Odds and Ends
Again, long time no blog. Usually I'm really into posting here but lately I just haven't really felt the inspiration but there has been lots of great stuff going on at the club and with the label. First off though some personal tid bits. I went out of town this past weekend to get a little r&r with my fiancee and we went to this incredible bed and breakfast in Harrison Hot Springs. I cannot say enough about what an amazing place this is. Its called The Harrison Heritage House and Kottages. It was absolutely amazing. Sonja and Robert the owner of the place are fantastic and the place was so charming I can't even believe it. If you're looking for a little r&r this is the place to go.
I got a wonderful present for my birthday. A great book called "The House That Trane Built, The Story of Impulse Records." I cannot put the thing down. Its a fantastic book and a wonderful recount of Impulse Records. Its quite fascinating because Impule was a subsidiary of ABC Paramount who had the likes of Ray Charles and Paul Anka on the label so they gave their producers a little bit more leeway and they had a bit of a longer rope when signing and producing records. The two primary producers at the label were Creed Taylor followed by Bob Thiele both of whom were very very respected by musicians. Its quite funny to read how they kind of did everything backwards. They let their musicians record super long tracks and also weren't necessarily concerned with what was mainstream. They recorded some very very adventurous records and were continuoulsy backed by ABC. The also released these records at a very tumultuous time politically and these records seemed to strike a chord with people. I haven't read the whole thing but so far its really been a great read.
I also got a new book mailed to me from a publisher and got asked to review it on my blog. Interesting request and without really thinking about it I agreed and now I'm in the position of having to review a something. Luckily I liked it so its much much easier. The book is The Essential Jazz Recordings - 101 CDs by Ross Porter. For those of you who don't know Ross Porter he has been an integral part of jazz in Canada while at CBC as host of 'After Hours,' a brief stint launching Cool TV and now as the CEO I believe of what I hear is a successful radio station in Toronto featuring primarily jazz. I have deal with Mr. Porter on several occasions and respect his opinions. I only have a few problems with the book and albeit minor I have to mention them. First of all, the cover design leaves a lot to be desired. Its one of the reasons why jazz is thought to be uncool. It could've been so much better but it is very bland and very uncool. Now, you can't judge a book by its cover right? This book is great and Porter does a great job of stating why he likes the records he chooses and manages to keep an experienced listener such as myself interested but doesn't talk above the casual listener or inexperienced fan. The only problem I have with the book is that Porter includes collections as some of his picks so for example he uses compilations. There are no rules about what you can state as a 'great' cd but for some reason using collections or compilations doesn't sit well with me. Its kinda cheating but hey what do I know. Its a great book and its very cool to read about what someone's 101 best CDs are. I don't agree with all of his choices but thats kind of the fun of it.
Clarinetist James Danderfer just launched a brand new website that looks fabulous. You can view the site by clicking here. James is doing will living in Shanghai and although we miss him here on the scene he is learning a lot and apparently writing a ton of great music. He has a sextet date tentatively scheduled for May but when its official you can check the Cellar calendar for details.
Im getting very excited about the Lou Donaldson appearance in January. I just found out that it is in fact going to be Mike Ledonne on organ which is awesome because a) he is a monster on the b3 and b) he is a great guy. Im currently working on a telephone interview for my radio show and hopefully I will publish it on vancouverjazz.com. Its going to be an amazing three nights of music.
I have been listening to the new...well the new / old Ray Charles CD with the Count Basie Orchestra. If you haven't heard it you should. Its awesome. Basically they found the session in the record vaults and the vocal trax were pristine and beautiful but there were lots of issues with the big band track such as bad recording and some tape transfer issues so what they did is extract the vocal tracks and then the new Count Basie band went into the studio and played some newly written arrangements behind the vocals and the results are terrific. The band swinging its butt off and Ray sounds great. Im usually not into these recreation things but you can't deny how great this sounds.
Thats if for now!
I got a wonderful present for my birthday. A great book called "The House That Trane Built, The Story of Impulse Records." I cannot put the thing down. Its a fantastic book and a wonderful recount of Impulse Records. Its quite fascinating because Impule was a subsidiary of ABC Paramount who had the likes of Ray Charles and Paul Anka on the label so they gave their producers a little bit more leeway and they had a bit of a longer rope when signing and producing records. The two primary producers at the label were Creed Taylor followed by Bob Thiele both of whom were very very respected by musicians. Its quite funny to read how they kind of did everything backwards. They let their musicians record super long tracks and also weren't necessarily concerned with what was mainstream. They recorded some very very adventurous records and were continuoulsy backed by ABC. The also released these records at a very tumultuous time politically and these records seemed to strike a chord with people. I haven't read the whole thing but so far its really been a great read.
I also got a new book mailed to me from a publisher and got asked to review it on my blog. Interesting request and without really thinking about it I agreed and now I'm in the position of having to review a something. Luckily I liked it so its much much easier. The book is The Essential Jazz Recordings - 101 CDs by Ross Porter. For those of you who don't know Ross Porter he has been an integral part of jazz in Canada while at CBC as host of 'After Hours,' a brief stint launching Cool TV and now as the CEO I believe of what I hear is a successful radio station in Toronto featuring primarily jazz. I have deal with Mr. Porter on several occasions and respect his opinions. I only have a few problems with the book and albeit minor I have to mention them. First of all, the cover design leaves a lot to be desired. Its one of the reasons why jazz is thought to be uncool. It could've been so much better but it is very bland and very uncool. Now, you can't judge a book by its cover right? This book is great and Porter does a great job of stating why he likes the records he chooses and manages to keep an experienced listener such as myself interested but doesn't talk above the casual listener or inexperienced fan. The only problem I have with the book is that Porter includes collections as some of his picks so for example he uses compilations. There are no rules about what you can state as a 'great' cd but for some reason using collections or compilations doesn't sit well with me. Its kinda cheating but hey what do I know. Its a great book and its very cool to read about what someone's 101 best CDs are. I don't agree with all of his choices but thats kind of the fun of it.
Clarinetist James Danderfer just launched a brand new website that looks fabulous. You can view the site by clicking here. James is doing will living in Shanghai and although we miss him here on the scene he is learning a lot and apparently writing a ton of great music. He has a sextet date tentatively scheduled for May but when its official you can check the Cellar calendar for details.
Im getting very excited about the Lou Donaldson appearance in January. I just found out that it is in fact going to be Mike Ledonne on organ which is awesome because a) he is a monster on the b3 and b) he is a great guy. Im currently working on a telephone interview for my radio show and hopefully I will publish it on vancouverjazz.com. Its going to be an amazing three nights of music.
I have been listening to the new...well the new / old Ray Charles CD with the Count Basie Orchestra. If you haven't heard it you should. Its awesome. Basically they found the session in the record vaults and the vocal trax were pristine and beautiful but there were lots of issues with the big band track such as bad recording and some tape transfer issues so what they did is extract the vocal tracks and then the new Count Basie band went into the studio and played some newly written arrangements behind the vocals and the results are terrific. The band swinging its butt off and Ray sounds great. Im usually not into these recreation things but you can't deny how great this sounds.
Thats if for now!
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