mjzee

With characteristic self-deprecation saxophonist and composer Jimmy Heath titled his autobiography "I Walked with Giants." In the book, whose publication earlier this year he's celebrating with a concert Wednesday night at the 92nd Street Y, Mr. Heath talks about his experiences with colleagues such as John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie. Yet in terms of his musical stature—Mr. Davis once described him as "one of the thoroughbreds" and he was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2003—the only thing that prevents Mr. Heath himself from being classified as a "giant" is his physical size. Sixty years ago he was nicknamed "Little Bird" for both his diminutive height and his love for Charlie Parker's music. In every other way Mr. Heath is a colossus. Many of the leading figures of the last half century have had their own special Jimmy Heath tune. For Mr. Davis it was "Gingerbread Boy," Chet Baker played "C. T. A." at dozens of concerts and Cannonball Adderley made the distinctive waltz "Gemini" into a jazz standard. In a recent telephone interview Mr. Heath, 83, denied that his music is completely unique. "I just came back from playing with Benny Golson [his fellow Philadelphian and early bebop veteran], and he does the same thing I do, and so do the others, like Maria Schneider, Gil Evans, Charles Mingus. We're all trying to write swinging music with a modern feeling." More here: WSJ

Here's an appreciation of Tuli and Harvey Pekar: The Forward

Here's an appreciation of Harvey Pekar and Tuli Kupferberg: The Forward

Here's my vote: Every tune at that same lethargic tempo...and then all those alternate takes...AAAARRRGHHH!

Is the pictured version the best available version? I remember that, for years, it was only available in rechanneled stereo.

July 19: David Allyn, singer, 1923 Bobby Bradford, trumpet, 1934

But none of this explains Adam Sandler.

Blu-Ray looks amazing, especially on a Plasma (or LCD). We have the Blu-Ray of The Wizard of Oz. It is just an amazing, absorbing experience; the only thing I can compare it to is seeing it in a movie theatre. We also have the first few Harry Potters, and the clarity of the details, even to the corners of the screen, are astounding. But be aware (you probably already know) that these discs will not play on a regular DVD player. So if you want to watch your favorite movie on the road, say on a laptop, you're probably out of luck. The smarter studios, such as Disney, are now packaging their movies as a 3-pack: in one case, you get a regular DVD version, a Blu-Ray version, and a download version (to watch on your iPod). But most still don't. Here's an example of a Disney 3-pack: Princess and the Frog

These titles were all higher-priced on Amazon.

Nah, it's all that good food: knishes, pastrami, corned beef, brisket, kishka, kasha varnishkes, chicken soup... Jewish soul food!

Found some interesting download prices on the CD Universe website: Pharaoh Sanders - Black Unity, $1.98: Black Unity Pharaoh Sanders - Karma, $1.98: Karma Pharaoh Sanders - Jewels of Thought, $1.98: Jewels of Thought Keith Jarrett - Koln Concert, $3.96: Koln Concert Keith Jarrett - Sun Bear Concerts, $12.87: Sun Bear Concerts Miles Davis - Pangaea, $1.98: Pangaea

July 18: Carl Fontana, trombone, 1928 Bobby Previte, drums, 1957

July 17: Nick Brignola, baritone sax, 1936 Chico Freeman, tenor sax, 1949

July 16: Cal Tjader, vibes, 1925 Nat Pierce, piano, 1925

OK, here's a clue: Yale Strom's The Book of Klezmer has some wonderful anecdotes from former Dave Tarras trumpet player Sheldon “Shelly” Hendler about how Tarras was viewed by jazz musicians.[3] Hendler played with Dave Tarras from 1952 to 1959, starting when he was a senior in high school.[4] Accordion to Hendler, Tarras was a wonderful player of Yiddish music, but he didn't fully understand American music. He says that Tarras never had a sense of the ABA form, and would start another tune when he was supposed to come in with the next section. But his playing of the Yiddish music excelled, especially the improvisational doyne, which could last up to an hour. Saxophonist Allen Eager’s mother owned a hotel where Tarras and his band were playing, and Eager would bring up jazz musicians friends including Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and Red Rodney to hear Taras play. These jazz musicians were only interested in the modal (Yiddish, and primarily the doynes) music that Dave played. Source: http://matttemkin.info/Masters_Thesis/Chapter_4.html

Question: There was a version of Dark Star that was released on the Revelations - Glastonbury Fayre 3-LP set back around 1974. The actual performance was from Empire Pool, Wembley, 4/8/72. Has this ever appeared on a GD release?

July 15: Sadik Hakim, piano, 1922 Philly Joe Jones, drums, 1923

Still doesn't answer whether Eager was Jewish. There were also Italian hotel enclaves in the Catskills, and I think also Irish. Will have to dig further.

That sounds amazing!

http://www.theonion.com/articles/rock-fans-outraged-as-bob-dylan-goes-electronica,17699/

Even though the members of violinist Jenny Scheinman's indie-jazz quartet have worked together before, they'll be performing new Scheinman compositions when they play a dozen shows at the Village Vanguard beginning Tuesday. During a brief meeting earlier this month with Ms. Scheinman and guitarist Nels Cline in the West Village, she was asked when the band would rehearse the songs. "At least the day before," she replied with a wry smile. As I was leaving, she handed Mr. Cline, on leave from Wilco, the sheet music for a new tune. A lack of rehearsal is merely a challenge for superb experimental musicians such as Ms. Scheinman, Mr. Cline and the muscular, adventurous rhythm section of Jim Black on drums and Todd Sickafoose on bass for the project the violinist calls Mischief & Mayhem. They are all members of a very loose coalition that descended from the music scene based in SoHo lofts and at the Knitting Factory on Houston Street in the late 1980s and early '90s. Mr. Cline used the expression "not straight-ahead jazz" to describe the ground-breaking music played back then by Julius Hemphill, Tim Berne, Bill Frisell, John Zorn and others, who went beyond the door swung open by Albert Ayler, Ornette Coleman and other free-jazz icons. More here: WSJ

Any thoughts on this? eMusic

July 14: Billy Kyle, piano, 1914 George Lewis, trombone, 1952

What a pain ! I do not have any direct experience with MMFs or to be honest, the P1. Regardless, I wanted to add my $.02 to tell you that I have had a P3 for about five years once I decided that I wanted to go back and enjoy my vinyl and it has brought me countless hours of pleasure. While I have fought upgraditis several times, I still come back to the P3 and have no regrets. I think Rega makes an excellent, reliable product for each price point (though I can't speak for their new "high end" gear). There is a reason that Rega tables and the RB arms have been enjoyed by so many people over the years. Plus, and this is key for me, I don't have to spend countless hours "tweaking". I really do love the look of the P3 in red.

Does it mention which hotel?