brownie

Bernard Peiffer

Claude asked: The 10-inch LP reissues showed up in Paris. They obviously were limited editions and seem to have disappeared fast. They were also re-reissued in CDs and these should be available without problems. I have the original 10LP issues and did not get the vinyl reissues to check on sound quality.

Never had the privilege of seeing him do his executions at the Apollo but I heard he could be rough. NEW YORK (AP) _ Sandman Sims, the famed tap dancer who chased unpopular acts off the stage as the "executioner" at the Apollo Theater for decades, died May 20. He was 86. Sims taught footwork to boxers Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali, and his dance students included Gregory Hines and Ben Vereen. Sims, who once boxed himself, earned his stage name by dancing on sprinkled sand, a technique he pioneered while trying to mimic the effect of dancing in the rosin box before entering the ring. When he won a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1984, Sims used the $5,000 fellowship to teach dance to children in a Harlem parking lot. Born Howard Sims in Fort Smith, Ark., Sims grew up in Los Angeles and came to New York in 1947. He danced at the Apollo for 17 years, acting as the "executioner" beginning in the mid-1950s. He also stage managed the Apollo, owned a cafe, and worked as a carpenter and mechanic, and was a regular in the vaudeville scene. The poet Sandra Hochman wrote a play about Sims in 1986 called "The Sand Dancer."

No reason to blush about the reviews on the the original edition. I got that one. A very interesting (and very instructive) read. Will get the new book if it contains new - and worthy - material.

I was on a Clifford Brown trip when I started posting on another board. Have been a fan of his music for decades. And still getting kicks when I play his records for the thousands time.

Voted for Horace Silver. Got hooked on the early Blue Note LPs that featured his tremendously exciting piano-playing. Sonny Clark would have been my second choice.

TonyM, found this at my favorite secondhand CD shop in Paris (they specialize in classical music but they have a small and excellent jazz section which I visit regularly). And their stuff is always in as-new condition. This Al Haig was a steal at 12 euros (that's the most they charge on CDs).

Somethin' Else!

Found an LP I had never even heard about: Rufus Jones 'Five on Eight', a 1964 Cameo release in very good condition (and rather reasonably priced). The band includes Tommy Turrentine (wish they were more records of his trumpet-playing, he appears on the B side only), Jaki Byard and one of my favorite unheralded tenor saxophonist Seldon Powell who is heavily featured. Beautiful record that seems not to have ever been reissued.

Hi Dan! Picked this item earlier today and posted it on the Jazz in Print forum. Nice article and it's good to see a great musician getting this kind of display.

Nice article on Henry Grimes in the New York Times today: Silent 30 Years, a Jazzman Resurfaces By NEIL STRAUSS In avant-garde jazz circles in the mid-1960's, Henry Grimes was one of the most respected bassists working. Trained at Juilliard, he had already played with Anita O'Day, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, Gerry Mulligan, Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins when he was in his 20's. He went on to play on some of the seminal albums of the free-jazz era, by such musicians as Cecil Taylor, Albert Ayler, Don Cherry and Pharoah Sanders. He was known for his ability to alternate from long Eastern-sounding bowing to hard pizzicato plucking, all of which generated tremendous calluses on his hands. But in the early 70's, after moving to California, Mr. Grimes disappeared. For three decades nobody in music circles heard from him. Several reference works listed him as dead. And that is how the story of Mr. Grimes might have ended if it were not for a determined fan from Athens, Ga., named Marshall Marrotte. Mr. Marrotte, a social worker, pored through court records and death certificates and interviewed family and friends of Mr. Grimes's before finding him earlier this year living in a one-room efficiency in downtown Los Angeles. According to Mr. Marrotte, Mr. Grimes no longer owned a musical instrument; he had never seen a CD, although his work is on them; and he was unaware that many of his colleagues had died, including Ayler, the tenor saxophonist, who was found drowned in the East River off Manhattan in 1970. Now, thanks to Mr. Marrotte and the bassist William Parker, who donated a bass that Mr. Grimes received two months ago, Mr. Grimes is back on the music scene and plans to stick around. "My calluses are in good shape, you know," he said last week, speaking from the lobby phone of the hotel efficiency where he still lives. Tonight, as part of the avant-garde jazz Vision Festival in New York, Mr. Grimes will perform with Mr. Parker and others as part of a memorial concert for the singer Jeanne Lee at Old St. Patrick's Youth Center (268 Mulberry Street, between Prince and Houston Streets). That performance will be his first in New York since he left in 1968. Mr. Parker, a founder of the Vision Festival, said Mr. Grimes's versatility was impressive — he could play with a wide range of jazz musicians and innovators. He also coaxed a distinctive sound from his bass. "On the records he was on, he stood out," Mr. Parker said. "He had a big sound, and it really punched out whatever ensemble he was in." Mr. Grimes said that he knew the music he was making in the 60's and the musicians he was playing with were "fantastic." But one reason he went into "isolation," as he put it, was because his "perceptions" — a word he uses when talking about making music — were continually being clouded by his emotions. "Emotions can get you in a lot of trouble or hassle," he continued. "And you can either let them bother you or you can find a way to get something out of them." When he left the East Village decades ago, "economically I was in no shape at all," he said. "My money was down to nothing. So I came to California, where the sun shines. Mostly that was the idea. I didn't want to be subject to the cold." The last person he remembered playing with was with the pianist LaMont Johnson in the early 70's. Soon after, he sold his bass to a violin maker. "It wasn't enough," he said of the money he received. "But I still sold it anyway. I was feeling that was what I had to do, so I just did it." It seems strange that one of the in-demand jazz bassists of the 60's could just walk away from music, but to hear Mr. Grimes talk, it sounds as if 30 years was just a short vacation. During that California period, sometimes he was homeless, he said. He survived by working as a janitor at a Beverly Hills Hebrew school and at a bowling alley in Long Beach. "In between those jobs," said Mr. Grimes, now 65, "I did a little construction work. It keeps me in shape now." As for royalties from his recordings, Mr. Grimes said he received none and never even thought about it after leaving New York. (Now, he said, he may seek advice on how to pursue payments.) Though Mr. Grimes is vague about why he disappeared, in an interview with Mr. Marrotte, he said he said he took medication for manic depression, which he said cleared up in 1978. One of the first things that Mr. Marrotte did when he found Mr. Grimes was to reintroduce him to his music. "I was amazed," Mr. Grimes recalled, "because I listened to some CD's of some of the Cecil Taylor and Albert Ayler things, and some of my music. At the time, I didn't pay that much attention to them. But when I listened to them again, it was amazing what I heard. There was more to it than I ever realized." Despite his lost years, Mr. Grimes said he had no regrets: "I'm working on straightening things out now. But I'm back for good." Copyright 2003 The New York

Found this 'Al Haig 1953' CD Japanese Jazzbank release (issued in 2002). It is a superb January 11, 1953 live date recorded at the Clef club in Hollywood. Al Haig plays with musicians who were in Stan Kenton's band at the time (Conte Candoli, Frank Rosolino, Lee Konitz, Richie Kamuca, Don Bagley and Stan Levey). The tunes are 'Good Bait', 'Billie's Bounce', 'Scrapple from the Apple' and 'I'll Remember April'. Had never heard about this release. The material is described as 'all unissued tracks on CD'. Tom Lord's discography lists a June 11, 1953 Al Haig date from the Clef Club with the same musicians which was released on a Vantage LP in Japan (those Vantage LPs were very hard to find and I never got the Al Haig LP). The LP has the following tunes: 'Billie's Bounce', 'Just the Way You Look Tonight', 'Half Nelson', 'I Can't Get Started (theme)'. Obviously the same session. Inside the CD there is a Jazzbank catalog in Japanese listing various releases on several series (Minton's House, Cat's Meow, Five Spot, Archive, Varanus). The Al Haig album is from the Archive Series. Anyone familiar with these Jazzbank releases? And able to provide a list?

Martial Solal is one of the very best pianist around. The Village Vanguard date was recorded on the week of September 11. I understand Martial Solal played brillantly in front of a not very crowded Village Vanguard. Will get this as soon as it is out here.

From AP:

MILES Davis

And Brubeck and Mingus played in the same movie 'All Night Long' (1961, directed by Basil Dearden) shot in England. Not a good film but very nice music.

Thanks for the posts. Claude seems to have nailed down the soundtrack release (in Japan of course!!). Will have to get that one.

Polish jazz musician and film music composer Krysztof Komeda has become something of a cult figure since his tragic death in 1969. Komeda's main claim to fame was the music he composed for his friend Roman Polanki's films including 'Rosemary's Baby'. He also composed film music for a number of Jerzy Skolimovsky's films including the 1966 film 'Le Depart' which had Komeda's music performed by people like Don Cherry, Garo Barbieri and Jean-Francois Jenny-Clark. I see a number of Komeda record albums popping up here and there. Anybody knows if the sountrack to the 'Le Depart' film was ever included in one of Komeda's albums? 'Le Depart' was a black-and-white film set in Belgium. French new wave actor Jean-Pierre Leaud had the main part. The music was excellent.

The CD reissue of Sonny Clark's 'Sonny's Crib' had three alternate tracks that really added to the original release and unearthed new solos by masters musicians (Donald Byrd, Curtis Fuller and John Coltrane) at their best in addition to Clark.

Dennis Charles

John L. is ABSOLUTELY right. Since I have all those Dolphy albums in their original Prestige/New Jazz releases, did not think about that box. But since evrything is there, it looks like box is the MUST purchase. And you're in for a treat when you LISTEN to Booker Little!

Couw wrote: No beer for me. I'll have red wine. Merci!!

Rooster, if you don't have the Eric Dolphy/Booker Little at the Five Spot albums, you have not heard Dolphy!! This was one of the nights in jazz when everything jelled: the players, the tunes, the audience, the recording. to make it an essential purchase. I've had the albums since they were released and I keep getting back to them and enjoy. This was one extraordinary quintet (the rhythm section was Mal Waldron/Richard Davis/Ed Blackwell) There are plenty more great Dolphy albums but you won't get better than this July 1961 date.

Happy Caldwell

Walter 'Gil' Fuller