Ken Dryden

Thanks for sharing Mike’s post, especially for those of us fed up with FB.

I never got to see him perform, but he is well represented in my collection and he was a delightful interview, which took place in December 2007. One of the greats who will be missed.

Devin Daniels Quintet - LetsGo! (Sam First Records)

I got to hear Rod Serling in person at Tulane in 1974, the year before his premature death. It was a memorable evening and he had a great sense of humor, although one of the funniest things was his reaction to the audience’s response to his opening “Good evening.” I have the Zicree book, his daughter’s memoir and all five seasons of The Twilight Zone on DVD. I pass on the attempted reboots due to their bad rewriting and the lack of his presence.

There were plenty of electric keyboards on his later recordings but no Hammond B3. It was his call, perhaps it had no appeal.

Count Basie regularly used cocaine. Woody Shaw was also diabetic, which can lead to blindness. Dave Brubeck was straight as they come, though Paul Desmond evidently did some drug experimentation late in his life. Gerry Mulligan had some drug and alcohol abuse issues but was eventually clean. Emily Remler was addicted to heroin and likely died from an overdose at 31.

I don't think Dr. Wall was implying he was trying to keep George from graduating, he evidently just didn't do the work and Dr. Wall was not one to coddle jocks. I had him for two graduate level courses as a Tulane undergrad, then he finished his career at the University of Georgia. He was easily one of the most colorful characters I had as a professor, he looked and sounded like he might have been a character from a comic novel set in the south.

I have never listened to much Stevie Wonder, though many of his songs have been recorded by jazz musicians. This is one of the best Stevie Wonder songbooks in my jazz collection: Marian McPartland enjoyed playing "All in Love is Fair."

I had a history professor back in the 1970s who said George Blanda was a student of his when he was at the University of Kentucky and that "I flunked him twice!" Bennett Wall was a real character. His best story was about being friends with former Truman VP Alben Barkley. He was good friends with Barkley and his second wife. Barkley ran for and won a Senate seat after leaving the VP office, but died during that term. Barkley's widow asked him to help her with settling his estate and one of the first things needed was the previous year's tax return. Dr. Wall couldn't find it, looked for the year before's return and eventually figured out that Alben Barkley had never filed one income tax return in his life. I imagine that the IRS took a huge hunk of his estate for back taxes, interest and penalties. I know that neither anecdote refers to a birthday, but I thought they would be fun to share.

LOL! Reminds me of some of the idiots in the audiences during IAJE shows in Long Beach.

I have never been a fan of CDs that compile 2 or more LPs, only to leave out one or more tracks because of insufficient room. One that I really disliked in its compiled format was this CD: Instead of presenting the Solo and Jaki Byard With Strings albums in their original sequence, tracks were intermingled and one solo track, "Hello, Young Lovers," was omitted. They deserved to be reissued as two stand alone CDs in their original track order, though someone at Fantasy decided this was the cheaper route and reduced the risk of one of them not selling.

I bought this very 2 CD reissue almost five years ago. I have been meaning to check that for myself, I only have the Vol. 1 & 3 LPs.

Released August 2, 2024.

Very creative, but like embezzlement, leaving a trail where you can get caught is never an intelligent choice. I guess he will be in prison for a little while...

Indeed, I reviewed it for The New York City Jazz Record a month or two ago. Chris gets a great sound out of great front line. I had the pleasure of seeing his sextet at Smalls a few years ago.

His contributions are too numerous to list and he will be missed.

In 2005, I wrote an April Fool's piece of a nonexistent CD, Michael Bolton Sings the Duke Ellington Songbook. But I learned today of a real tribute album that is supposed to be the pitts: Has anyone heard it? How long did you listen before you threw in the towel?

I can't imagine that any current owner of a long inactive label is going to pursue any legal action, as it would be unlikely to be worth the legal expenses, not to mention that the artists involved, who may have had exclusive recording contracts at the time of recording, are likely long dead. I didn't hear any whining about George Lane being revealed as Eric Dolphy, which was long common knowledge, when Atlantic reissued Olé Coltrane in 1988.

A nice surprise that I discovered recently in the used LP sections. Evidently someone closed out a relative's estate the easy way.

I have had the pleasure of interviewing Dick Hyman several times. He's a fascinating man with a diverse career. Like Hank Jones, he was an in demand player for all kinds of television and commercial dates in the 1960s.

This Chiaroscuro LP never made it to CD, while Dick Hyman plays electric organ exclusively. This is a fun session, as the theatre organ is connected to a grand piano. I included a track from this CD in a blindfold test several years ago.