Larry Kart

Disagree on Ellison here. On more than a few occasions he would make the claim that the avant-garde (or call it what you will) was donning the trappings of European modernism in an attempt to win intellectual respect, but that rhetoric of his was always something of a crock and lazy too. Cecil is inside that piano because that's where the sounds he wanted to make were. IIRC Ellison even mistrusted Charlie Parker's music.

McPherson, not Jordan, I believe. Murray not Cyrillie, perhaps. That was rather uptight even for Martin. Blessings on whoever found this. Sad that there's so little Dotson available.

Not sure if Miles altered the bridge to a repeat of the A section in a new key because he didn't know Carter's bridge or because he found his simpler altered version of Carter's bridge to the piece easier/more attractive for him to blow on. He did something very similar to the bridge of Monk's "Well You Needn't" for, I assume, the same reason. In any case, thanks to Miles' popular recordings of those pieces, his altered versions of their bridges came to be commonly used.

Alex North

Believe so. BTW, of those albums (two IIRC) the one with Walter Page was much superior, Page's last recording I think.

There's a fair amount of Talbert available, much of it including Wilder, and while "Bix, Duke, And Fats" probably was Talbert's best work, all of it is at least very good (he led an advanced West Coast big band in the late '4os that included Art Pepper). He led an interesting life, at one point he operated a riverboat on the Mississippi, and there's a good biography of him.

Yes ... but this has been fun.

It says "Mingus' Finest Hour" below (and he certainly plays beautifully here, as do Phil Woods and Art Farmer) but this a Quincy Jones date: Associated Performer, Recording Arranger, Conductor: Quincy Jones Associated Performer, Trumpet: Art Farmer Associated Performer, Trombone: Jimmy Cleveland Associated Performer, Flute: Herbie Mann Associated Performer, Tenor Saxophone: Lucky Thompson Associated Performer, Alto Saxophone: Phil Woods Associated Performer, Baritone Saxophone: Jack Nimitz Associated Performer, Bass: Charles Mingus Associated Performer, Drums: Charlie Persip Associated Performer, Piano: Billy Taylor

Tom Talbert's arrangement of the Bix Beiderbecke composition "In a Mist" with Joe Wilder, trumpet; Joe Soldo, flute; Danny Bank, clarinet and bass clarinet; Harold Goltzer, bassoon; Jim Buffington, French horn; Barry Galbraith, guitar; Oscar Pettiford, bass; Osie Johnson, drums. Recorded in 1959 and released under the title"Bix Duke Fats" (Atlantic)

I did write a book, "Jazz In Search of Itself" (Yale U. Press) that includes many of the pieces I'd written over the years that I thought were worth preserving but sadly there's nothing there about Charles' music. I wish there had been.

Teddy Charles Tentet Art Farmer (trumpet) Don Butterfield (tuba) Gigi Gryce (alto saxophone) J.R. Monterose (tenor saxophone) George Barrow (baritone saxophone on tracks 2, 4, 5, and 6) Sol Schlinger (baritone saxophone on tracks 1, 3, and 7) Teddy Charles (vibraphone) Mal Waldron (piano) Jimmy Raney (guitar) Teddy Kotick (bass) Joe Harris (drums) For tracks 8 and 9, recorded October 23, 1956. Art Farmer (trumpet) Eddie Bert (trombone on track 8) Jim Buffington (French horn on track 8) Don Butterfield (tuba) Hal Stein (alto saxophone) Bob Newman (tenor saxophone) George Barrow (baritone saxophone) Teddy Charles (vibraphone) Hall Overton (piano) Jimmy Raney (guitar) Addison Farmer (bass) Ed Shaughnessy (drums)

Grand Encounter Studio album by John Lewis Released 1957 Recorded February 10, 1956 Los Angeles, CA Genre Jazz Length 34:41 Label Pacific Jazz PJ-1217 Producer Richard Bock John Lewis chronology The Modern Jazz Society Presents a Concert of Contemporary Music (1955) Grand Encounter (1957) Afternoon in Paris (1957) Grand Encounter (2° East / 3° West) John Lewis - piano Bill Perkins - tenor saxophone Jim Hall - guitar Percy Heath - bass Chico Hamilton - drums

Spike Hughes and His All-American Orchestra: Bill Dillard , Leonard Davis , Shad Collins (tp) William "Dicky" Wells, George Washington , Wilbur De Paris (tb) Benny Carter , Howard Johnson , Wayman Carver (as,cl) Coleman Hawkins (ts) Rod Rodriguez (p) Lawrence Lucie (g) Ernest Hill (b) Kaiser Marshall (d) New York, April 18, 1933 Lonnie Johnson-Eddie Lang Duo

"Jo Jones Special" --"Emmet Berry (tp), Benny Green (tb), Lucky Thompson (ts), Freddie Green (g), Count Basie(p), Walter Page (b), Jo Jones (ds) Lucky Thompson Trio -- Thompson, Oscar Pettiford, Skeeter Best "Jazz Studio One" -- Joe Newman (trumpet), Bennie Green (trombone), Paul Quinichette, Frank Foster (tenor sax), Johnny Smith (guitar), Hank Jones (piano), Eddie Jones (bass), Kenny Clarke (drums)

