mjzee

Shit! They got old; I thought it was just me... Another photo... Inside cover

Industry-wide, stereo 45's only began appearing around 1969.

I like it.

IIRC, he was integral in forming the whole WB/Reprise "sound" of the early '70's. I think he was all over the early Ry Cooder albums, for example. RIP.

I stopped into Sally's Place in Westport, and bought: Sonny Rollins - Road Shows, Vol. 1, Lee Morgan - Delightfulee, and Art Farmer - Brass Shout/The Aztec Suite.

Woodstock concert's undercover lovers

And as is so typical of me, I never went to go see him. I always think, "I'll catch a show next week", next thing you know, they're all gone. Yeah, me too. I remember when he had the weekly gig at Fat Tuesday's. Ah, well. RIP, you genius.

This is a letter to the editor in tomorrow's Journal (printed in full): Regarding Terry Teachout’s “Sightings: Can Jazz Be Saved?—The audience for America’s great art form is withering away” (Leisure & Arts, Aug. 8): Yes, jazz can be saved—if it is willing to change the performance schedule. The audience is 50 to 80 years old. We are not in nightclubs at midnight. We are in bed. Jazz shows that start on weekend afternoons are successful in this town. Sure, musicians just want to play. They do not want to deal with demographics, marketing, or commercial realities. But if they want to make a living, they have to start shows in the afternoon and end them in the early evening. Mara Majewski Orlando

I really disagree with this. And history also disproves it, since until the 40s jazz musicians were considered entertainers, or worse, black entertainers, by white society----and that mindset is very difficult to break when one is trying to survive. It's a tribute to the geniuses that did do their thing and moved music forward that they could do it in the context of work. It's an uphill battle, and even dangerous career-wise, or, back then, even survival-wise. I have a recording of a concert I played where I asked Eddie Locke to talk about the meaning of jazz to the young people there who were ignorant of it. He made a huge point of the social aspects of the music and its' function as dance music, and said verbatim 'once in the night there would be a little time called 'hot time', where they would play solos like we're doing tonight'. And he played with some of the great soloists. They had discipline and knew what a gig required. I'm sorry, but to think anything else is simply naive. I think perhaps a better way to put this might be 'when they got together in places like Mintons or privately they exchanged ideas they couldn't get at on the commercial gig'. Here's Lou Donaldson, from that NY Times profile (found here): "Today, at 82, he remains a leading exponent of this soul-jazz approach. But even at its bluesiest, his playing remains informed by bebop. If the economics allowed it, he said, he would delve more into the bop canon. “I’d like to be playing that every night,” he said. “But unfortunately, that’s not the case today.” At most of his outdoor concerts, he said, the audience demands his soul-jazz favorites — and he delivers. Those favorites, he said, will figure prominently on Aug. 18, when he brings his quartet to Mount Vernon for a free set, produced by Jazz Forum Arts and Jazzmobile, in City Hall Plaza."

Thanks for posting this. It prompted me to seek out the latest issue at a newsstand. I haven't read Down Beat for many years, and it was good to reconnect.

Which tune and which album, please. "I've Got A Crush On You" from "Live At the Sands" with Count Basie "Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight." Same track, same album.

"Wanna meet on Saturday, we'll pick out the foinechah?"

One facet of the solution must be alcohol. Listen to all those classic live recordings of the '40's - '60's - they were recorded in clubs (i.e., bars), and the crowds were whoopin' it up and getting into it. In a sterile environment like a concert hall, it's hard not to have a respectful distance from the music; jazz is being "appreciated" to death. We need audiences viscerally involved in the music. Alcohol helps. Or as Art Blakey intoned at that great bar, Birdland, "If you feel like pattin' your feet, pat your feet... and if you feel like clappin' your hands, clap your hands... and if you feel like takin' off your shoes, take off your shoes... we are here to have a ball. So we want you to leave your worldly troubles outside, and come in here and swing, ladies and gentlemen."

In 1987, Congress passed a joint resolution declaring jazz to be “a rare and valuable national treasure.” Nowadays the music of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker and Miles Davis is taught in public schools, heard on TV commercials and performed at prestigious venues such as New York’s Lincoln Center, which even runs its own nightclub, Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola. Here’s the catch: Nobody’s listening. No, it’s not quite that bad—but it’s no longer possible for head-in-the-sand types to pretend that the great American art form is economically healthy or that its future looks anything other than bleak. Continued here: Wall Street Journal

I think that's what the tune Ashtray Heart was about...some grievance about the Punks either not crediting him properly, or watering down his concept, or whatever. "You used me like an ashtray heart...case of the punks!" But then Don seemed to have a lot of grievances. To hear the Beefheart guitar concept with more propulsive, beat-oriented drumming, check out Gang Of Four. I especially liked their album Solid Gold.

Last night, I listened to "Sugar 'N Spikes" from Grow Fins. Without the vocals, you can really hear the intricate writing and interplay among the musicians. That's real music.

I just realized it's 30 years since Trout Mask Replica was released. Warner should release a remastered 30th anniversary edition!

(Between me and you, the one disc "Kaleidoscope" would do you just as well in the end.)

I've reread the first 2 posts (TJC3's post and Dan's reply). I dunno, maybe it's a generational thing. When I came of age in NYC in the '60's & '70's, what Dan posted would be considered a very direct, no-bull way of stating an opinion. It's a style, y'know? Anyone who grew up on Frank Zappa, to use one example, would know what I'm talking about (I was listening last night to some Zappa with Flo & Eddie; it's sad, but if Zappa posted here, he'd be tsk-tsk'd for not being polite). It's like Johnny Hodges vs. Charlie Parker vs. Archie Shepp: it's not just what you say, but the way you say it. I urge everyone to read Dan's original post again. It's a very valid point about music, and an opinion that most of us who post here agree with, plain and simple. The style might be a little short-tempered, but is there anyone here who's watched Seinfeld who doesn't immediately recognize it? When I read his post the first time, I burst out laughing; it was written that good. I also think the first 2 posts are about a clash of styles: TJC3 writes like a marketing major, and Dan writes like an absolute lover of real music who'd rather cut off his arm than voice an opinion he really doesn't believe. Of course, what complicates it is that this is Jim A.'s board, and he'd like a certain tone to be set. I understand that. But, really, when I first read TJC3's first post, it sounded to me like one of those Verve promo people posting again under a new name. So, anyway, here's a vote for originality and lively writing style. I think it's time we stop pillorying Dan, stop gazing at our navels and wearing hair shirts, and just move on. There's too much good music waiting to be heard!

Got my order today. Got all my Concords (with cuts in them); Have 4 Columbia's on backorder. The Columbia's don't have cuts.

I think those have a different kind of sound than found in Groove Elation. Sco's made a lot of different types of records. Many of the Gramavision titles are busier and faster. Take "Flat Out," for example. "Rockin' Pneumonia" has a great funky beat, but "The Boss's Car" is faster, more frenetic. And much of "Pick Hits Live" sounds like pure fusion. My advice to Murphydog is sample before you buy. But I guess that's always true, right? Just my two cents.

Absolutely! I toast him with a glass of Swiss Kriss! Happy birthday, Satch!

Our primary collection of thoughts and opinions about Sco can be found in this thread: Artists Sco's a favorite of mine. In the groove vein, I think you'd also like Hand Jive, Bump, A Go Go, Uberjam, and Out Louder (the last under Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood). Welcome to the board!

For those interested, Amazon today only (Sunday 8/2) has the download for Coltrane's Interstellar Space for $2.99.

Found this on the web: http://jazztimes.com/articles/20113-ruby-b...old-brash-brass