The Jazz Thread

[Lfbarfe]

Stop me if this is getting boring, but I'm currently just uploading things as I listen to them. I have a very very low tolerance of all the nouveau-Sinatra-lite shysters like Michael Buble. I can understand how some might put John Pizzarelli in the same class - good-looking, old-school attitude and sound - but that's only part of it it. He's a blisteringly fab guitar player and this Don Sebesky chart of 'Avalon' from the 1997 album 'Our Love Is Here To Stay' is a joy. The piano solo's by a guy called Ray Kennedy, who looks like a geography teacher, but can he swing? Oh yes. Listen for the tribute to the Benny Goodman Quartet - incidentally, John's dad Bucky was Benny's guitarist for a bit. I saw JP in concert a few years ago, and he opened with this - Buble and his ilk would have nothing left to give after a performance like it...

http://www.sendspace.com/file/issmki

[Lfbarfe]

Can we all identify the pieces that got us into jazz? For me it was an unholy trinity of my grandfather's Philips EP of the Ellington version of A Train with Betty Roche singing and Paul Gonsalves doing that roller-coaster tenor solo, the LWT start-up music and John Dankworth's original 'Tomorrow's World'  theme. He played it at the Guernsey jazz festival* a couple of years ago, when I was there covering it, and I almost died and went to heaven.

* Dismiss all visions of vast concert halls or temporary stages in massive fields. This jazz festival took place in the 200-capacity function room of a hotel in St Peter Port, and was really rather delightful.

[Neil]

It took me aaaaages to find Betty Roche stuff on the net, I think this is completely and utterly brilliant, and I'm going to get more dedicated to collecting versions of that song when I get my new puter on Tuesday, and have the disk space to do so.  Oh, there's a nice version on this Piero Umiliani record I got the other week "Ode To Duke Ellington", cor, it's great actually, sort of loungey versions o Duke/Strayhorn tunes, with the odd bit of Radiophonic Workshop weirdness thrown in for good measure.  

As for your question, Louis, I dunno.  I've always tried to listen to as many different styles of music as I can, and used to buy old jazz and blues CD's for 2 or 3 quid each.  I've still got a copy of Blue Trane sitting beside me here with a £2.99 price sticker on it.  Over the last year or so, though, I've found jazz making up way more of my listening.  I listen to a lot of music, and can work through it a bit too quickly at times in my haste to get to the next thing, so I do like to try and slow down and focus on specific genres every now and again.  I'd planned to have a serious afrobeat 'season' come the new year, but  have opted instead to continue on with jazz, and particulary with working through as much of the Mingus back catalogue as I can.

As a kid, I used to crawl into the attic and play the wind-up gramaphone, and go through all the old 78's with His Masters Voice logos on them.  I guess that's why I've always been obsessed with old music, so I tend to gravitate to old jazz like Jelly Roll Morton - his Library Of Congress recordings have been a real treat.  ApexJazz gives me some good tips/tunes when I bump into him too, he got me started on the Boswell Sisters last week, fab.

[Neil]

Stop me if this is getting boring, but I'm currently just uploading things as I listen to them. I have a very very low tolerance of all the nouveau-Sinatra-lite shysters like Michael Buble. I can understand how some might put John Pizzarelli in the same class - good-looking, old-school attitude and sound - but that's only part of it it. He's a blisteringly fab guitar player and this Don Sebesky chart of 'Avalon' from the 1997 album 'Our Love Is Here To Stay' is a joy. The piano solo's by a guy called Ray Kennedy, who looks like a geography teacher, but can he swing? Oh yes. Listen for the tribute to the Benny Goodman Quartet - incidentally, John's dad Bucky was Benny's guitarist for a bit. I saw JP in concert a few years ago, and he opened with this - Buble and his ilk would have nothing left to give after a performance like it...

http://www.sendspace.com/file/issmki

Cor!  Just about to catch up with the links in here and maybe stick up some of my own, but wow, loving this.  Also really enjoying the Loose Tubes, thanks to CTS for those, hadn't heard them before.

