mjzee

Art Farmer had a beautiful, beautiful tone. His solos seem to float above the music. I've tried to analyze how his solos relate to the underlying tune, because what he plays almost seems to be an aside, but I can't; his music just makes me happy. The first album that always comes to mind is Sonny Clark's "Cool Struttin'." Listen to that tone! Even though he's playing a trumpet, it has the roundness and limpidness of a flugelhorn. His solo on "Deep Night" displays such a light swing yet deep rhythmic prowess. And the pairing of him and Jackie McLean...wonderful. How about "Bennie Green (with Art Farmer)" (Prestige). Art, in his sly way, steals the date. Listen to the back-and-forth between Art and Bennie on "Let's Stretch." I second (or third) the recommendations of "Big Blues," "To Sweden With Love," and "The Summer Knows." I saw him in concert once, about two years before he passed. It was at the Miller Theater at Columbia University, must have been 1992 or 1993. It was nice, although the concert format was a bit sterile (would have preferred to have heard him in a club...the audience was a bit too polite at the concert). And I remember his everpresent cigarette.

Produced Chicago, Blood Sweat & Tears, and Moondog. Was very successful. Anybody know what he's doing now?

This was on the front page of the Friday 10/1/04 Wall St Journal: Cecil McBee Makes A Name for Himself In Japan -- and Sues Jazz Musician Toured Tokyo, Then Discovered That He Is Now a Chain of Stores By AMY MERRICK and GINNY PARKER Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL October 1, 2004; Page A1 Cecil McBee, an American jazz musician on tour in Japan, made an unscheduled stop one night in the early 1990s. A friend in Tokyo hurried him off to a shopping mall and said there was something he just had to see. When the elevator doors opened on the third floor, Mr. McBee couldn't believe his eyes: The words "Cecil McBee" were emblazoned above the window of a chain store selling clothes to teenagers. Ever since, in Japanese and U.S. courts, Mr. McBee, who has appeared for 40 years with the likes of Benny Goodman and Miles Davis, has been on a crusade to reclaim his name. The 69-year-old bass player hasn't been able to stop his moniker from appearing on bikinis, dog sweaters, cellphone covers and credit cards. The store he saw is owned by the Japanese holding company Delica Co. It chose the name in 1984, soon after Mr. McBee's first performances in Japan. It now owns about 35 Cecil McBee stores, which had sales of about $112 million in 2002. With its miniskirts, fake-fur jackets and silky, shoulder-baring tops, the chain is the vanguard of a current Japanese fashion craze called "erogance" -- a melding of "erotic" and "elegant" styles. From his home in Yarmouth, Maine, Mr. McBee says the stores have cost him bookings and damaged his career. Colleagues say searches for his contact information on the Internet call up the chain's Web site. Music students have asked whether he had a side business selling clothes to young girls. "I heard a few jokes about my profession and my name, and that was rather painful," says Mr. McBee. Delica says it chose the name at random. Mr. McBee's lawyers hired a mathematician to calculate the odds of randomly coming up with that name. Her conclusion: less than 1 in 90,000. Mr. McBee's team argues that Delica chose the name to convey an artistic, free-spirited image. They say Delica has violated Mr. McBee's "right of publicity," the right of a person to have his name and persona publicized only with his consent and in a manner he deems appropriate. In court filings, Delica executives deny any association with the jazzman, though they can't be specific about how they came up with the name. They say it may have been suggested to the company's late founder by an outside store-design company, but that can't be confirmed. Delica also enlisted an assistant professor of foreign languages at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Ore., in its defense. In court papers, Bruce Suttmeier notes that Japanese businesses sometimes play word games to develop their names. He hypothesizes that "Cecil" evokes "see-through," which describes an aspect of the stores' merchandise, and "McBee" suggests "McV," the nickname for "McVitie's," a British cookie brand that has been advertised in Japan. One day recently, the Cecil McBee store in Shibuya, a neighborhood popular with young people in their teens and twenties, was busy with a constant stream of young women. Techno music blared and lanky saleswomen in tight pants and miniskirts paced the white-tile floor. The styles are chic and racy: velour bandeau tops, lacy camisoles, and bikinis, all in black, white and jewel tones. A T-shirt with rhinestone studs runs a little under $40. There is a multitude of miniskirts. Some have chain belts, cargo pockets or zippers up the side. Asked what "Cecil McBee" refers to, a store manager said it "has no meaning." Ai Mizuno, a 17-year-old high-school shopper from Tokyo, said, "I had no idea that it was a person's name. I just figured that it was some phrase from a foreign language." Saori Horikiri, a 17-year-old high-school student from just outside Tokyo, was purchasing a camisole, probably the 15th Cecil McBee item she'd bought this year, she said. "Cecil McBee is cool, cute and sophisticated," she said, wearing a pink sweater with "Cecil McBee" across the chest. "Every girl in Shibuya probably has at least one item." She'd never heard of the musician, either. Todd Holbrook, an attorney for Delica, argues that many Japanese companies use American names. "If the people buying [the products] don't know who he is, then he isn't cast as the spokesman," he says. Through its attorney, Delica declined to comment further. Robert Newton, one of Mr. McBee's lawyers, contends it doesn't matter whether Cecil McBee shoppers have ever heard of Cecil McBee, the musician. "If you didn't know jazz and you heard the name Herbie Hancock, there's something in that name that evokes a sense of somebody," he says. "I think the same is true of Cecil McBee." Mr. McBee first performed in Japan 22 years ago, on a tour with the Chico Freeman Quartet. After one show, he says, he signed autographs for 30 minutes. Since then, he has performed in Japan more than a dozen times, frequently with the well-known jazz pianist Yosuke Yamashita. He says Delica simply borrowed his name to ride his coattails. In 1984, Delica registered a trademark for the katakana letters that stand for "Cecil McBee." Katakana is a syllabic form of Japanese writing, often used for foreign words. In 1996, Mr. McBee had an attorney send a letter to Delica asking it to stop using his name. Later that year, Delica applied to the Japan Patent Office to register the roman letters "CECIL McBEE." In 2002, the Japan Patent Office invalidated Delica's trademark registration for "Cecil McBee," ruling in Mr. McBee's favor. But the Tokyo High Court reversed the decision, because the musician's full legal name is Cecil LeRoy McBee. He is appealing the decision. Frustrated, he took on U.S. lawyers who asked Japanese-speaking U.S. residents to order merchandise from Cecil McBee stores. Once the products were shipped to America, Mr. McBee's lawyers used the transactions and correspondence from the stores to establish jurisdiction in the U.S. Mr. McBee is currently pressing his case in federal court in Portland, Maine. In August, a magistrate judge recommended that the musician be allowed to press his case for damages, but that he could not seek an injunction on the sale of Cecil McBee merchandise outside Maine. The district court can adopt or disregard the recommendations, which both sides are challenging. The growth of the Internet has been a big factor in the case. U.S. residents who ordered Cecil McBee merchandise relied on photographs and prices of the clothing posted on the chain's Web site. Anyone who types Mr. McBee's name into a search engine such as Google turns up references to the store. And some Cecil McBee merchandise has even turned up for sale on eBay.

