mjzee

I like figuring things out on my own, listening to music without preconceived notions of how I "should" react. I also like pursuing musicians I find interesting. Right now, I'm following connections between Oscar Pettiford, Lucky Thompson, Osie Johnson...all interesting, smart musicians. Following the thought processes of a Gigi Gryce can be very illuminating, sometimes moreso than a John Coltrane, because you're not "told" that he's great; you can come to your own opinion about him.

Jazz Concerts of the '50s to '70s, Now Seen as Well as Heard By NAT HENTOFF November 30, 2006; Page D8 For years, jazz musicians coming back from Europe have told me of being part of concerts -- televised live by state-owned stations in Europe -- that have been among the most deeply satisfying of their musical lives. Uninterrupted by commercials and produced without concern for competitive audience ratings, these gigs freed the musicians from time constraints. I've long regretted not having been able to see any of these performances, but now the first nine "Jazz Icons" DVDs have resoundingly arrived -- produced by Reelin' in the Years Productions on the international TDK label, distributed in North America by Naxos America. Filmed in Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Holland, Denmark and Switzerland from the 1950s into the 1970s, "none of these performances" -- say the ceaseless explorers of Reelin' in the Years, David Pack and Phillip Galloway -- "has ever been officially released, and in many cases, the material was never originally broadcast." To this jazz enthusiast, this is like the discovery of a bonanza of previously unknown manuscripts of plays by William Shakespeare. Among the international icons and their sidemen are Louis Armstrong; Dizzy Gillespie; Count Basie; Thelonious Monk; Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers; Buddy Rich; Quincy Jones; Ella Fitzgerald; and Chet Baker. My recommendations among them begin with the DVD of the 1960 Quincy Jones ensemble, which Mr. Jones understandably called his "dream band." In the brass section (whose élan reminded me of Duke Ellington's "Braggin' in Brass" tribute to his horn men) are trumpeters Clark Terry and Benny Bailey and trombonists Quentin Jackson and Melba Liston (the latter long ago having proved that jazzwomen do have "chops"). And always going for a home run, there is Phil Woods on alto saxophone. Also of historic and present joy are the 1958 Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers with the thrilling (I mean the term denotatively) trumpet of Lee Morgan -- with Mr. Blakey, as usual, on fire on drums. Also, the full presence of Thelonious Monk in a 1966 concert bears out what I tell listeners too young to have ever seen Monk -- that he was almost as mesmerizing to watch as to hear. On the Ella Fitzgerald DVD, there are two concerts (1957 and 1963) in which Ella, reveling in her incomparable mastery of jazz time and swiftly inventive wit, is backed on the earlier set by my choice of a "dream rhythm section": Jo Jones, Ray Brown and Oscar Peterson. Dizzy Gillespie, too, was best seen as well as heard to get the full, flavorful impact of his delight in continually surprising himself during his 1958 and 1970 concerts. Louis Armstrong, as Wynton Marsalis says of Satchmo's 1959 "Jazz Icon" concert, "is the most modern trumpet player we've ever heard and the most ancient at the same time...this DVD captures that intangible power and allows us to gaze upon it in wonder." The Count Basie band of 1962 brings me back to that time when, going down the stairs into New York's Birdland, the swinging gusts from the bandstand below almost blew me against the wall. And Buddy Rich, who could have swung a military band, bursts into view with his 1978 big band, which he called, with manifest pride, the "Killer Force." Also among these first nine "Icons," with more to come, are 1964 and 1979 performances by Chet Baker, whose trumpet playing and singing have, for me, been an acquired taste that I've not been able to master. But many have, and still do. Not only are these performances previously unavailable -- to most of us, unknown to have existed -- and invaluable contributions to the history of the music, but they also serve as a much needed model of economic justice to jazz sidemen. Uniquely, in my experience, each sideman in these concerts, as producers Peck and Galloway note, is being paid directly -- or if they're dead -- via the American Federation of Musicians, through the musicians' estates. The reason that so many jazz sidemen who have been sidelined -- for reasons of health or changing fashions -- are often hard put to pay their rent is that sidemen do not get royalty payments from sales of recordings, and relatively few of them ever become leaders of bands or combos. Also part of the care Messrs. Peck and Galloway have taken with these DVD additions to the jazz heritage is the quality of the sound in the remastering and the knowledgeable liner notes, which include both the commentary of jazz critics and some of the reminiscences of colleagues and family members of the icons. In the Thelonious Monk booklet, Don Sickler -- long associated with Monk and his family, and himself a trumpet player and an arranger of Monk's music -- has this illuminating passage, quoting drummer Ben Riley, who's on the DVD: "Monk lets the music breathe. He doesn't clutter anything up. He leaves space for you to create. John Coltrane said that playing with Thelonious Monk was like opening a door and stepping into a room, and there was no floor. So now you have to figure how to stand up on your own." (Duke Ellington, a major influence on Monk, used to say to a sideman asking for instructions on how to solo on a wholly new piece of Duke's music: "Listen, sweetie, listen!") Having opened doors to a pantheon of jazz creators with this first series of "Jazz Icons," Messrs. Peck and Galloway are trying to make arrangements to get artists' and other clearances to release "an incredible 60-minute concert from 1966 with Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington; various concerts of John Coltrane, Sarah Vaughan and (Rahsaan) Roland Kirk; and 90 minutes of live and in-studio concerts from 1964 with Charles Mingus and Eric Dolphy, filmed a few months before Dolphy passed away." I heard about that Dolphy concert from one of Mingus's sidemen, who told me knowing that I had had the privilege of recording the often astonishing Dolphy: "Eric that day went beyond anything he's ever done before!" Reelin' in the Years Productions does not focus solely on jazz. Messrs. Peck and Galloway have a library of more than 10,000 filmed performances from, they note, "over 30 TV stations that we exclusively represent from Europe, Japan and Australia." Among their previous releases are "American Folk Blues Festival 1962-69" and three James Brown "soul" concerts from 1966 to 1971. Who knows? Maybe somewhere there is a recording of the legendary New Orleans trumpet player Buddy Bolden, whose horn on the streets could be heard for 10 miles -- or so I was told by musicians there remembering tales of their boyhoods. If such a recording exists, Messrs. Peck and Galloway will find it. Mr. Hentoff writes about jazz for the Journal.

