paul secor

I held off posting in the hope that Deep was wrong. Sadly, he wasn't. Thanks for all the music, Mr. Knepper. We'll miss you.

Quite an odd collection of musicians listed to vote for. There are a few whose music I've never heard, but I wouldn't consider any of them over-praised. Are these just musicans whose playing you don't care for?

Claude Hopkins: The Transcription Performances 1935 (Thanks, Lawrence K.) I got this just to hear a Hilton Jefferson solo, but I've been pleasantly surprised by how much I've enjoyed the entire cd. Benny Waters: Hurry On Down

Living Blues reviewed "Low Down Dirty Shame Pts. 1&2" in their Autumn 1980 issue - #48. Review by Jim DeKoster is as follows: "Texas native Wilkerson was tenor sax soloist in the Amos Milburn and Charles Brown bands, preceded David Newman with Ray Charles, and then cut several fine and funky jazz LP's for Blue Note and Riverside before dropping back into obscurity. Here the sax solos (apparently on alto) alternate with vocals and the whole thing is very much in the manner of a riffing T-Bone Walker shuffle. But for the electric bass, it sounds for all the world as if it had been recorded in about 1948 and is something of an anomaly in the 1980's singles market. Tomel is a Los Angeles label." Just because a record was reviewed at a certain time, doesn't mean it was issued then, but very late 70's to 1980 might be a good guess for the issue date.

One of my favorite Curtis Fuller records is Two Bones - originally issued by King Records in Japan in 1980. I assume it was also part of the Mosaic box, though I don't have that. Fine lineup (Fuller, Slide Hampton, Sonny Clark, George Tucker, Al Harewood), tunes, and playing. Blue Note should reissue it.

I don't have the L.D. record, so I can't comment on that, but here's some info on Roy Montrell, courtesy of Ray Topping's liner notes for Crescent City Bounce (Ace 181): "Montrell was born in New Orleans on Feb 27 1928 and was orphaned at the age of 6. Most of his early years were spent in an orphanage where he learned to play guitar under the tutelage of guitarists Ernest McLean and Edgar Blanchard. Montrell spent his early life absorbing the New Orleans rhythms. Subsequent army service cut off his career in music, but when he was discharged in 1951 in Houston, he joined the Roy Milton band as their guitarist and appeared on several of their later Specialty recordings. After a few years on the road, Montrell returned to New Orleans, where he formed his own band, the Little Hawketts, with Lawrence Gate (bass) and Victor Leonard (drums). Holding down a regular spot at the Mardi Gras lounge on Bourban Street, Montrell recalls, 'I did everything in that band - sing, play the kazoo, everything to keep the job.' Later Montrell joined Lloyd Price's band and went on the road again. Montrell was a gifted rhythm guitarist and often appeared with Edgar Blanchard on lead guitar on dozens of sessions at the Cosimo studio, including dates with Little Richard, Ernie K-Doe, Larry Williams, Art Neville and many others. During the mid-fifties, Montrell also cut a number of sides under his own name, including the terrific 'Every Time I Hear that Mellow Saxophone' (Specialty 583). The number was later revived by Dr. John as 'I Wanna Rock' on his United Artist album Hollywood Be Thy Name. In the early 60's, Montrell did much session work for Minit Records and he soon joined Harold Battiste in the formation of the ill-fated A.F.O. concern which scored with Barbara George on 'I Know' in 1962. When Fats Domino's guitarist, Walter 'Papoose' Nelson, died, Roy Montrell was asked to fill in temporarily, but ended up staying full time as leader of the Domino Band. He died in Amsterdam on May 16th 1979 while on a tour of Europe."

I have to go with a starting ten: Cecil Taylor's left and right hands.

Lord Buckley: The Messiah of Hip (Promo cd from Doug Schulkind's WFMU radio show) Jean Shepherd: And Other Foibles - When the 2004 conventions occur, I plan to turn on the tv for five minutes, mute the sound, and listen to Shep's "Fellow Americans". I'll know everything I need to know. Duke Ellington 1930 Vol. 2 (Classics) Spirits of Rhythm 1932-34 John Lindberg Quartet: Afterstorm

I hope they reissue Henry "Red" Allen's Feeling Good.

