Big Beat Steve

I have that one but have only given it a BRIEF (and spotty) listen since receiving it so cannot comment on it yet (except that it is fairly "straightforward"). Will listen closer ASAP.

No, Kenny, I am not surprised but cannot really contibute much there. I do enjoy what Adolph Hofner sings in Czech (not only on the Arhoolie reissues but also on what has since been reissued among his Decca and Sarg recordings) but have never gone beyond that (yet ... ). BTW, some interesting tracks (that complement other more widely available reissues) are found on this recent reissue: http://www.venerablemusic.com/catalog/TitleDetails.asp?TitleID=14832 Again, I remember marvelling at the variety of reissues in the field of German-Bohemian (etc.) immigrants' music that Arhoolie had in their early 80s catalog, and no doubt this has been expanded in the CD era. But somehow it all was (and is) a bit too ... well, "esoteric" for me, and as you only can buy so much (and I am running out of storage shelf space FAST anyway ) this category has never made it to anywhere near the top of my buying priorities. As I have only tipped the iceberg of early Tex-Mex music so far, example, there will be more to check out there before I expand relentlessly into other historical "ethnic" music.

In the vinyl days i checked out the Arhoolie offer to "Norteno" music (i.e. pre-Fender/Lobos etc. "pop" Tex Mex music) too and was rather overwhelmed. I agree that Arhoolie is the way to go for TEX-Mex music, especially reissues from the pre-1965 era). Unless you really are in a completist mood, compilations really are the way to go IMHO to get a broad yet in-depth overview. For early individual artists, I would have snapped up El Ciego Melquiades and Narciso Martinez too in a first round. Personally I always went by the "category" or mujsic as indicated in the track listings. RANCHERAS were a sure bet for lively music, their brand of polkas is enjoyable too (and both categories should indeed sound familiar to fans of 30s/40s Western Swing as there are common sources indeed), "Schottisches" (sometimes spelled "shotis" on their discs) are an acquired taste for me (just as the Bob Wills Schottisches, incidentally ), and I for one have never really got into CORRIDOS, that other major subidiom of Mexican//Tex Mec traditional music. They are only for those who really do speak Spanish well and want to indulge in the lyrics (as these really often are "topical songs" and live strictly on the lyrics) but the accompaniment often really is very basic and monotonous if taken from the instrumental aspect alone. So if a compilation had a huge share of corridos I knew it was not really essential for me (though I do understand Spanish rather well). As for truly Mexican (as opposed to Norteno) artists, if reissues of earlier artists are anything to go by, Javier Solis or Jorge Negrete seem to be another path worth checking out for what was popular in Mexico back in the day (from what I remember seeing in the Mexican bins in record shops in Spain in the early 80s they were as well represented there as Chavela Vargas, for example). BTW, Kenny, in case you remember or still have those Arhoolie vinyl Norteno music compilations, Vol. 1 or their anthology (which was sort of an "introductory" volume) has a very interesting booklet listing many artists worth checking out in the opinion of the Arhoolie people and give lists of what was available or woirth trying to search for as of the late 70s when this LP was released. So it might be worth checking what there is of the artists listed there that has since been re-reissued elsewhere.

Dan, actually I for one wouldn't mind a thread about "cover art with animals with feathers", and as you know other threads do branch off outside jazz or are dedicated to non-jazz artists. But like I said, rattling off names with no details (let alone cover images) is just plain silly and not even worth considering. So to counterbalance that bigass bird, here is a LITTLE bird: D: :D

Like sh.t it is legitimate to post such utterly nonsensical stuff in THIS manner. I am all with what Dan Gould said above. And like others said before, "Bird" (with a capital "B") has a very clear connotation here and there is absolutely NO room for interpretation here. Now if on the other hand you would want to start a topic on "covers of animals with feathers" then why not, but GO AHEAD AND POST THE COVER ILLUSTRATIONS THEMSELVES AND GET SOME DECENT SCANS OR PICS OF THE COVERS IN HERE FOR JEEZSAKE!!! And that goes like this: Rattling off a list of names with not even a mention of the label and order number (who knows what LP went through what cover art mutations through various reissues), then THIS is pathetic. Such anonymous lists in a thread that's supposed to SHOW covers with a common theme is STRICTLY FOR THE BIRDS! Like Dan said, take a hint, man ...

So hardly anybody around here was into Prez enough to state HIS first? Prez aint just anybody, after all ...

My first Lester Young leader LP: "Pres At his Very Best" (Mercury early 70s reissue of 1944 Keynote masters) feat. Johnny Guarnieri, Slam Stewart, Sid Catlett as well as Buck Clayton, Dickie Wells and Basie-Richardson-Green-Jones rhythm section

MY first Art Blakeys albums (bought the same day at the same fleamarket stall): Orgy In Rhythm Vol. 1 and 2 (BST 81554/81555) feat. drummers/percussionists Art Blakey, Arthur Taylor, Jo Jones, Specs Wright, sabu, Potato Valdez, Jose Valiente, Ubaldo nieto, Evilio Quintero as well as Herbie Mann, Ray Bryant, Wendell Marshall. MANY ways to go from here!

How come, JSngry, I never see your "posted images" (of record covers, I suppose?) on my screen (displayed through Mozilla)?? How about some other image hoster, maybe?

