mjzee

Wow! Huge effort obviously involved. This is an exciting Mosaic release. I will pre-order.

Listening now to this. Recorded February 1992, but the lineup looks like it could be a Blue Note. Sounds like that, too.

Agreed. I used to own "Live In Europe" on Impro. Pepper's backed by piano (Georges Arvanitas), bass (Jacky Samson), and drums (Charles Saudrais). Only 4 tracks, with timings 10:50, 14:29, 15:12 and 10:08. It's a hard slog. Pepper's a great improvisor, but it's hard to maintain interest over such lengths with just a baritone sax and piano as melodic instruments.

There have been many discussions here over the years regarding the repeated copyright extensions given to artistic works. Many have noted the pressure that Disney applies to Congress to make these extensions, since otherwise Mickey Mouse and other characters would fall into the public domain. Which makes this news very interesting: https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/04/01/jim-banks-theatens-to-block-mickey-mouse-copyright-over-disneys-political-and-sexual-agenda/

I totally agree. I like a nice mix: some standards, some blues, some original compositions, but as Alfred said, "it must schwing!" But the leader doesn't have to write the originals - he can leave those to people who can write. Example: just yesterday, I listened for the first time to Louis Hayes's "The Real Thing" (Muse/32 Jazz). The album has 6 tracks. Two are written by Tex Allen, who isn't even on the album; one each by Hayes, Ronnie Mathews, and Stafford James; and one by Rene McLean's father. Nice mix of tunes, good playing, and the perfect length: 37 minutes.

I own an Emotiva ERC-4 CD player. On the whole I like it, but I do have a gripe: when playing a disc that has tracks that run into each other (gapless, such as a live recording where applause bridges the songs, or a suite of songs), there is a noticeable moment of silence between the songs. This is the first CD deck I've owned that does this, and Emotiva confirmed there is no way to make the audio playback seamless. Another little gripe about Emotiva: I posted a review on their site where I mentioned this problem. They removed my review. This definitely lends perspective to all the 5-star reviews on their site - it looks like that's all they allow.

"Imagination" was actually a re-release. It was originally issued on the Arrow label as "Have You Heard": https://www.discogs.com/master/1070607-Johnny-Smith-Have-You-Heard-Johnny-Smith

Perhaps that's a fair point. Concord (the original label) seemed to recruit from the same generation of musicians, and many of those albums had Cherokee, When It's Sleepy Time Down South, Take The "A" Train, Undecided, and other warhorses, and had a similar stodgy feel. But in a way, your comment also proves my point. Scenario: Granz books a date, these old guys come in, Granz asks them what they want to play, and then records it without comment. (Just a guess on my part.) Alfred Lion would have asserted his producer's control, and told these old guys to come back with better material, the same way he stopped the Sonny Stitt & Dexter date for playing the same old stuff. As Dex remembered it, "Alfred was a wreck. When Sonny started playing 'Bye Bye Blackbird,' I knew that was it. Alfred jumped up, yelling 'who needs another version of this? What is he doing?' I was laughing too hard to say anything."

Follow the Blue Note formula: pay for rehearsal time, encourage more original compositions, stop the frequent use of tired compositions (Sweet Georgia Brown, etc.). Design better covers too, to highlight the uniqueness of each release, instead of signaling "more of the same being released here." I think Granz designed most of their covers, and it shows.

Are the currently available editions rechanneled for stereo?

I think this is what you're looking for: https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide-High-End-Audio/dp/1736254502/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2LJJGDCQ3AC37&keywords=robert+harley+-+complete+guide+to+high-end+audio+6th+edition&qid=1647918046&sprefix=Robert+harley%2Caps%2C123&sr=8-1

Very sad to hear. R.I.P.

Per the recent Japanese Muzak release of Konitz's 3 Storyville releases, the 3 live tracks (If I Had You, Fooling' Myself and Ablution) is listed as recorded January 1954. Foolin' Myself is 5:57. There's another version of Foolin' Myself on In Harvard Square, listed as recorded in February 1955, length is 2:34. The other two tracks do not appear again. In Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Konitz_at_Storyville), all 3 tracks are listed as "Additional track on reissue," which could be the source of the confusion.

I've decided I won't be doing the October BFT, so here's your chance if you'd like to do it! I've already notified Hot Ptah.

Big congrats, Allen.

