Aggie87

Basra may still be available as a Spanish Blue Note from the "freshsoundrecords" website for under €6, notwithstanding whether it is being offered legally or not (I believe it's a legal pressing, just not sure whether it's a legal method of sale or not).

I just got back from a 5 day visit to Paris. Unfortunately, the only music store I was able to spend time in was Virgin. My traveling companions were 2 & 5, so they were more interested in the Eiffel Tower and Disneyland than looking for jazz cds. But Virgin was big, flashy, and fun. And I think it's the only store I've been into that has separate sections for Jazz and Jazz Fusion. B) Thanks for the recommendations below; on our next trip I plan to dedicate some time for cd shopping. On a side note, we stayed with some friends of ours in Paris, who are originally from Algeria. Had some of the best couscous and bourek that I've had in years! Also got to watch al Jazeera TV for the first time, directly (via satellite). That was quite interesting!

Dexter Gordon - Take the A Train Fred Hersch - Songs Without Words, Vol II Milt Jackson - Wizard of the Vibes Eero Koivistoinen - Pictures in Three Colours Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um Hank Mobley - Peckin' Time Sam Rivers - Crystals Porcupine Tree - Stars Die 91-97

Los Lobos - El Cancionero Mas Y Mas box set This is a fantastic career spanning box set! Highly recommended, and includes a number of rare tracks, interesting covers, and spinoff band tunes. ...plus, it's remastered in "Rhinophonic Authentic Sound"

up for Jim... Have "big heads" become passe'? How about a "Colossal Head"?

Live Three Ways Update: I noticed on CD Universe's website that this item was now in "backordered" status. So I emailed them asking about it, and mentioned that I had not seen any notice of it anywhere else on the internet, including Blue Note's site. They responded and said that is is currently not available, and that they think the release date was postponed by the manufacturer. So I'm not sure when it's coming out, if at all. I doubt it was ever really coming out, if CD Universe was the only ones who had ever mentioned it. And I still don't know if it was a re-release of the video, or an actual CD. Oh well, at least I can enjoy "Up All Night", which is a really fun disc!

Agree with Rooster's comments. I'd give this one an "OK" rating also. It certainly doesn't have much fire, or the enthusiasm that I've come to expect from most of Sco's work. The lineup is stellar, which makes it all the more a shame. I wish he'd road-tested this band for a while before going into the studio, though I can imagine it would've been cost-prohibitive. It might've gotten the tunes into a groove that they lack. I saw Sco live just before this album came out, and he played a few of the songs with his überjam band, and they sounded great! It might be interesting if Sco worked up some more "traditional" styled music, and took the überjam band into the studio to record it.

Thanks for all of the replies! I went ahead and picked up Romance with the Unseen, and have it in my "on-deck" pile. Will probably go back and pick up You are #6 next (along with Jason Moran's Facing Left which zweitausendeins has, and I've never actually seen anywhere else). I already have Caine's Toys; thanks for the reminder on that one. I'm gonna have to go back and have a re-listen to that one, with emphasis on Byron's contributions.

Not too bad choices there. I ordered the following: Dave Douglas - Infinite, Freak In, A Thousand Evenings Stefon Harris - Grand Unification Theory Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Domino Joe Lovano -52nd St. Themes Thelonious Monk - Monk's Dream Wes Montgomery/Milt Jackson - Bags Meets Wes Horace Silver - The Jody Grind Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds of Fire Bjork - Greatest Hits (don't know any of her stuff, but if both Osby & Moran can cover her, there must be something worth exploring) Average price of this purchase was $6.23, If I had ordered a few more, it would've gone down below $6 per disc, including shipping & handling!

Heads up on a few newish things at BMG: ScoLoHoFo - ScoLoHoFo Stefon Harris - Grand Unification Theory Wayne Shorter - Alegria The Essential Dave Brubeck Ahmed Abdul-Malik - Jazz Sounds of Africa Hampton Hawes - Northern Windows Plus Bobby Timmons - Prestige Trio Sessions Ben Webster - Soulville My current sale is Buy 1, Get unlimited $1.99. This one's a good deal if you're stocking up on a number of items - they get pretty cheap if you order around 10

I saw Yes in concert on Friday night, with Wakeman back in the fold. They put on a great show, and seemed to have a great deal of rock-n-roll energy for guys who have to be getting up near 60. The concert was moved from an open-air stage to an indoor hall nearby for some reason, but I think that actually helped visually, since it's currently staying light here until almost 10:30 pm. The setlist was: Firebird Suite intro Siberian Khatru Magnification/Don't Kill The Whale In The Presence Of We Have Heaven South Side Of The Sky And You And I Howe solo: In The Course Of The Day / To Be Over Anderson solo: Show Me Wakeman solo: Journey to the Center of Catherine Parr, or something like that Heart Of The Sunrise Long Distance Runaround Squire/White duet: Whitefish/Tempus Fugit/Silent Wings of Freedom Awaken Roundabout Yours Is No Disgrace Interesting for me was to see how Wakeman played "Magnification" and "In the Presence Of", which weren't written with keyboard in mind, but orchestrally. I thought he accounted for himself nicely, and didn't overkill anything. And reviewing the setlist today, it's interesting to note that they played almost all of Fragile. I would've enjoyed hearing something from Topographic, or perhaps "Close to the Edge", but it would be hard to cut any of the setlist to make room. The concert lasted about 2.5 hours. Overall, I'd give it a solid "B" grade, losing out to the symphonic tour last year, which earned a solid "A" from me.

