jazzbo

I've had this since it first came out. There's nothing like it, really, in some ways. . . sort of a standalone in the way that I view Filles De Kilamanjaro as being a standalone in Miles's work. . . . I keep hearing within it JAMES BROWN and some of the things that I heard in Philly on transistor radios and from car radios in my neighborhood as a kid in the first half of the sixties. Until I came to Texas I didn't realy ever know anyone else who was into it until I started to work with a slightly older fellow who came down here from Cincinnatti and had a tape of this in his Walkman one day and turns out he's nuts about this. . .says it was the one Miles album he still had; he mostly had JB and Funkadelic and Parlaiment stuff . . . but he loved On the Corner. Don't listen to it too often, but when I do spin it (have a Sony lp facimile issue now that sounds very much like the lp to me) I almost always find something new to focus on. It's dense and rich and really fertile.

I have a lot of Sun Ra, the whole Evidence label reissue output, the two ESPs, the Delmark reissues, the Savoy, the MPS, and about ten lps that aren't out on cd from the Saturn label, and a few Rounders, and a few things that were never released on lp or cd from collector tapes, videos etc.. . . . My favorite period is the Chicago period into the early NYC period. Quirky, exploratory, moving stuff. I really am not that fond of the too far out stuff that came later in NYC, Philadelphia etc. nor the later material of old swing arrangements sent into outer space, etc, though I like the later small group material quite a bit. I guess if I had to pick one or two releases as favorites it would be. . . "Sound of Joy" and "We Travel the Spaceways."

I like the 6922s the best!

Well, that's a good question. All the sessions on OJC are very good and easy to find, but his early stuff and the stuff up to the end of the forties are among my very favorites. The Louisianna Rhythm Kings on Jazz Oracle has some great Pee Wee, and any time you see Pee Wee with Condonites the chances are that there is going to be some primo Pee Wee. I also really like his Dot lp "Plays Pee Wee Russell" BUT that is not just lying around waiting to be stumbled over; wish someone would reissue this, and more Dot sides in general. The Candid cd coled by Pee Wee and Hawkins is really great. Also really nice is an Arbors by Bobby Gordon called "Pee Wee's Song: the Music of Pee Wee Russell" which is a recording from some three or four years ago I think that celebrates his music and style, quite successfully.

I had to vote for the Pee Wee, because even though it is not one of my favorite Pee Wees by a long shot, I just had to vote for the "Iron Man of Swing!"

PD, it will be interesting to hear what you feel bout Five Spot now. I think that Hawk plays excellently and isn't really a ringer. But I'd like to hear your impressions. Also, I think that Destry was probably primarily deleted because of space reasons. To keep it to three discs, probably something had to go. There are no Weston compositions on Destry, and that would be a natural choice for a composer. . . . But I really enjoy this lp and wish it could have been included, even if the set had to be expanded. It sort of makes it a forgotten step-chiled now, which it does not deserve. Quite a nice lp. Other's mileage may vary, but it tickles my fancy.

And it has the Jazz Violin Album, which is KILLLER!

Well, I think this is a great period of Weston, even including the date excluded here, "Destry Rides Again". . . . The trio material here really is amazing stuff, and shows his technique and his compositional skills to good effect. The live date with Hawkins is just. . . well it's some of the best jazz made that year in my opinion, and it was a very good year! And I've really learned to like the larger ensemble work a lot. Weston and Melba Liston worked really well together, the quirkiness of one's orchestration really bringing to light and smoothing over in a way the other's writing. When I first heard the Roulette twofer cd, I wasn't that crazy about it but over time I've come to really enjoy it. Weston continues to be a tremendous player and presence. What I've heard of his of the last five years or so (including unreleased recordings of appearances) shows that he's not resting on laurels he should have if he hasn't been given them! He's an extremely interesting person and an artist of great stature, at least in my estimation. His work throughout the four or five decades he's recorded is of a very high calibre. I think you'll enjoy exploring his work, and this Select will be a great place to start.

This was released on Discovery Records cd in the early years of digital, and I haven't seen it around in some time. I believe it may have been reissued paired with another Reprise Ellington on a European cd, but my recollection of the details is not to be trusted. . . .

Since Ghost of Miles started a thread, I'll resurrect this one. He's right, this is a great release! www.worldsrecords.com has it at a good price too.

Well I typed in my number and it didn't reveal anything. I'm pleased!

I'll agree with you Chuck, this is a great piece, and Freddy Jenkins was a wonderful player.

Well, the subliminal sure worked on me! Thanks for weighing in with the email address Jim. I'm really enjoying this one!

Here's a recommendation for Quartet Out, "Welcome to the Meat House." This cd from this esoteric and under-utilized quartet of Dallas Musicians (capitol M for a reason) is a real treat. Hard-swinging (yeah, in its way) and revved up from beginning to end, it shows several things clearly: that these guys can PLAY, that these guys can think on their feet and write themes that WORK, and that these guys can breathe and boogie together in the way that working bands can and not as often as we'd like DO. It's free and it's structured and it's blowing and it's well thought out and it's what a "jazz" album should be. I see this as an "open letter to Bob Belden" that NYC is not the only place that STUFF HAPPENS. Okay, seriously though there are great musicians hard at work in other places. And they should be recorded. I would like to think that a copy of this cd and a copy of a live recording done by the Marchel Ivery Quartet in the last months sent to a dozen record labels would mean that a team of A&R and recording folk would be on the way to Dallas. I'd LIKE to think that. I have to be realistic and know that is maybe one of my pipe dreams. But check this cd out. If you need help finding a copy of this, leave your question here or email me at lonjazz@yahoo.com PS: In the fine Blue Note tradition, I managed to get a typo into the subject line! Where is my mind? If the moderator would like to edit this I'd be quite happy.

Finished Caetano Veloso's "Tropical Truth" and Hampton Hawes' "Raise up off Me" and have started to re-read "The Zap Gun" by Philip K. Dick. (For like the fifth time.) There really is no timelier book in several ways; it's a great companion to the time we have now in America with our myth-making dogs at the helm. I'D LOVE TO SEE SOMEONE MAKE A MOVIE OF THIS!

I really doubt that a possible little wrinkle may have been noticed in sales dips because of the close of the bulletin board.

I really doubt that a possible little wrinkle may have been noticed in sales dips because of the close of the bulletin board.

I have a lot of this stuff, but there is material new to me, and I'm sure this is going to be a great set!

Yeah, that sound calls the children home! People who say he had no technique are just clueless! Despite Bertrand's negative response, I do honestly think there is a resurgence in interest in Ayler and his music.

It's a decent book. There's room for a better bio, but will we see one? Unlikely.

Good stuff. The Tristano stuff is mostly as far as I remember live radio material that had all star sessions. . . good stuff.

The Akiyosha/Kuhn is very good. It has a sort of George Russell feel to me to the arrangements. Has guitar, two basses and two pianos and drums. Uses a few c and w themes, but boy is it NOT country and western!

Here's another I've never seen before:

Here's one I never saw til yesterday: