mjzee

I would love to hear a pristine copy of the Minneapolis tapes from 1960-1961. An amazingly mature artist at so young an age.

I'd like to hear the electric stuff in mono (BIABH -> JWH). But the first 4 albums? I can't imagine that mono would make them any different.

July 30: Hilton Jefferson, alto sax, 1903 David Sanborn, alto sax, 1945

Any thoughts on the Billie Holiday?

Interesting that Chronological Classics are no longer available on eMusic...they are still available on Amazon mp3.

July 29: Don Redman, composer, bandleader, 1900 Charlie Christian, guitar, 1916

I've always seen albums by Jimmy Ponder and Sonny Phillips in the stacks, but never heard any of them. Are they worth pursuing? Any good places to start?

July 28: Corky Corcoran, tenor sax, 1924 Jim Galloway, soprano sax, clarinet, 1936

Avant-garde art is often criticized for its complexity and self-indulgence, and for its disdain for matters beyond aesthetics. “Deep Tones for Peace,” an international musical project involving 13 high-profile bass players from around the world, might just be the most compelling argument yet against such criticism. The project, whose CD/DVD combo has just been made available from Kadima Collective, brings together sophisticated conceptual art, global social justice, refreshing accessibility and groundbreaking technology. The project began in early 2007 as a conversation between Jean Claude Jones, a renowned Israeli bassist with French and Tunisian roots, and his American colleague, Barre Phillips, a jazz legend famous for having recorded the world’s first solo bass album in 1968. The two maestros discussed their feelings about the Middle Eastern conflict and decided to put together an international bass festival — a “rally for peace,” as Jones wrote in an e-mail to the Forward. More here: The Forward

July 27: Charlie Queener, piano, 1923 Carl Grubbs, alto sax, 1944

On any given night at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, programming director Todd Barkan introduces the band, thanks the audience (profusely) and issues his catch-phrase: "Take care of the music, and the music will take care of you." On Monday, Jazz at Lincoln Center will announce a new way in which it is taking care of the future of the music: the Coca-Cola Generations in Jazz Festival, a five-week event, running from Sept. 6 to Oct. 10, that will aim to bring jazz musicians of all ages onstage together. "We are reaching a critical stage in jazz music because we've lost a lot of people in the last few years," Mr. Barkan said. "Older artists teach a lot by example and the practice of jazz." More here: WSJ

July 26: Louis Bellson, drums, 1924 Joanne Brackeen, piano, 1938

I think I've got it, but you need Excel: 1. In iTunes, view as List. Sort by album title. Edit/Select All. Edit/Copy. 2. In a new Excel sheet, Edit/Paste. (All the rest of the steps are in Excel.) 3. Delete all columns except Album Title and Artist. I also moved the Album Title column to the left of Artist. 4. You may have to add a row at the top to label the columns Album Title and Artist. 5. Hopefully, the two columns are highlighted to the extent of the data. If not, highlight the two columns. 6. Data/Filter/Advanced Filter... The "List Range" should show all the data cells. Copy this range to the "Criteria Range" field. Check "Unique Records Only." Hit OK. 7. If you have a lot of albums, leave Excel alone for awhile; it has a lot of sorting to do. It may not look like it's doing anything, but it is. 8. When it's done, it will basically hide rows that duplicate the same album title. 9. Copy the two columns, and Paste Special/Values to a new worksheet. This gives you the result we're looking for.

This is from Jack Chambers's "Milestones": Although Mobley lasted in the band for a year, Davis seems to have been less than enthusiastic about his playing the whole time. One night while Mobley soloed on the stand, Davis leaned over to Joe Goldberg and said "Any night Sonny Rollins shows up with his horn, he's got a job." The book also contains this interesting observation about the Carnegie Hall album, which corroborates Larry Kart: The LP that resulted has its merits. Chief among them is a driving version of So What, the playing of the quintet clearly invigorated by the setting. Among its delights is the aggressive drumming of Jimmy Cobb, sounding less docile than he had become in recent outings and, in fact, more like Philly Joe Jones, whose style he favored when he first replaced Jones in Davis's bands. So What also includes Hank Mobley's best solo on any recording he made while he was in the Miles Davis Quintet, a confident, inventive solo that holds together from start to finish.

I want to put in a good word for this new release that, while not jazz, sounds pretty good nonetheless. Marc Cohn's taken 12 songs that debuted in 1970 and, along with John Leventhal, has done a folky/modern take on these. You know the songs (Wild World, Maybe I'm Amazed, After Midnight, Tears of a Clown, Into The Mystic). Marc's voice is well-suited for them. Some are close to smooth rock, others have some surprising arrangements (New Speedway Boogie as swamp rock?). I liked seeing on the same disc songs by Bread and the Dead (who didn't have this sort of duality in tastes as a kid?) and John Lennon solo and Paul McCartney solo (ditto). Anyway, if you get a chance, check it out.

Is there a way to create a list of albums (album title and artist) from iTunes to keep in a text file or spreadsheet? Not song titles, just albums.

July 25: Johnny Hodges, alto sax, 1907 Annie Ross, singer, 1930

July 24: Cootie Williams, trumpet, bandleader, 1911 Billy Taylor, piano, 1921 Charles McPherson, alto sax, 1939

July 23: Richie Kamuca, tenor sax, 1930 Janis Siegel, singer, 1952

July 22: Bill Perkins, tenor sax, 1924 Al Dimeola, guitar, 1954

PM sent.

July 21: Richard Wyands, piano, 1928 Helen Merrill, singer, 1930 Sonny Clark, piano, 1931

Also Peter Ind, bass, 1928 I like his recordings with Lennie Tristano. Man, isn't aging a bitch?

July 20: Ernie Wilkins, tenor sax, composer, arranger, 1922

Probably this: