sidewinder

'Xocia's Dance' and 'Damisi' are both well worth hearing. These are in the style of the excellent 'Mapenzi' and feature Harold's late-70s and early 80s lineups. Don't forget the gerald Wilson albums either - particularly 'Moment of Truth', 'Portraits' and 'The Golden Sword'. And particular mention too for the lovely tenor-plus-strings album (and swansong) 'A Lazy Afternoon'.

This one for Miles and Gil should be interesting .... B) http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...&category=43690

Hank's 'A Caddy For Daddy' has never really grabbed me - this one comes across as a pretty routine session. The cover art is classic though !

I would go with Mark Johnson - but I'm biased due to having seen the wonderful Evans/Johnson/Labarbera lineup at Ronnie Scotts back in 1980 and having enjoyed a recent playing of the Mosaic set by this band. At times the interplay between Evans and Johnson (and Labarbera, for that matter) borders on the telepathic.

There's a couple of nice Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster sessions that definitely merit reissue (I've only ever seen the double LP set of these, put out in the 70s). Front line pairings are with Clark Terry and Harry Edison, respectively, and the recordings were done over at 30th St. This would make a very nice single CD release ..

Late - Just about any of the Rivers Blue Notes could find a place in my slippers rack. 'Contours' and 'A New Conception' for sure. 'Dimensions and Extensions' (fine session as it is) pushing it though. I can listen to that Mosaic set of Sam's from end to end and be in seventh heaven ... Lots of cool points too for the cover art on 'Contours' and 'A New Conception'. 'Fuchsia' is a little bit too brown for my liking ! :rsmile:

Although John Gilmore toured with Blakey over 1964/1965 (including a recording for the BBC documented on Jazz 625) I believe that he declined Blakey's invite to stay on so that he could concentrate on the 'residency' with Sun Ra. Gilmore made a very nice fit indeed in the Blakey lineup. Added an element of 'unpredictability' that filled in somewhat for the gap left by Wayne Shorter. Too bad that the Morgan/Gilmore lineup never recorded for Blue Note.

The 'Complete Prestige' set is, for me, documents the cream of Sonny's output. There's a level of inventiveness, spontaneity and general overall brilliance in these sessions that (for me at least) he's never surpassed. This set is a dream from start to finish and the music, much of it 50 years old now, still sounds amazingly fresh. Landmark material ... I still particularly treasure the old twofer set 'Sonny Rollins' put out by Prestige around 1973. That double album is just incredible I like some of the Impulse sessions also - 'Alfie' and 'On Impulse' in particular. 'East Broadway Rundown' has never grabbed me as much - maybe though I should give the disk a spin and reconsider .. Of the more recent material, 'Nucleus' is probably my favourite. I've been less than enthused by some of the Milestones but was gratified when I saw Sonny live to see that he could still pull out of the hat the occasional jaw-dropping ballad cadenza amongst the carribean riff material that he favours these days.. :rsmile:

Hi Leanne - welcome, hope you enjoy the board !

Propping up the slipper cupboard this week we have: Johnny Coles - 'Little Johnny C' Herbie Hancock - 'Speak Like a Child', 'The Prisoner' and 'Maiden Voyage' Lou Donaldson - 'Aligator Bogaloo' (again) Sam Rivers - 'Fuchsia Swing Song Count Basie - 'Chairman of the Board' :rsmile:

Literally rendered speechless. So you are one of those irritating people who normally talks throughout the concert, eh.... Au contraire .......

I totally agree. There's something about having the original LP of releases such as this (brilliant as the Mosaic and its sound quality is, CD and LP versions) that adds another dimension to the listening experience. The first Solid State album is a good example. Nice gatefold sleeve with track-by-track notes by Thad & Mel, piccies of the band and Manny Albam, Phil Ramone (interesting !) and Sonny Lester at the recording booth and all those 'period piece' comments about the joys of fully transistorised sound . I've seen at least two versions of the Solid State - a colleague has the mono issue without gatefold. It was one of the happier days of my life when I stumbled across the first two Solid States and 'Potpourri' all in mint vinyl at about £6-7 each. :rsmile: :rsmile:

I wrote a review for the Gerald Wilson set under the heading 'Masterful Orchestrations'. I'd seen Gerald live at the Hollywood Bowl some months before this set came out and was literally rendered speechless by the fantastic sounds coming from the stage, with Gerald conducting the band with gusto. What was astonishing that day was that 99.9% of the crowd were chatting away and chumping on burgers and not paying the slightest attention to the music on stage (which included ace renditions of 'Viva Tirado', 'Theme For Monterey' and a host of others). If Kenny G had come on stage, there would have been 100% attention ! This was one of the few sets that a pre-ordered - based on that experience alone ..

A little bit of reverb on these compared with the Mosaic but both well worth picking up at that price. The first Solid State set is worth having for Thad & Mel's sleeve notes and the photos alone. 'Poutpouri', on Philadelphia International is also a real sleeper of an album. This one really grooves ! :rsmile:

These Q-LP sets are so good that I'm salivating just at the thought of placing an order for the forthcoming 'Blackhawk' set ! Maybe I need to go into Mosaic rehab ? ...

Appreciated ! :rsmile: This one came from Mosaic's very cool Francis Wolff sale gallery (man, you could do serious $$ damage on there) and Stanley T's pretty damn cool anyway so it has to be a winner. Lots more pretty cool potential avatars up for grabs on that site ... For my own nomination, I would award cool points to Weizen/Son-of-Wezen's assorted 'Middle Eastern' thematic material .....

I'll second that. All of the Miles Mosaic LP sets sound very nice indeed, to my ears. The Miles/Gil set in particular, is phenomenal. You can't go wrong with the Q-LPs !

The mystery deepens. Mike F's chronology has an entry for Feb 27-March 8th 1964 at the Manne-Hole, followed by the Jazz Workshop in San Fran. The line-up is Morgan, Shorter, Fuller, Walton and Workman. First listing entries for Hicks and Sproles are in October 1964...

Fascinating, Bertrand ... this is starting to develop like something out of Sherlock Holmes ! B) Incidentally, the only reference I can see to a 1965 Blakey session with Sproles is 'Soulfinger' on Limelight. Recorded in May, it has Lucky Thompson on tenor and soprano. John Hicks was still in the band for this date ..

I've just checked the Jazz 625 video. Victor Sproles is quite a tall and gangly guy. Sounds like a very possible candidate for your bassist ! Strangely enough, on the 625 performance Sproles has what looks like a bandage on the back of his left hand ..

The Messengers' UK session for Jazz 625, which was recorded during March 1965, had Victor Sproles on bass ...

She plays very nicely indeed on Billy's 'Soul of an Angel' album. Very solid stuff ..

- Kenton/Holman/Russo Mosaic - Bill Evans 'Complete Riverside' disk 8 - Oliver Nelson 'Full Nelson' (Verve) - Oliver Nelson 'Main Stem' (Prestige) B) - Sam Rivers 'Fuschia Swing Song' (BN)

Checked my disk 8. Just Evans playing 'Very Early', no angsty harmon mutes in sight .... B) . All of these sets are great, even without the notes. The sound quality of the transfers sounds pretty good too. Fantastic deal all round. The 'Art Pepper Complete Galaxy' set is particularly recommended, along with the phenomenal Monk and Evans collections...

Amazingly, there was an original mint Liberty LP pressing of this that sold on ebay last week for £9 from a UK seller. Someone got one heck of a deal !