Hmmm...any relation to Bruce Lundvall, head of EMI America?

Milt was amazing. The MJQ (esp. John Lewis) restrained what he could do, though I respect the music they made. But Milt was in a whole other league. As for later Milt, check out the recordings made at Ronnie Scott's in 1983 for Pablo. He had a great quartet: Monty Alexander, Ray Brown, and Mickey Roker. I think there were 3 LP's: one is called "A London Bridge," one called something like "Recollections of Thelonious Sphere Monk" (you know, one of those catchy Pablo titles), and I forget the third. But driving, exciting, crisp, intelligent music! I highly recommend these. He was great up until the end. Some of his last recordings on Qwest...there was one with vocalists, for example...no excuses, just great music.

Does anyone know of a complete on-line Milt Jackson discography? It'd be fun to follow his recordings from the MJQ to the Savoys to the Atlantics to CTI, etc.

I've skimmed the posts to this thread. It seems very few of you have heard Jandek. I've heard his first album (by "The Units," although it's obviously just him), and one later one. It's very sad. Everyone (and I mean everyone) laughs when they hear it, but it's really from a combination of horror and pity. He's obviously incoherent and doesn't realize it. He obviously can't play guitar. He obviously can't write songs. The two albums I've heard sound alike, even though he gives his "songs" differing titles. I suppose he's worth hearing once, especially after the build-up Irwin Chusid and others have given to him, but I wouldn't pay for it. Really, life's too short to spend more than a few minutes devoted to Jandek. Or, to put it another way, the idea of Jandek is a lot better than actually listening to him.

I'm not sure that Proper's put out a box of anyone that's still alive. As to the point about record companies, the owners of all the major indies cashed out long ago (or abandoned their catalogues because of lack of commercial interest). Majors like Columbia and Universal still put out high-priced reissues (the Billie Holiday and Charlie Christian boxes, for example). Concord just bought the Fantasy masters, and I'm sure the 50-year laws figured into the sale price.The story I love most is that Irving Berlin lived to see his earliest songs fall into the public doman. I hope that the major jazz labels will now put more effort into promoting current jazz artists.

U.S. copyright laws protect recordings for 50 years. I would imagine that, as long as Proper is paying songwriter royalties (songs are protected for 75 years), what they're releasing is perfectly legal.

I haven't seen mentioned the reason copyright laws have an expiration date: to put the material into the public domain, so that more people can have use from it. If Proper is producing $20 4-disc boxes with booklet, then people who can't afford a similar $60 box from Mosaic can enjoy and learn from the material. It's similar to the copyright laws for books - it's why we can buy inexpensive works of Henry James, Hawthorne... Go to the Gutenberg project (www.promo.net/gutenberg) and see how many books can be downloaded free.

An interesting contrast between Grappelli and Stuff Smith can be found on a Pablo release of four tracks they did together in 1957, called "Violins No End." I also prefer Smith to Grappelli, finding the latter too sweet, although very easy to listen to. The band is good, too: Oscar Peterson, Herb Ellis, Ray Brown, Jo Jones. (The final 3 tracks have Grappelli only).

Miles' comeback was in 1979, so he was off the scene for four years. I remember seeing his comeback gig advertised in the New York Times as part of the Kool Jazz Festival. I said what the hey and mailed away for one ticket, not expecting much. I got 8th row center in Avery Fisher Hall, probably just because it was a single seat (the house sold out quickly). I remember Miles walking out...he looked so cool. I didn't recognize much of the band except Al Foster. Mike Stern was pudgy, and soloed way too long...Miles liked his style but had to cut off every Stern solo with a trumpet 'blat'...otherwise he would have just kept going. Marcus Miller was great, but Minu Cinelu was too expressive, playing to the cheap seats. Miles wandered the stage, and when something occurred to him, he soloed...it was inevitably beautiful. He also directed the band at the organ. I didn't recognize "My Man's Gone Now" at the show, only knew it was that when "We Want Miles" came out. I didn't like "Star People," thought it was just some drawn out blues jams.

Hi, y'all. Hey, Aggie, thanks for keeping up the thread! You're doing a great job! Yeah, Sco... his new CD is very nice.