Welcome aboard! It's a great place.

I went with Fats. Could have voted for Dizzy, but Bird did some great live recording with Fats.

Three Tenors: Fred Anderson: The Missing Link (Nessa). This wasn't the first Fred Anderson record, but it was the first one I heard that got his music across to me. I still have the lp, but plan to add the cd (with an extra track) shortly. There are a fair number of Fred Anderson recordings out there, but Nessa Records was a good ten years ahead of most of the rest of them. Check out "The Bull". Lin Halliday: Airegin (Delmark). A fine, fine tenor man - influenced by Sonny Rollins - though when I hear him play, I end up hearing him and not Sonny. On Airegin, he tears through "Cherokee" in thoroughly relaxed fashion; gives "Love Letters" a wonderful reading, and plays Sonny's title tune in a fashion that its author hasn't done (on record) in at least 30 years. This may be a bit of an exaggeration, but if the best of this cd had been released as a Blue Note lp in the mid to late 50's, folks would be clamoring for a RvG remastering. Arthur Rhames Trio: Live from Soundscape (DIW). A musician who died at a very young age, and who left only two commercially released recordings, one track on an Albert Dailey Muse lp, and this live recording from 1981, released in 1995, six years after his death. Listening to him play here, I find myself thinking that he had everything a young musician could hope to have at age 24 - great chops, tone, and seemingly unlimited passion and energy. He comes off as everything that the young lions were supposed to be. I can imagine him playing with Cecil Taylor and doing it right - that's one of the highest compliments I can pay. Unfortunately, there's only what is, and not what might have been. What is, is this cd, a spectacular blowing session, and to my ears, some of the best Trane-influenced playing I've heard. The liner notes allude to the existence of private tapes. Perhaps they'll become available to the general public in time. Until then, there's this to hear. Didn't realize until after posting that this was my 100th post. Took me a while to get there, but it's great to be a groover.

I like that one a lot, too, Lon. Duck Baker also plays some nice stuff on "Sassy and Dolphy", a track on Roswell Rudd's Broad Strokes (Knitting Factory) cd.

I once had a letter published in the sports section of the New York Times. Unfortunately for me, someone there edited it and changed the order of sentences so that it appeared that I had written something saying the exact opposite of what I actually had written. I wrote a second letter protesting what they had done, but I never received any response. Since then, I've never had much faith in anything I've read in the Times.

One of the things I always enjoy is when a friend or a review turns me on to a great recording I didn't know about or that I had just ignored. All of us here have things in our collection that have fallen through the cracks of the listening world but deserve a better fate. This is your chance to turn that around and share your obscure, in print favorites with your fellow board members. For me, the fact that the records are still in print is important - it gives all of us the chance to pick them up and hear them right now. I'll kick this off with a recommendation for Blue Chopsticks by the Buell Neidlinger Quintet (K2B2 3169). This recording is the end result of a conversation that Buell Neidlinger had with Herbie Nichols shortly before Mr. Nichols died, promising to record Herbie Nichols' music with horns and strings. It probably would be a surprise for Mr. Nichols to hear the end result of that promise, for this isn't your typical strings and horns recording. To give a few examples - "Lady Sings the Blues" sounds like a 4 a.m. afterhours session with a string trio jamming with a jazz trumpeter and tenor sax cat. "Portrait of Ucha" could be a 1930s tango orchestra playing one for themselves. And "The Gig" comes off like a couple of jazz horns sitting in with and old time country string band. Purists may hate this record. I find myself enjoying more every time I play it. I hope that this thread interests a some people. (And I hope I find out about some good music I didn't know about.)

