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The Jazz Tome @thejazztome.info · 2d

I knew that Gerry battled a heroin addiction on and off through the 50s (as did a lot of musicians). I did not know, however, that he spent 3.5 months in prison including three weeks in maximum security, in part for taking a rap for Chet Baker. It doesn't sound like it was pleasant.

An paragraph excerpt from a piece on Gerry Mulligan written by Nat Hentoff that appeared in the 3/28/59 issue of The New Yorker:

"For nineteen or twenty days, I went through the inferno. It was a fantastic experience. I'd been working on music and was in a highly charged state of mind, and also I'd been having a fair amount of freedom. Now I was stuck in a cell about four feet wide and six feet long with two other guys. There were two bunks, and one of us had to sleep on the floor. We had one partial meal in the morning, another in the evening, and nothing at midday. No mail, no visitors, nothing to read, and any time the guard came, we had to jump up and stand at attention. We went to the showers once a week and spent the rest of the time in the cell, which contained the two bunks, a john, and a sink.

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The Jazz Tome @thejazztome.info · 2d

Tonight's Jazz Tome addition: one of my favorite albums from one of my favorite saxophonists, Gerry Mulligan's What is There to Say? (1959). Included here is the New Yorker profile from March, 1959. At 21,000 words... it's fairly in-depth. #jazzsky #musicsky thejazztome.info/gerry-mullig...

A man in a long-sleeve red shirt, against a black background, stares contemplatively downward at a 45 degree angle while leaning on a baritone saxophone. The Gerry Mulligan Quartet is written across the top in bold letters. What Is There To Say?, in smaller letters, below.

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The Jazz Tome @thejazztome.info · 5d

As a long time reader and jazz obsessive, I feel that I must alert you to the existence of my website.

The Jazz Tome @thejazztome.info · 6d

This is great. Thank you.

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The Jazz Tome @thejazztome.info · 9d

Good news to report: @kmhd.bsky.social here in Portland is having me as an in-studio guest in October to talk about the website. I get to pick what music will air during my interview, too. KMHD is a big deal in the jazz world; I'm ecstatic and also already nervous as hell. #jazzsky #musicsky

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The Jazz Tome @thejazztome.info · 9d

Dollar Country works diligently to celebrate and preserve classic country music. He recognizes that there are real people behind the music and strives to tell their stories. Highly recommend supporting him however you can.

Dollar Country (he/him) @dollarcountry.org · 9d

Just updated the stickers on the online shop. Added the Support Your Local Bookshop/Record Store stickers on there and made all the small stickers 2/$6 instead of $3.50 each.

dollarcountry.bigcartel.com/product/stic...

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The Jazz Tome @thejazztome.info · 9d

I eventually need to add a CTI label section to my site. The late 60s and 70s are woefully underrepresented for now, but there are only so many hours in the day.

The Jazz Tome @thejazztome.info · 9d

Now that I'm awake, I'm happy with how this turned out. It's funny how nearly every review was a variation on "look, I don't understand this at all, but if this guy is the next Charlie Parker we don't want to look like assholes." Full cover-your-ass so that you can claim you were right either way.

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the Mountain Goats @themountaingoats.bsky.social · 9d

Didn’t know this! Do you know how many years I pined for jstor access! Yes I am a giant nerd who pines for academe leave me alone with my papers and books

BeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 9d

This is my regular reminder to everyone that jstor is open to the general public now; a free account there will give you access to 100 papers a year.

Marie Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 10d

regrettably if you try to point this out online you'll get yelled out by 79208 journalists going OH SO YOU WANT JOURNALISTS TO STARVE??? even if you're, say, a journalist yourself, and point out that while there are clearly no easy answers, the status quo isn't exactly working for society

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The Jazz Tome @thejazztome.info · 9d

Wow, this is huge

The Jazz Tome @thejazztome.info · 9d

Murder at the Metronome! I'm totally down for a saxophone-based murder mystery.

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The Jazz Tome @thejazztome.info · 10d

Tonight's addition to The Jazz Tome is Ornette Coleman's The Shape of Jazz to Come (1959). "Music is for our feelings," Coleman says. "I think jazz should try to express more kinds of feeling than it has up to now." #jazzsky #musicsky thejazztome.info/ornette-cole...

An white Atlantic Records LP sleeve with red text stating The Shape of Jazz to Come - Ornette Coleman. Ornette's portrait takes up the lion's share of the sleeve. He's standing up against a red background wearing a black sweater and holding an alto saxophone under his arms.

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The Jazz Tome @thejazztome.info · 10d

@ctproduced.com just found your website while going down a rabbit hole about Van Lingle Mungo. Look forward to digging into it more, but in the meantime I wanted to drop a note saying well done!

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Rob LaRocque @roblarocque.bsky.social · 10d

Talk about a prophetic album title. Alongside Free Jazz and This Is Our Music (heavy emphasis on “OUR”), he kept no secrets about his intentions.

