Milton "Bags" Jackson, Eli "Lucky" Thompson & Hank Jones - Detroit's Music Masters

I'm spending this morning's coffee with the Jazz Masters 23 track Milt Jackson & Lucky Thompson recording. This compilation of the magical music-making of Milt Jackson, his vibraharp, Lucky Thompson, his tenor saxophone, and Hank Jones, his piano; has a Detroit vibe going on, a Detroit rhythmic pulse to it. It's the magic-thing that one finds in the music Detroit's finest musicians; in its pianists, saxophonists, trumpeters, double-bassists, drummers, and vocalists. I feel like naming them all here - Pepper Adams through Abe Woodley and Kiane Zawadi; I won't name names. A catalogue of names, venues, dates, and much else appears in Lars Bjorn's and Jim Gallert's beautiful book, Before Motown - A History of Jazz in Detroit, 1920 - 1960. Mark Stryker, the Detroit Free Press arts writer, is preparing a book, Made in Detroit: Jazz From The Motor City for publication by University of Michigan Press. See Mark Stryker's Dispatches From Detroit below:

http://dothemath.typepad.com/dtm/dispatches-from-detroit-by-mark-stryker.html

P.S. This year's Detroit Jazz Festival - August 30 - September 2 - has an outstanding lineup. See you there.

http://www.detroitjazzfest.com/

"Stuffy" & Things

I finished refurbishing my deck - 138 old boards removed, the same number of boards installed, 1,104 nails removed, 1,104 deck screws applied. Grilled a nice beef brisket. Watched the wonderful Spain verses Brazil football match. Had a stress test. I started the deck project on May 25 and finished it on June 29. I left a few things for my wife to attend to. All of this is to say that I've been away from my music - it's Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, and Budd Johnson ('Tenor Madness') today - and from Timothy Williamson's exciting new work, Modal Logic as Metaphysics ('Logico-Metaphysical Madness'). Thrills! Nothing else to say.