The Cool Vic Files

Ask Cool Vic. The Music Dick. Cool Vic's M.O... The name's Vic. Cool Vic. My parents were old movie fans. You know the type--those black & white classics that only air when memories and regrets erupt screaming through your dreams and keep you awake past two in the morning. Mom loved Victor Mature. I was born mature, you could say. I was born Vic, at least. The "Cool" part? Picked that up along the way. Never shook it. Never tried.

I'm a Music Dick. Some hardboiled guys like me end up tracking down dames or cars or jewelry or paintings. I go after a treasure of a different kind. The smoky hazy blue kind of treasure, like Miles played on Kind of Blue or the Hawk exhaled through his "Body And Soul". That song that you can't recall enough of to remember, but remember too much of to forget. I know I seem tough--you have to, in this business--but I'm here to help ya, kid. Who or what are ya looking for?

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File 0699-2

by Cool Vic, The Music Dick
November 11, 2005

Case #3

Mr. Vic,

Please help me - I beg of you. There was a famous jazz club in San Francisco, I'm pretty certain it was an after-hours or late hours club that is now defunct. Do you know its name?

-- Evan Bennett

Evanesque,

Your folks named you after Bill Evans' son, Evan. Isn't that right? Thought so. I guess that makes this “A Letter To Evan".

I love Frisco. (Hey, relax, I ...

101

File 0699-3

by Cool Vic, The Music Dick
November 11, 2005

Case #5 Dear Vic...I'm looking for a version of the song “One Note Samba," performed by Dizzy Gillespie. I'm pretty sure James Moody plays flute on it and it has this tremendous cymbal-break in the middle. I've been looking for it for several years now, found a couple of versions (including a live-version with Gillespie and Moody in Paris, not the one), but none of it matches with the one I heard. Maybe you can help me?

152

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by Cool Vic, The Music Dick
November 11, 2005

Case #7 Hi Cool Vic,Remember The Mastersounds? The (three? four?) Montgomery brothers, including Wes, when they played 'Naptown. They cut a record in the '60s, something like Jazz Impressions of 'The King and I.' Incredible stuff. Has it been reissued on CD? I've been looking for it for years. (I note that Ahmad Jamal's Live at the Pershing has finally been reissued on CD. Cheap, too. I bought three: one for the house, one for the car and ...

157

File 0599

by Cool Vic, The Music Dick
November 10, 2005

Case #1

Dearest Vic...

I heard a version of “The Sidewinder" the other day on the radio that sounded live and was at least ten minutes long. Do you know what CD this version appears on?

-- Cindy Lou from Grand Rapids

Hello Doll Face,

It was a gorgeous July day. I think it was 1970; I remember because I had just gotten over the first--and only--woman who ever broke my heart. Like a lotta other ...