Ken Dryden

Karma Foley from Boston, MA wrote:

I'm trying to find Benny Goodman's recording of "Sentimental Journey". CD (even a new release) is fine. Any suggestions? Thanks!!

Karma:

I'm afraid you're out of luck. According to Benny Goodman discographer D. Russell Connor, who compiled two excellent and thorough volumes about Goodman's recordings (including commercial, video, broadcasts, rehearsals, and bootlegs), the clarinetist never recorded "Sentimental Journey." Could you be confused with another bandleader from the swing era, perhaps Tommy Dorsey?

George wrote:

I am ashamed because I donÅœt know this but..I must know - Who is the composer of "Fly Me to the Moon?" Please excuse me for this stupid question, but I have in my repertoire this tune and I have to write the name of the composer.

George:

There's a greater shame in a musician not trying to find out who wrote a tune. The composer is Bart Howard.

Brian Hope wrote:

Once again WNCU has provoked me into pestering you. yesterday they played a great track under this title but mumbled their way through the credits. Searching for it on CDNow and CDUiverse has only produced -WHO? I thought it might be Maynard but no, and it was a very up to date arrangement, very; like Brookmeyer and Albam. Can you help please?

Brian:

There is a new release by trumpeter Carl Saunders called Be Bop Big Band available from the Sea Breeze label, I haven't found any other release under that title.

Javier Antonio Quinones-Ortiz wrote:

I am interested in getting a recorded copy of Jimmy Scott's "Falling in Love is Wonderful." Any suggestions?

Javier:

Rhino is reissuing it on its limited edition Rhino Handmade label. It was supposed to be out beginning Sept. 27th, so I would not delay in contacting www.rhino.com through their web site. It will not be sold in stores or by other web sites.

Michael Josephson from Astoria, Oregon wrote:

Back in the late fifties I'm sure I owned an album entitled "The Transfiguration of Hiram Brown" by Mose Allison. I have been to the Mose Allison web site but find no reference to it. I would love to purchase a CD of this work if it were available. Am I recalling this album correctly? Any suggestions regarding tracking one down would be appreciated. Thank you.

Mike:

You've remembered the title of this old Columbia LP correctly. The reason it isn't listed on this site is that All About Jazz generally covers new releases and reissues instead of amassing a huge permanent database.

The music was reissued in 1994 as a part of the Columbia/Legacy two CD set High Jinks, though it seems to be out of print. One vendor at half.com currently has this compilation for sale. It hasn't been reissued separately.

Stan Willis from Sebring FL {and Manhattan, NYC}

I once had an 8-track cartridge recorded by Leonard Bernstein and Joe Williams titled, I think, "Big Man," the story of a strong black man trying to beat a steam engine at pounding spikes. As the machine goes faster, so does the black man, who works so hard he dies.

Several years ago, I heard on the University of South Florida FM station's all night Jazz program, a recording of a black woman (you could tell by her style) singing "Stolen Moments." It was no one I had heard before, definitely not Sarah, and none of the other well known recordings. The lyrics were slightly different, including ("...and I know where you stole them from."} FYI, I have thousands of jazz recordings.

S.L.:

I haven't been able to find a thing on the web about the recording of Leonard Bernstein with Joe Williams; it sounds like the old legend of John Henry. Maybe the title is different than you remember.

I think I have the answer for your second question. Although most of my many versions of Oliver Nelson's "Stolen Moments" are instrumentals, one vocal version I have is by singer Ranee Lee; it matches the lyric excerpt you mentioned, and it appears on her Justin Time CD "You Must Believe in Swing" and it should be readily available. Most of the other vocal versions I've seen listed are by groups.

Frank M. Lally of Buffalo, NY wrote:

I'm looking for a CD, possible set of two, containing selected works of Jimmy Smith, Jimmy McGriff and Richard "Groove" Holmes. The title may contain a reference to "B3 Organs". Sorry for the lack of detail; I received this info second hand. I was led to believe this CD was available this year but have been unable to find. Thanks.

Frank:

I have been unable to track down a CD with all three organists present with a specific reference to B3 organ in the CD title. Perhaps the names were garbled when the information was passed along, or I just am stymied with locating the title. Since various artists compilations are not always referenced under any one artist, you almost have to have the exact CD title to track it down.

Here's one guess I have: B-3 in Organ Jazz, a compilation put out by 32Jazz in 1997 with Willis Jackson, Jack McDuff, Charles Earland, Groove Holmes and Houston Person, but neither McGriff or Smith is present. Unfortunately, 32Jazz folded last year so you'll have to search the various used sites.

If you can come up with a more exact title, I'll be glad to search again.

John O'Connor from Westerville, Ohio wrote:

I'm looking for some history on the song "Birdland". The version I've heard is credited to Jon Hendriks (lyrics) and Josef Zawinul (music). Can you tell me about when it became widely recorded, and which performer(s) have had the most success with it? Thanks!

John:

Joe Zaiwinul wrote "Birdland" as an instrumental while he was with the fusion group Weather Report; I'm not sure when Jon Hendricks added his lyrics, but it was the Manhattan Transfer who made the vocal version so widely known. I don't have any of their recordings but they had taped it by 1983 at the very latest. Instrumental versions have been much more common, with Freddie Hubbard, Maynard Ferguson and even Earl Fatha Hines having recorded it; there exists a bizarre version with Hines accompanied by bassist Red Callendar on tuba!

Lasse Lenskjold from Svendborg, Denmark wrote:

I want to know if Stan Getz ever played the number "Take Five." I also want to know if the number has been recorded and on which album. Kind regards.

Lasse:

I'm afraid I have a more thorough collection of Dave Brubeck than Stan Getz (though I have quite a few of Getz's LPs & CDs), but to my knowledge, Getz never recorded "Take Five" and it doesn't seem like the kind of song that would have appealed to him, but I could be wrong!

Mike Parkes from Nyack, NY wrote:

I have been trying to find a recording by Maynard Ferguson called Color Him Wild which was released on the Mainstream label in 1964. I have it on vinyl but I would like to get it on CD. None of the major suppliers, eg Amazon, have it. Can you suggest anything?

Mike:

The reason you're having trouble finding Color Him Wild on CD is it evidently has never been reissued as a CD. Relatively few items which appeared on the Mainstream label have come out on CD; there were around 10-12 titles put out in Columbia's Legacy series in the very early 1990s, and a few sporadic titles issued on the Mainstream label (I don't know who owned it at the time), but pretty much everything that I've seen on CD that originally came out on Mainstream as an LP seems to have been discontinued.

Dave Mizwinski from Hughestown, PA wrote:

Could you please help me find this CD? Chet Baker-Rene' Thomas Quintet-- Hallucinations (J-BOP 049 ) BOP = Birdies of Paradise. I am trying like crazy to find it but with no luck. I've tried E-bay and most of the well known sites, but with no luck. Thank you very much.

Dave:

I've found no trace of the label or the CD title, so it is likely a bootleg of a broadcast or an audience made tape. Due to the fleeting nature of most bootleg releases, they are extremely difficult to track down once they are no longer being manufactured, which is likely the case with this title.