mjzee

An atypical date that I've always loved is "Digital At Montreaux 1980." A unique lineup: Dizzy, Toots Thielmans on guitar (only; no harmonica), and Pretty Purdie, drums. That's it. Bluesy, funky, unpretentious, and a lot of fun.

This month's downloads: Art Farmer - The Summer Knows Art Farmer - To Duke With Love Art Farmer - Yesterday's Thoughts The Great Jazz Trio - At The Village Vanguard The Great Jazz Trio - At The Village Vanguard, Vol. 2 The Great Jazz Trio - At The Village Vanguard Again Pat Martino - Desperado Lennie Tristano - Note To Note David Fathead Newman - Davey Blue Emily Remler - East To Wes Sonny Rollins - The Cutting Edge The Complete Wes Montgomery on Riverside, disc 6 Zoot Sims - Soprano Sax Zoot Sims - I Wish I Were Twins

Thanks for posting that. Fascinating stuff.

Count me in. Ray's one of my favorites. What a powerful piano style, with great clarity. Also a good showman who communicates well with his audience. A favorite is Somewhere In France:

They've added a Coleman Hawkins title, "High School Hawk." I think this was mentioned recently in a thread as an amazing performance with a pick-up band, but I can't find the thread: http://www.emusic.com/album/11028/11028594.html

I've enjoyed this date for many years, since the first white cover issue. Great song selection, spirited playing, great Freddie. Much, much better than Gettin' Around (which sounds like a practice session, with everyone playing the songs verrrrrry carefully). I also liked "Landslide," but that's a discussion for another day.

This month's downloads: The Revolutionary Ensemble - Vietnam The Revolutionary Ensemble - And Now... Leroy Jenkins - Space Minds, New Worlds, Survival of America Leroy Jenkins - Solo Bobby Broom - Song and Dance Ben Webster/Tete Montoliu - Gentle Ben Wes Montgomery - Complete Live in Paris 1965 Sahib Shihab - Sentiments Mr. Billy Higgins The Godfathers of Groove Zoot Sims and the Gershwin Brothers

Sco is nice on the "Phil Lesh & Friends" package. He mostly adds color, much like Weir did in the Dead. Unfortunately, most of the lead guitar lines are played by Larry Campbell, who's pretty conventional. And, unfortunately, Phil sings. Still, it was a fun listen, and one gets the impression that the group really improvised, albeit within familiar songs.

Hi, Aggie. That's a Jarrett thing. The last side of the LP of The Koln Concert was about 7 minutes long, and about half of that is applause. Probably Jarrett's desire, tho Manfred Eicher is definitely an enabler.

I really liked the first side of Cross-Collateral.

There was an intriguing passage in Max's memoir (a great book, btw), where he mentions in passing playing "that night's tapes" for Rahsaan in his hospital bed (working from memory here). How many gigs did Max tape, and are those tapes still in existence?

Here's the review from Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/2007/01/31/lorraine-...bookreview.html

I remember seeing Tommy Flanagan/George Mraz duo at Bradley's (the only time I got to see Tommy). Bradley's had this reputation as a great place to hear quiet (no drums) jazz. Bull; people talked loudly throughout the set. I sat near the stage and could barely hear George. I remember seeing Keith Jarrett at the Vanguard around 1976 (I think the quartet with Dewey). He made this very serious pronouncement at the beginning of the set that we should be very quiet while they played, and that the waitresses will not serve during the performance. About 20 minutes into the performance, the waitresses came out to solicit more drinks. Someone asked one of them about what Keith had said, and she just rolled her eyes. I laughed; her attitude was a wonderful antidote to the atmosphere. But probably the worst incident I saw was Javon Jackson at Iridium (when they were at Lincoln Center). Great band, with Larry Goldings. There's a party of 8 at the table right in front of the stage. Dinner's served first, and they're having a nice time. Jackson and the band came out, and IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FIRST SONG, the entire party of 8 got up and walked out. Boy, did that deflate the band; I really felt for them.

Hummm.... At one point, I downloaded his last album, Another Day On Earth, from eMusic, but they're not offering it now. I thought it a rather glum affair (especially the lyrics...and the singing...and the tempos). Ah, but the old days: Taking Tiger Mountain, Here Come The Warm Jets, Fripp & Eno - No Pussyfooting...fun stuff. Then he got more serious. He forgot the value of a good joke. Oh, yeah: The Byrne/Eno My Life in the Bush of Ghosts is a lot of fun, too.

