Chuck Nessa

There were a few New York pressings. I used to have one.

I always viewed "Message", "Jackson" and "Sophie" as records of excellent encores.

I see I came of harsher than I'd wish. Listen and have fun.

A "nice review" from AMG is irrelevent. People In Sorrow is their masterpiece and Reece is very good. I stand by what I said and feel everything else comes later. After you digest that, I'll talk. Again I welcome contrarians. Sorry if I come off as snotty, but if I don't know this stuff, I don't know anything. Act accordingly.

Under that name, the best is People In Sorrow, now on an EMI disc from Dusty Groove and others - search for AEC. Next best is the Byg/Actual disc called Reece and the Smooth Ones. I believe the stuff on this level (or better) is on my label or Sound on Delmark. The later discs are really spotty. For later music I reluctantly recommend the bootleg Live In Berlin on WestWind. This is an interesting journey but I don't want someone hearing a lame performance. Jump in guys, and I won't hold any grudges - argue, but not hold grudges.

I will now try to tidy up some dangling questions, mostly from Free For All. The "local bar" was "Talk of the Town" in Montague, MI (my locality - across the river from Whitehall) and I drank St Pauli Girl. Don't remember Bob's choice. The scene in Iowa City when I was there included JR Monterose and Paul Smoker. I explained this in some detail in a Monterose thread a month or so ago. Larry Kart's description of the Chicago scene at the time is very good. I would only add a number of "young professional blacks" brought their families to the Sunday AACM concerts at the Abraham Lincoln Center. Sometimes maybe 20% of the audience would be families in their Sunday finest - just like church. I have not seen that sort of thing (black or white) since then. I hope George Lewis deals with this - I spoke to him about it a few years ago. In the late '60s the "local" club favorites were Eddie Harris and Yusef. They regularly played on Wells St. Lastly, for Mike Fitzgerald - I don't know of any Ike Day tapes and never heard rumors of them.

On our summer trip out West a truck kicked up a rock and left a walnut size dent in the front fender of Ann's PT Cruiser. She just got around to getting a quote this week. The dealer's body shop told her they'd fix a scuff on the door for nothing as a favor. Then they quoted $486 which included removing/replacing door seals, PT Cruiser logo, door handle, door lock, window seals. She called today and asked them to requote the job without the "favor". The guy said it was necessary to do the door as well as the fender "so we can blend the paint. That paint has seven different shades in it and you won't like the match if we just do the fender". What a bunch of crap. PS, the color is the standard silver.

Depends on your tolerance for the "show business".

Von had toured for years with the Treniers. In the late '60s he was in Milt Trenier's lounge act at Caesar's Palace. Cadet issued a live date called "Carryin' On". Recorded 3/22/67, the band was Danny Long (p), Von (ts), Joe Diorio (g), Jimmy Johnson (B) and Frank Shea (d). This is Cadet 4057. I believe Chico was mostly raised by his mother and didn't have regular exposure to Von until his return to Chicago. Wilbur was too individual to be considered an Ike Day heir.

Yes, that's the one.

By the time I got to Chicago (1966), Von was living in Las Vegas. He didn’t return until the early ‘70s. I have no info about early direct contact. Von was always supportive of the AACM guys. Nothing but praise from Vonsky. I never heard Amina with Jug and she was as active with the AACM as any of the “second tier” (those ‘below’ Muhal, Roscoe and Joseph). Jug was in prison from late ’62 until late ’69. His return to Chicago was HUGE. I can’t imagine it would have been bigger if it had been Bird. Where/when ever Jug played the place was always packed. Understand the difference between North Side and South Side gigs. The gigs up North were a 50/50 mix of black and white, while the South Side scene was (almost) exclusively black. I was politely turned away from an Ammons appearance at the Apartment Lounge one night.

Everyone needs to understand this. When prices go up, retailers reprice the stock. When prices go down (a rarity) retailers don't reprice old stock and price new stock accordingly. Universal will not send refunds to stores for inventory on hand.

Crap, I never knew you was an old guy. I'll moderate my responses to you as a result. No more breaks. You reap what you post!

