mjzee

Another singer I really like is Stacey Kent. bandsintown.com suggested this list of similar artists, who may indeed also play in supper clubs: Jim Tomlinson·Jane Monheit·Sara Gazarek·Karrin Allyson·Emilie-Claire Barlow·Robin McKelle·Patricia Barber·Eliane Elias·Roberta Gambarini·Diane Schuur·Dianne Reeves·Ann Hampton Callaway·Dee Dee Bridgewater·Viktoria Tolstoy·Diana Krall·Madeleine Peyroux·Lizz Wright·Rebekka Bakken·Terez Montcalm·Dena DeRose·John Pizzarelli·Lyambiko·Till Brönner·Malia·Lisa Ekdahl

https://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=Supper+Clubs&find_loc=New+York%2C+NY

Allyson doesn't look very happy or comfortable being posed in that way. Still, I'd rather see that cover than this one, which gives off a Cabaret-type vibe: Anyway, I think in the milieu she works in (supper clubs and the like), it's expected that a woman be well-dressed and somewhat alluring. It comes with the job.

But just as Mount Everest continues to tempt expert climbers, “Stardust” has a combination of otherworldly beauty and technical challenge that has made it incredibly alluring to generation after generation of musicians and vocalists. While we don’t have the time or space to rank the over 1,500 renditions of “Stardust” that have been recorded, here’s a list of fifty that climb to significantly higher elevations than Dylan’s version — and, just so we don’t completely pile on the poor guy, we’ve picked out another three that barely make it out of base camp. Read more: http://forward.com/culture/365856/50-cover-versions-of-stardust-that-are-better-than-bob-dylans-and-three-tha/

This was my first exposure to Bob Stewart: The band had 4 tuba players! Besides Stewart, it had Howard Johnson, Joseph Daley, and Earl McIntyre. I also remember him on this:

eMusic used to carry a bunch of those weird N-H downloads. I wonder whether whoever put them out misappropriated the company name, since they seemed so out of character from what N-H used to release. eMusic no longer carries those downloads.

Per Wikipedia, "The Grip" (on India Navigation) was recorded and released before "Bush Baby." What weird is they say "In The Tradition" was released before "Lenox Avenue Breakdown." I seem to recall Lenox being released first.

Is that Nagel Heyer download still available?

I have a CD by Vishwa Mohan Bhatt. It came for free inside a package of "Kitchens of India" Indian prepared food I got in a supermarket. I have another disc in the series with performances by Pandit Hariprasad Chauasia, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Pandit Ramnarayan, and Pandit Shivkumar Sharma. Food was pretty good too!

I finished reading the book last night. The last chapter on Winston Walls was very poignant. We all know how that feels - it was such a great era, and you look around, and who can you share that with? I felt parallels with a movie I saw recently, "Deli Man," about the rise and fall of delicatessens in America. Such wonderful food, exemplifying a culture, and yet they've almost all disappeared. If you choose to post here more often, whether in this or in other threads, you'll find you're among people who know who Winston Walls was.

I have fond memories of that Columbia series in the late '70's that put older albums into new covers with a $2.99 price point: Bud Powell - A Portrait of Thelonious, Art Farmer Plays the Great Jazz Hits, and the like.

Listening now to:

Don't forget:

R.I.P. I'll spin this one tonight...

Scott just confirmed: "Yes! Non-Billie Holiday recordings with Teddy from 1934-42!"

In an email exchange with Scott Wenzel regarding an order, he mentioned he's "been transferring Teddy Wilson sides for an upcoming set."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Gene_the_Dancing_Machine

R.I.P.

What he did seemed so obvious after he did it, but not before. Good job, well done. RIP.

I have no knowledge. However, I just checked the booklet to the CD reissue of "The Jazz Scene" (which contains "The Bird" and "Repetition"). In the essay "Reissuing The Jazz Scene," Brian Priestley wrote "In the aforesaid Parker box-set booklet," (Verve's complete Charlie Parker set) "Phil Schaap convincingly demonstrated that "Repetition" took place on the same evening that Bird had been recording the piece named after him as his designated contribution to the Granz project." So you may want to check the Bird box booklet for more info about that night in Carnegie Hall (or ask Schaap himself).

(This is not referring to HutchFan's comments about Kenton, which posted before I finished writing this.) Which is why I'm happy about the relatively dispassionate tone of this thread. As a non-musician but avid listener, I "know" the differences I hear amongst musicians, and I know what I like and don't like. The "why" will probably always remain mysterious, being bound up in personality, attractions, and other quasi-mystical realms. But the "how" can be discussed here. Peterson plays a lot of notes. So did Tatum. But how did they differ, so that someone can like Tatum but dislike OP? Basie played few notes; so did John Lewis. How does Basie sound coherent, appropriate and propulsive, but Lewis (to these ears) sound simplistic and obvious? Sonny Clark played complex chords that he'd interject at odd times; so does Herbie Hancock. So how, in what he played, did Clark spice up a tune and help a soloist play better, while Hancock (to my ears) sound turgid and uninvolved? Some of this can be analyzed in choice of notes, areas of emphasis, and playing style, and I like reading about that. These are obviously areas where musicians might have a deeper understanding than listeners, and might be able to communicate those concepts more clearly. However, I firmly believe that mere listeners can express as valid an opinion on the music as musicians. Indeed, there is no music industry without the mere mortals buying the music, attending concerts, and expressing enthusiasms. And musicians make better music when they play for audiences, rather than just for fellow musicians. The audiences keep the music real.

I've been debating whether to get that ultra-cheap 3-CD Garner set on Sony (current price is $3.61 + shipping). Do I really need it/him? I remember borrowing some CDs from the library on Telarc (originally on his own label?) that I found too superficial and pleasant. So I think we all find some artists who "speak to me" and others that we just don't get. This is something aside from technique. There were some debates about whether some ESP artists could really play their instruments; such is the trap laid by the avant-garde. But artists who demonstrably can play, like OP, have drawn ridicule because what they play isn't "deep" enough, or complex, or doesn't challenge the status quo (which seems to be the only rationale for Archie Shepp's career). OP regularly bitched about the critics who overwhelmingly favored Cecil Taylor over him, even though OP regularly won the reader's poll in Down Beat. Perhaps some of the furor over OP has died down here because, as we get older, we derive more satisfaction from pleasant form. Seems natural to me. As for artists who cannot be praised here, or even dispassionately discussed, top of the list is still Keith Jarrett. And an artist who cannot be criticized here is Ornette Coleman, despite (to my ears at least) his music's obvious shortcomings. It really reaches hero worship here. I confess to being pleasantly surprised by the comments in this thread. It's a great discussion about different facets of OP's art. I can find him overbearing at times, but then I'll hear a date such as his backing Lockjaw Davis at Montreux '77 and find that he adds so much to the music. Reading the comments here allows me to learn a little more about the "how."

Blues harmonica legend James Cotton has died of pneumonia. A rep for the 81-year-old music star confirmed he passed away at St David’s Medical Center in Austin, Texas on Thursday. More here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-4322196/Blues-Harmonica-legend-Mr-Superharp-James-Cotton-dies.html

B.B. King - Complete Recordings 1949-1962 (6 CDs): $9.13 + $3.99 shipping from an Amazon Reseller. See: Amazon

Available on Record Store Day 2017: Gil Melle – The Andromeda Strain (Soundtrack) [LP] (Hexagon Shaped Vinyl, silver foil die cut jacket, limited to 1500, indie-retail exclusive) LP