Larry Kart

"Sunflower"/"Goodbye" combo arrived today. I found the former soporific by and large. Both Bags and especially Hubbard (that rather smeary mewling tone he get on flugelhorn) sound like they're trying to out do Sebesky when it comes to creating or even, in Bag's case, submerging into) the background vibe. By contrast, and to my surprise, "Goodbye" was quite a plus. I much prefer Walton's relatively laid-back comping here to Hancock's "better give them something for their money" work on "Sunflower," Laws is clean, tasty and, in effect just himself, especially compared to Hubbard's self-conscious mewling, I prefer the team of Carter/Gadd to that of Carter/Cobham, and Bags is heard at some length and in fine form.

Done

Interesting individual player, he's a good composer too, very together trio, vivid live recording, varied program (e.g. Thad Jones "Zec," Ellington's lovely "Reflections in D," Strayhorn's "Johnny Come Lately").

Ordered it, in a two-fer with "Goodbye." I would put in a vote, though (yes, different eras, apples and oranges) for the "Milt Jackson Quartet" (Prestige), with superb comping from Horace Silver, and "The Jazz Skyline" (Savoy), with Lucky Thompson, Hank Jones, Wendel Marshall, and Kenny Clarke.

What are you implying by "something fishy"? Some fiddling with the speed of the tapes? How would that have been done so that the final results rhythmically weren't gobbledygook?

in today's NY Times

And the necessary B&W speaker stands weren't cheap either. The B&Ws fill my basement listening area with, to me, accurate sound. You do need, as with any speakers though, to set them up properly in terms of placement in the room -- distance from each other, from the back wall, from the place where you listen, etc; properly being a subjective judgment.

I've got a medium old-but fairly pricey (maybe $500 or more) Marantz PM15S1 amp that's built like a truck. But as far I know almost any amp's headphone connection should not be relied on; one needs a separate headphone amp. I got mine for about $100 from Schiit Audio, and it's great.

Andrew Hill's "Passing Ships." What a great album! Kudos to all involved, including Cuscuna for rescuing it from the"train wreck" pile, Dizzy Reece, Joe Farrell, Julian Priester -- everyone.

I've got a pair of B&W 800s that I bought used about 12 years ago (the last model before they introduced their diamond tweeters), and I've never looked back. If I want more detail or just don't want to disturb the whole house, I go to my Sennheiser 625 headphones, with a good headphone amp.

Don't know what you mean by "dig deeper." Certain frequencies (maybe treble) emphasized?

I'll weigh in on this, in part because I was a good friend of Russell Thorne and heard the group many times. Daley is a kind of curate's egg, as the Brits say. When he tries to get abstract and "out," he can get a bit corny and rhythmically stiff. When he plays "hot" so to speak, as on "Dexterity" and "One Note," his real gifts are apparent; he is basically a hot fluid player; the greater the pressure the higher the inspiration, a la Johnny Griffin perhaps. Somewhere I have some duo tracks with Joe and Rich Corpolongo that are just scaldingly intense. Thorne and Albert Stinson are to me the great post-LaFaro bassists, and while Hal Russell doesn't get the space he deserves here and is not near what he would do in later years, what he does is choice. BTW, Daley is quite effective on Thorne's striking "Knell." There when he gets spacey, it works.

Lover Man" from Matthew Gee's "Jazz by Gee," with a great Wilbur Ware solo.

IIRC, one of the key hoodlums in "Guys and Dolls" was Big Jule, pronounced with a long "e."

It's pronounced that way, but he's a guy.

Sorry, that should have been Jule Styne.

If Jule Styne himself had written those charts, they would have been better. And if Jule felt he didn't have the chops, he would have hired Billy Byers.

Bregman's uncle (on his mother's side) was composer Jule Styne ("Gypsy," etc. ). Bregman wasn't related to Granz, but the connection with Styne carried some weight in getting him those gigs. He sure was a drag musically.

Ernie Henry addendum: "Jazz By Gee" (Riverside) -- the first five tracks find Henry with semi-forgotten but very good trombonist Matthew Gee (inspired in part by Bennie Green, with earthy echoes of his own early influence Trummy Young), pianist Joe Knight, Wilbur Ware, and Art Taylor. There's a stunning Ware solo on "Lover Man" that all Ware admirers should hear. A satisfying date. Last three tracks pair Gee with Kenny Dorham, Frank Foster, Cecil Payne, Knight, John Simmons, and Taylor.

Warne died on Dec 18, 1987.

He's 24.

In the past I've had good luck at Academy -- classical and jazz.

Oh no. Lovely musician, lovely person.

L-R-G is a masterpiece.