LAL

John R T Davies the musician

Charlie Christian Genius of the Electric Guitar box set.

Sad sad news indeed. RIP Mr. John RT Davies.

Thanks for the heads up. . The "Jaywalker" album appears to have plenty of songs not usually in the Duke's repertoire. More Ellington discs to add to the wishlist.

For a one disc starter, I'd go for the "Complete Gramercy Five Sessions" (RCA). The set includes excellent small group swing plus excursions into bebop on the later sides, with plenty of innovation by Artie. For a broad overview of his music, check out "Self Portrait" (RCA 5CD box), covering the years 1936-54. The music (or a fair bit of it) in the Gramercy Five disc is also included in the set. Of course, there's the Chronological Classics way for an even more complete collection of his music. There are about a dozen Classics discs at this point.

I find the music of the Hot 5s and 7s to be some of the best music that was ever recorded, never mind the limitations in sound quality. Satch was undisputedly in blazing form but the others - Johnny Dodds, Kid Ory and Earl Hines were also excellent and contributed much to these recordings. I have the original Columbia Legacy CD issues and the JSP set, but have marked this Columbia box for purchase. To many listeners though, even some jazz diehards, this music sounds very dated overall. I've loaned some of these material to folks interested in jazz but they just couldn't dig it. Although they could appreciate Satch's instrumental improvisations, they could not enjoy the music in totality. Perhaps many repeated listenings would do the trick? Out of topic: Strangely, I don't really enjoy Satch's late recordings including Wonderful World, Mack the Knife etc.

The list goes on... Django Reinhardt & The Quintet of the Hot Club of France. The JSP Volume 1 box is a great place to start.

Going through the discography of this set, one finds a treasure trove of classic jazz and swing music. Mildred is featured with many top orchestras/bands - Eddie Lang, Dorsey Brothers, Frankie Trumbauer, Casa Loma, Benny Goodman and the band of her then hubby, Red Norvo. She also fronted her own orchestra, which featured greats such as Chu Berry, Teddy Wilson, Roy Eldridge, Ben Webster and Artie Shaw. Mildred's slightly childish voice may not appeal to some but she can really swing/sing, making her a very worthy addition to the list of great jazz vocalists and deserving of greater recognition. With about 215 masters and alternates, there are bound to be some duds and there are a few IMO, depressing, songs on the set (listen to her delivery of Motherless Child and Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen). OK, I admit to buying the 2 4CD volumes of the same material issued (nicked?) by Definitive - shame on me. Thought I'd save some $$ but it turns out I'll be spending more because I'm definitely going to buy this Mosaic sometime in the future. Has anybody acquired this set? What are your thoughts and comments? I'm 200% sure the sound is far superior to the Definitives.

The inevitable happened - Liverpool sacked its manager Gerard Houllier 24 May. Potential/rumoured replacements include Valencia's Rafael Benitez, Charlton's Alan Curbishley or Celtic's Martin O'Neill.

A big to the Benny Carter (Urbane Sessions, Cosmopolite, 3-4-5 Small Group Sessions) and Duke Ellington Small Groups suggestions. Another recommendation for John Kirby's late 1930s to early 40s sextet recordings reissued on 4 discs on the Classics label (the first 3 are the preferred choices).

Voted for pop/rock since I still do listen to a lot more of it relative to other genres outside jazz. Within pop/rock, its Motown, Beatles and psychedelic rock. However, most of the genres have dominated my listening time from period to period in the past, including electronic and metal (whot, no separate category for this?).

I gave disc 1 and part of disc 2 a few spins over the weekend and find the music keeps growing on me. Elvin's drumming is intense and mesmerising on some numbers and yet gentle and subtle on others. I'd never noticed Joe Farrell before this, but he is indeed amazing. These are excellent late-60s Blue Note sessions worth listening to many times over.

Whoah! Think I just opened a pandora's box. Looks like many months/years of great music to explore. Thanks all for the suggestions. Looking forward to more. No. It's Mucho Machito on the Pablo label. That one disc got me hooked on the music. I haven't seen the Columbia disc but, I think it has been reissued by the 'rogue' Definitive label.

I'm just getting into Afro-Cuban (jazz) music of the likes of Machito and Mongo Santamaria. The few albums of this genre I have are Machito's Mucho Machito, Kenya and At the Crescendo and Mongo's Introduces La Lupe, not forgetting Diz's RCA sides. What other albums by these and other artists are recommended? My preference is for the earlier recordings (say pre-1965) but recent recordings are also welcome. What about earlier forms such as son and is there such a thing as pure Afro-Cuban music with little or no jazz influence? Any good picks from here? Thanks in advance for the recommendations and information!

I accidentally forfeited my vote by pressing the view votes button.

No prizes for guessing EKE's choice. B)

Perhaps it's time Houllier let someone else do the job. After all, his record on signing on and firing (Nicholas Anelka for e.g.) players hasn't been that great. Also, perennial underperforming striker, Heskey's finally be sold off to Birmingham for 6.5m pounds. I wonder if Kenny Dalglish will ever make a return as Liverpool coach?

Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights", about 5 times a day for a couple of weeks and the album it is on, "Kick Inside" twice daily for the same period. A very unique singer/songwriter indeed.

Yes, another Elvin Jones Mosaic weekend coming up.

Mosaic free since mid-March (2004 of course). Yay!

Well kudos to Arsenal for achieving an unbeaten record that prior to this had remained unmatched for 115 years in English soccer! Most European leagues have or almost reached their season's end, but, soccer buffs can look forward to Euro 2004 in Portugal starting 12 June. B)

Don't forget the Teddy Wilson if you haven't already got it.

I have quite a few CDs manufactured in the late 80s/early 90s which are still in top condition and without any hint (touch wood) of deterioration in the aluminium layer or bronzing. Some of these have even been through fairly extensive use and been subject to some wide variations in temperature and humidity. All in, the CDs I have have been quite resilient. Having said that, I am generally putting off buying discs manufactured in the late 80s just in case.

Don't I just love those 70s Chicago ballads, fine singing by Peter Cetera.

Is that the Sonny Clark Trio record originally on Bainbridge/Time (highly recommended!) or the Blue Note (less-heartily recommended)? No it's the RVG, not the one with the eerie album cover. I really like the Blue Note album, but then again I'm a bit of a Sonny Clark fan, so it's all good.