Allan Songer
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Posts posted by Allan Songer
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Happy B'day, Craig. Long time no visit . . .
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When you talk to Craig, tell him you want to spring for Jensen caps. He did mine a few years back and I still marvel at the sound. And this is from a guy who's had a C22 in his main system for 25 years . . .
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The late, great Herman Riley--a fixture on the LA jazz scene for most of my adult life. Been gone a long while now, but I still miss him.
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Not my opinion as to what are "the greatest," but these three always make me smile and drop into a nice groove.
Lou Donaldson "Blues Walk"
Curtis Fuller (w/Benny Golson) "Five Spot After Dark"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR-vq3YyonU
Art Pepper (w/Carl Perkins) "Holiday Flight"
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One of the best records from the late 70's/early 80's. Killer band, awseome sonics. You can't go wrong with this one:
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Yep! EXPLOSIVE! Another example of a great working quartet captured live in the studio with no tricks.
These NESSA records are really something else . . .
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Gary's right. There was only one "major label" release from Von and that was his first record back in the early 70's on Atlantic, "Doin' it Right Now."
This one is EASY to find and you can pick it up for ten bucks on ebay:
The best Von albums on vinyl are the two NESSA releases from the late 70's, "Have No Fear" and "Serenade and Blues." They are more in the $15-$25 range but still show up on ebay pretty regularly. I just don't see how any decent jazz collection could NOT have these two. Essential stuff--among the best jazz LP's of the 1970's--right up there with Art Pepper's stuff . . .
And finally there is "Young and Foolish" on Affinity (Euro import) from the early to mid 1980's. This one is pretty hard to find but is really a great record with an absolutely SMOKIN' "Bye Bye Blackbird."
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No vinyl. But don't let that stop you!!!!!
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I have been playing this album almost every day for the last 4 months and I just can't get enough of it.
Von Freeman is my favorite living musician and this is his latest, recorded in 2002 and released late last year on NESSA.
How about a MacArthur grant for Von, who has never made any real money but who is one of the greatest EVER?
What makes this one special is that Von was recorded with his regular Chicago quartet--the empathy among these four is amazing.
BEST VERSION OF "SUMMERTIME" EVER!!!!!!!!!
And here's a tasty YouTube bit:
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NON news shows:
Mad Men
Top Gear
Breaking Bad
No Reservations (Anthony Bourdain)
Mythbusters
Honorable Mention: The Closer--I know it's not much but I like it and have seen all of them . . .
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The trumpet player on the Draper date with Coltrane was Webster Young, very much in the Miles groove. He made one KILLER record as a leader for Prestige playing all Billie Holiday tunes :
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Wow. $1600 these days for a pair? I think I paid $200 for mine back in the 90's.
Then again, a real bargain when compared with these!
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Jorgen Schou transformers. They turn up on ebay on a regular basis. Gotten really expensive in the last 10 years--a rally nice pair will set you back at least $600--maybe more. A single one sold for over $500 a few weeks ago.
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If I ever put together a table for my second system (I have an old Rek-O-Kut sitting in mothballs that I have been meaning to do something with for 10 years or more), I would love to give this arm a go. Right now I have a 12" Ikeda and a 3012 on the TD-124 -- I use a current production SPU mono on the 3012 and run it though a pair of Jorgen Schou transformers into the C22 and an 1960's vintage SPU GT on the Ikeda and run it straight into the C22.
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Yes, indeed. Nothin' but SPU cartridges here for going on 20 years. All but one were purchased used. All needed to be rebuilt.
I will never use anything else. Ever.
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The poster was KIDDING! He clearly states later than he doesn't know what to do with the 75's.
My advice? Sell them for big bucks on ebay and look for a nice pair of MC-30's.
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Funny story:
The last time I talked to Teddy was at his final gig at Spazio. Teddy led a big band that night, his "Brass String Ensemble" which featured Herman Riley on tenor. Teddy was pretty weak by this time and Herman (another REALLY GREAT LA based tenor who passed away a couple of years ago) took most of the tenor solos. I was in the john at intermission when Teddy and Herman walked in, Teddy took my place at the urinal and while I was washing my hands and Herman was waiting, Teddy looked over his shoulder and said in that sweet Missisippi drawl of his "Herman! You really blew the SH!T out of that last solo!!!" It's my final memory of Teddy--gracious and funny right to the end . . .
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Teddy was really a great player, a wonderful man and someone who NEVER got the respect that was due him. He was the FIRST, the VERY FIRST man to record hard core bebop on the tenor sax with the 1947 Dial recording of "Up in Dodo's Room" with Dodo Marmaroso and also released on Dial "Blues in Teddy's Flat" later that year, which may have been the best selling DIAL 78 ever--selling MORE than the great Charlie Parker 78s from the same era.
In the early 50's Teddy went on to be the lead tenor in the 'Lighthouse All Stars" and his tune "Sunset Eyes" was the theme song for the group but he was fired by Howard Rumsey when a bunch of ex-Kenton guys drifted into the group and the band took on a more "cool" sound with Bob Cooper on tenor. Teddy then went on to become an original member of the Max Roach - Clifford Brown unit and he appears on their first 10" LP on GRP records which includes a kickass verson of "Sunset Eyes." But when Roach and Brown wanted to take the group to New York, Teddy passed as he wanted to stay in LA with his wife and infant son. So Harold Land replaced him in the band and the rest is history.
By the late 50's Teddy was barely making it in LA, having to play strip clubs and scratching for any gig he could get. He started getting recording gigs with Contemporary and Pacific Jazz and also become the star attraction in the Gerald Wilson big band. This period from 1958 through about 1963 was a great time for Teddy, as he also went on the road with Benny Goodman as the lead tenor. All of his records from this period are EXCELLENT and you wouldn't go wrong buying any or all of them.
After having not recorded for about 5 years, Teddy signed with Prestige and put out two really excellent LPs in 1966-67 that didn't sell well at all. It would be 8 years before he would record again for Muse (one LP) and then many more years would go by before he really got on a roll in the late 80's and early 90's, putting out one really fine record after another until the end of his life.
Teddy never left LA and it was a real treat to hear him in the local clubs, as he played on average about 2-3 gigs a month around LA throughout the 80's and 90's. I caught LOTS and LOTS of them and he never gave less than everything he had. We even became email pals when he got "on line" the last 5-6 years of his life. He was a wonderful man and the best tenor I ever heard . . .
Glad you enjoyed the clips! Now go buy some of his albums!
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Bud Shank passed away over the weekend. RIP. Last really great gig I heard him on was with Bill Perkins about 7-8 years ago. Sadly, they are both gone now. Check out this one from the mid-1980's with Bud on alto, Bill Perkins on baritone, Jimmy Guiffre on tenor and Shorty Rogers on flugelhorn. This is "West Coast Jazz" at it's best, I think:
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Nothing a big ol subwoofer wouldn't cure . . .[
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Another tasty treat from Teddy Edwards:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8m3FSRvQCRs&feature=related
Teddy is my all-time favorite player. I heard him perform live at least 50 times (maybe closer to 100) from the 70's until his death. I went to his final gig, a big band date with strings at Spazio about 2-3 months before he passed. I still miss him--he was the best . . .
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Just in case you forgot how bad he really was, vol. 22
in 2-Channel Home Audio
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My all time favorite tenor player--Teddy Edwards. Must have heard him play live about 100 times from the 70's until he passed.