I see what you mean, and no, I would not want to dismiss his 50s small-group recordings (haven't heard all of them so I can only talk about what I am familar with). And in fact I do like the George Shearing quintet a lot (and I am talking about the MGM era of course, not about the "Capitol George Shearing"!). But essentially I stand by what I said: Enjoyable though this latter group was, by the standards of 1954 the Gramercy Five did not stand out as much from the mainstream of jazz as the 40s Gramercy Fives did when compared to (white, in this case) small band swing of their days. In short, the 1954 Gramery Five was much more part of the "mainstream" jazz sounds than the earlier groups were.

MY first Brookmeyer: "Traditionalism Revisited" (WoPa/Vogue) w/ Jimmy Giuffre, Jim Hall, Joe Benjamin, Ralph Pena, Dave Bailey (somehow we're running out of sidemen names, isn't it? )

MY first Zoot: "The Modern Art of Jazz" (Dawn DLP 1102) (OK, OK, mine actually is the Biograph reissue entitled "One To Blow On" but the contents are the same ) also feat. Bob Brookmeyer (tb), Milt Hinton (b), Gus Johnson (dr), John Williams (p, NOT the John Towner WIlliams!)

My first Jack Sheldon: "Jack Sheldon Quintet" (Jazz West WJWLP-2) with Zoot Sims, Walter Norris, Bob Whitlock, Lawrence Marable.

See my post #184 in this thread (same music, just different pressing), but never mind ... Is it OK if I use TINY KAHN as an arranger to go on by stating this: My first Tiny Kahn feature: Elliott Lawrence Plays Tiny Kahn and Johnny Mandel arrangements (Fantasy/Vogue) See here: http://www.gramophone.net/Issue/Page/October%201958/105/793952/Elliot+Lawrence+Band++Plays+Tiny+Kahn+and+Johnny+Mandel+Arrangements+TNT+%3A+Blue+Room+%3A+Who+Fard+That+Shot++%3A+My+Heart+Stood+Still+%3A+Jeepers+Creepers+%3A+Tinys+Bow+MusicYou+Took+Advantage+Of+Me+%3A+Taking+A+Chance+On+Love+%3A+Tapeworm+%3A+A+Foggy+Day+%3A+Is+That+A+Fact++%3A+They+Cant+Take+That+Away+From+Me+%3A+Johnnys+Bow+Music. If arrangers don't qualify then please go on with Al Cohn, everybody (he'd be on that Elliott Lawrence LP anyway so you might as well go back to him from there if you want to).

Well, I found two V-discs (one was by Tommy Dorsey, can't recall the other right now) in the late 80s at a local fleamarket amidst a stack of totally unrelated other items, and the stallholder wasn't Americen either. Wonder what the story was behind those? Given by U.S. troops stationed here to relatives of the stallholder in an early act of "fraternization" in the years after 1945? No doubt most of these V-discs (as they were not "supposed" to be circulated through the usual channels) could tell similar stories. But as suviving copies in many cases apparently aren't that rare after all and originals regularly do come up for sale here and there and elsewhere and virtually all of the music has been reissued through the years I think the "sensation aspect" of their discovery has worn a bit thin compared to, say, this or that Paramount or Black Patti 78 or whatever other "holy grail" there is out there ... As Sidewinder hinted, setting up a Geiger counter near these bunker relics might indeed be "enlightening".

My first Nick Travis leader date: "The Panic Is On" (RCA 3-EP set) also feat. Al Cohn (ts), Johnny Williams (b), Teddy Kotick (b), Art Mardigan (dr)

I like this: I'd call it "proceeding off the trodden paths of the too well-known and predictable". Commendable IMHO. When will Vol. 2 be out, incidentally?

My first Tommy Flanagan leader date: "Trio in Stockhom 1957" (Dragon DRLP 87) fest. Wilbur Little and Elvin Jones

Already been named earlier (by me). Try again, please!

Must be this one on the Living Era label http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/6882395/a/Summit+Ridge+Drive.htm But somehow I doubt the (1949 and 50s?) tracks that go beyond the classic 1940 and 1945 Gramercy Five tracks (which should be available on countless reissues) really elevate things to unheard-of heights. One for completists, maybe. BTW, upon checking my records I found I do have some of the February 1954 session by the revamped Gramercy Five on an older LP (from the "The Later Artie Shaw" series on the Ajazz label) and am giving this a spin right now. The music is OK but nowhere near as special as the "real" Gramercy Five sessions of 1940 and 45. Describing the interplay, you might almost call it "Artie Shaw Goes George Shearing Quintet". So there you are ...

Maybe now. But once the father is no longer his son will probably kick the bucket before long too. Because even though health problems may be still some time away at this age, they will invariably accumulate later. There are moments when a "parents' drivers license" really seems to be called for.

What do you mean? The Gramercy Five recording? It must have been reissued a zillion times. http://www.amazon.com/Artie-Shaw-Complete-Gramercy-Sessions/dp/B000002WBD Never mind the sick prices charged THERE. Even disregarding the dopwnload alternative, this is potential special offer bin fare.

Ah, I see! Thanks for enlightening me. And a special THANKS for that website link! Right down my alley, the subject of that site!

A seminal figure. RIP

Maybe that's because Buddy Collette wasa quite different personality and epxerienced and handled the same period and location in quite a different way? I remember reading the first part of the Central Avenue Sounds book (gave up for the second half as the book IS a bit repetitive the way it's structured) and what struck me, among other things, was that most everybody (both in that book and in other sources too) semed to agree when talking about the early Westcoast years of Charles Mingus: He was gifted (though he seemed to have taken a while to really get on course), had great ideas but apart from the musical impact he left they all remembered him as a notorious hotspur and irascible person who wasn't one to avoid confrontations.