Ken Dryden

Nelson Abbey wrote:

I am a big Dexter Gordon fan. Many years ago, I heard a recording that I believe was Dexter Gordon, doing a version of "My Funny Valentine" where he was just sort of breathing through his instrument. I have been looking for this track forever, but cannot find it. Any ideas?

Nelson:

I'm almost positive that Dexter Gordon recorded this piece more than once, but the only one I've found is in a medley on "The Chase," which is listed under Gene Ammons/Dexter Gordon on Prestige, available from Fantasy. Although I have a lot of Dexter's recordings, there are quite a few that I don't have, and a database search hasn't begun to turn up all his appearances as a sideman. Neither did I find any additional recordings of the song in the discography accompanying Stan Britt's biography of Gordon.

George Novotny of Toronto, Ontario, Canada wrote:

I've been trying like crazy to find a copy of Sue Raney's Dreamsville album. I've found the following info:

The title is "Dreamsville, Sue Raney sings the music of Henry Mancini" it was put out by Trend Records with a release date of 1989 catalog # is 70557 Distributor is WEA. I heard some of it on FM and it was great. Hope you can help and if not thanks anyways.

George:

It seems that Trend has gone out of business. Check out some of these sites:

half.ebay.com, secondspin.com, gemm.com, euclidrecords.com

A preliminary search didn't uncover it, but some sites will let you create a wish list.

Helynn Coles wrote:

Is there a list somewhere on the Blue Note Japanesse Import CD's? I am looking for a few CD's that were issued through that label. Thank you for your time.

Helynn:

I don't know of any list of all of the Japanese Blue Notes which have been issued, and a lot of them don't seem to be available for very long. Redtrumpet.com is one of the better sources for them.

David Hensley wrote:

My aunt and uncle are in their 70s, and they remember hearing Sidney Bechet play a song called "Deep River." They attended Jazz clubs in the Chicago and St Louis areas when they were younger. They've talked with the owner of Jazz Record Mart in Chicago, but they've had no success in locating a recording of this song.

I've tried several Jazz www sites, Google searches, and even some musician's www sites, but I've had no success either. (The guy in our local Tower store says I've gone above and beyond trying to exhaust all possibilities. He's not optimistic.) We'd be very grateful if you could help us track down a recording of this song. Thanks again!

David:

I haven't had any luck either in finding such a recording. Either it is on an extremely obscure 78 rpm record, or it doesn't exist. Sorry!

Ingrid Sluyter of the Netherlands wrote:

A friend of mine found in an old building wrapped in a newspaper 5 records of Charlie and his Orchestra 78 RPM. (Dr. Goebbels Jazz Orchestra) We found out that it is German Propaganda Swing from WWII. The are in perfect condition. We want to sell them. What price should we ask? Kind regards.

Ingrid:

According to my sources, much of this music, which is borderline jazz of little quality, has been reissued on Harlequin CDs. I don't know if the original 78rpm records are worth much at all, though you should check auction sites as a reference. Most collectors don't bother with 78 rpm records as they're too much trouble to deal with.

R. Stancill wrote:

Whose life was the 1955 movie Pete Kellys Blues based on?

R.:

Since I've never seen it, I'm not sure but I think that it was just a fictional tale based on nobody in particular. I can't imagine a worse job of casting then Jack Webb (of TV's Dragnet) as a trumpeter!

Buddy Love wrote:

Can you settle an argument? What instrument did Fred Elizade play? Thanks.

Buddy:

Federico Elizalde (not Elizade), a native of Manila in the Philippines, played piano.

Jan Maas of Belgium wrote:

Can You tell me who played the flute on "Aldeia de Oqun" from Joyce?

Jan:

I'm not at all familiar with this Brazilian artist, but if you are asking about her 'Live at the Mojo Club' CD, the flautist is Teco Cardoso.

Karma Foley wrote:

I am trying to find an all-instrumental version of "On the Sunny Side of the Street" (ideally a Benny Goodman instrumental, if one exists), and came across your website (allaboutjazz.com) while doing a web search. Would you happen to know off-hand if there are any recorded instrumental versions of that tune, or could you suggest how and where to search for one? Thanks so much!

Karma:

Using the Benny Goodman discography put together by Russell Connor, I found that Goodman recorded and performed the tune on numerous occasions. An instrumental version of the song appears on Goodman's CD Yale Archives Vol. 9, Live at Basin Street 1954, but it is out of print. It's on two releases by Art Tatum, in his mammoth Complete Pablo Solo Masterpieces boxed set and also The Standard Transcriptions (Storyville 8260/61).

