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It was nice to meet the Organissimo boys finally. The crown LOVED them! They sounded great! I'll see them again when the pass though on the 18th for JazzWeek. Harold Maybern killed with Eric Alexander and Joe Frarnsworth cymbal beat is a work of art. Intense in the Louis Hayes sense. I took Farnsworth to hear Organissimo, but lost him in the crowd after a few minutes when he headed for the bar. If you know Joe, that's not hard to do... I heard Pete King for a 1/2 hour, and he was wonderful, playing a Coltrane medley.

I've loved Hutch for many a year, love the Blue Notes, and have seen him live several times, most notably at the Vanguard in '79 where he truly smoked. Got to see Locke two years ago down here at Nova University when he appeared in a quartet he co-led with Geoff Keezer and he was stupendously impressive. Thanks for the link. Great! So you were the one that was there! Here's that group at Jazz Baltica:

Good point, Ken. I've considered Al Cohn Memorial Collection, but haven't put it in the will as of yet.

Here's a photo of Dottie Dodgion that I took in 1977 with Marian McPartland and Lynn Milano: I believe that she's a singer now with some recordings issued, and lives in California. Of current players Ingrid Jensen comes to mind.

Crown Records was one of many labels that the Bihari brothers owned. Here's some quick info: Modern Records Story Unfortunately for record collectors, these quality releases soon deteriorated when the Biharis started putting all of their energy into the Crown budget album line in 1957. After the initial 25 or so Crown album releases (which were reissues of their earlier Modern and RPM albums), the goal of the Crown line seemed to be "How cheap can you make the record?" The covers were two pieces of thin cardboard held together with the paper cover, with no liner notes, and no record inner paper or plastic sleeves were used. Many had only 10 songs rather than the standard 12. The vinyl on these reissues was thin, and many have manufacturing defects. We have heard that the Biharis even tried to make the vinyl go farther by mixing sand with the vinyl for filler during the pressing process. Whether this is true is debatable, but many Crown albums are so poorly manufactured that they may as well have sand on their surface.

KCSM has consistent great programs included in their 24/7 jazz programing. It will be another big loss for the music if this happens.

A well know grunter I know isn't aware that he does it. I mean he knows it happens, but he doesn't mean to. For recording sessions he brings lots of chewing gum to sort of plug up the natural urge,

Hey, I understand that Miles was absolutely looking for a more commercial expression and I'm not looking for specific "jazz" content. Just good music. Hell, my Delfonics collection has a lot more music than this period of Miles Davis. That music just has so much fluff to it it doesn't get me at all. My problem. Aura and Amadela were intended to be a more artistic/improviser statements I would think, that fall flat, and to me, The Quincy Jones / Gil Evans music date is REALLY hard to listen to. But maybe this cherry picked collection has some good music on it, so enjoy it.

