John L

The Bags' Groove and Walkin' sessions are the ones that I come back to the most, with the marathon sessions of the first quintet a close second. In the digital age, there is no problem listening to these sessions in complete form regardless of how the music was divided up on the original albums.

Stanley Crouch wrote a much reprinted essay: "On the Corner: The Sellout of Miles Davis." That may have put a bad label on it for many people, even those who haven't even heard it. Of course, Crouch claimed in the essay that Miles Davis sold out long before On the Corner. He dismissed everything from In a Silent Way on up. On the Corner may not be among the greatest Miles but I still think that it is generally fine music.

Maybe you can first make an MP3 version. I use software called Switch to do things like that.

Strange. But I have no doubt that he had fun doing it.

Actually, it is only one CD that combines House of Blue Lights with the Jubilee album Eddie Costa-Vinnie Burke Trio. That company never has access to the masters. I am listening to it now. It could be from vinyl but there is little to no background static. So maybe they pirated the Japanese CD? The sound is pretty good.

Maybe the only legitimate release was Japanese. I have a 2-disc Spanish bootleg (Lonehill) called "Eddie Costa Trio Complete Recordings" that contains it.

I imagine that sometimes artists believe that they did have the outtakes erased but somehow the record company might "find" them later.

All of the Bands For Bonds recordings involving Charlie Parker (September and November, 1947) were released on Philology "Bird's Eyes" Volume 17. It might be a bit hard to find now. But these recordings are bootlegged all the time. So it should be possible to track them done.

Freddie Hubbard is one of my very favorite trumpet players but I tend to agree with that. These are not the records I usually reach for when I am in the mood for Freddie. I do quite like Open Sesame but I tend to think of that as a Tina Brooks record in disguise.

RIP to one of the giants.

Looks a lot like Azar Lawrence.

Yes. As far as I am concerned, the Grateful Dead, and Jerry Garcia in particular, were part of the great rise of American culture in music that occurred in the 20th century. not part of its decline. They did not create the cult around them and should not be blamed for it. I agree with Steve that the music itself could be very profound. It will still stand tall when the cult is long gone.

For those who might feel a bit put off by the beginning of this recording, move 40 minutes into it for the beginning of The Hard Blues, followed by Georgia Blue, Dogon A.D., and Border Town. The audio quality also improves greatly along with the music.

There are some people for whom Oscar Peterson is the face of jazz. I have a one friend who owns several Oscar Peterson and no other jazz records. So I wonder - is it that he doesn't really like jazz but somehow is drawn to Oscar Peterson? Or is it that after listening to a few Oscar Peterson discs, he decided that he doesn't really like jazz enough to get anything more?

Just a sound recording, I believe. I had never heard this before. I am particularly blown away by the versions here of Dogon A.D and The Hard Blues. Amazing!

Hemphill fans - DO NOT MISS THIS!

That about sums it up for me too. When I draw a blank with a major jazz artist, I have this continual idea in the back of my head that I must be missing something. That turned out to be true for a few artists that I have learned to appreciate over the years, including Chet Baker. So every now and then I will force myself to listen to some of Oscar Peterson's solo and trio records. But that hasn't helped my appreciation yet, and it has been some years now. Of course, I do hear him all the time when I listen to Lester Young, Ben Webster, Roy Eldridge, Lionel Hampton, etc. Usually, I am not bothered by him much in those contexts, but often not too thrilled either. When I compare the Verve recordings of Lester Young and Oscar Peterson with the Verve recordings made around the same time of Lester Young and Teddy Wilson or John Lewis, the difference is huge and not in OP's favor.

That is one of my favorite parts of your liner notes to the Art Ensemble box. RIP Ramsey Lewis. He was one of the first jazz artists I saw live.

I just had a chance to hear this. It is actually from the same session as The Giant is Awakened. My complaint about that great album was that it was much too short. I am extremely happy to have this additional music that fills it out. That said, it is not difficult to understand why these tracks might have been rejected for the Giant is Awakened album. While the somewhat out of tune piano does not bother me, the bass playing of (I assume) Walter Savage Jr. is a bit of a problem. It would appear that his instrument is not tuned up well for these tracks, which is particularly audible on the bowed parts. Or it could be that sometimes he is in tune but clashing with the slightly out of tune piano. Despite all of this, if you can take it a bit rough, the music is quite good. Horace Tapscott and Everett Brown Jr. drive the band with the same fervor as on Giant is Awakened. Arthur Blythe is solid although his best playing of the date is on the originally released tracks (IMO). In sum, it is not another Giant is Awakened but still quite worthwhile. There just isn't enough Horace Tapscott from the 60s and this is quite welcome.

The Crescendo recordings are quite enjoyable. That said, there was a time in the history of the Basie band when there would never be any question about which tenor was playing.

I didn't become a real jazz fan until shortly after I graduated high school. But I did buy two albums in high school that got me started: Stanley Turrentine - Don't Mess With Mr. T Grover Washington - Mr. Magic I still love those two albums.

When I lived in Paris in 1995-2002, there used to be about 8 great used CD stores within a half mile radius of Paris Jazz Corner. Paris Jazz Corner was still always the best place for jazz, a real Paris institution. John

Nice to hear that Paris Jazz Corner is still open.

Indeed. Moon was the only source I knew for a long time for hearing John Coltrane's "Creation" from the Half Note in 65.

Very sad, much too young. . I was planning to go see him last week. He played a birthday celebration for Todd Barkan at Keystone Korner in Baltimore. I ended up not going and now really regret it.