Delmar

At a family reunion, the Cooper clan find that their parents' home is being foreclosed. "Temporarily," Ma moves in with son George's family

Hiram Bullock's Warner Bros. debut as a leader is a mixed bag. Bullock was, upon arrival, already an expert session guitarist and producer when he cut this set. (One of the jewels in his crown is Mike Stern's first album as a leader, the almighty Neesh, which was released only in Japan and has never seen the light of day on American shores.) This self-produced set includes eight Bullock originals plus a nice reading of Don Grolnick's "Cactus." The band features many of the same musicians Bullock still works with: drummer Charley Drayton, bassist Will Lee, and Cliff Carter on keyboards, as well as some stellar guest appearances by the late Kenny Kirkland and saxophonist David Sanborn.

Though its purely propagandastic aspects are never far from surface, Destination Tokyo must rank as one of the most intelligent and objective of wartime thrillers. Cary Grant is a tower of strength as Captain Cassidy, skipper of an American submarine bound for Tokyo harbor. Its mission: to allow a Navy meterologist to survey Japanese weather conditions, in preparation for a major Allied assault. Many of the individual incidents in Delmar Daves' script are based on fact, notably an episode in which a pharmacist's mate is called upon to perform an emergency appendectomy. Admittedly, some of the secondary characters are WWII stereotypes, but they're never played that way. Particularly good isDane Clark, in his first important screen role; also registering well as a radio man is John Forsythe, in his first screen role ever. From the sub's embarkation in San Francisco to its climactic retreat from Japan, there's not a single solitary dull moment in the 135 minutes of Destination Tokyo.

Rare selections, Groove & Tururut are a series of posts about hidden and unique collections of music from the 50s, 60s, and 70s, more or less rare and more or less widespread, and probably made in foreign editions aimed at minorities. We add that the vast majority are also physically obsolete. Small treasures that make the B-side of our discography.

Don Ewell - Free 'n Easy! (1957) {Good Time Jazz GTJCD-10046-2 rel 2000}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 297 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 124 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 15 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1957, 2000 Good Time Jazz / Fantasy | GTJCD-10046-2
Jazz / Stride / Classic Jazz / Piano

This album, recorded the same two days as Man Here Plays Fine Piano, is the equal of its companion. Five pieces are taken as piano solos by Don Ewell (including Jelly Roll Morton's "Chicago Breakdown" and "Just You, Just Me"), "Blue Turning Grey over You" has Ewell joined by drummer Minor Hall and the remaining five numbers are quartet explorations by Ewell, Hall, bassist Pops Foster and the fine New Orleans-style clarinetist Darnell Howard; of the latter tunes "Wolverine Blues" and "Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives to Me" are most memorable.