The weather was hot, hot, hot and the tourists were melting faster than the traditional Yorkshire ice cream they were eating. I too was perspiring profusely so I sought refuge in one of those emporiums run by the British Heart Foundation which turned out to be a gold mine in disguise!
Firstly I headed towards the impressive selection of books and what did I find? Three Robert B. Parker novels that I hadn't read! All featured private eye Spenser (with an s like the poet). In my eyes Spenser is up there with Marlowe, Spade and Hammer - he's tough.
As an afterthought, I decided to shuffle through the vinyl in case they had a rare Jim Reeves album (joke) and hit paydirt again in the form of three 10" LPs.
Jazz at Storyville: Edmund Hall (clarinet); Vic Dickenson (trombone); Johnny Windhurst/Ruby Braff (cornet); George Wein (piano); John L. Field (bass); Jo Jones (drums). Some cracking mainstream that really swings.
Rex Stewart & his band - dixieland free-for-all: Rex Stewart (trumpet); Albert Nicholas (clarinet); Fernando Arbelo (trombone); John Dengler (baritone sax); Herbert H. Nichols (piano); John L. Field (bass); Tommy Benford (drums). In truth, Rex isn't at his best here. However, Nicholas is in fine form as is Dengler on bari. I'd never heard of him until today but he's a knockout player who, seemingly, also played trumpet and trombone. I recall Tommy Benford being on drums with Jelly Roll's Red Hot Peppers which brings me to the third album.
Jelly Roll Morton - the art of ... A bizarre find! The sleeve notes are in French but the label is in English. One side is piano and vocal by JRM the other side is solo piano and it's quite amazing how advanced a pianist he was. But, here's the strange thing. When I went to remove the disc from its cover I discovered there were two copies of the same (rare) disc inside!
Yes, strange things happen in York. Lance
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