Chris A. - Tell us a story!

[Bright Moments]

Chris - i just read your liner notes for : The New Boss Guitar of George Benson with the Brother Jack McDuff Quartet!

Please tell us a story about drummer Montego Joe! Who is (was) he and how did he get that moniker?

Edited July 11, 2010 by Bright Moments

[Christiern]

Oh, you mean the album George Benson did before John Hammond "discovered" him?

As I recall, Montego Joe was born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, hence the moniker. His name is Joseph Sanders, which doesn't sound quite as interesting. I haven't read them since I wrote them, but Fred Nurdley's liner notes for the 1964 Prestige album may contain some information. Fred was not a good writer, more in the Francis Squibb league, but he did not Schaap anybody—he never made things up. Well, other than his name. So did Francis Squibb.

Of course, if you wnt a story, you know where to go

[Bright Moments]

cool beans! thanks chris!

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

oh no! you mean J.H. had ""something"" to do w/ this?

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51jqtPJnDzL._SS500_.jpg

(its uptown w. the GB Quintet- columbia)

[Christiern]

That was the album with which John claimed to "introduce" his new find. Like so many other Hammond "discoveries," it was not so.

[sonnymax]

Hi Chris!

I recently got Joe McPhee & Survival Unit II - At WBAI's Free Music Store. The notes state that you recorded that date while you were manager of the store. Would you please share some of your recollections of that date, and/or what the Free Music Store was like? Thanks.

[Bright Moments]

Hi Chris!

I recently got Joe McPhee & Survival Unit II - At WBAI's Free Music Store. The notes state that you recorded that date while you were manager of the store. Would you please share some of your recollections of that date, and/or what the Free Music Store was like? Thanks.

up

[Christiern]

Hi Chris!

I recently got Joe McPhee & Survival Unit II - At WBAI's Free Music Store. The notes state that you recorded that date while you were manager of the store. Would you please share some of your recollections of that date, and/or what the Free Music Store was like? Thanks.

Well, sonnymax, this is a session around which much misinformation has been generated. Do the notes really say that I managed The Free Music Store? I have read that I engineered the session while serving as General Manager of WBAI, I have also read that I produced it. Needless to say, this has made me rather curious to hear it!

Much of what I have read has Scott Yanow's byline, so it is to be taken with a sizable grain of salt. I know he is ultra pushy and overly productive (in a Leslie Gourse sort of way), but I still wonder how he managed to get his hastily assembled little bios and "reviews" into every hole in the internet! His stated goal is to listen to every jazz recording ever made, so that accounts for the fact that his reviews often don't indicate his having actually heard the music.

Ok, be that as it may. I tried to call Joe McPhee but he isn't home tonight—this is the time of year when he does the European festivals, so he's probably over there, somewhere. Joe and I have been friends since the Sixties, when I was running WBAI, but the Free Music Store came after I left. If memory serves me right, it was started by my good friend, Eric Saltzman, or it might have been Ann McMillan. I hired Ann to replace John Corigliano when John asked me to fire him so that he could write a violin concerto while getting unemployment compensation. We had a little disagreement of his scheduling John Cage's "Cartridge Music" for the morning concert. John was finally approved for unemployment (we told the Employment Board that ours was an untenable situation), and he wrote his concerto (I have the first album). Of course, John later went on to win at least one Oscar for his film scores, etc.

Be that as it may, we broadcast a lot of jazz during my tenure at WBAI, including a live late evening hour dedicated to the more adventurous approach. Archie Shepp wanted to play in the dark, so we just cut off the lights in the studio and told Archie when he was on. He and his group then went at it for an hour. I believe Joe and Clifford (Thornton) did the same thing, at least once, and I probably manned the board in the control room. When there is as much great stuff going on as there was in those days, an event, no matter how well it turned out, does not so readily find a place in one's memory. There's always the tape, but I'm afraid much of what we did was not recorded.

So, the Joe McPhee session that was released by Hat may or may not be mine, and it may or may not have been recorded as stated in the liner notes. I have come across albums of sessions that I produced in a recording studio and forgot about until I spotted my credit and, eventually, heard it.

I know this does not answer your question, but you did get a story, didn't you?

[sonnymax]

Yes, thank you.

[Shawn]

awesome story Chris, thanks for sharing!

[B. Clugston]

Hi Chris!

I recently got Joe McPhee & Survival Unit II - At WBAI's Free Music Store. The notes state that you recorded that date while you were manager of the store. Would you please share some of your recollections of that date, and/or what the Free Music Store was like? Thanks.

Well, sonnymax, this is a session around which much misinformation has been generated. Do the notes really say that I managed The Free Music Store? I have read that I engineered the session while serving as General Manager of WBAI, I have also read that I produced it. Needless to say, this has made me rather curious to hear it!

The CD says "Broadcast recorded by Chris Albertson." You wrote the liner notes in 1987 when it was supposed to have been released on vinyl.

Edited July 18, 2010 by B. Clugston

[Christiern]

Now I am even more curious. I'll have to get the CD and lend it an ear. I'll get back to this thread when I know something. Do I say anything about the circumstances regarding this recording in the '87 liner notes? The notes are not on any of my hard disks.

[Bright Moments]

in the meantime, please tell us a story about Birdland! Could anybody get in? Did they have a "velvet rope?" How did you get a good seat? Who were the "regulars?"

[B. Clugston]

Now I am even more curious. I'll have to get the CD and lend it an ear. I'll get back to this thread when I know something. Do I say anything about the circumstances regarding this recording in the '87 liner notes? The notes are not on any of my hard disks.

Your notes provide more of a political/social/historical context. Joe McPhee gives some background on his use of tape, "The Looking Glass I" and mentions it was a recording of a radio broadcast. Werner says he first heard the recording when he met with McPhee and Craig Johnson of CJR Records back in 1974. It was scheduled for release on LP in 1988, but the rise of the CD scrapped that plan, and it was forgotten until 1996, when it was released on CD.

[Bright Moments]

in the meantime, please tell us a story about Birdland! Could anybody get in? Did they have a "velvet rope?" How did you get a good seat? Who were the "regulars?"