Has anyone not heard Money Jungle?  That's a record I keep going back to, time after time.  And I don't think I'll ever get bored of it...Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Max Roach, utterly phenomenal.  I'll stick up some tracks in FLAC.

[Lfbarfe]

Has anyone not heard Money Jungle?  That's a record I keep going back to, time after time.  And I don't think I'll ever get bored of it...Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Max Roach, utterly phenomenal.  I'll stick up some tracks in FLAC.

Money Jungle's a great session. And when I'm in London, I always get a little thrill going past Max Roach Park in Brixton.

[Lfbarfe]

It took me aaaaages to find Betty Roche stuff on the net, I think this is completely and utterly brilliant, and I'm going to get more dedicated to collecting versions of that song when I get my new puter on Tuesday, and have the disk space to do so.

That's the exact version I'm on about - the one on the Philips EP that got me into jazz. There seems to be a little edit near the start on your upload, though. Louis Bellson on drums, recorded circa 1951-1952. I love the vocal, but it's the sense of going into freefall (at 5:15 on your upload) that makes it for me. It's like being on an old wooden rollercoaster ratcheting up to the highest point on the ride, after which it's all 'wheeeeeee'. Talk about building the tension up...

Neil, have you seen the 'Ellington in Concert' Jazz 625 - the one from BBC2's opening night? If not, you're in for a treat. I've got it, albeit in the 1990s re-edit with introduction by Mick Hucknall (...the fuck?) and holy mackerel, it's blinding. Especially 'The Opener', which Ellington always called midway through the set. Crazy guy.

[Neil]

Money Jungle's a great session. And when I'm in London, I always get a little thrill going past Max Roach Park in Brixton.

It took me a little while to really get into it...most people seem to cite Fleurette Africaine* as the real stand-out track - and it is a seriously beautiful piece of music - but for me, A Little Max (Parfait) was the main thing that kept me coming back for more.  That and the thuderous rendition of Caravan, or Mingus' unhinged playing on the title track.  I've been trying to get different versions of it, I really want the one where Duke apparently breaks off to compliment Mingus' bass-line at the start of one of the songs.  

These are lossless FLAC files, so you need a FLAC plugin if you haven't already got one installed.  Gis a shout if you're stuck.
A Little Max (Parfait)

Fleurette Africaine

Money Jungle

* was very pleased to hear this in the background of a first season episode of The Wire recently.

[Lfbarfe]

Here's my stab at re-mastering 'Eden Express' from vinyl.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/xi5vkx

[Lfbarfe]

And here's the audio of 'The Opener' from that first 'Jazz 625':

http://www.sendspace.com/file/zosfp0

[Neil]

That's the exact version I'm on about - the one on the Philips EP that got me into jazz.

Ha, great!  I can't get enough of that particular version, it's easily one of the best pieces of music I've ever heard.  

Neil, have you seen the 'Ellington in Concert' Jazz 625 - the one from BBC2's opening night? If not, you're in for a treat. I've got it, albeit in the 1990s re-edit with introduction by Mick Hucknall (...the fuck?) and holy mackerel, it's blinding. Especially 'The Opener', which Ellington always called midway through the set. Crazy guy.

No, I'd really love to though, I'm kind of obsessed with him.  Please do let me know if you're going to torrent this, would absolutely love to see it.  Aw, typing this has made me think of BBC4, and made me realise that I've missed the second episode of Soul Britannia.  I wish that channel wasn't such a complete pain to get on Freeview, it's really the only channel that shows decent music shows these days.  With the notable exception of that recent Howard Goodall series on Channel 4...ApexJazz was telling me about another great show he did some years ago which sounded intriguing, but it's frustratingly hard to try and find stuff like this on the net for download.

