Allan Songer

Every time he's for sale, bidders become crazy. i don't know this one. So great ? Oh, yes! Find it on CD and order it today. The hardest swinging of all of Curits Fuller led dates. Golson plays so well here and the whole band is as tight as a . . . The best rendition of "Five Spot After Dark" ever. The 70's Savoy vinyl reissue is cheap and sounds fine, by the way . . .

This is truly a great record, but this seems like a BIT much: Blues-ette

I still roll the dice on ebay a few times every month--once in a while I get burned, but never for a high dollar record. If I'm going to spend $$$ on something I have to know the seller. That said, some of THE best "deals" I have ever made came from ebay in 1998-2000. I bought a PERFECT "Soul Station" for $35, a NM Kenny Dorham "Bohemia" (Lexington, flat edge) for $50, etc. So I will ALWAYS have fond feelings toward ebay, even if the salad days are long past . . .

Give us the names! Well, Ron NEVER overgrades anything (jazz5060). But get out your wallet, because the bidders know it! The guys at Atomic are right on when they say something is NM, but are very generous otherwise. Jazz Record Center is cool too . . .

Which also sounds GREAT, by the way!! I have one of those too . . .

The Stereo sounds GREAT. I have one of each and I play the Stereo most of the time and both of my copies are NM.

All I know is that for every "New York" copy with the ear I have come across I have seen 10 without the ear. I have a truly mint mono copy with the ear and a NM Stereo without the ear.

I have at least one copy of every 12" release--if available in both mono and stereo, I have both versions about 80% of said titles. These are all original pressings and most are first pressings. I have about half of the 10" releases--I got into the game way late on the 10" LPs and have slowly been trying to build that collection over the past 7-10 years. It's been slow and painfully expensive.

Well, I live down in Long Beach and I work in Hollywood and I make the drive out to Charlie O's at least twice a month--sometimes much more often. I get to the Bakery about 1-2 times a month as well, but to Catalina only about 4-5 times a year. I just don't like Catalina's new space all that much. I also make the trek to Steamer's in Fullerton about once every other month and to Henri's and Spazio about as often. I catch the late-nite gig at Dinnerhouse M on Fridays 5-6 times a year as well. Theo Saunders just flat out BURNS in that place! What I love a bout Charlie O's is that you get to hear working local groups--Catalina and The Bakery are great, but feature mostly out of town artists passing though. Yeah, the food at Charlie O's is not very good and kinda steep, but you don't HAVE to eat there. Sometimes I just pop in after work for the first set and have one or two drinks and leave so that I can get home at a decent hour--I get up at 4:30 AM every day!! Again, $30 isn't all that much scratch for what you're gonna get out of the deal-3 full sets in a really tiny space among friends . . .

Yeah, but how much great music have we heard week after week at Charlie O's with ZERO cover? I've been to Charlie's at least 100 times and I've paid a cover excatly TWICE-- Once for Freddie Hubbard and the other time for Pete and Conte Candoli. And to hear Houston Person with John Heard and Roy McCurdy is gonna be a GAS. So Houston Person puts some cash in his pocket at the end of the night? OK by me!! Charlie has the best jazz club in L.A. I'd much rather go there than to Catalina or the Jazz Bakery.

Three sets starting a 8 PM, but you better call and make a reservation--this is a very small club and it will be packed to the rafters on Saturday! Charlie O's John Heard

Hell, man! I'd go $60 ea for ten NM copies. Then I'd sell them over the next two years and MORE than double my money. I've seen this one sell for $150 several times. Heck, even the MGM pressings can fetch $50 these days!

I have always been fond of Red Gretches

This looks like a REALLY early Charles Earland LP. I have never seen or heard of it. Anyone have any information?

That's always been an expensive record. I saw a copy sell for $1100 or $1200 3-4 years ago in NM condition. Yes but this one has probably no flat edge, and apparently no kakubuchi cover. Not very first press IMO. Yeah, probably. Most of the copies you run across ARE first pressings, however. The second run must have been VERY small!!

That's always been an expensive record. I saw a copy sell for $1100 or $1200 3-4 years ago in NM condition.

Are you KIDDING? Danny Grissett is a great player!! His debut album as a leader on Criss Cross is one of the best releases of the year! I have heard him with Harrell, John Heard, Vincent Herring and the Mingus Big Band and he was ALWAYS stellar. What didn't you like about his playing? I am VERY curious . . .

I have heard that Freddie's finances are not good at all. In fact, there have been rumors that he's broke. He's totally broke. I know he was living in a motel the last time I talked to him. I used to run into him over at Atomic Records once in a while, but not lately. About a year ago he told me we was living in a motel because he couldn't get enough cash together for first/last/deposit on an apartment. So fucking sad . . . Freddie used to play at a little restaurant/club about six blocks from where I work called the Studio Grill. He played there four nights a week for about a year and a half and I used to catch a set or two at least once a week. I got to know him pretty well in those days--must be like 15-16 years ago now. He recorded a KILLER album there with Billy Higgins and Al McKibbon called "Live at the Studio Grill." I'm sure it's out of print, but if you come across it BUY it!!

Freddie played a flurry of gigs in L.A. from mid-2005 until early this year and then he disappeared again. The guy who booked him into Metropol (a great little club near downtown LA) says he can't find him anywhere. Too bad, as he had a standing offer to play there once or twice a month. I caught several of his gigs and some were SUBLIME and at others it was obvious Freddie was having trouble. He's got arthritis or carpal tunnel (he told me BOTH) and it's hit or miss day by day for him. All of the gigs were trio except one with Herman Riley on tenor. But what a gentleman--and what a PLAYER!! I would love to be at this gig in NYC. Maybe I'll go if it's for real!!

John Young Young John Young on ARGO

Buy a nice old slab of VINYL!!

My table has two arms!

I might have been at the Cecil Payne gig. Now that I think of it. I've been three times--Cecil, Houston Person and Jimmy McGriff . . .

I've been a couple of times. There is a very cool Deco bar when you walk in and a pair of doors in the back which lead to the room where they have the live music. The soul food is pretty good--by bar standards any way. It's a very small room and there's no stage--the musicians just set up in the corner of the room. If you're taking a cap uptown remember that when you get out of the club at 1 AM or whenever there will be NO cabs on the street in Harlem at that time of night-you'll have to hail a gypsy cab and pay $20 to get back to midtown. 125th and Lenox is a MAJOR intersection and it's totally "safe" by any resonable person's standards.

I used to see him over at Charlie O's in the Valley (LA) quite a lot up until about year ago, so I don't know if he's still in LA. Heard him play there as well--a mixed bag. He could play like Freddie Hubbard for about 30 seconds and then he was done. He did sit in at the piano a few times as well . . .