Cozy Cole's All Stars: Cozy Cole, drums; Earl Hines, piano, Coleman Hawkins, tenorsax; Trummy Young, trombone; Joe Thomas, trumpet; Billy Taylor, bass; Teddy Walters, guitar. Dicky Wells and his Orchestra Bill Dillard, Shad Collins, Bill Coleman (tp); Dicky Wells (tb); Django Reinhardt (g solo); Richard Dick Fullbright (b); Bill Beason (dm) Rex Stewart and his Feetwarmers Rex Stewart (c); Barney Bigard (cl & dm); Django Reinhardt (g); Billy Taylor (b)

Billy Banks and His Orchestra (Red Allen, Pee wee Russell, Joe Sullivan, Condon, Jack Bland, Al Morgan, Gene Krupa) Billy Banks and the Rhythm Makers -- Allen, Jimmy Lord ( clt; Russell (tenor sax) Fats Waller, Bland, Pops Foster, Zutty Singleton)

Fats Waller w/ Eddie Condon's Dixielanders Side A: (1) O Sister,ain’t that hot (2) Pretty Doll Side B: (3) Georgia Grind (4) Dancing Fool Fats WALLER – Piano Marty MARSALA - cornet George BRUNIES - trombone Pee Wee RUSSELL - clarinet Eddie CONDON – guitar Artie SHAPIRO – bass George WETTLING - drums

That series included "Blues in Chicago," which was taken from the Chicago Opera House JATP Oct. 1955 concert -- the first jazz concert I attended and the only time I heard Lester Young in person. Amazing experience to be able to hear that music again in 1983, some 28 years later on. Amazing too how much of it sounded familiar to me after all that time had passed, especially Prez' solo on the ballad medley -- fragile but very moving, even to the ears of my then 13 year old self. Oddly enough, the piece Prez played was "I Didn't Know What Time It Was."

Speaking of Hicks, I recently picked up "The Power Trio" album, from some time in the '80s, with Hicks, Cecil McBee, and Elvin Jones. At first I was put off by the rather hard, even harsh, trebly recording, which does Hick no favors because he can be quite percussive in his own right, especially at this point in his career. But third time through the album I paradoxically decide to up the volume level , which somehow sort of evened out the treble over-emphasis, and really began to dig Elvin's at once intense and subtle contribution to the date -- he really seems to be digging what Hicks is doing, as well he might. At this point Hicks is not all that far away from McCoy, though he's still very much himself, and the difference between his approach and MCoy's really gets up Elvin's nose, so to speak.

A review I wrote in 1987: Comedian Gilbert Gottfried may be best known for the currently ubiquitous TV ads in which he squints up his face and says, in an overwrought, strangulated tone of voice, ''This candy bar is intense!'' But the relationship between those efforts and Gottfried`s in-person act, which is on display through Sunday at George`s, is roughly the same as that between Shirley Temple and Dracula-not only because Gottfried`s sense of humor is as weird as can be but also because there is a definite edge of danger to it. Greeted by applause, Gottfried begins by saying, ''Stop, stop . . . oh, stop it''-in the same way several generations of Borscht-belt comics have attempted to garner more acclaim by pretending to deflect it. But his manner already speaks of genuine annoyance, and by the time he segues into ''You`re much too kind . . . you`re disgustingly kind . . . have some self-respect,'' the tables have been turned. Gottfried`s basic character is that of a young Jewish denizen of New York who is haunted by the ghosts of his perpetually querulous grandparents. Thus when Gottfried`s extends his sendup of the ''you`re such a beautiful audience'' syndrome and says, ''I`d like to take each and every one with you home with me and tie you up and smear you with chocolate and peanut butter,'' the grandfather voice breaks in to add ''and not even a good-quality peanut butter''-which then leads to a further disquisition on how bad such a quality of peanut butter might be and where and how one might obtain it. Another of Gottfried`s obsessions-perhaps the chief one -is the odor of overripe decay that emanates from mediocre or out-of-date entertainment.Referring to ''the famous musical `Bingo, Karl!,` which starred Bonnie Franklin as Karl Marx'' (don`t ask how Gottfried managed to get onto that topic), he insisted over and over that ''Bonnie Franklin has a big musical-comedy background,'' until the inanity of that familar brand of showbiz puffery took on an hilariously abstract ghastliness. Satire, however, may not be what Gottfried has in mind, because he really doesn`t look down on the greasy pathos of failed entertainment. Instead he seems to celebrate it-as though, like the late Lenny Bruce, he believed that the whole world functioned on the level of an out-of-work lounge act. Accosted by a spaceship full of aliens, Gottfried is approached by their leader, who asks: ''Ben Gazzara's a good actor-why can`t he get a series?'' And who else could conceive of, let along bring to life ((and with perfectly accurate voice impersonations) ''The Honeymooners, The Movie''-in which the roles of Ralph Kramden, Norton, Trixie and Alice are played respectively by James Mason, Richard Burton, Al Pacino and Jack Nicholson? Yes, Gilbert Gottfried is a strange and funny fellow. And perhaps he is here to remind us that we inhabit an increasingly strange and funny planet.

Oops -- Barnes and McKenna appear together only on Swana's "Philly Gumbo Vol. 2" (Criss Cross). Barnes but not McKenna is on "Philly Gumbo" (Criss Cross). Both albums are excellent.

He and Barnes appear together on several very good CDs -- excellent trumpeter John Swana is the leader IIRC.

Haven't listened to it in a good while but recall really liking the Steuermann work.

Bought it when it came out. A gem. Barron and Curson were an ideally matched team.

Yes, but Clifford chimed in to ask for Hawes recommendations. Don't blame me for responding.