I saw it performed as part of the Newport Jazz Festival in NY when the album came out. It was a double bill: Ornette and band backed by a 40-piece orchestra, then Charlie Mingus (they were both on Columbia, and I think "Let My Children Hear Music" was also recently released). I remember being bored by Skies of America: the orchestra would play a section, then Ornette and band would play a section, then the orchestra, then Ornette, etc - rarely did both play together. Things got much livelier when Mingus hit the stage - he was really funny introducing the pieces, leafing through his sheet music trying to decide what to play, etc.

I believe most or all of these are available for download on eMusic.

My Royal Flush booklet is fine - no typos, no wrong pages.

In the CD booklet for Trompeta Toccata, two pages are mistakenly from the Ike Quebec release. I have the first page of Blumenthal's "A New Look at Trompeta Toccata," but the next two pages are the second page of Blumenthal's notes for the Quebec, and the song list for the Quebec. Blue Note quality control strikes again!

marcus you are the best!!! The interesting thing about the Charlie Hunter is that, not only did he follow the song sequence of Natty Dread, his performance lengths were exactly those of the original Marley LP.

I had a two-record set on Savoy of Sammy Price, called "Rib Joint." Not really jazz, more barrelhouse juke joint rock and roll, and excellent. King Curtis was all over it, and so was Kenny Burrell (as well as, on one date, Panama Francis). I'm surprised Savoy never released it on CD.

Can anyone recommend some titles available on eMusic by the following artists: Dave McKenna Earl Hines Dorothy Donegan TIA.

Listen to "Swiss Nights, Vol. 1" (Steeplechase), recorded live 8/23/75. Listen to him kick off the concert with a "Tenor Madness" BLAM! going 120 miles an hour. Guaranteed to bring bliss.

I saw this mention in a recent issue of Cargo Magazine: www.plusdeck.com (Paraphrase:) "Essentially, a dashboard-style head unit that installed into one of a PC's drive bays, the device comes with software used to convert cassettes into MP3 files. It plays the tapes through the computer speakers, too, so you can decide which ones to transfer. $150."

Thanks for the tip; I'll try it out.

I saw this band at the Felt Forum, NYC. About 17 pieces, right? Tim Buckley opened. Great show.

Have you heard it yet? It's an odd lineup. I like George Duke, but ... I had this as an LP on Everest (called "Gordon's Gotham"). Good playing, but sound quality's a bit iffy - sounds like a recording from the audience, and Dexter's not exactly on mic. George Duke acquits himself, though - he plays pretty nicely.

Some rock CDs have "hidden tracks." For example, the Dead's Dick's Picks #13, CD two, lists the 4th track as "Saint of Circumstance (6:35)." However, the track is actually 42:47, and consists of "Saint," a long period of silence, and then two other songs from a different concert. iTunes only shows one track, "Saint," with a length of 42:47. I'd like to transfer "Saint" and the two other songs, individually, to iPod/iTunes, and drop out the silence. I know this can't be done with iTunes. Can anyone recommend a way to achieve this? TIA.