Anyway, as I've mentioned Apexjazz, here's three of the tracks he kindly sent me last week:

I wanted some Western Swing, so he sent me some Bob Wills And His Texas Cowboys - I've seen interesting clips of this guy and Spade Cooley on YouTube before, accompanied by protracted arguments over who was best:
Bob Wills - Get With It

Woody Herman And The Thundering Herd - Caldonia

Here's the Boswell Sisters I mentioned earlier, their songs seem to be really interestingly structured, and with some beautiful harmonies, I definitely want to hear lots more by these girls.  YouTube has Fats Waller's Dinah soundie - I've got to start saving great stuff like that, as they zap the oddest things:
Boswell Sisters - Dinah

Oh!  He sent me the first take of the Casa Loma Stomp too, I'll dig that out as it's burnt off for my move to my new machine on Tuesday.  Much slower.   I want to find the Jimmie Lunceford version of Wham (Re-bop Boom Bam) I have knocking about here too.

Actually, have you folks got any versions of "I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate" knocking about?!  I'm trying to collect them, I got some good low-bitrate ones off the web, Apexjazz sent me a cracker by the Clarence Williams Blue Five, I've got the Ditty Bops version, etc...but am always looking for more.

EDIT:  Thanks, downloading that now.

[Lfbarfe]

Ha, great!  I can't get enough of that particular version, it's easily one of the best pieces of music I've ever heard.  

Even if it weren't so significant for me personally, I'd agree with you. I think it's pretty much the definitive recording. It was originally on an LP called 'Ellington Uptown', along with the original recording of 'Skin Deep' and the 'Tone Parallel to Harlem'. All produced by George Avakian, one of the greatest record producers ever to walk the earth, and still walking it at 87. I interviewed him for my record industry book and we went to lunch near his house with the minidisc running. Two hours later he said "Have you got what you wanted?" I replied "Kind of, but I haven't asked a single question yet".  So we did another 2 hours a couple of days later, while our wives sat in the room next door comparing notes on being married to jazz obsessives. As if producing Ellington, Erroll Garner, Miles Davis, et al wasn't enough, he discovered Bob Newhart.

No, I'd really love to though, I'm kind of obsessed with him.  

It's a fine obsession to have. If you haven't read it already, I can't recommend Stuart Nicholson's book 'Reminiscing in Tempo' highly enough. First hand accounts all knitted together into a seamless narrative. One of my favourite books on jazz.

Please do let me know if you're going to torrent this, would absolutely love to see it.  

Cough. Ahem.

Aw, typing this has made me think of BBC4, and made me realise that I've missed the second episode of Soul Britannia.

Me too. Bumholes. I thought the first part was very nicely done.

Can't help with any of the other stuff. Sorry, old badger.

[Neil]

Even if it weren't so significant for me personally, I'd agree with you. I think it's pretty much the definitive recording. It was originally on an LP called 'Ellington Uptown', along with the original recording of 'Skin Deep' and the 'Tone Parallel to Harlem'.

Aaah smashing, I didn't have that one and have just Oinked it.  Cor, frankly...and now I see what you meant about the edit.

It's a fine obsession to have. If you haven't read it already, I can't recommend Stuart Nicholson's book 'Reminiscing in Tempo' highly enough. First hand accounts all knitted together into a seamless narrative. One of my favourite books on jazz.

Thanks, I'll definitely grab it after I finish my current reading.  Along with his autobiography...that reminds me, there's a nice quote from him about Betty Roche on her AMG page:

She had a soul inflection in a bop state of intrigue and every word was understandable despite the sophisticated hip and jive connotations.

Hoping the Anita O'Day autobiography will be reprinted now...also, that documentary/movie is going to be coming out very soon, here's the trailer from YouTube:

Ooh, some new clips up in the last few weeks too:

Thanks for the PM...I think I have some Demonoid invites if anyone here needs em?