I found this: Johnny Acea Full name John Adriano Acea. Born Philadelphia. From late 1930s played trumpet with Sam Price and tenor sax with Don Bagley. In New York he performed and recorded as a pianist with Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis in 1947-48, Dizzie Gillespie in 1949-50, and Illinois Jacquet in 1952-54. He recorded with James Moody in 1951 and Al Sears in 1952 and played briefly with Cootie Williams. He also made recordings with Joe Newman in 1954 and 1957 and Eddie Jefferson in 1959. (From New Groves Dictionary of Jazz) And this: Biography by Eugene Chadbourne The Blue Note catalog is a buffet table that attracts and satisfies an endless series of jazz noshers, and the ones that stay longest and dig deepest into the more obscure salads will wind up discovering this funky Philly pianist. He backed up the superb guitarist Grant Green as well as providing the endless cycles of chord changes required by participants in tenor saxophone battles such as Ben Webster and Illinois Jacquet. Acea also had his jive side, evidenced by his involvement with the zany band of Dizzy Gillespie and its off-the-wall vocalist Babs Gonzales. Acea, who is sometimes mistaken for the rhythm and blues performer Johnny Ace plus a typo, came from a Cuban family who settled in Philadelphia around 1910. Census forms from that city in the '20s indicate there were spelling problems even back then, with both the pianist and his father's name listed as Adrino Acea, which could mean that the performer often credited as John Adriano Acea added an extra letter to his name, or the census taker left one out. Acea was born with rheumatic fever, and the original prediction from doctors was that he would not survive his childhood, let alone the all-night jam sessions that lay ahead. He did much better than anyone expected, became known to most of his friends as simply "John" and picked up several musical nicknames including "Johnny Acey" and "Acey." While not exactly the most famous jazz pianist to come out of Philadelphia, legends still abound about the man's talent. It is said that he was able to play all of the instruments in the music store, but he quickly picked up a reputation for piano as well as an uncanny knack for backing up singers. He would eventually record with greats such as Gloria Lynne, Diana Washington, Ruth Brown and Patti Page. He played cornet in the army, however, and worked as a trumpeter with the band of pianist Sammy Price when he got out in the late 30s. During the same period, he also played tenor saxophone in the Don Bagley group. Acea moved to New York City in the early '40s, performing and recording on piano with tenor sax great Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis in 1947 and 1948. He finished out the decade with Gillespie, and in the early '50s began backing up Illinois Jacquet. Acea also actively freelanced on records, in 1951 with the talented James Moody and with another tenor great, Al Sears, the following year. From 1954 through 1957 he played with Joe Newman, contributing the tune "Blues for Slim" to the album Joe Newman and His Band. Acea's composing skills also took him into the world of doo wop and rhythm and blues, genres that melded regularly with jazz in terms of the musicians involved, if not the listeners that were attracted. He wrote music for the Cadillacs, who later became the Coasters, as well as the big bands of both Frankie Laine and Ray Charles. Jacquet recorded the Acea tune "Little Jeff"; Acea paid back the tribute by giving one of his children "Jacquet" as a middle name.

God know I've tried, but there is very little that I like of this Miles Davis period. I've listened to "Aura" several times and am bored to death, and that's a recording the supposed to be a pinnacle of latter Miles. "Tutu" is almost elevator music, slightly better that "Jacuzzi jazz".

One of my photos of George:

A very Happy Birthday to you, Durium!

I have the book. The best part in the Miles Davis interview that was done while he wasn't playing.

I was just listening to Nostalgia in Times Square done by Sergio Salvatore and Christos Rafalides on this new cd:

Happy Birthday Jim! See you in Rochester!

My copy of "The Pentagon" by Cedar Walton is a East Wind and the label is brown. Great record!!

Nice set list. Thanks, Michael.

Happy Birthday Chuck!!

Harry only played new releases for the most part. In those days there weren't as many as today. He opened up the show with a prerecorded introduction (with music by Yusef Lateef), and during the time he talked, there was a solo piano piece that Les McCan recorded in the studio, that played in the background. He was knowledgeable and opinionated, but always laid back. He told all about the release as far as sidemen, label and recording date, so he taught many listeners about who was on the scene. That's something that's rare today. Here are some links: Harry at WHAM The Best of all Possible Worlds introduction Harry Abraham on Jazz Radio Programing

RIP Harry Abraham. Here with Freddie Hubbard in Rochester, N.Y. June, 1976.

I didn't mean to be a drag. It's just one man's opinion. Maybe a new drummer have improved things...

During my recent move, I've unearthed a whole lot of buried items, including a tape of a NPR show featuring Weather Report music along with interviews of Joe and Wayne. I'll give it a listen and report any interesting tidbits.

How about not enough SOUL, or lack there of? I've heard and met her since my buddy Jay Anderson played bass in her trio for 10 years. Now Jay, is a SOUFUL player!

I understand how he feels. There's something a little contrived about her music. Maybe contrived isn't the best word, but I don't connect at all. Maybe it's too "white". Steve Davis' drumming...ahhh, I should stop now!

Piano Players aren't the only grunters. Dave Pike had a record out with Cedar's trio that was very good but the grunting from Pike makes it almost a pain to hear. Elvin could grunt his ass off too.