Popkin

The "50th anniversary collector's edition" of Kind of Blue is supposed to be out now. Has anyone seen it or picked it up? There's some info on various websites (e.g. http://music.barnesandnoble.com/Kind-of-Bl...0-43179-500000). But I can't really determine if I own all the tracks on the second disc. Is it true, as the description on B&N claims, that the recordings of "On Green Dolphin Street," "Fran-Dance," "Stella By Starlight," "Love For Sale" are only available in the Davis and Coltrane boxed set (The Complete Columbia Recordings 1955-1961)? Because that sounds like the stuff that was included on the "58 sessions" disc that I already have.

The internet says that Frank Strozier is still alive, and that "little has been heard of" him since about 1990.

I think it's pretty crazy that Hank Jones is still alive (I belive he's 90) . . . I was surprised to learn recently that Jimmy Heath is still alive.

If I had a record player and a lot of money I would certainly try to get my hands on a copy of that album. There seem to be a handful of Debut albums that have never been issued on cd, and Manhattan Monodrama is one of them. As best I can tell, these are the only Debut albums that were never issued on cd (correct me if I'm wrong): Sam Most "Sam Most Sextet" (December 29, 1953) Doug Mettome (tp, arr -1,3,5,6) Urbie Green (tb -1,3,5,6) Sam Most (fl, cl) Bob Dorough (p, arr) Percy Heath (b) Louie Bellson (d) John LaPorta "The John LaPorta Quintet" (March 9, 1954) Louis Mucci (tp) John LaPorta (as, cl) Wally Cirillo (p) Richard Carter (b) Ed Shaughnessy (d) John LaPorta "Three Moods" (1954) Louis Mucci (tp) John LaPorta (as, cl) Barry Galbraith (g) Richard Carter (b) Charlie Perry (d) Alonzo Levister "Manhattan Monodrama" (August, 1956) Louis Mucci (tp) John LaPorta (as, cl) Lorin Bernsohn (vlc) Arne Gold (xyl, per) Teddy Charles (vib, per) Alonzo Levister (p, arr) Morris Lang (timp) Jackson Wiley (cond) Oscar Pettiford Sextet (Copenhagen, July 5 & 6, 1960) Allan Botchinsky (tp) Erik Nordstrom (ts) Louis Hjulmand (vib) Jan Johansson (p) Oscar Pettiford (b, cello) Jorn Elniff (d)

A while ago I bought the RVG of John Coltrane "Traneing In," and the track that struck me most was a song called slow dance by Alonzo Levister. I had never heard of him before, but I was fairly obsessed with the song and so I tried to find out what I could on-line. However, there doesn't seem to be much information (he appears to have a myspace page, but all I can gather from there is that he's still alive and writes jazz-opera). As far as I can tell, he only released one album, "Manhattan Monodrama" released by Debut in 1956, with the following band: Louis Mucci (tp) John LaPorta (as, cl) Lorin Bernsohn (vlc) Arne Gold (xyl, per) Teddy Charles (vib, per) Alonzo Levister (p, arr) Morris Lang (timp) Jackson Wiley (cond). The album features a version of Slow Dance (and this version, and the Coltrane version seem to be the only recorded versions, as far as I can tell; which I find pretty surprising). I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts or information about Alonzo Levister. Is there anyone who could tell me what Manhattan Monodrama is like? (not that I'd be able to get my hands on it; I can't imagine it will be released on cd any time soon).

Thanks Soul Stream. I don't think I realized that Blue John wasn't released at the time . . . although the focus on official releases seems a bit out of character for Mosaic. It's too bad they couldn't do a complete Blue Note set. Does anyone have any general comments on the set? The only album I have that's included is Along Came John.

I was wondering if someone could explain the John Patton Mosaic Select box. From what I can tell, the set includes his first, third, and fourth blue note albums, and then skips a few years to include a couple of 1968 sessions. Why is "Blue John" (his second album) not included? And why the two sessions from 1968 (which are separated by another 68 session that isn't included)? Also, if anyone has any general thoughts about the box, I'd be glad to hear them. At the moment I can't decide whether or not to pick this up. Thanks.

I got to see McCoy Tyner on July 1st (with Ravi Coltrane). The concert was billed as "remembering John Coltrane" but they only played Tyner songs from after he left Coltrane (which isn't a bad thing, I'm not complaining). The playing was pretty great, but the sound system was miserable. For the piano sounded bad, the drums were too loud, and worst of all you could barely hear the bass player (really muddy and indistinct). Also, for the first 10-15 minutes of the concert they had something else coming out of the speakers (like the radio or something). The volume was low, but during quiet moments it was really obvious. Anyone else who was in Montreal have similar experiences? Since I spent $60 on the tickets, I was hoping for better sound.

This is a pretty strange list, even as these sorts of things go . . . I didn't see any Wayne Shorter or Herbie Hancock . . . and the one Andrew Hill album is "Smokestack"? Really?

I'm planning to go see McCoy Tyner and Ravi Coltrane remember John Coltrane. However, some of the comments about Tyner's playing in recent years has dampened my enthusiasm a bit . . . I figure even if it's not great, at least I will have seen Tyner in person once in my life . . .

I guess the next question is where to start with the albums included in the set? There's one vote for The Young Lions, so far . . .

Well, thanks very much everyone. I guess if there isn't a considerable difference in sound quality (which is the impression I'm getting) then I'm inclined to save my money and pick up the individual cds. By the way, what is the "Frank Strozier/Booker Little date"? The set includes the "Young Lions" album which features Strozier (but not Little). Am I missing something?

I've been thinking about trying to find a copy of the oop Lee Morgan/Wayne Shorter Vee Jay Mosaic (e.g. on ebay). However, all the albums that are included on that set have been re-issued as individual cds. So, my question is: what to do? Buying the individual cds would be cheaper, but I wonder about the sound. Is there anyone who can comment on the sound of either the cd reissues or the mosaic set, or both? Also, I think there are alternate tracks that are only available on the Mosaic set, so that's an issue. Plus there's the Mosaic Booklet vs. original liner notes issue. I'm rather torn, so any advice anyone might give me would be very much appreciated.