Ken Dryden

David Filkins from Orpington, Kent, England wrote:

I have the complete Institute of Jazz Studies Official Archive Collection-the greatest jazz recordings of all time, by the Franklin Mint Record Society. They are in new condition, never been played. Does it have a value? If so, could you tell me? I would like to find them a good home.

Dave:

Unfortunately the Franklin Mint always promotes their products as limited edition collectables, but nobody wants to pay much of anything for anything they make down the road. While I've never seen this collection, I imagine it has common tracks that are widely available elsewhere. An e-mail to a veteran record dealer confirmed that this is a dog item and a tough sell for more than a couple of dollars per disc, which might mean a maximum of $50 to $75 for the whole 25 LP set. Sorry!

Dennis James from St. Charles, MO wrote:

Is it common in jazz performances for the musicians to each do a solo before each piece ends? Also is it normal for musicians to switch or take turns playing the different instruments?

To answer your first question, it depends upon the instumentation of the group and the preference of the leader. If a band includes tenor sax, piano, bass and drums, it is unlikely that the bassist and drummer will get a solo on every piece. Bandleaders also sometimes sit out a number and feature the rest of the band.

Many musicians play just one instrument during a concert, though many double on more than one instrument in the same family. Example: a tenor saxophonist may also play soprano sax, flute, alto sax or clarinet; a trumpeter may switch to flugelhorn (Clark Terry will alternate between the two instruments with one in each hand during a song sometimes); pianist Butch Thompson also switches to clarinet during some live performances, while the late Jaki Byard played a number of instruments in addition to piano, occasionally playing alto sax and piano simultaneously for fun. Again, it all depends upon the preferences of the individual musician and the goals of the bandleader.

John Nightingale from Mission Viejo, CA wrote:

My 13 year old daughter is looking for CDs/names of famous female jazz instrumental musicians to idealize. Especially any who play her instruments; bass clarinet or bari sax. Can you help me enthrall her? Thanks.

John: I

I can't say I know offhand of any female bass clarinetists. One of the best baritone saxophonists around today is Claire Daly, formerly of the big band Diva (No Man's Band). She has recorded as a leader for Koch and also with pianist Joel Forrestor and with his group People Like Us. Hope she's having lots of fun playing both axes (I love the work of Eric Dolphy on bass clarinet and Gerry Mulligan on baritone sax). Of course, there are a number of prominent female instrumentalists, including pianists Mary Lou Williams and Marian McPartland, trombonist Melba Liston, drummer Sherrie Maricle, and guitarist Mary Osborne, just to name a few.

Heitor from Porto Alegre, Brazil wrote:

Trumpeter Charles Tolliver recorded a few discs as a leader during his career, one of his latest recordings was "Live in Berlin at the Quasimodo, Vol. 1". By the title and by his liner notes on the CD booklet, it is supposed to have a Vol. 2, but I canÅœt find it. Was it released? Thanks.

Heitor:

According to the web site www.serecs.com, which is the official web site for Strata East, the label founded by Charles Tolliver, volume 2 was issued. Here is a direct link for more information:

www.sereces.com/Charles/html

Unfortunately, the CD doesn't seem to be available directly from the label, and I haven't been able to find a source for it elsewhere on the web.

John Sharpe from London, Ontario, Canada wrote:

Do you have any information on the demise of 32 Jazz? I heard their offices were located in the World Trade Centre and the company was unable to survive the tragic events of 9/11. True? Hopefully, no one from the company lost their lives in that horrible terrorist attack. Please advise. Thanks for your time.

John:

32Jazz didn't fold due to the events of 9/11 but due to the failure of the label to make a profit. Likewise, Joel Dorn's next business, Label M, has also ceased operations. He has just started a new company, Hyena, which has reissued the four titles put out by his very short-lived Night Records.

To all readers:

I only partially answered an inquiry from Jon Frenzel in my September Ask Ken column about the possible availability of Max Roach's We Insist! Freedom Now Suite. It is available directly from Candid Records, which is now a British based label.; I bought a copy myself!

Brian Carlo wrote:

Is there a CD recording to "The Tiger of San Pedro" by Bill Watrous? If not, where could I find it on vinyl? Why hasn't he re-recorded it?

Brian:

Bill Watrous' 1975 Columiba LP 'The Tiger of San Pedro' hasn't been reissued on CD. Your best bet to find it on vinyl is likely to be euclidrecords.com, followed by vinylvendors.com. As to why Watrous hasn't re-recorded this piece, only he could provide the answer!

Max E. Fiester of Evansville, IN wrote:

Have you seen the movie "Thick as Thieves"? I don't believe there is a soundtrack, but I am dying to know the name of the song that is playing at the very end. If you have any information on either the soundtrack or that particular song, please let me know.

Max:

I've never seen the film "Thick as Thieves," though it is available on DVD, presumably for rent as well as for sale. I bet the information is in the end credits. Here's a link to a synopsis of the film: www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=A176672

Penny Loeb from North Muskegon, MI wrote:

I'm so happy to have found your site and I hope you can answer my questions. I recall a Billie Holiday song in which she sang about blood in trees.....do you know the name of this song and is it about lynching? This could be an urban legend...Autumn In New York sung by Billie can make me cry.

This past summer we enjoyed the wonderful Tony Bennett at Interlochen Music Camp in Interlochen, Michigan. The Ralph Sharon Trio, less Mr Sharon accomnied him. Would you know who the pianist was who sat in for Mr Sharon.....by the way, he was terrific.

Penny:

The song about lynching which Billie Holiday recorded (originally for Commodore Records) is called "Strange Fruit." It's no urban legend and it has been widely available and covered by other singers, most recently by Rene Marie (in a bizarre medley with "Dixie").

