Quasimado

There was talk, mentioned in Safford Chamberlain's book "An Unsung Cat", that VSOP was hoping to release Warne Marsh with Rolf Ericson, Don Overberg, Red Mitchell and Stan Levey, (possibly) recorded for Mode in '57 ... Q

Yardbird in Lotus Land Spotlite SPJ 123 A (Dizzy Gillespie Rebop Six - Diz/Bird/Haig/Ray Brown/Levy - Hollywood Dec. 29 '45) Shaw 'nuff Groovin High Dizzy Atmosphere (+Milt Jackson) Salt Peanuts (+ Lucky Thompson - Jan. '46) (Bird/WillieSmith/Benny Carter + King Cole Trio+Buddy Rich - Hollywood March/April '46) Medley -Tea for 2 -Body&Soul -Cherokee (Bird w. King Cole Trio ? - Hollywood March/April '46) Ornithology B (Bird/Miles/Joe Albany/Addison Farmer/ Chuck Thompson - Finale Club LA, March '46?) Anthropology Billies Bounce Blue&Boogie All the Things Ornithology B. may be on the Mosaic ... classic. Q

As well as the Finale session, it has a killer Bird/Cherokee w. Nat King Cole. The Finale is possibly on the Mosaic... Away for a week - get back to you later. Q

This is an interesting disc - *Afro Bop - Machito and His Orchestra* (Spotlite LP - SPJ 138). Sources include Boris Rose broadcast tapes from the Royal Roost and Bop City in '49 (Sid introduces several tracks). Soloists are Howard McGhee and Brew Moore, and it includes the 3 tracks discussed above with Bird, including Reminiscing at Twilight. Intelligent notes are by Mark Gardener... The Spotlite label is pretty interesting in itself. Run by Tony Williams in the UK, it put out a lot of fairly obscure Bird things - example *Yardbird in Lotus Land* - SPJ 123, has amazing stuff from the Finale Club etc. in LA '46 (notes are by Ross Russell!), as well as many things from the Dial Catalogue. Spotlite still exists if you do a web search. These days its catalogue includes a lot of British Jazz. Unfortunately, a lot of the issued LPs do not seem to have made it to CD... Afro Bop Machito and His Orchestra Side One Howard's Blues Indianola How High the Moon Cubop City Boppin the Vibes (+Milt Jackson) Side Two Mambo Lament for the Conga Reminiscing at Twilite How High the Moon Tanga Lean on Me (+ Harry Belafonte vocal) Q

It's a fine disc... Ind's overdubbed tracks are outstanding. Sheila Jordan sings only on "Yesterdays". This has since been issued on CD (WaveCD 111) with additional tracks. Q

Isn't there a biography of Al Haig in the works somewhere? Q

The piano is bright enough on the original Esoteric 10" - it's certainly not muffled. Lee Abrams sounds a lot better on brushes than sticks here ... maybe it's a balance problem ... anyway he only uses sticks on Chillun. Q

Blurb for this turntable says it can be used as a normal TT, or to computer via USB cable. I don't really need one now, but it's nice to know it's out there ... Q

Durium - those are great Wardell videos on your site! Q

Ad in a Japanese newspaper today for a turntable that allows you to play LPs into your computer - reasonably priced, too (about $170). Company name is Ion. HP is in Japanese at http://pro-audio.jp/ion Q

Philology Birds Eyes 22 doesn't include Reminiscing, presumeably because Bird doesn't solo - it has the other 2 tracks. Q

Why wouldn't he? Well, he seems to be the guest soloist, so I would have thought that would be what he was doing - but then again, as you say ... Q

Doesn't sound much like Howard to me ... the vibrato is too wide and there are none of his rhythmic mannerisms ... also whoever he is, he seems to be pretty used to playing in that Afro-Cuban style ... Reminiscing is intriguing ... no solos, but it could be Bird playing the lead alto part ... but then again, why would he do that? Q

Reading all this, it's not hard to see why the BNBB went where it went ... Q

It's a novel, based on facts and semi-facts that most admirers of Marsh's have encountered in one way or another ... BUT the author loves and understands the music... and he can write... the descriptions of actual playing on pages 146- 8 are remarkable. Hype does not apply here. Q

The CD is made up of 2 sessions; the Roland band from 1950, and a Red Norvo session from 1945. Is the Roland worth having? Well, it's fragments, - it's a huge band, and badly recorded, so the section lines blur .. but it's a band of Bird freaks - Maini, Lanphere, Ferrara, Bert, etc. so it has Legendary Value ... and there are flashes of great Bird... and, by the way, his famous quote "A Pretty Girl is like a Melody" actually occurs on track 13, not 14. There is also a brief interview between participants Eddie Bert and drummer Don Manning. The 2nd session from '45 is purely a swing session, which is no trouble for Bird or Diz, that being where they both came from. The final (?) take of Congo Blues has about the hottest Diz you will ever hear. For my ears overall this session has a little too much bowin' singin' Slam, and Red before he saw (absorbed) the light ... Bird is fine ... Q

That's a deep question. Are you talking about the *Charlie Parker with Lennie Tristano Complete Recordings* on Definitive DRCD 11289? If so, you would be advised to get it, because you get most of what they recorded together ... including Bird and Lennie on those tracks that were edited around in the *Bird* movie, which are beautiful in their original state ... plus... you get some fine Fats. Q

Not W.C.J., but Volume 1 (The WNEW Saturday Night Swing Session) has some of the best Allen Eager and Fats Navarro on disc... Q

Joe Albany *The Right Combination* - some of the best Warne Marsh on disc. Q

Exactly! Examples that come to mind are Lester Young on Lady be Good/ Charlie Parker on KoKo/ Warne Marsh on I'll Remember April (Xanadu) ... Q

The Xanadu LP has been issued and reissued in Japan as a CD by Crown Records - not sure if it is still available. Q

I'd agree with that assessment. Pity someone doen't release those other club dates. Rumor has it that Peter Ind has the originals or others from that period ... Q

You mean West Coast by a point, don't you? That's real indifference. Go Sydney Storm tomorrow! Q

"Isn’t it amazing that sound causes the idea to sound the way it is, more than the idea?” For great improvisors like Parker or Marsh, I would imagine that the sound is the idea. There is no separation ... So I'm not sure what Ornette's amazing distinction is. .. but then, I guess I just can't understand whatever it is I'm supposed to about Ornette in general ...