Other interesting recent additions: Jack DeJohnette - Golden Beams Collected Volume 1: http://www.emusic.com/album/11022/11022960.html Jack DeJohnette featuring Bill Frisell - The Elephant Sleeps But Still Remembers: http://www.emusic.com/album/11022/11022956.html Roberta Gambarini - Easy To Love: http://www.emusic.com/album/11022/11022952.html Charles McPherson - Live At The Cellar: http://www.emusic.com/album/11023/11023738.html

"The Trio," on Interplay, was interesting. It's very tough for a trumpeter to sustain interest over an entire album in a trio setting, carrying the whole melodic (and much of the improvisatory) content. I took this as a major challenge Ted set for himself, and damn if he didn't pull it off!

I like the Verve two-fer. I also like the Stuff/Stephane Grappelli disc on Pablo.

Has anyone heard his Pablo album?

This month's downloads: (19 albums...a personal best!) Red Garland - All Mornin' Long Red Garland - Can't See For Lookin' Red Garland - Dig It! Mobley/Cohn/Coltrane/Sims - Tenor Conclave Tony Oxley & Derek Bailey - The Advocate Coltrane, Burrell - The Cats John Coltrane - Traneing In Burrell, Byrd - All Day Long Richard Teitelbaum - Blends Jackie McLean & Co. Jackie McLean - A Long Drink of the Blues Jackie McLean - Strange Blues Jackie McLean - Alto Madness Red Garland - It's A Blue World Red Garland - Soul Junction Interplay for 2 Trumpets and 2 Tenors Red Garland - High Pressure Charles Mingus - Reincarnation of a Love Bird (Candid) The Mel Lewis Sextet (VSOP)

Just noticed that Mo-Roc is available from iTunes for $7.92.

It could also include the 3 tracks left off the Bennie Green Mosaic Select that contained the rest of the "Congo Lament" session.

Jazz great Rufus Reid to perform at Rich Forum (from The Stamford Times, 3/18/07) - On Monday, March 19, the University of Connecticut School of Fine Arts will pres- ent the premiere of "Quiet Pride," a new work by jazz great Rufus Reid, the 2006 winner of the annual Raymond and Beverly Sackler Music Composition Prize. The original composition will be per- formed by the University of Connecticut Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Jazz Studies Director Earl MacDonald at 7 p.m. at the Rich Forum in Stamford. Admission is free. Sponsored by the University of Connecticut School of Fine Arts, the Sackler Music Composition Prize supports and promotes aspiring composers and the performance of their new musical works. Each year, the competition focuses on a dif- ferent genre of music. This year, the com- position competition was in the area of jazz. One of today's premiere bassists on the international jazz scene, Reid has firmly established his reputation in the education arena and now adds composition to his vitae. The 2006 Sackler Music Composition Prize allowed him to fulfill a dream he had to compose a work dedicated to the artist Elizabeth Catlett. Her life and work inspired in Reid a desire to honor her and to introduce her to people who might not know about her work. Entitled "Quiet Pride," this four-movement work for Jazz Big Band was inspired by four of her sculp- tures. "I am delighted that the world renown jazz artist, Rufus Reid, won the competition this year and will be in Stamford to perform his winning composition," said David G. Woods, dean of the school of fine arts. "The Rufus Reid concert will be one of the finest in the competition's history." The competition received 75 entries from composers across the United States as well as from Austria, Canada, Chile, Germany, Portugal and the United Kingdom. Finalists for the 2006 prize were com- posers Vince Mendoza, Ed Neumeister and John Hollenbeck. Past winners include Gabriela Frank, Karim AI-Zand, Orianna Webb and Stacy Garrop. The prize was established five years ago through a generous gift given by Raymond and Beverly Sackler, philanthropists and frequent University of Connecticut donors, and it remains the largest cash composition prize administered by a public university. For additional information call 325-4466 or visit www.stamfordcenterforthearts.org.

I visited them a few weeks ago, to pick up some titles. The office was bustling, people were very nice and friendly; nothing seemed amiss.

"A La Modal" has Dex on soprano sax. On the whole, I'd say the music's worthwhile to get, although it may mirror many other collector tapes of the period.

I like these better than the original Prestiges, which could be pretty artless.