Continuing this slighty off topic mention, don't miss the James P Johnson/Langston Hughes "Hungry Blues". James P recorded it twice in 1939. Damn fine song.

As I understand it, we are talking about 15 seconds on 3 well filled cds. Is that correct? I can understand being momentarily bummed, but all this!

I attended a few there, but many more at the Lincoln Ave offices in the '70s and early '80s.

Two weeks ago tonight Bob and I were in a local bar throwing back beers for about 3 hours. Does that answer your last question?

Bad idea. I think the organ mentions in the general music postings spreads the word and encourages "non organ specialists" to check out things they might not otherwise consider.

Visits to the Plugged Nickel were few and far between - It cost bucks and I had few as a student, and maybe fewer as a JRM/Delmark employee. Two trips to the PN from Iowa City were in the company of JR Monterose to see the Coltrane quartet. JR and Elvin were tight. We would spend the night in Chicago so we could take in 2 nights of the "classic quartet". One time the band assembled on stage sans Elvin. Trane looked around the club for him, dismissed Garrison and Tyner, sat down at the piano and lit his pipe. He played chords for about ten minutes before Elvin stumbled in the front door. It was obvious Elvin was feeling no pain. Trane motioned to the drums and Elvin sheepishly got into position. Trane kicked off (maybe) Impressions at a furious tempo and worked Elvin for (possibly) a half hour. I've never seen anyone sweat as much as Elvin that night, but by the end of the performance he was flying. The last time I saw Coltrane was also at the Nickel with Alice, Pharoah, Garrison and Ali. Other groups I heard there included Horace Silver, Jimmy Smith, Monk, Wes Montgomery and lastly Miles. In the late summer of '68, just before moving to Bloomington, IN, I went to the Nickel for the last time to see Miles. The group included Wayne, Dave Holland, Tony and Chick (making his first gig on the road with the band). Chick looked scared to death - afraid to play chords behind Miles. At intermission Joe Segal motioned to join him at the bar. When I got there he introduced me to Miles as a record producer. Miles grinned ear to ear, extended his hand, grabbed by forearm with his left hand, and whispered "Step outside M-F, and I'll break your arm". Then he chuckled and slapped me on the back. Miles was in a playful mood because he was marrying "Mademoiselle Mabry" later that night. Roscoe, Muhal, Braxton, Jarman had reasonable local followings, but not enough to support them. The description of the local scene is too complex to get into now, but I may come back to it later. Remind me later. I left JRM/Delmark because of a personality conflict with Bob. He had a habit of exploding and throwing tantrums at the least provocation. Once because he didn't like the way I opened mail (neatly sliced edges led him to believe the envelope was unopened - he wanted them ripped open) and another time because I threw away an old, old piece of carbon paper. The following story is the event sparking my departure. I had convinced the Chicago Sun-Times a piece on the AACM would be a good idea. They assigned a young female reporter to accompany me to a Sunday night concert. We agreed to meet at the JRM. When she arrived I introduced her to Bob and he chose that moment to explode and rip my guts out because a light bulb was burned out. I decided at the concert I could not return to work. All this paints an ugly portrait of a guy I have tons of respect/love for. I regret that, but it was the way it was.

Yikes!

After all the above, I don't know what to say. I think the interviews listed above cover most of the info. If anyone wants more specific questions answered, I'll try my best. I was a lucky guy in the right place.

Sorry, just enjoy the music. That is the point after all is said and done.

I think the Schaap version sounds like SHIT! Great music and we will not get it presented properly for another 5 years since they decided to issue this crap. There is no reason for all the noise, and his liners about the history of the recordings is "fanciful" at best. I think this reissue is a major flaw in the Sony program.

SHIT, I thought this was about what was going on musically in Chicago during those years. History was being made you know. Turns out to be about a pop band (possibly - rumors everywhere in town) about a mob sponsored rock band. Guess I don't know what time it is.

I spotted at least 2 who might become 2 o'clock dates. Get me outa this place! And buy a round for the band.