Justin V

There's a nice version of his song 'Kathy' on Horace Silver's In Pursuit of the 27th Man.

It's very sad to hear this. He brings something special to the albums I've heard him on, and he has had an interesting career. Here's sending some positive thoughts his way.

I was just thinking of Paul Bley when I saw Fred Van Hove on Thursday. Here's wishing a happy birthday to a master musician.

When I was trying to decide whether to make the solo drive to see Peter Brotzmann and Jason Adasiewicz, I downloaded Exhilaration, a Brotzmann/Bergman/Cyrille Soul Note date. Impressed with the album, I attended the concert, which sparked my love affair with Brotzmann's music. For that, I will fondly remember Bergman. RIP.

I'm late to the party, but I just bought Intents and Purposes after seeing that it was temporarily out of stock on many sites and is almost OOP (I bought it from Jazz Loft). I can't recommend the album enough, and Jonathan Horwich deserves the praise that he's received for reissuing it.

I first heard David S. Ware on Go See the World only earlier this year, and I was impressed by the album's power and accessibility. I plan on checking out some of his solo work, but it appears that he knew how to pick sidemen. RIP.

Even worse: The cardboard cases with the little foam dot, which pretty much guarantee that a new CD will be scuffed before you can listen to it.

Earlier this year, there was a Kickstarter campaign for the latest recording by Garrison Fewell's Variable Density Sound Orchestra. The album is going to feature Tchicai, Roy Campbell and Steve Swell, among others. I haven't heard much of Tchicai, so I have been looking forward to hearing it. RIP.

I've been hearing her name a lot, but I found her voice to be grating when I listened to the clip. Although I don't listen to many vocalists, I was blown away by Cecile McLorin Salvant at the Detroit Jazz Festival. Her range, tone, phrasing and charisma really made an impression on me.

For me, the article raises another important question: Shouldn't a review of a review at least get the title of the album right? It's Four MFs Playin' Tunes, not Four MFers Playin' Tunes.

Thanks for posting this. Sam Newsome is an underrated player. There's currently a giveaway at AAJ for his latest solo album.

Drummer Joe Harris, a veteran of Dizzy Gillespie's band, appeared on Diz 'n Bird at Carnegie Hall. At the Roy Haynes show in Pittsburgh last night, Harris performed a brief drum solo before Haynes began his set.

Buddy DeFranco played with Bird on the Metronome All Star recordings. From the Montreal 1953 album on Uptown, we have Hal Gaylor. I'm not sure about his whereabouts, but Dick Garcia is also on that recording.

On Saturday, my wife and I made the drive to Pittsburgh to see Sonny Simmons with the Cosmosamatics. On Sunday, I made a solo drive to Delaware (Ohio, that is) to see the Brotzmann/Adasiewicz duo.

Happy Birthday, Sonny!

Wow. I saw her once on the Smalls live feed and enjoyed her playing. I can't remember whether it was during that performance or a Youtube video that she had a pleasantly Monk-ish take on one tune. I had meant to pick up her album at some point. RIP.

I've been enjoying Bergman on Exhilaration, with Peter Brotzmann and Andrew Cyrille. Having only heard Brotzmann on Cecil Taylor's Olu Iwa, I was pleasantly surprised at how accessible Exhilaration is.

For something completely different (and only 24 cents more), you could get the album that I purchased: From your listed choices, I'd go with the Tommy Flanagan album, which appears to be an expanded version of Tommy Flanagan's Overseas. I do like Pharaoh Sanders' Thembi, but when I'm in the mood for an album in that vein, I tend to go for Michael White's The Land of Spirit and Light

I've ordered John Law's Abacus. Thanks, guys.

Does anyone here have an opinion of John Law's Abacus, with Jon Lloyd, Tim Wells and Gerry Hemingway? The samples sound interesting.

No one appears to have mentioned this pianist on the board, but Hungarian pianist Kalman Olah has a trio date with Jack and Ron McClure. Jack cooks, and Olah, a winner of the 2006 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Composers Competition, is impressive.

I found it to be a very interesting interview. Did anyone else catch this bit where Hersch talks about recording with Sam Jones: "But the only record of me with Sam is this 12-piece big band. And Keith couldn’t make it for some reason, so Mickey Roker stepped in, and he wasn’t a very good choice, because his reading wasn’t so good." The Sam Jones session was in 1979. Judging from Mickey Roker's DTM interview, he had already gotten his reading together by that time: "MR: [...] When I first went to New York I couldn’t read music. EI: I am surprised, because you are on so many studio dates where you are playing the charts perfectly. MR: Well, I would tell them in the beginning that I did not know how to read. Usually by the time the horns players got it, I had been listening and I got it. After I had been in New York for a while I got a teacher called Charlie Perry. Charlie Perry gave me the basics in reading and I studied with him for about six months. Then I started getting so many gigs cause I could spell pretty good, you know. That enabled me to play with Duke Pearson’s big band. From there I went on to Nancy Wilson, Ella Fitzgerald, and The Modern Jazz Quartet. They all had written music." There's also this quote from an early '70s ('72?) article on Duke Pearson: "Mickey Roker checks out his see-through drums. (One night, someone asked if a spotlight was shining in his eye. He snapped, 'I could read a chart with one eye blindfolded and the other eye bloodshot.' He probably could." I love Mickey Roker, so that bit stood out. If Roker wasn't a good fit for the recording (which I haven't heard), I'd be surprised. If that is indeed the case, I don't think that a lack of reading ability would be the reason. I think that it'd be great if some enterprising label approached Hersch about releasing some of the treasure trove of music that he has stashed away in his closet, like the trio with Sam Jones and Al Harewood or his work with Joe Henderson.

Coincidentally, at the time this thread was posted, I was listening to Sam Rivers' brilliant Live disc and was wondering about the Tokyo album mentioned in the liner notes.

Has anyone else noticed how the membership rates have skyrocketed? Back in February, it was $20 for 1 year. In April, it was $20 for 6 months. Now, it's $20 for 3 months. For the Smalls Live releases, prices have gone up from $12 (including shipping) to $17 (including shipping). Have the cover charges also increased? I wonder what's going on.

I've seen trombonist Vincent Chandler twice at the Detroit Jazz Festival; once sitting in with Roy Hargrove and once with the University of Michigan Jazz Ensemble. He has a Kickstarter project going for an album that is to feature the rhythm section of Geri Allen, Robert Hurst and Karriem Riggins. Based on what I've heard of him and his rhythm section, it should be a good one. Here is the link: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vincentchandler/the-vincent-chandler-quartet-embraceable?ref=category.