He had an interesting background, per his obituary in the Journal: Terry Teachout, a prolific New York-based biographer and essayist who wrote exuberantly about drama for The Wall Street Journal, died early Thursday at a friend’s home in Smithtown, N.Y. He was 65 years old. His companion, Cheril Mulligan, said a cause of death hadn’t yet been determined. Mr. Teachout had written drama reviews for the Journal regularly since 2003. “He could never be pigeonholed,” said Eric Gibson, editor of the Journal’s Arts in Review pages. “Terry was never predictable.” He was known for his biographies of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, George Balanchine and H.L. Mencken. He also wrote plays and librettos. Born Feb. 6, 1956, he grew up in Sikeston, Mo. His father was a hardware salesman, and his mother was a receptionist and secretary. Mr. Teachout evoked his childhood in a 1991 memoir, “City Limits: Memories of a Small-Town Boy.” Sikeston, he wrote, was “still a place where people salute the flag and don’t ask for receipts, where everybody knows who your parents were and what they did for a living. It is narrow and kind and decent and good, and I am blessed to have been raised in its shabby, forgiving bosom.” As a teenager, he had the role of the fiddler in a local production of “Fiddler on the Roof” and played in a country band called Sour Mash. In 1979, he graduated from William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo., where he studied journalism and music. He then worked as a bank teller in Kansas City, Mo., and wrote reviews for the Kansas City Star while finding gigs as a jazz bassist and striving to establish himself as a writer. Unsatisfied with his progress there, he moved to New York in the 1980s. He obtained an editing internship at Harper’s magazine and later wrote editorials for the New York Daily News. He also worked as a contributor of essays and criticism for a variety of publications, including the National Review, while establishing himself as a biographer. His wife, Hilary Dyson Teachout, died in 2020 after a double-lung transplant. He is survived by a brother, David Teachout. In an October blog post, he announced that he had fallen in love with Ms. Mulligan and described her as “a theater-and-film buff.” On Twitter, he described himself as a “critic, biographer, playwright, director, unabashed Steely Dan fan, ardent philosemite.” Though he led a sophisticated life of culture in New York, Mr. Teachout retained some of his small-town earnestness. “I still wear plaid shirts and think in Central Standard Time,” he wrote in his memoir. “I still eat tuna casserole with potato chips on top and worry about whether the farmers back home will get enough rain this year.”

The Journal reports that Terry Teachout has passed. I'll miss his arts reviews and analysis, both in the Journal and in Commentary.

Release date January 16: Blue Vision, is Eric Person's eleventh CD release under his leadership. Here he leads an organ trio and is heard in collaboration with tenor-saxophone legend Houston Person. Blue Vision combines the blues with classic jazz, soul, gospel, and modern swing." Featured in the rhythm section are Adam Klipple on organ, Pete McCann on guitar, and Tony Jefferson on drums. During the initial conversation about the album’s concept, Houston emphatically stated his mantra, “don’t forget the blues.” Blue Vision has the blues, and so much more. The album features seven songs, five of which are Eric Person’s original compositions. There are updated versions of “Dear Old Stockholm” and Billie Holiday’s classic “Lover Man” as well as a couple of blues numbers: “Blue Vision” and “Old Hat Feathers.” “Geri,” featuring Eric on soprano saxophone, is a wonderful dedication to the late pianist Geri Allen. “Soul Saturation” is pure soul, gospel grit, with gutsy sophistication. The final track, “No Doubt True Dat” is a fast, modern swing number that teeters on the edge and will take you with it. About the Artist Born in St.Louis, Mo. Eric Person has been a fixture on the jazz scene since the early 80s. His diverse experiences have carried him across a wide spectrum of the jazz landscape. He has performed with such luminaries as McCoy Tyner, Dave Holland, Chico Hamilton, John Hicks, Wallace Roney, the World Saxophone Quartet, and many others. In rock and Funk, he's performed with Vernon Reid, Ben Harper, and Bootsy Collins. Person's eleven CDs emphasize his compositional talent, adventurous spirit, and versatility. Person is a multi-instrumentalist who plays alto, soprano, tenor saxophones, and flute. Houston Person, an award-winning artist and major figure on the jazz scene since the early 60s, is definitely not foreign to collaborations. His work alongside the late vocalist Etta Jones is legendary. He has also performed and recorded with some of the best in the business such as Lena Horn, Horace Silver, Ron Carter, Johnny Hammond, and Joey DeFrancesco to name only a few. Houston is also featured on 130 recordings as a leader.

Fabulous news! Keep it going!

As long as the cyberbullying continues in the Sexiest Album Covers thread, I'm reluctant to donate (although I have many times in the past). This is abuse that is easily avoided (as in "live and let live") with a little restraint, and yet it persists.

Release date February 11:

That clip with Miles was fascinating.

What a great documentary! Brad, thanks for alerting us and giving us a chance to see it. I got in right under the wire: started it yesterday and finished it today. Very greasy. Great interviews. Wish they had a little less about death and cancer, and I wish it would have gone into the mysteries of all the stops and drawbars. But still, it was just great.

TtK, if I had to guess, I think what you're referring to as an "Americana" sound is that a lot of the music played behind early silent films sounds like that. Think of Buster Keaton's "The General."

Excellent!