The music's OK; I actually found it to be a little too "early" for my tastes. He sounds like a young kid, but it's alright. As for Starbucks, it's just an alternate distribution channel. Most adults, I daresay, never step foot inside a record store anymore. He gets premium placement (by the counter/cash register), with not much competition. Also, many of the CDs Starbucks sells are of performers of the same era (Joni Mitchell, for example). Simply makes sense to me.

I've always loved the Earl Klugh LP "Magic In Your Eyes," from 1979, and still play it often on my iPod. He just gets a gorgeous sound from his acoustic guitar, the arrangements are of their time (quasi-Bob James, hint of disco) but never overbearing, and, yes, I do consider it jazz of a sort. He does a very pretty version of "Cast Your Fate To The Wind" here. I recommend checking it out.

I don't understand. Isn't everything also on your computer's hard drive, under iTunes?

Are there SACD recorders for the home?

And why share that with us?

I'm bringing this thread up because I wanted to start a thread on Slide's arranging skills, but thought I'd extend this one. I put on Junior Cook's "Good Cookin'" (now part of 32 Jazz's "Senior Cookin'"). Without checking the liner notes, I could immediately tell Slide's arranging - he has a distinctive sound, one that I really dig. Tight, solid arrangements of the head, but leaving lots of room for blowing. And, refreshingly, he doesn't call attention to himself. Another date in this league is Dexter's "A Day in Copenhagen." Does anyone else have favorites of Slide's arranging?

Rice Takes to Stage to Aid Ailing Soprano By BARRY SCHWEID, AP Diplomatic WriterSat Jun 11,10:31 PM ET A musician long before she became an academic and then a world-famous diplomat, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice took to the Kennedy Center concert stage Saturday to accompany a young soprano battling an often-fatal disease. Rice's rare and unpublicized appearance at the piano marked a striking departure from her routine as America's No. 1 diplomat. A pianist from the age of 3 she played a half-dozen selections to accompany Charity Sunshine, a 21-year-old singer who was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension a little more than a year ago. The soprano is a granddaughter of Rep. Tom Lantos (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif., and his wife Annette, who Rice has known for years. The Pulmonary Hypertension Association, formed in 1990, presented the concert to draw attention to the disease from which more than 100,000 people are known to suffer. Largely unknown in the United States until about 10 years ago, it has no known cause or cure, but genetic studies and a search for treatment are under way. Sunshine has persisted in her career and performed with orchestras in Hungary, her grandparents' home before the Holocaust, Denmark and the United States. On Saturday, in a concert entitled, "An Evening of Music, Friendship and Awareness" and hosted by Lantos, she drew the secretary of state to play selections by Verdi, Mozart and Jerome Kern. Eileen Cornett, of the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, Md., accompanied Sunshine on a half-dozen other pieces. Lantos introduced Rice as "a warm friend" and said the concert was her idea, describing how her eyes filled with tears as he told him about his granddaughter's illness. "We have to do something about this and enhance public consciousness," he quoted Rice as saying. "Let's have a concert and I will accompany her at the piano." Rice, whose first name is a variation on the Italian musical term "con dolcezza," which is a direction to play with sweetness, learned to read music at the age of 3. As a child she performed, won piano competitions and planned a career as a a concert pianist. But she switched her field of interest to international relations in her junior year at the University of Colorado and went on to be provost at Stanford University, then President Bush's assistant for national security, and now secretary of state. Despite her busy schedule, Rice finds time to enjoy classical music and plays occasionally and privately with friends in a string quartet. In February, on a trip to Europe, she visited a Parisian music school, Conservatoire Hector Berlioz, after a session with French political elite. Rice tapped her toes to keep time as a music teacher led a group of students age 7 to 9 through their scales. She told the youngsters, "It takes a lot of work to learn to read music. You have to practice and practice and practice." Among those in the Kennedy Center audience were U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, eight ambasssadors to the United States, Librarian of Congress James Billington, National Institutes of Health director Elias Zerhouni and Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith.

Benny Carter Meets Oscar Peterson Oscar Peterson and Clark Terry Oscar Peterson and Dizzy Gillespie Oscar Peterson and Harry Edison Oscar Peterson and Jon Faddis Oscar Peterson and Roy Eldridge Oscar Peterson and the Bassists Oscar Peterson and the Trumpet Kings: Jousts Oscar Peterson + Harry Edison + Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson Oscar Peterson and Count Basie - Satch and Josh Oscar Peterson and Count Basie - Satch and Josh...Again The Trumpet Kings Meet Joe Turner The Trumpet Kings at Montreux The Trumpet Summit Meets The Oscar Peterson Big 4 Fitzgerald And Pass...Again (all Pablo titles)

News: Pepe's is opening a second location, in Bridgeport. Many people say that pizza in this country began in New Haven, not New York. BTW, props have to be given to the pizza on Ave J & E. 16th St in Brooklyn, forgot the name - amazing pizza.

Amen to that, brother.