Someone wrote me recently telling me that Ralph Sharon was no longer working with Tony Bennett. I'm not sure who replaced him but I seem to think the writer said it was Alan Broadbent, but I'm not sure.

Sara Scheanwald wrote:

I hope you can help me. I am looking for music on CD, old Lester Young stuff, for my boss. Do you think you could help? He is specifically looking for the songs below, but generally he is looking for OLD (before 1939) Lester Young CLARINET (not tenor sax) stuff.

I am able to find various recordings of these songs, but he wants the original recordings of each session (details below).

Details:

1. Count Basie Sextet, NYC, June 3, 1938, Private Studio: Lester Young (clt, ts), Count Basie, Buck Clayton, Walter Page, Jo Jones, Helen Humes

a. Blues with Helen

b. Song of the Wanderer

ANSWER: These tracks are available on the EPM CD FDC5510 called The Golden Years Vol. 2, 1938 They were also released on Lester Young-Amadeus Phontastic CD NOST7639, which is available.

2. Count Basie and his Orchestra, NYC, June 6, 1938, Decca Studio: Herschel Evans, Lester Young (clt, ts), Earle Warren, Jack Washington, Count Basie, Ed Lewis, Harry Edison, Buck Clayton, Eddie Durham, Benny Morton, Dan Minor, Freddie Green, Walter Page, Jo Jones, Jimmy Rushing

a. Blue and Sentimental (63918-A)

ANSWER: This song is on the 3 CD set The Complete Decca Recordings, GRP 3-611, (in print) though the master number you listed should read 63919-A.

3. Count Basie and his Orchestra, NYC, August 22, 1938, Decca Studio: Herschel Evans, Lester Young (clt, ts), Earle Warren, Jack Washington, Count Basie, Ed Lewis, Harry Edison, Buck Clayton, Dicky Wells, Benny Morton, Dan Minor, Freddie Green, Walter Page, Jo Jones, Helen Humes

a. Texas Shuffle (64473-A)

ANSWER: This song is also on the above mentioned Decca set.

4. Count Basie and his Orchestra, NYC, Sept 6, 1938, CBS Radio broadcast: Herschel Evans, Lester Young (clt, ts), Earle Warren, Jack Washington, Count Basie, Ed Lewis, Harry Edison, Buck Clayton, Dicky Wells, Benny Morton, Dan Minor, Freddie Green, Walter Page, Jo Jones

a. Indiana

ANSWER: This song was released on Vintage Jazz Classisc VJC 1033, called Rock-a-Bye Basie, but it is out of print. Try half.com or euclidrecords.com. The label is out of business.

5. Billie Holiday and her Orchestra, NYC, Sept 15, 1938, Vocalion Studio: Lester Young (clt, ts), Billie Holiday, Buck Clayton, Dicky Wells, Margaret "Queenie" Johnson, Freddie Green, Walter Page, Jo Jones

a. The Very Thought of You (23467-1)

b. I've Got a Date with a Dream (23469-1)and (23469-2)

ANSWER: All of the above takes are available in the 10 CD boxed set Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia 1933-1944. I have a used copy available for sale of The Quintessential Billie Holiday, Vol. 6 (1938), which has both "The Very Thought of You" and the second take of "I've Got a Date with a Dream." Let me know if you're interested in it.

6. Kansas City Six, NYC, Sept 27, 1938, Commodore Studio: Lester Young (clt, ts), Buck Clayton, Eddie Durham, Walter Page, Jo Jones, Freddie Green

a. Way Down Yonder in New Orleans (23421-1) and 923431-2)

b. Countless Blues (23422-1) and (23422-2)

c. Them There Eyes (23423-1) and (23423-2)

I Want A Little Girl (23424-1) and (23424-2)

2 versions: Pagin' the Devil (23425-1) and (23425-2)

ANSWER: All of the above songs, including alternate takes, appear on the CD Classics in Swing-Lester Young, Commodore 72725-2.

7. Kansas City Six, NYC, Dec 23, 1938, Carnegie Hall concert: Lester Young (clt, ts), Buck Clayton, Leonard Ware, Freddie Green, Walter Page, Jo Jones

a. Way Down Yonder in New Orleans

ANSWER: This track is currently available on the Vanguard boxed set From Spirituals to Swing (169/71-2)

8. Basie's Bad Boys, Chicago, February 13, 1939, United Studio (for Columbia): Lester Young (clt, ts), Count Basie, Buck Clayton, Shad Collins, Dicky Wells, Freddie Green, Walter Page, Jo Jones, Jimmy Rushing

a. I Ain't Got Nobody (24510-1)

b. Goin' to Chicago (24511-1)

ANSWER: "I Ain't Got Nobody" doesn't seem to have been reissued on CD. "Goin' to Chicago" appears on the CD The Essential Count Basie Vol.1 (Columiba 40608-2), but it may be out of print.

9. Glenn Hardmann and his Hammond Five, Chicago, June 26, 1939, studio: Lester Young (clt, ts), Glenn Gardmann, Lee Castle, Freddie Green, Jo Jones

a. On the Sunny Side of the Street (WC2638-A)

b. Who? (WC2640-A)

ANSWER: These two songs don't seem to have been reissued on CD and it isn't likely they will, due to the leader's inability to play jazz!

Note to everyone who plans to submit a question to me:

I was having fun trying out Tom Lord's The Jazz Discography, a CD-ROM which I am in the process of reviewing for the December edition of All About Jazz. I would like to request that questions be limited to no more than two to three per person, as I want to help as many different people as possible in each month's column. Thanks!