To keep the mp3s flowing, I'll quote in one of my Song Du Jour posts from a couple of weeks ago:

This Mingus tribute is a real favourite of mine:
Charles Mingus - My Jelly Roll Soul

Jelly himself:
Jelly Roll Morton - The Chant

And a recentish cover:
Silver Leaf Jazz Band - The Jelly Roll Blues

[Cardinal Tit Storm]

Here's my stab at re-mastering 'Eden Express' from vinyl.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/xi5vkx

That's much better than my effort. You should do the rest of them too.

[Lfbarfe]

That's much better than my effort. You should do the rest of them too.

Ta. Will do. I've found the biggest problem to be the end of Descarga Occurencia because it's so much quieter than the previous track, which segues into it, so I can't bring the level up without ruining the dynamics. A small price to pay...

[Neil]

Jesus Christ, I'm going mad trying to find my Jimmie Lunceford stuff.  Thankfully I can now start cataloguing everything again now that I'm moved into my new puter.  And, phew, was able to find Roy Eldridge's "Complete Verve Sessions" without having to sit and download it all, so that's a relief at least.  Will likely be enjoying some of those Jazz 625 files tonight with a few beers.  Also, I can finally encode from vinyl in Stereo, so I'll be redoing my encode of The Dudley Moore Trio record I have knocking about.  Actually, I'll leave you with this:

The Dudley Moore Trio - Poova Nova

And here's Strictly For The Birds, I have notes I typed up about this from an encode I made from a Pete and Dud single, here we go:

Incidentally, Dudley recorded this number in one take-singing-if you can call those delightfully absurd sounds singing-as he sat at the piano.
They're right clever lads, Dud and Pete!
GEORGE MARTIN

Strictly For The Birds

Brill.

And here's a Roy Eldridge to finish:

Roy Eldridge - Basin Street Blues

[Neil]

Just found some Lunceford while digging out In A Silent Way, phew.  Apexjazz sent me some more corkers last night, bless him, I'll share another three with you good folks.  Oh firstly, I was sure I'd put For Dancers Only by Jimmie Lunceford in here, but apparently not...you'll have to go here for it.  And you really should.

Here's Wham which I was after earlier in the thread after losing my mp3 of it, it's so great, a real cooker.

Jimmie Lunceford - Wham (Re-Bop-Boom-Bam)

Hangover = cured:
Jimmie Lunceford - White Heat (1933)

Here's a Gene Krupa Orchestra number, he was all buzz about this one, it's really starting to grow on me now:

Gene Krupa Orchestra - Blue Rhythm Fantasy (1939)

[butnut]

Anyone want to hear an Indonesian blend of Jazz? Try this - I really like it. Has a slightly mournful quality to it.

Orkes Kroncong Mutiara - Langgam Suling Bambu

[Neil]

Gosh, that's really beautiful, thanks much.  I've been really digging the "Swing tanzen verboten" series of late,:

Swing Music & Nazi Propaganda Swing During World War II. Swing & jazz music was considered undesirable by the Nazis who worked hard to suppress it during World War II, while using it at the same time for propaganda purposes on the airwaves. This is the story of the battle they lost against this irrepressible music.

It's really ace stuff, all new to me other than the Django and Gus Viseur.  I'll put some tracks up after breakfast, but I highly recommend getting hold of them all.

[Neil]

Here we go, I'm gonna have to save up to buy this, because it's a really wonderful collection and I'd love to read the booklets:

Dany Kane Et Son Ensemble - Nuit Et Jour (Night & Day)

Ernst Van't Hoff En Zyn Orkest - Johnson Rag

Eddie Barclay Et Son Orchestre - Hot Club Swing

[Neil]

I'm listening to "Jelly Roll Morton - The Piano Rolls", and they're realy well done.  Such a treat to hear this stuff sounding as clear as a whistle, and some great arrangements...the version of Shreveport Stomps on this is ridiculous.  The recording process is really interesting:

http://www.keyboardwizards.com/order/disklav2.htm

The Disklavier and Morton's rolls

The piano used to play the Morton rolls for the Nonesuch recordings is a nine-foot Yamaha Disklavier grand piano. This instrument was chosen because its computer capability offered unprecedented opportunities to refine the performances. In addition, this particular Disklavier piano is a high-quality full-sized concert grand producing a richness of sound and dynamic range which until now has been unusual for piano rolls recorded for compact disk.

