bertrand

I've never heard the original, but the Jefferson Airplane's version of his song 'Fat Angel' (in which he mentions the Airplane) was excellent. On the Airplane/Starship issue (how can the first band be so good and the second be so crummy?), I feel there are a lot worse Starship songs than 'We Built This city'. How about: 'Miracles', 'Dance With The Dragon', 'Ride The Tiger' etc. I always hated those. Bertrand.

The song was written by the group America. Most of their lyrics are dreadful, but 'Muskrat Love' is the worst of all.

I had the pleasure of seeing Claude 'Fiddler' Williams at Clinton's first inauguration, of all places. Weizy was also there in a Groucho Marx disguise. Bertrand.

The woman on Sorcerer is actress (and future Miles wife) Cicely Tyson. I'm not sure who the woman on Second Genesis is. Bertrand.

Congratulations!!! Bertrand.

This is also Gary's first recording session period. He also told an acquaintance of mine (and it's in Gourse's book as well) that he is the real composer of 'Freedom Monday', not Blakey. Bertrand.

Shhh... Don't let Verve know about this new 'first time this particular compilation has ever been issued on CD' marketing ploy. They will run wild with it. Bertrand.

I'd *consider* paying that much for a copy of the rejected Jackie McLean Blue Note session with Woody Shaw, Tyrone Washington, and Bobby Hutcherson - but only if the copy offered to me were legal. The only scenario under which this would occur is if Blue Note decided to put out a series of super rarities where the pressing was so limited that they had to charge an arm and a leg for it (call it the 'Fanatics' Choice' series). Bertrand.

'What Goes On' is indeed awful - a grotesque attempt at C & W. Rubber Soul also has 'Run For Your Life', which John said he hated. I agree with John. 'Don't Pass Me By' is pretty bad as well. 'Julia' is an often-overlooked gem. I heard Steve Slagle and Dave Stryker perform it a couple of years back - gorgeous. Bertrand.

Jim, Your comment about colors is all the more intriguing when you know how important they are to Wayne when he describes his music. Someone told me that a friend of his played with Wayne briefly in the 80s (Gary Willis perhaps), and Wayne's only directions for one piece was 'think green'. I wonder how many hours Wayne and Gil spent discussing music (oh, to be a fly on the wall for those conversations). It's really a shame how little they wound up collaborating (Individualism of Gil Evans is a masterpiece). I wish Columbia would issue the Berkeley concert where the quintet performed a few tracks with the Gil Evans Orchestra (including 'Antigua' and 'You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman'). I think they found a tape in Miles' stuff... Bertrand.

I haven't listened to this track with much concentration yet (I only have it on tape so far), but here's the thing about it that really surprised me. It was recorded 2/15/68 with the following instrumentation: Miles Davis (tpt); Julius Watkins (frh); Ray Alonge (frh); Howard Johnson (tuba); Wayne Shorter (ts); Hubert Laws (fl); Danny Bank (fl, alto fl); Romeo Penque (engl horn); Karl Porter (bssn); Gloria Agostini (harp); Betty Glamann (harp); Herb Bushler (Hawaiian g); Joe Beck (g); Lawrence Lucie (mandolin); Herbie Hancock (el-p); Ron Carter (B); Tony Williams (d); Warren Smith (mba, tymp); Gil Evans (arr, cond) Unusual instrumentation, to say the least, especially the Hawaiian guitar and Mandolin. And Wayne Shorter is on tenor. On 8/22/69, Wayne Shorter copyrighted an as-yet unrecorded (and probably unperformed) 20-page score entitled 'Universe' (with the original title 'Virgin Night' scratched out on the copyright deposit). It says on the score: 'Composed by Wayne Shorter 1969; orchestration by Wayne Shorter; arranged by Wayne Shorter'. Here's the instrumentation: C flute Alto flute English horn French Horn (2) Bassoon (2) Tuba Trumpet (on some pages, it says 'Miles') Bflat Saxophone (on some pages, it says 'Me' or 'Wayne') Electric Piano Marimba Timpani Hawaiian Guitar Mandolin Guitar Fender Bass (or Bass on some pages) Drums Harp The only fundamental difference is that 'Falling Water' has 2 harps and one bassoon, whereas 'Universe' has one harp and two bassoons; also Warren Smith plays both the tympani and the marimba parts on 'Falling Water', which is certainly plausible, even if two distinct parts were written out. So, how did Gil and Wayne wind up both writing a score for the same unorthodox combination of instruments? I had a friend look at the score and listen to 'Falling Water' at the same time (I had to drag my walkman to the Library of Congress), and she said they were not at all the same pieces. Very puzzling... Bertrand.

Here is some extra information: 1. Jackie was born in 1931, not 1932. He explained somewhere (Spellman's book?) that he had made himself younger by a year for whatever reason (probably in his questionnaire for Feather's Jazz Encyclopedia), and the mistake 'took'. Both Rene McLean and Steve Davis confirmed that the year was 1931. Also, they had a big 70th birthday bash for Jackie at the Blue Note in NYC in May of 2001. 2. I always thought Rene was Jackie's son (they even look alike), but Philip on the board once stated as fact that Rene was adopted. He never did elaborate on his source for this information. 3. Miles was a father very young as well (16 or 17), so it's not impossible that Jackie was a father at 15. Bertrand.

