jazzbo

I remember being curious having heard this about ten or so years ago on another board and could find no verification. It's unfortunate the current interest in legislating silly things that brings transgender persons into the news.

I know you would enjoy it. And it gets better still as it rolls along.

I agree, a real bummer. Ah well. At least there are a few more episodes to air.

Absolutely Jeff. And your contributions, and CJ's, and Jim's, et al---this board is unlike any other.

Neat stuff. The man was a forceful talent from the start.

I agree, great actress! Another one of Britain's best.

They don't appear on the next Japanese release of these on the Solid label either. My guess is that they are no longer extant or that their existence in that discography was an error. https://musicbrainz.org/release/8164f9c9-6e14-4f0d-b7d1-ccde0a324477

Roy DuNan was the original engineer. Seems both the LPs and the CDs were remastered by Gary Hobish. (My copies are in storage, this info is from discogs.) Looks as if you have the Definitive Records set.

Yes, I really love Byrd on Savoy as well.

Finally got this and spun it. The new mastering is an improvement. I get what Jim says about the writing for strings. . . but they just sort of hang as curtains behind Bird for me, and Bird plays like Superman. Just an amazing sound and such a flow of ideas, faucet turned all the way UP.

Thanks Robert. It has been an interesting journey, my early life was not a common experience and It shaped my early adulthood in many ways I wished it hadn't at the time, but have learned to accept and appreciate since. I don't feel I have an elitist musical stance, and I really hate such an attitude (for some time I had a tag line on my bulletin board profiles "Hater of jazz snobs")--I have seen the effect that has on non-jazz and jazz listeners. Gosh, the news this morning is that Prince was nearly into the hands of professionals who could have helped him with his pain pill addiction. So close . . . so far away. What a sad fact.

Getting caught up on "The Story of God" on National Geographic . . . excellent series.

That band recorded four sides backing Una Mae Carlisle (and I love those four sides!) They've been reissued on RCA LPs and CDs and also Chronogical Classics and Masters of Jazz CDs, and will soon be reissued in the upcoming Lester Young/Basie set from Mosaic. There are also a few air check of a radio broadcast of the band in not good sound, these I only know on Masters of Jazz cds.

I agree that John Collins is an excellent guitarist. I love his work with Cole, and the little bit with Lester Young -- trumpeter Shad Collins was in the band at that time with John. . . is it possible they are brothers? (I confess I love Oscar Moore equally with Cole, Oscar was an exciting and unique player). John Collins is excellent everywhere he appears as a soloist and he was a great accompanist. He should be better known.

No disputing that Sly was a musical and fashion and stage manner predecessor and influence on Prince. I listen to Prince a lot more (in part because there IS a lot more to listen to) and in part because Prince's music is tighter and over time his stylistic stamp became more concise, I like that. Sly paved the way for many aspects of the Prince stage and public presence, and Prince took that next level and added a bit more overt sexuality and the ambiguous sexuality to the mix. To be honest I'm often amazed that he got away and past that in the magnifying glass of American media and public opinion. I listened to a bit of Duke and then Ducal side projects like small groups and the Reprise "productions" of Dollar Brand and his wife and Bud. . . and then listened to some of the Jill Jones and Appolonia 6 and The Time productions and followed it up with the final Prince release. Like Duke's these projects of Prince's held his stamp and his vision, though overshadowing the featured artist a bit more. (Sly also, in my limited explorations along these lines, had a stamp and vision on the work of others). I like artists like these that can't seem to rest and are moving forward, and sideways.

"Free Lancing" is coming out in June. The one downside I see is that it is on Wounded Bird. . . those reissues don't always sound the best.

Been listening to his last release, Hit 'n Run Phase 2 and it's really good. Nice horn arrangements and decent sound for a modern pop record.