You can get an idea of the numerous recordings of this tune by searching with the song title through www.allmusic.com, but you'll have to search each individual release as not all will be instrumental. Good luck.

Barry Stock wrote:

I heard a really great recording of Sarah doing "Bali Hai," the 'South Pacific' standard, on a local NPR show. A search on All Music Guide turns up nada. I've written to the station and asked, with no response. Any clues Ken? Thanks a'million.

Barry:

Sarah Vaughan sings Bloddy Mary's song "Bali Ha'i" (that's the way it's spelled) on the 1986 London Original Cast CD, which features Mandy Patinkin and Kiri Te Kanawa. I don't know of a jazz CD with a version by Vaughan, but it is possible. I also checked the rather long discography in Leslie Gourse's bio of the singer, but I didn't see another version listed.

Jerry Palmer wrote:

I'm trying to locate a 4 disc box set from Mercury Records with various jazz artists on it. Don't know the name or anything. I was in Canada recently in a store and the clerk was playing it. Very nice stuff. I've tried finding it on my own with no luck. Any leads? Thanks.

Jerry :

I'm guessing the set you're looking for is the 49th Anniversary set compilation on Mercury, issued as an LP set in the 1980s and reissued on CD in 1991. It is out of print, so you've got to search the used CD stores and web sites for it. Try half.com for starters.

Ivar Steigan wrote:

Can I expect "The Challenge" by Hampton Hawes to be reissued on CD?

Ivar:

"The Challenge" was originally recorded for RCA (Japan) and was reissued as a Storyville LP. There's a chance either one of these labels might reissue it, though I doubt that any U.S. based label would be likely to put it out.

Brian Hope wrote:

I was listening to Internet Radio, an excellent station (I believe it's WNCU from North Carolina), and they played a George Russell track "All About Rosie" from a Columbia CD that I think they titled "Great Arrangers Vol. 1". I've searched everywhere I could on the Web, including Columbia and Sony, without any luck. Is this something familiar to you or can you give guidance on where I might get it?

Brian:

"All About Rosie" was included on the 1996 Columbia/Legacy CD The Birth of the Third Stream, though I'm not sure that this reissue is still in print. Try half.com, euclidrecords.com and other sites dealing in used CDs to see if they have it.

Patricia Dryburgh, of Calgary, Alberta, Canada wrote:

On the 1976 Roulette recording by Betty Carter, "Now It's My Turn", the drummer is listed on the personnel list as "unknown." Could you possibly tell me who was playing the drums on that session? I would appreciate any help you can give me. The list of drummers who worked with Carter is long and distinguished, so it seems to me that she wouldn't have just grabbed someone off the street. This is driving me nuts, so, to protect my sanity I'd really like to know who it was.

Patricia:

I don't own this LP and even my friend, Scott Yanow, who seems to know everything, is stumped. If I can find a way to contact John Hicks, the pianist on the date, he might remember.

Asanka wrote:

How many versions of "On the Green Dolphin Street" has Miles Davis recorded ? The one I am after has John Coltrane on Tenor Sax and possibly Red Garland on Piano. I first listened to this track off a vinyl LP of which the title escapes me, now (It was 36 years back !) I tried to two versions currently available on CDs. The solos sound different. May be my treasure is still in Vinyl form. The list in the Miles' Biography (Ian Carr) doesn't help much.

Asanka:

The following versions exist with Davis and Coltrane together:

1958/05/26 w/Bill Evans first appeared on Columbia LP Jazz Track and has been reissued many times under various titles.

1960/03/21 En Concert w/Wynton Kelly (bootleg CD)

1960/03/22 In Stockholm 1960 Complete w/Kelly (bootleg CD set)

1960/03/24 Live in Europe 1960 aka Live in Copenhagen w/Kelly (both versions are bootleg CDs)

1960/04/09 Green Dolphin Street (bootleg CD) w/Kelly

The first version is the record you owned. It has most recently appeared in the Columbia/Legacy boxed set Miles Davis & John Coltrane: The Complete Columbia Recordings 1965 - 1961. There are other private recordings of them playing "On Green Dolphin Street" that have never been issued. They never recorded together after 1961.

I didn't try to look up any versions of the song that Davis may have recorded without John Coltrane.

Jack Lappe of Houston, TX wrote:

Is Diana Krall the daughter of (or related to) Jackie Cain & Roy Krall, whose bebop stuff with Charlie Ventura, et. al. I loved back in the 50's?.....Just curious. Thanks.