In the great American tradition of "vote early and vote often", I'm going to mention Lorraine Ellison. She recorded a classic album, Stay with Me, which should be heard by anyone who loves great singers - I guess that includes everyone here. "Only Your Love" and "Stay with Me" are pure gems. If you want to hear what a truly soulful Dionne Warwick would sound like, check out "I'm Gonna Cry Til My Tears Run Dry". And if you're interested in hearing "Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)" before Janis Joplin got hold of it, this record is the place to go. She never really made it in the popular music world, and returned to the world of true soul music, gospel, before she passed.

I didn't want to make this a poll, even though those are fun. There are just too many possibilities here, and I didn't want to leave any candidates out. So name your favorite, and add some thoughts as to why, if you choose. I have to go with Percy Sledge. There's something about the sound of his voice that has always grabbed me. Beyond the fact that he makes me believe what he's singing, his voice has a pleading quality which I love. There's also something about his voice that I can't quite pin down. It almost has an organ-like quality. He can be singing in a high range and it sounds like he's not, because of the undertones I hear. I guess if I were a musician, or at least a better writer, I could describe this more clearly, but that's the best I can do. Anyway, Percy's my number one.

David - Thanks for the info that Carl Brown did exist, and was not just a nom de plume. That was what I wanted to know when I started this thread. Now, it would be interesting to find out what happened to him. He seemed to be too fine a bass player to just disappear, although, as Henry Grimes proves, it can happen all too easily.

I picked 7 because I was born on the seventh, but 7 was also Mickey Mantle's number and I was a Willie Mays fan and always resented the fact that Mickey was the favorite here in New York, so if 24 was an option, I'd have gone with that.

Late last night I listened to Ben Webster's Did You Call? for the first time in about 15 years, and found that I had seriously undervalued this record in my previous listenings. It was more or less Ben's swan song, and he left us with a fine, fine recording. The John Lewis Record with Putte Wickman and Red Mitchell - Putte Wickman trills and toots and wails and sings up a great version of "Yesterdays". Today: Terry Allen: Lubbock (On Everything) - A collection of quirky country-influenced Texas songs written and sung by a Texas artist/songwriter who has a unique view of the world (or at least, unique to a Yankee - perhaps not so unique if you're a Texan). A good friend recommended this to me about 20 years ago, and I could never get into it until today - there's a time for everything. Steve Lacy/Charlie Rouse/Roswell Rudd/Don Cherry/Richard Davis/ Ben Riley/Ed Blackwell/Muhal Richard Abrams/Barry Harris/Nat Hentoff: Interpretations of Monk - discs 1&2.

Since scat singing has been discussed, I'd like to mention Leo Watson. He wasn't in Louis' class (nor was anyone else), but Leo was a very entertaining cat. Check out Indigo 2098, Retrieval 79004, or Classics 1028.

I was present at an open forum (1966?) in which Cecil talked about his music and answered questions from the audience. I remember that there was a bit of a confrontation there, with Buell Neidlinger making a statement from the audience to the effect that LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka) controlled the new jazz scene in New York, and Cecil responding with something to the effect of - he doesn't control me! I don't know if this is the confrontation that David Gitin refers to, or if he was privy a less public confrontation. It's pointless to speculate as to the whys and wherefores of Cecil's feelings and statements. That said - to make a pointless speculation - It is interesting that Buell released a couple of rehearsal tracks from his days with Cecil's group on two of his early K2B2 records. I recall an interview (don't have it handy) where he said that he released them to see if he had the right to. That could have added some fuel to any negative feelings that were already there.

Keep the lp sets. There's a 9 min Epistrophy with Enrico Rava that does not appear on the cd's. And who said cd's always have more material? Shrugs - Thanks for the info. I'd wondered if there was any additional material on the cds. Didn't expect there to be less. I'm hanging on to my lps - even if they didn't have the extra track, they sound better than I could imagine any cd sounding.

I'm disappointed in Joe Dumars. Does he really think that another coach could have taken that team any further? This was as idiotic as New Orleans firing Paul Silas. Ah well, another whistle stop on Larry "Burnout" Brown's endless itinerary.

Of those listed, I voted for Rear Window. I love many Hitchcock films - Strangers On a Train is perhaps my favorite. And like Simon Weill, I too have a soft spot for Family Plot.