Hoppy T. Frog

The Joe Harriott reissues on Redial: Abstract and Free Form were probably the two jazz albums I listened to most this year.

This Heat's "Out of Cold Storage" box set over anything else.

Ohhhhh my.

Maybe a seller with a huge Gas-bill. He's listing it again! NB: He's also violating ebay policy by having a seller name that is also a URL.

Mary Lou Williams' Mama Pinned a Rose on Me, which was released just before the buyout, never made it either.

Jessica Pavone, Mary Halvorson, Taylor Ho Bynum at An Die Musik in Baltimore.

All I know about the Bad Plus is what I read in the papers, but I came in with an open mind. I was unimpressed with the originals (can't remember them to save my life), and I thought they did nothing with the covers. I was nonplussed to see they got a standing O when Moran didn't. The presenter was terrible, implying that Jason Moran and the Bad Plus were doing "In My Mind" together, which may have explained why half he audience left during intermission.

I saw this Sunday night in Washington DC, one night after the piece's world premiere at Duke University as part of that Thelonious Monk fest they've been having in NC. Incorporating film, recorded voices (Monk and others), and creative lighting, it was certainly not a "recreation" of the 1959 Town Hall gig. Monk's tunes were played by an Octet including members of the Bandwagon and Ralph Alessi; Moran's piano playing avoided outright imitation. There was humor in the presentation especially in the snippets of Monk conversation throughout the show, and a long recorded excerpt from what might have been rehearsals for the Town Hall show. Overall I found it very moving and free of cliche. Anyone else see it?

I'm pretty sure Concord's roster was almost entirely people who had paid their dues and were no longer on major labels, maybe with the exception of Scott Hamilton.

I see a truckload of "Beavis and Butthead Experience" cut-outs that say otherwise.

I'd be all over that, but it's probably in French

I think it's definitely what it's been cracked up to be.

You should google the controversy in India over dredging the strait between India and Sri Lanka.

That Fremeaux website is something else. To this American, it looks like the cultural history of an alternate universe: Never mind the fact that I have never heard of the philosophers featured on the front page--what kind of market is there for 4-CD sets of philosophers discussing their work, even in France? 9 CD books? Chanson? The Complete Works of Django and Louis Armstrong? This is all just baffling to me. I assume it's an independent label--where do they get the dough to do all this? I guess you guys really are different from us!

Yeah, the dude was trying to spin some yarn about how BYG and America were the same label when I was in there once... obviously they should just stick to Tzadik. Or selling bootleg CDRs as "new" "imports" from the "EEC" for $15 a pop.

Sending PM on Non Troppo

I thought it was settled that was Central Avenue LA.

That Devilin' Tune, Vol III, Disc 8

A truly fine recording! That one's not on CD, is it? At least, I haven't come across it.

I wonder, is this the record labels' new pricing strategy for stuff of limited/historical interest? this has been the normal retail prize over here for all of these Miles boxes (except of course those with less discs, BB and IASW, mainly, JJ was almost the same as the 6CD ones). when's the european release date? Well you Europeans pay through the nose for your CDs anyway! USA USA LAND OF LOW PRICES ALWAYS WOO!

PM sent on Jelly Roll

I still think it's better than Jazzwise, as it seems JR is less corporate and has more of an individual voice.

I wonder, is this the record labels' new pricing strategy for stuff of limited/historical interest?

The general point about suburbs, since their beginnings in the 1930s, has been their dormitory status. Town planners seem to have this idea that you should section cities off into residential, shopping, factory and office areas. This has always seemed silly to me; chaos has always seemed a better option as far as I could see. So you allow people to build for whatever kind of use they see the need for, wherever they think they see the need. In this framework, town planning becomes more an aesthetic issue than an organisational issue; and this seems to be what Cerritos has gone for. And there's no doubt that aesthetics do influence property prices. Whether it works or not, of course you can't tell unless you live there. MG Well, once upon a time, separating at least industrial uses from residential made a good amount of sense in preserving residential property values and mitigating the negative environmental and health impacts of traditional industry. Now that the West is in a post-industrial age that really isn't necessary anymore, and among US planners the concept that uses must be segregated is rapidly ending. California urban planners are the US leaders in "mixed-use" planning and, as you guessed, treating zoning and planning as more aesthetic tools.

Thanks folks--I'd been intrigued but not enough to plunk down some money. The Ornette and Carla tributes seem most interesting. Also, interesting to see iTunes has all those SteepleChase albums.