jazzbo

Well, the RCAs are all collected in one nice package, and the sound is great. . . .Really, til you get to the second half of the forties there AREN'T too many small group recordings to get: this was the age of the big band and most Armstrong recordings were Pops fronting a big band. . . . The GRP Decca cds are really quite good. . . . The sound is very good, the notes are solid, and they're well selected and presented, being pretty complete up to the cutoff date. Definitive has two multi-cd sets that will collect all the Decca masters. . . that's one way to go. I've some of the Chronogical Classics and they too are great. . . going to have all the commercial recordings chronologically and encompass V-Disks and other items that fall between the cracks of some of the other series. A decade or two ago I wasn't too crazy about the big band sides and these decades of Armstrong. But over time that has changed: I need Pops of all type and time. Your mileage may vary. . . . B)

There are baseball books?

Hmmm. . . I loved Austin in the 'eighties too. . . I don't feel the same way about it now. It's gotten too big for its britches logistically, doesn't have the same vibe and is too expensive to really enjoy fully (in my opinion.) Anyway, I don't have too much to offer. I used to be a miniscule part of the Austin music scene and it so frustrated and irritated me that I don't take part in the music scene much at all as a customer these days. The Elephant Room is THE place I would say, and Brandon is right, they rarely book acts that are further out than Tom Harrell; the most adventurous group I've seen there was probably Sam Rivers fronting a local band. . . it was conservative Rivers in many ways (great show.) Good luck!

Well, I'm quoted in the second post from the BNBB thread, and nothing has changed, except that my good friend and companion Spot passed away. . .

These two seem to be available and are recommended:

Yes Elmore IS a killer. That Collectables three cd set of his stuff is a SLAYER.

Your Hit #1 was a miss!

It's a cool lp from 1959! I haven't found a cover scan yet. . . wish it were on cd!

Yes, that one was, but I think if you'd reread my post I mentioned that it HAD been out on cd, however the Charles Bell had not. . . .

Mike, I don't think Collectables has put any of those mentioned in the first post out on cd. . . .

I like that. . . adds new meaning to the term "Feel the burn!"

I need to dig this one out again and listen to it soon. I don't even remember any of the lyrics! But I do like the cd, I think there are some very good performances on this cd from Cassandra and her backing musicians.

It's been nearly a year, ten or eleven months now. I only archived one thread, a "round robin" tale of the future that I had a lot of fun with. Others have saved many another thread, I'll assume they'll weigh in soon.

Alan Lankin's labor of love: http://jazzmatazz.home.att.net/upcomingcds.html

Agreed. I love the way the lp is split with flute and violin (tenor violin?) on one side, and alto and trumpet on the other! Beautiful music on both sides!

That Charles Bell would be great to have on cd! One of my first two jazz albums, part of a "care package" for Peace Corps volunteers in the late sixties; the other was Leo Wright's "Blues Shout" which HAS made it to cd. One of the volunteers in Swaziland gave me his copies of these, and I've loved them ever since. They're a big reason I'm a jazz fan.

Dana, yes, I'll have that box set soon, and I have the first three of the Crown lp reissue series that Ace is doing---an excellent series! I guess I do hear a lot of B. B. in Eric, and I know he listened and collected and cherished him, but it's not to my ears the same as the way he literally reissues Freddie King and Otis Rush. Yes King Curtis. . . I know there are fans on this board!

You got the circumstances correct, but the place was Cleveland. . . . Freddie showed up twenty minutes after they decided to start, they launched into "Maiden Voyage," a couple of mugs heckled Freddie, he walked off the stage and the other four quickly ended the tune and bowed out themselves. Waited weeks to see a weak thirty minutes!

These are GREAT cds. .. the color and emotion in the playing are just wonderful. I agree though with Dave to an extent; 8 times out of ten I'll reach for those later quartet dates before the duo, just easier listening, the swing is killer. . . .

I was pretty excited about the VSOP material when it was first released, and even saw the VSOP Quintet tour once (one disasterous concert experience, really!) BUT in the last five or ten years I listen to the recordings. . .and they do little for me I'm afraid.

I bought this when it came out, listened to it a few times, was not really impressed or moved, and haven't visited it in a looooonnnnnnnggggg time.

I heard gunfire in my neighborhood in Philadelphia growing up. Once a bullet fired by police at robbers at the corner store to the right of our house went through my parents' bedroom window late at night. I've fired guns in Africa, and hunted a bit. Never felt good about taking even animal life, especially as easily as pulling a trigger. Then we drove through Mocambique once to the ocean, that lovely pure Indian Ocean, and saw a burning village, deserted, but my brother and I swear we saw some bodies lying in the smoke as we peered out the windows of the Land Rover. My dad didn't stop! A few minutes later we passed a patrol of armed men marching rather raggedly and laughing away, obviously elated and buzzing from adrenaline. I'm certain these men had just burned that village and killed villagers. I'll never forget how I felt! I hate guns. I've never needed to have one, and I pray that continues.

Not just no, but HELL NO. I hate guns.

The nineties Savoy/Denon series of excellent cds included one cd of Big Maybelle material; currently the Savoy/Atlantic series of cds has a two cd complete Big Maybelle offered.

I think it's all organ trio, no overdubbed strings. Haven't pulled it out in a while and went to look at it and it isn't where I thought it was . . . story of my life! It's good, some of it really fierce, but I like her orchestral and her more overtly spiritual work for Warners a tad more.