Watching the theatrical cut

It's interesting to read these impressions. Robert. . . as regards Michael. . . I just don't see his accomplishments the same way because I haven't studied the music, it hasn't reached out and really made me do so. I have an odd relationship with popular music because I've just steered away from it much of my life. Coming back from Africa I never got into the habit of radio that my peers were in, and as a result I didn't get into the same music many of them did. My first experience of music independent of my parents classical and swing collection was filtered in from Ethiopian and Southern African music heard in the air and in person and the music mostly secondhand that came from the BBC via shortwave or Radio Lorenzo Marques in the dorms and the records of the students in the dorms with me in boarding school. Back in America I ended up encountering Miles' "New Directions in Music" and Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf and other Chicago blues artists, led both places by the love of Hendrix that grew in Swaziland. I pursued these records via the library and private collections of people I encountered and records found in music stores, and I was firmly into a stream of fusion, blues, funk and jazz recordings in the 'seventies and 'eighties, while around me friends and others were playing Foghat and Bad Company and Zeppelin and Bowie and Yes and Tull and Genesis and Floyd. I paid lip service to these, really did get into some of the Bowie, Yes and Tull, but was rather out of the popular radio loop. I didn't know anyone in the 'seventies that was really into the music I was really getting into, I was a loner in many ways. Into the 'eighties my contact with radio lessened still further but Prince did filter into the rotation and I followed him from his first album on. Michael's contributions to the pop world really were both there and not there for me. I heard but didn't have a perspective to assess his work within nor a desire to learn of it's importance or be further exposed. Same with Madonna, to an even lesser extent, the music meant nothing to me and I was not in dance clubs to experience it in that light. I wasn't watching TV, I was beginning to play drums and rehearse in bands and I had the good fortune to be in bands led by songwriters and guitarists who wanted to do their own music, and so my knowledge of popular music of the time was limited to how it came into play in their composing and arranging and playing. I kept getting more and more into jazz and by the time that CD production ramped up and all these jazz reissues hit the market that was where I was spending my dollars and splurged as much of my time learning and talking about jazz as I could. This century with the help and example of a few persons (Jim R I'm thinking of you in there) I became interested in Brazilian music and later still began exploring classical music from the roots that had been watered by my Dad. So what really matters to me is what I like and am interested in. I read really interesting material by you, and Jim and Larry and others and sometimes my eyes just glaze over. I'm just not that interested in analyzing music like that any longer, it just doesn't seem important to me. I know what I like, I like what I like and I pursue what I like. And I try to respect what others like. Prince was someone I pursued through the years. His music was part of my own soundtrack. I saw him develop and I moved along with his music. It was surprising to see him get the big attention with the Revolution and then surprising to see him lose control of that attention as he got more funky. And nice to see his little jumps forward as he came into attention again. How he fits in within the hierarchy of "Popular" I really haven't as much knowledge about as others here, and that is of little import to me. Michael and Madonna really haven't been important in my listening world and their music really doesn't mean much to me. Prince's music has been and does. I saw him as a similar sort of artist as Duke, and it's so sad that his life was cut too short, I know in the future Prince's music would have been there for me to enjoy and now that's not going to happen. I adjust, but it's too bad.

I met Joe Lovano in person and was delighted to find him a warm and friendly down to earth guy. Had a nice brief talk. Shook Sam River's hand and my wife and I expressed sincere appreciation for the show we had just seen and Sam smiled warmly and seemed very pleased. He gave me the impression he was a "nice guy" or more. And I know quite well two jazz musicians in Austin, the internationally known guitarist Willie Oteri and the swing and avant-garde trumpeter Dave Laczko. Two very nice guys, who appreciate any fan or supporter of their WD-41 work. And I count Jim Sangrey, excellent tenor saxophonist and jazz connoisseur as a friend, and I assure you he's a nice guy. Same can be said for drummer Andrew (the Sheriff) Grifith. A very nice and charming musician and person.

It won't be released until July. . . .

Lucy and I are watching "Rebellion" on Sundance Channel. Interesting.

Happy Birthday you suave MF!

I guess what I was trying to say is that perhaps there is some medical reason you have insomnia and treating the condition may be a better course than trying to drug yourself into slumber. I would wager she would care to investigate and/or refer you to someone who may be able to get to the bottom of it.