'Bone Straight Up

Stopped back by the Jazz Record Mart on the way back to the apartment today and let me tell you, when they say it is the world's largest jazz and blues record store, they ain't lying. In addition to the CDs, they have a huge selection of vinyl (some of it never opened) going back to the 40s and 50s and a number of 78s as well.

There is a bit of snobbery going on though, despite their protestations to the contrary. When I walked in and surrendered my backpack to the guy behind the counter, I asked him if they ever got in any Chase LPs or CDs, since I've been looking for the original Chase album off and on for years - Get It On was a staple of every stage band in the world back in the 70's. I got "the look" and was told that Chase was "just over the edge" into what they consider rock. Ahem. Don't ask me then what the fuck Tom Waits and non-Flecktone Bela Fleck was doing there. But I did walk around and fill my need for some trombone goodness with a late 90's Bill Watrous CD and a J.J. Johnson/Kai Winding set from '54.

Bill Watrous was my hero when I was in high school while my trumpet-playing friends were listening to Maynard Ferguson. The two Columbia recordings of Watrous' big band (the Manhattan Wildlife Refuge) are still some of my favorite pieces of vinyl. J.J. Johnson and Kai Winding were two of the hottest bebop bonists in the second half of the 50's (Watrous played with Winding's band at one point). I know you care absolutely nothing about any of this if you're not a trombone player, but hey, it matters to me! :-D