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The Jazz Tome @thejazztome.info · 10d

Working on a little album for tonight called The Shape of Jazz to Come, which seems like has gotten lost a bit in the 1959 "best jazz year of all time" discourse over the years. Ornette Coleman's plastic saxophone made people question their assumptions about the upcoming decade. #jazzsky #musicsky

A portrait of Ornette Coleman from his 1959 Atlantic album The Shape of Jazz to Come. Ornette is wearing a black sweater with a shirt and tie underneath while holding a saxophone under his arm.

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The Jazz Tome @thejazztome.info · 12d

Of the albums I added this week my favorite is Lee Konitz - The Real Lee Konitz (1958), a live date recorded in Pittsburgh. Particularly insightful are the informal liner notes by Lee himself that describe the recording process and his philosophy. #jazzsky #musicsky thejazztome.info/lee-konitz-t...

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Elon Green @elongreen.bsky.social · 18d

I’ve been working on this for a while. (I tried to find Bobbie more than a decade ago and failed.) Please do give it a read.

Sarah Weinman @sarahweinman.com · 19d

If you love the song “Me and Bobby McGee” you absolutely must read @elongreen.bsky.social on the life of the woman who inspired the song.

The Unlikely Story of the Secretary Who Inspired One of Music’s Greatest Songs

“Me and Bobby McGee” was originally about a woman—Barbara “Bobbie” McKee. I talked to her.

slate.com

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The Jazz Tome @thejazztome.info · 18d

It's 4am and I'm wide awake in a hotel room, so it feels like a good time to ask if you've been to thejazztome.info lately? I've added liner notes and reviews for 19 albums in the past month; maybe you'll find a new favorite. #jazzsky #musicsky

The Jazz Tome – Jazz liner notes, reviews, and ephemera

thejazztome.info

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Dean Frey @dean.bsky.social · 18d

Remembering Chico Hamilton on his birthday 🎂
📷 Jerry Schatzberg, 1965

"Hamilton had a subtle and melodic approach that made him ideally suited for the understated style that came to be known as cool jazz, of which his hometown, Los Angeles, was the epicenter."
- Peter Keepnews

Hamilton smokes a cigarette on a New York sidewalk

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The Jazz Tome @thejazztome.info · 22d

Found a cool 40 year old science fiction photography book in my collection tonight.

The Iron Giant @grogg.bsky.social · 22d

Was going through some books tonight and found a science fiction book I forgot I had. It appears to be a who's who of science fiction writers from 1984. I'm going to share photos of a few folks I recognize, but if you have a favorite just reply and I'll see if they're in here. #booksky #scifisky

The Faces of Science Fiction
Intimate portraits of the men and women who shape the way we look at the future.
Photographs by Patti Perrit
Introduction by Gene Wolfe

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The Jazz Tome @thejazztome.info · 23d

Playing an old favorite today. Dave Brubeck with both Mulligan and Desmond from the fall of 1972. #jazzsky

The cover for Dave Brubeck's concert We're All Together Again for the First Time. This is a module fidelity CD, with the gold border on top. It lists Brubeck, Gerry Mulligan, Paul Desmond, Alan Dawson, and Jack Six as the five participants.

The MOFI CD for the aforementioned album, UDCD 627. It's black with gold text. Six tracks listed, including a memorable version of Take Five, recorded in October and November of 1972.

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ptklein @ptklein.com · 24d

Today is a great day to listen to Cannonball! Might I suggest starting with Somethin’ Else (1957), In the Land of Hi-Fi (1955), or Know What I Mean? (1960, with Bill Evans), or Nancy Wilson/Cannonball Adderley (1961)?

Tomás Murray @tomasjmurray.bsky.social · 24d

Today is Cannonball Adderley’s birthday. He was a jazz alto saxophonist.

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The Jazz Tome @thejazztome.info · 25d

It's wild to imagine 1954, with an unknowing world on the brink of Elvis mania, where Dave Brubeck might have been the most popular music act going. His previous Columbia LP, Jazz Goes to College, famously outsold Liberace.

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The Jazz Tome @thejazztome.info · 25d

Tonight's Jazz Tome addition is Dave Brubeck at Storyville (1954) featuring three recordings of the Quartet from the famous Boston night club. The funny thing here is that Columbia acknowledges the "dubious fidelity" of one of the tracks. #jazzsky #musicsky thejazztome.info/dave-brubeck...

An innovative LP cover in the style of a newspaper, entitled The Columbia Jazzette. In addition to columns on both the front and the back, there's even a clever weather inset and a New York Times-like creed. Also featured are pictures of Brubeck and Desmond.

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The Jazz Tome @thejazztome.info · 25d

Had to take a second and share this neat early Columbia records ad from the 11/19/1954 issue of the Hammond Times (Hammond, Indiana). #jazzsky #musicsky

A Columbia Records ad for J.W. Millikan on 449 State Street in Hammond, Indiana advertising a Rosemary Clooney record, a Walt Disney record, and Dave Brubeck's Storyville LP. At the top is an adorable Santa Claus imploring you to give the gift of Lasting Pleasure.

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