Larry Kart

of his own tune "What Is This Thing Called Swing?" from Armstrong-scholar Ricky Riccardi's blog (January 19 entry): http://dippermouth.blogspot.com/ They're both fine, but the second one, from a concert, with its perilously swift tempo and great drum work from Sid Catlett (behind Armstong and in an extended solo) is really something else. Also, as Riccardi notes, Armstrong's personality comes through with exceptional vividness, spontaneity, and "edge" in his verbal interplay with the band and the audience.

Leaving The Bad Plus aside -- which I'll have to do because by some miracle I haven't heard them yet -- over the years I have heard Iverson on a number of other recordings as a leader and a sideman where "pop appropriation" was not an issue and have been impressed. Also, based on his blog posts and a few email exchanges I've had with him, while I certainly don't agree with Iverson about everything, I'd say that intellectually he's very far from "an inferior little f----." Instead, my impression has been that he's full of genuine curiosity about a whole lot of things and usually does quite well following his own nose. See, for example, his informative, shrewd blog post on the late Donald Westlake, whom he took the trouble to get to know: http://thebadplus.typepad.com/

Yes -- I wonder how he could keep playing with Julie glued to his side. Also, on a number of the tracks from that show, Budimir's comping is pretty special (e.g. behind Troup on "Route 66").

False alarm; that's not Fagerquist. A poster on Jazz West Coast writes: A bit of internet snooping reveals: Julie London with Bobby Troup - Live In Japan 1964 - Filmed for TV broadcast w/o audience. Lineup: Julie London, Bobby Troup - piano, Joe Burnett - tpt; Dennis Budimir - gtr; Don Bagley - bs; Dewells [Dee] Barton - drs.

About London digging things, there's a story about her told once by trombonist Milt Bernhart. At the time Bernhart was with Benny Goodman, playing a stage show in which London's then-husband (1947-53) Jack Webb (hot from "Dragnet") was making an appearance. Goodman and the band were invited to the Webbs' hotel suite (or maybe to their apartment) for a party, at which Webb proudly put on a Dixieland recording, he being a big fan of that music (vide "Pete Kelly's Blues"). London strode to the phonograph, removed the record in mid-stream and replaced it with a Charlie Parker recording. Bernhart said that he knew right then that this marriage was on the rocks.

Sorry -- I'm an idiot:

It sounds and looks like him to me. Also, looks like that's Dennis Budimir on guitar. Other Fagerquist photos from various eras: http://www.jazzhistorydatabase.com/collect...ist-photos.html

Just realized that I mis-spelled Quasimado's name two different ways above. Sorry. Signed, Klactoveedsedstene

Iverson is a bright guy, a nice guy, and a fine player, but I was disappointed by the facile-cheesy/armchair psychoanalysis amalgamation of musical and racial themes in the passage Quasimodo quoted, and elsewhere in the essay IIRC. Some of the same thinking crops up in Iverson's much chewed-over here interview with Marsalis, where at one point Iverson himself gets all "I'm not worthy" (along musical/racial lines) with Wynton about Iverson's provincial (for want of a better term) Wisconsin upbringing. BTW, Lester Young had much the same taste in drummers as Tristano did, apparently for similar, primarily musical reasons. But I guess Pres was lying and really didn't want too much African diaspora in his jazz.

"....Long after it was no longer fashionable or even permissible to practice a flinty, granular realism, Wyeth went on making pictures with the kind of brushwork that specified the world in almost molecular detail ....." Oh, really? See the immensely fashionable (for a good stretch of time now, in some quarters) work of John Currin (some of these images may be offensive): http://images.google.com/images?source=ig&...=1&ct=title

Sorry if I was being too suspicious, leftright. Been a bit jumpy the past few days.

Also, the offer right off the bat to pay for information makes one uneasy/suspicious. Urgent questions, relevant to this group's likely body of knowledge, have been asked here before and answered quite readily without money being waved around. One wonders whether this is an attempt to eventually glom onto personal information or something else nefarious.

You might be asking in the wrong place?

Highland Park, Il. -- northern suburb of Chicago. Last night it was about -18, today about 3 above. Windchills more than -50 last night night and the night before. About a foot of snow on the ground. Would be at least two feet, but the previous big batch melted in about two days a few weeks ago, causing fairly widespread flooding. Left the house today in a pure burst of cabin fever. Paid for it when I somehow left an expensive library book in a grocery store shopping cart. Returned 30 minutes later and no one had turned it in. Maybe it'll get returned to the library.

Thanks, Hot Ptah -- that helps.

Also, the Blakey "Hard Bop" is fine. I've enjoyed the Curtis Amy and the John Patton, though one of the Amy dates (I think the one with John Houston on piano) is a cut below the others. But everyone needs to hear "Katanga."