Yamaha Disklavier pianos are capable of recording any performance played on them note-for-note as well as reflecting the nuances of interpretation. To accomplish this task, Disklaviers are fitted with a computer and optic sensors that record a hand-played performance on floppy disk. On playback from the disk, the Disklavier’s keys move up and down like the old player piano.

PianolaMorton’s roll renditions combine the sound world of a jazz ensemble, the rhythmic complexities of African drumming, the contrapuntal intricacy of a Bach fugue and the structural momentum of a classical sonata. But even when expressively foot-pumped on a pianola (thereby introducing broadly sketched tempo and dynamic contrasts) the roll performances unfortunately can never match the immensely developed, subtle, and perfectly apt interpretive nuances heard on Morton’s phonograph recording performances. This is because Morton’s rolls were manufactured in a manner typical for pop rolls of the day, without dynamics or the subtle inflections of rhythm normal to human performance.

Luckily, various unique circumstances -- the availability of Morton’s sound recordings, his piano rolls which can now be converted to computer format, new hardware and software tools and the Disklavier -- allowed us to take a new approach to giving expressive life to the rolls. By studying Morton’s unique approach to tempo, swing, balance, accent and phrasing so plentifully documented on phonograph record we sought to reintroduce his characteristic expression which had been removed in the original roll manufacturing process. This goal was facilitated by two processes: first, by analyzing Morton’s phonograph performance in detail, and second, by restoring expressive elements into the piano rolls using information obtained from the preceeding performance analysis.

We were able to study Morton’s old 78 recordings from the standpoint of tempo, melodic shaping, accentuation, swung rhythms, chord voicing and pedalling because it is possible to convert these recordings to computer data. We copied Morton’s phonograph recordings from the 1920’s contemporaneous to his piano rolls onto a computer where they were stored in the form of digital audio (in digital audio, sound is represented as a long string of numbers). In this new format we were able to measure to the millisecond literally thousands of time intervals in his performances, from whole bars down to small fractions of a single beat. Painstaking analysis of this type was essential for recreating Morton’s characteristic rhythmic inflections and other aspects of his performance style.

Meanwhile, using a piano roll reader, the paper rolls were converted into another type of computer file (MIDI files) which specified the location and length of each hole on the roll. Once in MIDI file format, we used a software program to edit into the expressionless roll data subtle gradations of tempo, rhythm, pedaling and loudness. Without the capability of converting rolls to MIDI file format, it would not have been possible to add into the roll data what eventually proved to be thousands of tiny adjustments based upon information taken from the phonograph recordings. Applying performance information from the audio recordings to the rolls was not and never could have become an automated process. Interpretive decisions had to be made when the piano roll and audio versions differed, or where no relevant audio model existed for a particular roll rendition.

The final step was to play back Morton’s performance-annotated rolls held in the computer on an actual acoustic piano called a Disklavier. The Disklavier produces sound just as any other piano does (including the old player pianos) via a hammer striking a string; the Disklavier’s keys even go up and down.

However, the Disklavier contains additional hardware that can connect it to a computer, allowing it to actually be played by musical information stored in the computer. Once the MIDI editing of the rolls was completed a nine-foot Disklavier was taken to the auditorium of The Academy of Arts and Letters in New York City where a normal sound recording using microphones was made. Connected to a computer, the Disklavier played back the expressive roll data; a microphone captured the music initiated by the computer while the keys and pedals moved as if of the self-proclaimed "inventor of jazz" was paying a ghostly visit.

Artis Wodehouse

Still got "Butch Thompson Plays Jelly Roll Morton Piano Solos" to listen to.  (EDIT:  Woah, he really nails Tiger Rag.)