John Coltrane - Soultrane Nguyen Le - Purple Paul Motian - On Broadway Vol I Jaco Pastorius - Heavy n' Jazz Charlie Parker - The Washington Concerts Peter Gabriel - Long Walk Home Van Morrison - Best of Yes - Tales from Topographic Oceans

I'd like to take a second and make a recommendation on a contemporary "prog" group, Porcupine Tree. If you like prog, and want to hear something that's in that vein, but isn't exactly a derivative of the "noodly" 70's stuff, check them out. Porcupine Tree started out as a one man band, Steve Wilson back in the early 90's. Gradually turned into a real band, as they went from a small indie label to a larger one, and now finally on Atlantic. The music has evolved significantly as well. The early albums were very interesting and promising, but not really fleshed out. There are some moments where they clearly sound like Pink Floyd in style (best example is the album "Sky Moves Sideways" from 1995). There are some wonderful vocal harmonies, as well as some intricate instrumentals. Their newest album is from last year, and is called "In Absentia". This one is their heaviest (and darkest) album, and may be similar in spirit to music like Tool. Very interesting album. It's not my favorite though. That would be "Lightbulb Sun" from 2000. For me this is their peak, and is the single best album to try them out.

I haven't seen much discussion about Don Byron around here, or at the BNBB. I'd like to hear some opinions about him and his music. Which of his releases are recommended? I'm eyeing Romance with the Unseen, which is on sale at zweitausendeins at the moment, along with his other BN releases. This one caught my eye mainly due to the presence of Bill Frisell. Is this a good one to start with?

These may be more "nice" finds than "greatest", but I picked up a few nice things yesterday on the way home from one of my local used shops: Miles Davis - Four & More Japanese Master Sound (is there a name for Japanese Columbias, ala BN's TOCJs ?) v/a - Piano Moods - Cleopatra's Dream - TOCJ 66053 Michael Brecker - Time is of the Essence - interesting set with Metheny, Goldings, & Elvin Total price for all three discs was €10!

I love the fact that he tried to spell out "Konitz", but just couldn't get it.

Art Blakey - Caravan Kenny Burrell - Midnight Blue Miles Davis - Friday Night at the Blackhawk Grant Green - Matador Bill Frisell - Nashville Bireli Lagrene/Jaco Pastorius - Stuttgart Aria John Scofield - Up All Night Los Lobos - Mas Y Mas Disc 3

I've spun Up All Night a few times this week now, and think it's great! It's definitely in the groove camp though, so if you like your Sco straightahead (like Works for Me and Scolohofo), then this ain't it. I'll give this one 4 out of 5 stars. Personally I like this album better than überjam, which ain't too shabby either. Scofield sounds great in this setting with a rhythm guitarist, which he hasn't done too much (if any?) of in the past. His past work with other guitarists has mainly been with "costars", like Frisell, Metheny, Abercrombie, etc. I'm not sure if I'm really saying that right, since I realize even those guys take turns in the spotlight versus playing in a support mode. Highlights so far include "Watch out for Po Po", with some fun audience singalong, and "Freakin' Disco", with it's "chucka chucka" guitar (not sure what that's really called, just what I've called it for 20+ years). Also a nice cover of the R&B hit, "Whatcha See is Whatcha Get". Joe - BMG seems to sell stuff like this about 3-4 months after it is originally released. Hope you can wait that long! Also, that Live Three Ways appears to be a cd release, not a DVD/video. It's probably the music from the video. But it's listed in the "music' section of CD Universe, and lists for $11.98, with a sale price of $8.39. It's due to be released next Tuesday, 6/24. Perhaps Alan can confirm that this is a music cd?

This is kinda fun. After a few more passes through Babelfish, into Korean, Japanese, Portuguese, and a few others: "The citizen where the famous customer where is that is correct newly approximately here that factory where in order to respect, his free level of member 7 year from four points unintermitting she finishes accurately in order, wages namely the uniform clay/tone of your increase after that, your and his et cetera " " crowdedly which is always executed the lithium of this family which has these ingualmente which are seen "

I was playing around with Babelfish earlier, and decided to see how it translates some things. I took this phrase from the Gettysburg Address and converted it back & forth into French, German, and Italian. Babelfish seems to create a whole new language unto itself... Original Phrase: Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that "all men are created equal" Babelfish Version: Four customers and are approximately seven years our family here, which the members, which, which they dedicate themselves you to the topic are, which is carried for this new unintermitting nation later in one, project in liberty and, which "all same men" arise

I'd like to see the complete "Soap" on DVD. Anyone remember that one? Billy Crystal, Robert Guillaume, Katherine Helmond... One of the funniest shows of its time. Also, while on the subject of DVDs, has anyone picked up "Once Upon A Time in America" yet? I'm on the fence on this one, but it is apparently the longer, international version, which is supposed to be more coherent. Looks like it might be good, but I wanted to get some confirmation of that first.

I've gotta post the thread I linked to. The more I read it, the more I start laughing... I don't think there's any way this could be anyone other than Aric. I can see him sitting there entranced by "Three's Company" back to back with "Perfect Strangers"...