Late

...meanwhile, into the early evening, the Jug-a-thon plays on. I love this album: Sometimes Prestige's reissue covers were better than the original. The opener on this album ("Tubby")—Brother Jack just kills with his comping. Rarely has organ comping generated so much heat. 🧨 Tubby

Deep Cuts Jug: Free Again The title track's tenor statement (not the oboe opening) reminds me of "Strange Fruit" for some reason. Ammons was (literally) free again, but had only two more years on the planet. Pure pathos in that tenor sound. Cue to 4:45 in the YouTube video.

The Jug-a-thon continues. A perfect album for Sunday brunch: An excellent collaboration between Eugene Stanley Ammons and Edward Hammond Boatner, recorded the day after this one: What are your favorite Ammons/Boatner collabs? 👍

Full album 👉👍👈

It was Eckstine, incidentally, who nicknamed Gene Ammons "Jug"—a shortened form of "Jughead." Eckstine had ordered straw hats for the band to wear during performance, but Ammons' hat didn't fit him. Now, I don't know if that story's apocryphal or not, but I've read it in more than one place. But maybe Eckstine just had a small head?

Only if you bring the LP with the Panthera tigris cover:

And now, as part of an ongoing Jug-a-thon: Jungle Strut

Piece To Keep Away Evil Spirits Bam. The more broadly I listen to Ammons, the more clearly I hear the Pres roots. Check out: Super 10 million, 71 thousand, 993 and you will have a better weekend.

I didn't know that I'd been living under a rock, but it must be true. I just realized I don't know this album: ... but maybe I've heard it before—was it originally on Argo with a different cover? (From Argo to Prestige?) At any rate, I don't have it in my collection. Listening on YouTube right now. Dig. 👋👋👋

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Yes, agreed—I wasn't thinking along those lines. The term should probably be capitalized as a phenomena unto itself: The Walter Dyett Factor. (Sounds like an early 60's cold war film.) Dyett on Wikipedia. Check that list of who studied with him—wow. Besides tenor players, the list of bassists is also impressive.

Prestige-era Jackie on this one. Weinstock (if it was actually his choosing) seemed to like to pair Ammons with McLean. Tangential history lesson time: WD-40 was invented in 1953. The letters stand for "Water Displacement." The number stands for how many times chemists experimented with certain compounds before landing on a recipe that achieved anti-rust qualities. The lubricant and anti-squeak properties were pleasant side effects. Why didn't Art Taylor's loved-ones tell him about his bass drum pedal? Was Arthur too sensitive to receive constructive criticism? If only he'd been gifted a spraycan of the 3 year-old wonder product—so many "hi fi jam sessions" would have benefited. Surely Bob Weinstock, an aerospace enthusiast in his teen years, kept a can in his desk.

Who does Ammons come out of? Or, to put it another way, who would you point to as Ammons' influence(s)? I'm not exactly hearing anything springing from the Young/Hawkins binary.

That is a tasty Golson solo indeed... I think you're right. I tend to forget Byas as an influence. Byas comes out of Hawk, but Byas also has a sort of slipperiness that Hawkins didn't. I wish Golson had been encouraged more as a soloist. His writing and arranging, and only because they were excellent, seem to take priority in his stature as a musician.

From the 50's and 60's—what would you all point to as a particularly memorable Golson solo? I think his most memorable solos from this period can be found on Moanin'. Outside of that album, what Golson solos do you recall easily, or that make/made an impression? It seems to me that the Coleman Hawkins-Benny Golson connection goes under-remarked.

Attached is a Word document (.docx) with a list of all (I think) the Limited Edition OJCs. Corrections welcome. Limited Edition OJCs.docx

Yes, but all the gaps were remedied by:

I think so? But he was standing next to Dexter Gordon (6' 5") when friends came up with the nickname. 🙃

5' 3". I guess I never really think about how tall jazz musicians are—I would've guessed Johnny Griffin if the question was: Which jazz tenor saxophonist was 5' 3"?

Dig Barron's solos on this one: Philly Joe Jones • Showcase Bill's not even listed on the cover.

Triple Threat @ The Super Bowl Halftime Show

What a fantastic video, and what an honor. I look forward to the quarter!

Make sure to plant your onions, sage, radish, dill, and trumpets. It's going to be a Blue Spring. Cover art by Gilbert John Mellé.

Listening to this again. It's just as good as the Columbia sides. van Kriedt is solid.

1967 McPherson: Live At The Five Spot 👌