[Neil]

Holy fuck, I just found a David Bowie cover of "I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate"!

[ApexJazz]

Well, Neil’s attempts at enticing me into becoming a thread slave have worked.
A jazz thread is always a good idea; great to see so many good musicians being enjoyed and discussed. I’ll join in now, acting as if I’ve been here all along.

The Indonesian music is fascinating. Reminds of early Cuban transitional Santeria-campesina music. Would love to hear more.
Michael Brecker’s recent passing was tragic and needless. My infuriation with the religious right continuing to block this medical research is impossible to express. They have my eternal contempt.
Brecker was probably the last fusion cat I willingly spend time with. He was such a supreme player, he justifies the genre if not the army of emulators. I must admit to an unease with fusion as it risks a populist version of jazz ‘staying current’. When the music is back to only two chords, that is not progress (not that everything needs profuse progressions; ”it ain’t the chords but what you do with them”).
Stan Tracey is a sour-faced bastard, but an incredible genius. I have never heard a Tracey ensemble that didn’t have the cream-of-the-crop talent in it (quietly I yearn for more collaborations with Wellins), his playing has taken on a strange self-sufficiency recently.
Pizzarelli may need to apologize to purists for his good looks but not his guitar playing. As someone who always finds Sinatra slightly tiresome (one album listening keeps me content for a year), I’m happy the faux-swing fad has died down and Pizzarelli is still standing.
Verboten musik â€" the idea of Nazi propaganda jazz is materialzing many bad jokes in my mind. Though itz depressing to think of all those rebellious German kids who were political dissidents, dressed up in English fashions and loved jazz, eventually dying in Nazi labour camps.

[ApexJazz]

The Old Stuff…
MONEY JUNGLE â€" The recording date was almost a disaster: Mingus walked out of the studio shouting that he refused to work with “that drummer”, pointing disdainfully at Roach. Apparently Ellington had to go finesse things over, but the tension in the air must have been crackling (lightning is striking everywhere on “Caravan” and “Money Jungle”). Mingus and Ellington had some history, going back to the 1940’s when Mingus held the bass chair to Duke's band for a brief spell. It ended after Mingus jumped at trombonist Juan Tizol with an axe on stage (coincidentally or not the composer of “Caravan”). As Mingus tells it later, Duke fired him in such a charming way that he didn’t even realize it until hours after (thinking he had been given a compliment or done a great favour).
Not to be one of those boring types, but “Fleurette Africaine” is so beautiful a piece, Duke building on very simple pieces of musical information; I almost wished Max laid out on that one, allowing an interplay between Mingus and Duke unfettered.
Very special hearing Ellington in a small group setting since it’s sometimes gets forgotten that Duke played a hell a lot of piano. Only half of this summitry of giants made to it vinyl, making the CD a beautiful thing (with five new pieces and alternative takes).

LUNCEFORD - I’m loving how Neil has taken a liking to all things Lunceford. It was arguably the best big band of the early 1930’s, thanks to Sy Oliver’s brilliantly varied and inventive arranging, certainly the vanguard of orchestral jazz. If you compare the hair-raising “White Heat” with the average effete mewing band of the time, you can hear how cutting edge they were. “White Heat” is also indicative of an inner divide growing in early 1930’s jazz orchestras with pieces that were to be heard as music rather than for dancing (which was jazz’s only perceived function at the time). Ellington, the Casa Lomas, Moten, and Lunceford all had to contend with these conflicting urges. Lunceford’s orchestra momentarily tackled the issue by performing jazz instrumentals of frenetic tempos, totally un-danceable (unless by acrobats). Later pieces with titles like “For Dancers Only” explain themselves. The guys in the band shared a pixie-ish sense of humour which comes out on the pop and novelty tunes. “Wham” is a smart arrangement with all the usual Lunceford delights: the sax section with Willie Smith’s lead alto work, Earl Carruther’s big chested baritone sax, Joe Thomas’ consistent tenor sax solos, Paul Webster’s high note trumpet work, Jimmy Crawford’s lively rhythm, et al. (Note To Neil: STILL looking for those discs)