I have yet to see a mention for 'She's Having My Baby'. Bertrand.

Did Joe Henderson ever record 'Soulin' as a leader or sideman? He is neither on the Pearson nor Brooks dates. Thanks, Bertrand.

It sounds like I have a job to do - perhaps in early May. The unidentified composition is probably just another track off the first Fuel album, which to be honest I don't care for very much. But I'll try to figure it out. Now that I have a discman, I can probably figure it out on the spot (if they let me bring it in). The Newport tapes are from Voice Of America - they are not bootlegs. Drummer Gary Jenkins, who lives in the D.C. area, told me that he toured with Larry Young and George Benson in the early 70's in a trio format. Larry replaced Hilton Felton, also from D.C. Didn't think to ask Gary if he had any tape... Bertrand.

Buck is definitely still active in the DC area. He had a gig at the old Twins early this month, and at Montpelier Mansion in Laurel in March. He did retire from the post office a few years ago. We in DC are lucky to have him in our midst. Bertrand.

I just got my mother a CD player, and she wants to start building a classical collection without spending too much. We picked up a Naxos CD tonight of Brahms' Four Hand Piano Music (8.557056) and I must say, it's very nice. Admittedly, I know nothing about classical music, so my impression of the quality of a performance is based purely on whether it sounds good to me or not. So, my question is, why is this series so low-budget? Are the performances supposed to be sub-par as a general rule? My guess is that it's hit or miss - some are gems, some are disasters. Are there any titles you guys would recommend highly? Are there any to be avoided at all costs? Thanks in advance, Bertrand.

She's a fucking bigot. Still turned on?

Enjoy! Please report back to us with a set-list if you can. I'm curious to see if he added any pieces to the repertoire since I saw him in Paris in January. Bertrand.

The French rock group Ange made a few good records in their early days (although the lyrics are over the top). The one I liked the best was Emile Jacotey, with Caricatures close behind. Haven't listened to this stuff in YEARS. I might hate it now. Bertrand.

I will be there as well. Bertrand.

I checked the copyright database, to see if by any chance Pepper would have copyrighted his piece *before* 'All Blues' was even recorded. Here's what I found: RE-457-534 Title: Cuevas de Mario; musical composition. By Art Pepper (Arthur Edward Pepper) Claimant: Laurie Pepper (W) Effective Registration Date: 15Dec89 Original Registration Date: 12Jun61; Original Registration Number: EU674655. In other words, this tells us nothing more, since the copyright date is posthumous to the recording date. So the Jury's still out. What would help is to get an idea of whether Miles or Art were playing their respective compositions live sometime before their recording date. I think Ashley Kahn's book tries to get into this, but doesn't go very far (I think he's mostly going by Jimmy Cobb's recollections). Another problem is that the origin of the five compositions on KOB is very sketchy - among other things, there are no copyrights for these tunes. Bertrand.

I've been following this band since its inception. The set list has of course changed over the past two years, but here is an idea of what you might have heard. Footprints Live, which documents the first year of the band's existence contains: Sanctuary Masqualero Valse Triste Go! Footprints Ju-Ju Aung San Suu Kyi Atlantis Chief Crazy Horse (Japan only) Since this CD came out, some new pieces have been added to the repertoire (most of the ones above are still in the repertoire): Joy Ryder Over Shadow Hill Way Smilin' Through (theme from a thirties movie) On The Wings Of Song (I don't really know this one, but it's a cover) 12th Century Carol In concerts where the group is backed by an orchestra, they have also played: Angola High Life Orbits Midnight In Carlotta's Hair Vendiendo Alegria Children Of The Night Prometheus Unbound (new Shorter composition, as of yet unrecorded) Yes, Wayne does not talk or make any announcements at most concerts, which some people find annoying. I don't mind it too much, except at the concert where I did not recognize one of the pieces (I was told later it was 'On The Wings Of Song')! He did announce 'Smilin' Through' in D.C. on 3/7/02, which is how I know it (I rented the movie and memorized the head). He plays this one at almost every concert - it's a gorgeous arrangement. He told me it may appear on a future record. If I think of any other titles, I'll update this posting. Bertrand.

So I was in a bad mood earlier - lots of crap going on in my life. But I still think that his playing on 'In Walked Bud' from Keystone 3 and 'Well You Needn't' from the Hancock album are really bad - really, really, really bad. Few jazz musicians have ever struck me as playing that badly. Most of the time, the harshest comment I find to make is that they sound 'lackluster'. For Wynton to strike me as that bad means he's going out of his way. All of my opinions were formed before I found out he was also a jerk. I would have felt kinda sorry for him had he been a nice guy. People may certainly continue to enjoy him (apparently, lots do). I will continue to cringe whenever I hear him. Bertrand.

Wynton sucked from day one. Just listen to his atrocious playing on Blakey's Keystone 3 and with the Herbie Hancock Quartet. His interpretations of Monk are abject. How this clown ever got anywhere in jazz, I'll never know. Bertrand.