JATP: Our Jazz at the Philharmonic discovery from Germany in 1956 is getting great comments–deservedly–from everyone who’s heard it. That includes the A & R department of Verve Records, by the way, even though they declined to acquire it for release. “It wouldn’t sell very well,” was their comment. We disagree and are in the midst of approaching several other outfits about it. At this moment, though, we’re the only place making it available. 

GENE AND GEORGIE: The Krupa Jazz Trio’s appearance on “The George Jessel Show” of 1954 has been mentioned several times in this space. Progress is being made on it. The first order of business is that the Library of Congress has to do a copyright search to see who–if anyone–owns this. That’s what’s happening now, and once that is finalized, it should only be a matter of weeks before we get our hands on it. 

GINGER BAKER: Many of the drummers out there are well aware that the famed rock group, The Cream,” has reformed for a reunion tour. Their three-night appearance at Madison Square Garden in New York City is eagerly anticipated by those who fondly remember Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and drummer Baker. Baker, of course, is famed for his extended workout on Cream’s recording of “Toad,” which many percussionists believe owed a large debt to Gene Krupa. The good people at Hudson Music and yours truly have been working on a DVD project for some time, entitled “Classic Rock and Roll Drum Solos.” Obviously, Baker would have to be a part of it. We tracked down a great film of Baker doing his solo, then tracked down Baker himself. We asked his permission to use this clip in our DVD and told him how much his participation would mean to us. His reply was quite interesting. He told us he considers himself a jazz drummer and not a rock drummer, and also commented that Gene Krupa got most of his style from Baby Dodds. Baker didn’t hesitate to state that he didn’t think much of the other rock drummers who were being considered for inclusion in our DVD, and we’re talking about giants like Carl Palmer, Neil Peart, Steve Smith, Mitch Mitchell and many others. These were some of the milder comments he made. However, he did let us know about two films that were made in Europe in the early 1970s that show his jazz side: One is with Art Blakey and the other is with Elvin Jones. We’re trying to track these things down. He never did battle Buddy, though. Wonder why. 

DAVID GARIBALDI: Our friend David is one of the great innovators of “funk drumming” on the planet, known universally for his superb work with the groundbreaking group, Tower of Power. David has also been involved in percussion education for many years as a teacher at The Drummer’s Collective and Dick Grove schools, as an international clinician, and as an author of any number of award-winning drum books and instructional DVDs. He has a wonderful new book coming out courtesy of the good folks at Hudson Music, entitled “The Code of Funk.” Those interested in such things should check this out at www.HudsonMusic.com David, by the way, is one of the contributors to our upcoming Gene Krupa book, and wrote some lovely comments about what Gene meant to him. 

“Gene Krupa: The Pictorial Life of a Jazz Legend”: The release date of this book has been pushed back a few weeks, due to some technical problems that had to do with the Alfred Publishing Company’s takeover of Warner Bros. Publications. We have been assured by the Alfred Publishing Company that the release will be in late October. 

Bruce Klauber