ANITA â€" If asked to name someone who defines what a “jazz singer” is, I would first offer up Anita O’Day. She led such a wild life, the upcoming docu couldn’t be boring if it tried. Anita O’Day as a yelling old broad in interviews is amusing; so many years in front of screaming big bands had obviously made her DEAF!
That “Sweet Georgia Brown” is still a killer (I’m pondering where, wearing that sleeveless dress, she shot up). I think what made her filmed Newport appearance such a sensation was how close the camera was to her face; audiences were able to see an improviser’s thought process. The film itself, Jazz On A Summer’s Day, is a wonderful document (the proto-type for all the festival and concert films of the following decade).

BOSWELL SISTERS - I love these gals, but I’m always hesitant to introduce people to them. They have a immediate period charm, but there's so much more. Their intricate arrangements are full of surprises; hard to keep track of all the tempo shifts (at least five to a tune!), major to minor key changes, reharmonizing, fragmentation. The miracle being that it sounds perfectly natural and never jarring; all of which indirectly reflects their New Orleans heritage. The city was a cross-roads where every type of music could be heard: from opera to blues, marches to masses, Caribbean to Chinese, spirituals to string quartets (indeed, the Bozzies started off as a string trio).
A back-up studio singer once told me that any vocal group needs at least one good singer to carry, and the Boswell Singers had a great one in Connie Boswell. A key influence on Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Kay Starr, and non-jazz singers like Judy Garland. Her approach to singing was from an instrumentalist’s sensibility; can’t think of any other white singer of the time who had more rhythmic freedom, using syncopation and ‘blue notes’ with spontaneous ease. Much less from a female singer!
The Bozzies did a massive amount of recording, the added pleasure and interest is their sessions kept company with the better jazz talent of the day (Bunny Berigan, the Dorseys, Venuti, etc).

All my babbling is not as interesting as the music, so go listen!

[Lfbarfe]

Also, I can finally encode from vinyl in Stereo, so I'll be redoing my encode of The Dudley Moore Trio record I have knocking about.

The first 2 Dudley Moore Trio albums for Decca - The Other Side of Dudley Moore and Genuine Dud - were mono-only, because they were recorded at the BBC's Maida Vale studios. The 'World of...' reissues were nasty fake stereo as a result.

And here's Strictly For The Birds, I have notes I typed up about this from an encode I made from a Pete and Dud single, here we go:

Incidentally, Dudley recorded this number in one take-singing-if you can call those delightfully absurd sounds singing-as he sat at the piano.
They're right clever lads, Dud and Pete!
GEORGE MARTIN

Do you have the other side, by any chance? Duddley Dell - the theme to Quote Unquote?

[Lfbarfe]

Stan Tracey is a sour-faced bastard, but an incredible genius.

Oh I wouldn't call him sour-faced. His humour is bone dry, but it's definitely there. I'm sure I got a smile out of him once, when getting him to sign my copy of 'Little Klunk'.

I have never heard a Tracey ensemble that didn’t have the cream-of-the-crop talent in it (quietly I yearn for more collaborations with Wellins), his playing has taken on a strange self-sufficiency recently.

I can't wait to see if his 80th birthday big band tour happens. Incidentally, have you seen the Jazz 625 with Stan's trio backing Ben Webster? That's a lovely bit of television.

[Lfbarfe]

On the subject of the great Stan, here's 'The Cuban Connection', recorded for BBC Radio 3 in Manchester in 2002 on Stan's 75th birthday tour. I think the solo order is Stan, Mark Nightingale, Peter King, Andy Panayi and Mornington Lockett. It just rolls along beautifully.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/t1e9ip

[Neil]

Nice one ApexJazz, that's some good readin' sir!   As I said on Skype last week, different tracks are coming to the fore with Money Jungle as time passes, which is the sign of a really classic record for me.  Currently, it's all about Wig Wise.  I'm meaning to get Ellington's auto-biography after I finish my current reading...have you or anyone else read that?