Jack:

Diana Krall, although she sings and plays piano, as does Roy Kral (spelled differently), they are not at all related. Diana Krall is a native of Canada and learned jazz from her father's and band director's record collections.

Roy Kral had a sister who sang jazz and made some recordings. She died in 1978.

Peter Thorsen DVM, of the University of California at San Francisco wrote:

Dear Dr. Jazz:

I am looking for an online catalog or listing of jazz CDs which are out of print. Do you know of such a resource?

Dr. Thorsen:

I don't believe any one source on-line can have a complete list of out of print CDs, as the list is constantly changing. If you got to allmusic.com, most in-print CDs have a link to CD Now, though the absence of a link doesn't mean they aren't still in print. It is particularly difficult to keep up with the status of smaller labels and imports.

Dick Van Aken of the U.K. wrote:

I wonder if you can help me in my quest to find a CD version of the following album:.

European Windows - Febr.'58 (Vict. 1742, and RCA LMP-1742) John Lewis conducts the Stuttgart Symphony Orchestra, with Conny Kay (drums), Percy Heath (bass), Gerry Weinkopf (flute), Ronnie Ross (baritone sax). Six compositions by Lewis and one by Gunther Schuller. Details: lp vinyl album - MODERN JAZZ QUARTET/JOHN LEWIS - European Windows - song titles: - Midsommer/The Queen's Fancy/Cortege/Two Degrees East - Three Degrees West/England's Carol/Three Windows -

Dick:

This John Lewis LP has never been reissued on CD, and seems to be unlikely to reappear any time soon. I have at least one dealer, Euclid Records, who has a copy of the LP for sale, though he didn't specify whether it was the original record or the reissue LP.

B>Lazaro Vega wrote:

Is Johnny Hodges' 'Cue for Saxophone' available in any CD or LP form that I can purchase?

Lazaro:

Billy Strayhorn's 'Cue for Saxophone' was last available as a circa 1989-1991 Verve CD reissue and on an Affinity LP reissued in 1986, but Felsted was the original label, as you know. Johnny Hodges, though a participant on the date, was actually listed as "Cue Porter" because of his exclusive contract with Verve Records. It's a good session.

Try euclidrecords.com, half.com, and gemm.com. It doesn't seem to be currently available, but it should pop up from time to time.

Kenneth R. Fannin, MD wrote:

In 1974, at three AM I was speeding to the hospital to operate on a gunshot wound in Austin, Texas. I had a local (Austin) FM station on and fortuitously heard a recording of "Tweedle O Twill" performed by a small combo (I believe a bass, guitar, drums and piano) and the venerable Earl K. Hines was the pianist. For more than twenty-five years I have searched for this recording and can't identify it or find it. If you can help in this search, I will be profoundly grateful to you.

Dr. Fannin:

I've found no trace of such a record by Hines in my searches of the web, though I discovered the song was written by Gene Autry. I've also reviewed the 67 CDs and LPs by Hines that I own, and came up empty.

Maybe someone reading this column has this obscure record.

Connie Rodriguez wrote:

I have been trying to obtain a copy of Billy Eckstine singing his famous hit, "A Cottage for Sale." I have many of his tapes but not one with this song, which has always been one of my favorites. I know Ella Fitzgerald recorded it, but can you help me?

Connie:

It was reissued on a Savoy Jazz CD compilation 'Mister B and the Band'' in 1995. CDNow has it listed for sale right now, among several sites. You can even download a sample of it.

Aaf Jansen of Holland wrote:

Where can I find the musical notation of the song "Duke of Iron" for tenor sax? Who wrote the original track?

Aaf:

I'm not an expert on locating sheet music, but Sonny Rollins wrote "Duke of Iron."

Curt Pearlman wrote:

I saw Blood Sweat & Tears at a local club in L.A. the other night, and wondered if you know if Bobby Colomby is still around. I had heard he died a while back, but now I don't think so. I loved his work on the old BS&T albums. Thanks in advance.

Curt:

I haven't heard that Bobby Colomby has passed away and none of my research indicates he has. He left Blood Sweat & Tears some time in the late 1970s to take a corporate job with Columbia Records. Oddly enough, he was replaced by Bob Economou, who had worked with Jaco Pastorious and also Maynard Ferguson (Bob and I went to the same high school back in South Florida, though I wonder if he would remember me at all nearly thirty years later!).