Forgot about the Bechet. Definitely go for it if you're a Bechet admirer, but it's not the first Bechet set I'd get.

Among the sets, I can endorse the Pacific Jazz Trios (the Twardzik material is essential, the Clare Fischer is close to that), the Mulligan, and the Dizzy Reece. Not all the Mulligan material is a total success, but the mastering on the sax section date is a huge upgrade. The Brookmeyer I've been waffling over getting, in part because I already have a fair bit of it but also because I recall not liking the date with the Big Miller vocals -- not for Miller's presence alone; the feel of that date just seemed rhythmically loggy. There's also something a bit loggy (at times) and also "twee" about the "Traditionalism Revisited" date IMO. On the other hand, I've always wanted to hear the "Street Swingers" material, and that may push me over the edge. I would like some advice myself about the Andrew Hill solo set; the sound samples I've heard sound like he's in a nice place or places, then breaks continuity to the point where I can't figure out what he's thinking. I know, it's probably my problem, but I've heard lot of Hill before, and this left me befuddled. Of the singles, the Bud Freeman is fine, as is The Brothers, if you like those guys. I've been enjoying the Art Farmer more than I thought I would -- the Art of that particular period is not my favorite Farmer (very flugelhorny, if you know what I mean), but it's a good group, and the live setting definitely helps; there's some electricity in the air. Haven't heard the Mosaic version of the Wiley album, but have the old RCA LP and that's fine Wiley. Likewise with the Buddy Rich, if you like that band. By contrast, the Slide Hampton was a disappointment, a kind of "off," nervous/unsettled atmosphere on most tracks. Also, though I haven't heard the Mosaic version, I recall from way back when that the Braff album was kind of a dud -- and I say this as a Braff fan. I think it was an unhappy day in the studio, though on paper the band looks top notch. Maybe Ruby was put off by the Berigan premise -- he seems to be straining at times to sound "hot" and brassy -- though no doubt it didn't take much to put Ruby's back up.

I see the La Times obit mentions Montalban's role as a undercover Mexican law enforcement official in Anthony Mann's "Border Incident" (1949). That's one hell of a movie, with one of the most harrowing death scenes ever filmed (won't say who gets it or how so as not to spoil things). Also, Howard da Silva is terrific as the chief villain.

In the late '70s or early '80s, I saw and reviewed Montalban in a Chicago-area production (somewhere in the suburbs, might have been a dinner theater) of Samson Raphaelson's 1935 comedy of manners "Accent on Youth" (Raphaelson also was an ace screenwriter -- "Trouble in Paradise" and "The Shop Around the Corner," among others), and while the venue might have been modest, Montalban gave one of the most delightful, stylish, committed performances I've ever seen anywhere. And it was not a star turn; he made it a true ensemble affair. Montalban had chops, wit, and intelligence; all thoughts of "rich Corinthian leather" vanished immediately. BTW, I see that "Accent On Youth" is going to get a Broadway production this April, with David Hyde Pierce in the role that Montalban played: http://www.mtc-nyc.org/current_season.asp

"Bela By Barlight" (on an album by The Mastersounds)

Slide Hampton

But even that 5 per cent probably won't go to artists like you. Also, once shit like this is up and running, and almost inevitably being run by people who know little or nothing about jazz anymore (Quincy Jones?) or who never did, if you aren't part of their machinery, if your name isn't on their lists or their radar screens, you won't exist practically speaking. A jazz ghetto, or worse, is what you'll get. Further, as Marty Khan explains (not that he's the only one with a brain and a plan here), there are other ways that actually work and leave the artists themselves (and and their potential audiences) more or less in control of their own fates. The way the Chicago scene has worked over the last decade or so seems remarkably healthy to me. A lot of people have done and are doing a lot of extra-musical hard work there, but the result is that the scene in most aspects belongs to the musicians, and the resulting spirit certainly has a positive effect on the audiences. I'm not saying that this is paradise, or that there aren't elements of potential fragility here, but stuff gets noticed and adjusted all the time -- and sensibly so.

I agree. You'll just have an idiotic layer of "you scratch my back" etc. bureaucracy, and little or no dough will get to the people or organizations that deserve/need it. See the latter stages of this interview with Marty Khan: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=16904

Sometimes. Given the prices, I guess it's worth the wait. Do they send shipping notices? Yes, I got one on Friday, but then I don't recall getting one every time. Nothing I've ever ordered from them has failed to arrive. Yes, there's Andorran junk there, but they're not really a jazz place. Almost everything I've ordered from them over the years has been classical. In that area, it can be a gold mine at coal mine prices.