ArtSalt

Is this the right time to declare my appreciation of Jack Sheldon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhSBRF2Rm7I

I think Gioa's and Gordon's books go far to dispel the myth that WCJ was all neo-baroque chamber music played by effete white musicians trying to reclaim modern jazz from the Afro-Americans. Nevertheless, one does get from Contemporary and certainly, Pacific Jazz labels that this was predominanty a white cats scene. The colour bar in the studio's is explored in Gordon's book as I remember, and definitely in Central Avenue Sounds: Jazz in Los Angeles, which is an interesting oral and social history of Los Angeles' "52nd Street" and the race issues of the time in relation to jazz. The accusations against WCJ musicians could also be equally applied to the MJQ and Bill Evans. And indeed they have been. Heroin of course was equally destructive on both coasts, but there is a Contemporary album, can't remember by who now, with a nice looking young lady giving the thumbs-up, with a cap that has a capital "H" on it. It's pretty-much clear the brand message that is being sent. I just can't buy into this nonsense that WCJ is not real authentic jazz and we should all just listen to what was being recorded in New York and forget about it.

They were certainly released on Don Schlitten's Xanadu in the late 70s/1980. There's the Art Pepper Early and Late shows which are with Hampton Hawes, Joe Mondragon and Larry Bunker which was recorded at Hollywood's Surf Club, February 12th 1951. Bob Andrews recorded the shows. The other recording is from December of that year and includes Shelly Manne and Howard Rumsey, I think that's the Lighthouse gig. There's a live Wardell Gray as well. But I haven't listened to that. I would add Stan Getz Roost sessions as a good example of the cool style of 1950-52 having no east or west coast allegiance.

I liked John Le Mesurier's choice of a luxury item: a small distillery. He was another jazz fan, allegedly he cried during the blitz when he arrived back at his digs to find all his 78 records destroyed. There's a great clip of him in the BBC studio's in the audience of a MJQ concert.

Not mentioned yet: Contemporary C3509, Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars with Bud Shank, Bop Cooper, Frank Rosolino, Barney Kessel, Hampton Hawes, Red Mitchell and Shelly Manne, Lighthouse At Laguna. I've always considered this the ultimate calling-card of what was happening on the west coast in the mid-50's. Essential in any exploration of the genre and indeed the period IMCO. The first track alone throws the whole precious and effete playing argument out of the window.

Of course, Good Time Jazz was Lester Koenig's other label, the one that actually made the most money. I'm not a big fan of that box-set as it happens, there's better places to get my two-beat Lu Watters, FH5+2, WIllie "The Lion" Smith and Jelly Roll Morton kicks, but all is forgiven, for that rather fine and rare version of Albamy Bound by Santo Pecora.

Chet Baker: He was our Beatles. Quite, and that was in 1993 with the Pacifc Jazz, 4 CD box set of his. It smells antique now, at least the box and booklet, but it's a good starting point and gateway into the cool.

Woody Herman's fusion is good too!

My parents nearly and perhaps, should have divorced back in the late 70s, but they stuck together for 32 years of marriage, then my father left for his PA and now has children and a wife younger than my own. He also has more hair than me, but that's another story! My mother is a shell of her former self; she aged 15 years in 18 months and it has done her health in. My only recommendation, if there is a way and a spark of mutual respect, then try and work it out. I'm not divorced, my marriage is reasonably happy and strong, with two kids, but I still have to fight for every space I get!

It's been depressing in a cold, damp, North Sea maritime climate way for several weeks now: like a journey on the M62 from Manchester to Leeds over Saddleworth moor, only not quite that bad. As a tonic I've been taking vitamin D and wearing bright preppy colours to defeat it!

Ikea, yeah, that's a pretty fearful excursion.

Turbulence during a 13hour flight, somewhere mid-Atlantic or in the tropics when the booze and/or medication has worn off..... Public speaking..... I get to do both quite often, must be barmy!

I quite like Chico Hamilton and The Players and his Peregrinations album. The 70s was a good era for jazz though, it may not have been hard-bop city, but there was a lot of great jazz recorded in the 70's, just not on Blue Note!

The album with Duke Jordan is pretty good too.

Funnily enough, I was listening to this concert earlier in the week. It is great of course, but not the definitive/best album of Chet after 1970, although here were musicians equal to his talents that was not often the case in the last decade or so, there's still plenty of good stuff from this period: the Steeplechase albums for one.

Indeed, I do feel that Kenton's innovations are less engaging than Sun Ra's and strangely, a lot of Kenton's futurism sounds extremely dated and very much of the period now. Of course that is inevitably, same with a lot of Sun Ra's stuff from the 70s.

I've only just ordered it, it hasn't arrived yet. So I have to wait and hear! I will definitely be comparing the sound to the Mosaic Serge Chaloff set which sound I was not greatly impressed with. Also Japanese CD's of the Parker sides and The Chase. The soundcloud samples sounded acceptable to me from a casual listen on a laptop.

My order's in, if anyone can improve the sound with a definitive release it's Mosaic. Like most, I have a lot of this material, but I don't have the complete Dial recordings and from this alone, reinforced with the history captured in the booklet, makes this set essential for me.

What that chart does reveal, is that vinyl was seriously challenged by the arrival of the humble tape cassette: the ultimate low-fi, low-res sound, but if you get the chance to listen to a tape deck with headphones now, you realize it was impressively direct sound and this explains it's popularity. It wasn't only the CD that cut the legs from under vinyl.

I remember one of the first CD reissues of Kenton's coming out back in the early 90s (may have been even the late 80s) and reading a review which was focused on the glassy highs and shrill shrieks of the horn section which put me off. Indeed, I'm not sure it would have worked on some of those first generation CD's. Much later, it was the fact that his band had been a finishing school for a lot of the west coast cool musicians that intrigued me and when I finally took the plunge with the first Mosaic set, I was not disappointed. Even the latin tinged stuff works for me, like Sun Ra he was a space-age futurist, only that his music future was an evolutionary dead-end.

At this stage, it appears confirmed it is not a long lost private pressing by Tom Jobim!

I think that's the trick with Kenton: get into that space age bachelor pad listening mode, preferably with an large cocktail in hand and your there!

I went to the Rothko exhibition here in the Hague last weekend: http://www.gemeentemuseum.nl/en/exhibitions/mark-rothko Sadly, I wasn't sucked into his spiritual world and despite signs informing the visitor to remain in silence to ensure we all had a wonderful spiritual experience, I was left feeling quite empty, with the exception of one or two canvases. The two grey charcoal coloured ones left particularly cold and vacuous impression.

The tune doesn't ring a bell with me, nor is the playing by any of the Bossa Nova greats, it's quite possibly neither Brazilian or American either.

I'm pretty much the same - everything I buy is a reissue and I feel at risk of turning into a horn-rimmed and tweedy old fig, so I've decided to purchase more contemporary jazz. And I started this week: Michael Wollny Trio - Weltentraum (Act) Jason Moran - All Rise (Blue Note) Ambrose Akinmusire - The Imagined Saviour is Far Easier to Imagine (Blue Note) Mostly Other People Do The Killing - Blue (Hot Cup) To be honest, I thought the Blue Note's fell into the awful crossover, smooth soul jazz territory, but on third listening, it's clear that in amongst the radio friendly Jazz FM fluff, there are some fine moments. I was impressed with the recreation of Kind of Blue too. It wasn't pointless after all.