Cubanas (Maype) Cortijo y su Combo con Ismael Rivera: Bueno, y Que...? (P-Vine) Jimmy Smith: Home Cookin' (JRVG) Benny Golson: Turning Point (Mercury-Japan)

I've listened to the entire set only once. Still, I'm glad that it's there any time I want to hear any part of it again. It's Bird - what more can I say?

Interesting to know that it was intended as a quartet date. It always sounded just right that way to me.

Thanks, Dimitry and Dan. The biographical and discographical information on the website was an eye opener. I had no idea that King Fleming had recorded so much, or that he was still active.

Happy birthday Geoff! Good to know that we're not all old farts here. Hope that you keep your reviews coming. There are several on your proposed list that I'm unfamiliar with.

Dimitry - Thanks for the info. Where did you find this?

Airegin was my first exposure to Lin Halliday, and it's a fine record. I like Where or When a lot also. I'll have to listen more closely the next time I put it on the CD player - didn't realize that Halliday's solos were patched in later. As Chuck Nessa mentioned, Bob Koester deserves a world of praise for recording relatively unknown musicians like Lin Halliday. He deserves economic support also. If you're looking for some very fine saxophone playing (and who among us is not), check out Lin Halliday's Delmark sides - there are six that I know of. I believe that Chuck distributes Delmark, and they're also available from the Jazz Record Mart and Cadence, among others. (I hope that the preceding paragraph doesn't come off as a commercial. It's merely a personal recommendation.)

I just received and listened to The King Fleming Trio: Stand By (Argo). An uncredited vibist plays on (I believe) two tracks. I checked my old Jepsen discography and an 1983 Art Ensemble of Chicago discography (Malachi Favors is the bassist), but neither identifies the vibes player. Can anyone here identify this musician or perhaps make an educated guess who it might be?

A second to that, as I once named a family cat, Grachan. Ever since I first heard it, Malachi Favors has seemed like a perfect name to me.

In general, I do not like electric pianos, but it would depend on who's playing and how they play it. Most of my favorite pianists don't play electric, but I heard Burton Greene play an electric instrument in a duo concert with Roswell Rudd, maybe 5 or 6 years ago, and his playing sounded good to me. I seem to remember that Muhal and/or Paul Bley played electric piano on a Marion Brown Impulse LP. I don't have it, but I'd be interested in hearing someone's impressions of how that sounded.

Doug Sahm: "S.D.Q. '98" (Watermelon) Howard Shore/Ornette Coleman/London Philharmonic Orchestra: Naked Lunch Soundtrack Art Ensemble of Chicago: The Alternative Express Various Artists: Times Ain't Like They Used To Be Vol. 8 (Yazoo) Al Green: Love Ritual Screamin' Jay Hawkins: The Grand & Gotham Titles (SJH) - Some cool R&B on this, including the original recording of "I Put a Spell on You", recorded almost a year before the Okeh version. The original "Spell" isn't as wild as the Okeh hit - more straight R&B, but still good to hear.

I actually have this exact model Victrola in my living room. It helped make the NYC blackout of last summer a real treat. A night dancing around the living room to Basie 78's by candlelight is a good night indeed. We could all probably do with a little of that, every now and again.

How about a little more love and respect for Zoot's music? Someone here must have something more to add to this thread....

I'd just like to put in a word for Denis Charles. He wasn't as "free" (however one may choose to define that term) a drummer as Andrew Cyrille or Sunny Murray, but I feel that the sound of his drumming fit very well with the sound of Cecil's piano, and I wouldn't want to be without the Contemporary and Candid sides he played on.

I haven't thought about this myself, though I have mentioned to my wife that I'd like to have a party for friends at a space with a good jazz band and good recordings. About 5 or 6 years ago, the husband of a friend of my wife asked me to make up a recorded cassette of traditional New Orleans jazz for his father's funeral. His father liked that music, but he knew nothing about it. I can't remember what I recorded - I seem to remember that some Atlantic Paul Barbarin things were included, but I'm not sure. I do remember that I was going to do a New Orleans thing of slow going to the graveyard, and uptempo leaving, but I figured the family wouldn't be into that, so I just made it a mixture.