The first 2 Dudley Moore Trio albums for Decca - The Other Side of Dudley Moore and Genuine Dud - were mono-only, because they were recorded at the BBC's Maida Vale studios. The 'World of...' reissues were nasty fake stereo as a result.

This is the eponymous one for Decca, definitely Stereo, the blue dot informs me.

Do you have the other side, by any chance? Duddley Dell - the theme to Quote Unquote?

The other side of this is Sitting On A Bench, whicl I'll also redo for Tom (EDIT:  No I won't, I've just dug it out and it is mono).  I do have it though, yeah.  It's fantastic...never actually heard that radio show so didn't know that.  Anyway, I guess you're asking rather than offering, but I'll shove it up here anyway in case anyone else needs it:  

Dudley Moore Trio - Duddley Dell

[sick as a pike]

I had no idea that was Dudley Moore.  Unfortunately I can't listen to it without expecting Nigel Rees to start speaking at any moment.  An expectation which makes me extremely unsettled.

[Lfbarfe]

This is the eponymous one for Decca, definitely Stereo, the blue dot informs me.

The one with the rather glorious Song for Suzy on it? Sadly I don't have that one. I was offered a copy once, but I balked at spending £30 on it.

The other side of this is Sitting On A Bench, whicl I'll also redo for Tom (EDIT:  No I won't, I've just dug it out and it is mono).  I do have it though, yeah.  It's fantastic...never actually heard that radio show so didn't know that.  Anyway, I guess you're asking rather than offering, but I'll shove it up here anyway in case anyone else needs it:  

Dudley Moore Trio - Duddley Dell

Thanks for that. No, I've been after it for ages. I didn't buy either volume of Authentic Dud because a) I have the first two Decca LPs in lovely condition and b) it was reissued by Harkit who don't tend to clear the things they re-issue - hence the sudden withdrawal of both CDs, I assume. Only after they'd disappeared from the shops did I discover that Duddley Dell was on one of them.

I've done a pretty decent transfer of 'The Other Side of Dudley Moore' (with bonus track in the form of the NOBA theme) if anyone's interested.

[ApexJazz]

As I said on Skype last week, different tracks are coming to the fore with Money Jungle as time passes, which is the sign of a really classic record for me.  Currently, it's all about Wig Wise.  I'm meaning to get Ellington's auto-biography after I finish my current reading...have you or anyone else read that?

It can be all about Wig Wise (meaning playing “off the top of their heads”) but leave some for Switchblade and the everyone’s-smiling-at-the-end-of-the-session Backward Country Boy Blues.
As for the autobio, I would skip it. Not much meat. Bits of wisdom, some immortal descriptions of musicians, but mostly pleasantries and sugar-coated remembrances. Duke always chooses to be generous than not, it wasn’t his style to make enemies or put on display his problems (but, surprisingly, the only person he has a harsh thing to say is Jelly Roll Morton). He was more outspoken in his younger days, wrote eloquently about the music and its directions, very severe of Gershwin and jam sessions.
Much more entertaining is Mingus’ autobiography, which is as nutty and full of turmoil as you would want. Who wouldn’t want to read about a man who taught his pets to use the toilet?
Gotta’ agree with LFB that the Nicholson book should be a bio first choice; Stanley Dance’s book is useful on the cats in the orchestra; Don George’s “Sweet Man” memoir amusingly dishes the dirt on Duke’s sexcapades; “Beyond Category” has nice photos, James Collier’s book is ultra critical, A.H. Lawrence’s is an assembling of all the above.

As for Stan The Man, I meant “sour-faced bastard” in a good way, of course.
More Moore please.