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Kevin Bresnahan
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Posts posted by Kevin Bresnahan
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There's an interesting show coming up at Scullers on May 30th. The Levin Brothers (Tony & Pete) with Pat LaBarbera and drummer Jeff Siegel rounding out the quartet. I've seen Tony live a few times when he was touring with Peter Gabriel but not as a Jazz bassist so this should be interesting. I haven't seen LaBarbera play live in decades. In fact, I thought he was retired since he really hasn't shown up on my radar in such a long time. There are plenty of tickets for both sets. I am going to the 7:00 show.
7:00 - https://www.ticketweb.com/event/the-levin-brothers-featuring-pat-scullers-jazz-club-tickets/14291203
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I've been trying to buy this CD set locally since it came out but none of my area's Bull Moose stores have gotten it in.
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2 hours ago, BFrank said:
I don't know their music that well, but this album is pretty impressive
Being an engineer, I always thought that the nut was way too thin for that sized bolt.
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@Jim Alfredson might be able to help here.
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Some consolidation in the microbrewing industry had to happen, since the IPA craze caused an insane number of breweries to pop up. Also, my friend who runs a liquor store tells me that a lot of his customers have stopped drinking alcohol completely and those that still imbibe, stay away from from the higher alcohol beers like DIPA & TIPA. His business is way down overall, not just beer.
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Just now, Big Beat Steve said:
I guess I'll pull out my copy of this one this evening too - not least of all to see if I need to (re)file it under "mellow".
One of my favorites in the "mellow" genre:
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8 minutes ago, Rabshakeh said:
As I say, cask conditioned bitter is my drink of choice, but generally these days porters and stouts are what I drink because changes in beer marketing mean they tend to be far and away the best on offer. Sadly it isn't easy to get decent ale in London at all any more.
That's even true outside of London these days. I was in a pub in deepest darkest Dartmoor recently which surprisingly had really excellent food, but sadly only the most terrible beer you can imagine. Triple hopped and hazy IPAs and other horrible stuff. And Dartmoor has some of the best water and best breweries in the UK, so it is a real shame.
I will as a rule always order a milk stout if I see a milk stout. No brewer without good taste makes milk stout, and it is a forgiving style anyway, so you are safe ground pretty much always.
I was always surprised that cask conditioned bitter hasn't really caught on in the States. The US micro scene is really strong and people are knowledgeable. (It isn't like here where micro breweries are just a way of branding trendy crap.) You'd think that someone would go on holiday to Yorkshire or Bath and come back committed to brewing a rival to Old Peculiar or Landlord or a Gem or whatever. They're not that commercial due to the time it takes and the need for good water, but I am still surprised that its not really being tried.
It's been many years since I've traveled to the UK, but I remember really enjoying Timothy Taylor's Landlord Ale. Good stuff.
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1 hour ago, EKE BBB said:
I really like this date. It's something I play when I'm in the mood for some mellow Jazz. My only disappointment with it is that it's too short.
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I've never seen Jason as a leader. I think he was the drummer for his dad's last tour and I saw him then. He seemed like a decent drummer. I've seen better and I've seen worse. From his discography, it looks like he's been touring with the Lionel Hampton Big Band for a few years now. Is that what you saw? I've never seen him play vibes so I can't comment on that.
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3 hours ago, Rabshakeh said:
Back on beer, a new pub has opened right next to my house (almost) called the Pocket. It specialises in microbrewery beers, has a great atmosphere with competent jazz band and/or traditional sing-along piano, charges by percentage alcohol (nice idea) and is a spin off of Kentish Town's much loved Southampton Arms.
The only problem is that the beers are all incredibly terrible. They change selection almost daily but there are days when there is not a single beer of which i can get through a pint. It is not just the notorious over-hopped cheaply made IPAs but also rank rotten brown ales and horrible chewy porters. I am a bitter (drinking) man typically and I am used to ruefully ordering a Guinness because it is the only non-microbrewed beer in your average middle class London pub, but this is a particularly extreme example of its type.
Whilst micro breweries have made a difference (particularly in the US where the microbrewery scene is much better and the initial underlying beer culture was probably worse imo) they can be a curse. I'm always amazed at how many people will happily drink absolutely terrible beer from these places. It is even worse with the dreaded "bio-wines".
Inept, cheaply made chemical crap which tastes disgusting, goes with no food, and immediately goes off before it can be served. But with a shiny label and a premium price tag.
In the Pocket's defence it does not have that premium price tag (for an Islington pub it is very cheap) and it does, like the Southampton Arms, have an excellent selection of scrumpies, but I don't drink cider because I am a responsible adult (my wife is from the West and does go for a half of her native brew, from time to time). Micro brewing and bio cost-cutting has yet to hit cider it appears.
I wish I had access to any pub near me that offered cask-conditioned ales. I really enjoy cask-conditioned ales and I miss being able to get one at a local pub. There was an English pub called the Coat of Arms in downtown Portsmouth, NH for many years but they closed.
I do get that it seems like many beer makers are going all in on overly hopped IPAs but I can't really blame them, as it seems to be all the craze. That said, it's worse when beer makers go the other way too. Bland lagers & pilsners are no better than over-hopped IPAs. I'm more of a stout/porter man myself, with my preferred being a milk stout.
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On 5/14/2025 at 2:43 PM, jazzcorner said:
Columbia KC 32025 - Miles Davis " Basic Miles" - rec. between 1955 & 1962
From the cover, I would guess "Soft Shoulder Miles".
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I'm kinda with Jim on this one... what's weird about people stealing the most steal-able cars in the world? This might be for an "Interesting News Tonight" thread.
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Some of this material made it to CD on the OJC label:
I never did pick that CD up. I'm not usually a fan of the head/solo/head 2 & a half minute stuff from the 78 era. Looking at this, maybe I should re-think that.
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6 hours ago, HutchFan said:
This again:
I have to think that Ernie has retired from the Jazz scene. He hasn't recorded or toured since 2020. I consider myself very lucky to have seen him with Quartet West several times. Such a great player. I once owned this but I can't seem to find it right now. I'm pretty sure I had the XRCD version.
21 hours ago, HutchFan said:I'm glad you're enjoying it. I think it was released to kick off the "rebirth" of the Prestige label but I don't think too many titles were released on it afterward.
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Samara Joy's tickets are pricey in Austin too. My niece lives there and I was going to recommend that she check her out but then I saw the prices. Ouch.
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21 hours ago, GA Russell said:
Considering that this is from September 13, 2024, I would be curious as to how this list looks today.
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Paul Motian Trio - One Time Out (Soul Note). Trying this one again and it's just not my kind of music. I guess the "out" part of the title is literal, as they swing out a lot more here than on any of the other CDs I have with this band.
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Since I retired back in 2023, I've been hitting the elliptical daily and I'm up to about 3 miles/day now. I like the elliptical because it's less stress on my knees and ankles. So I am not relying on just diet & drugs to keep my weight down & hopefully slow/stop the plaque.
My biggest problem with exercise near the end of my working career was that my work day was typically 6 AM to 6 PM when including my 1 hour commute. Those work hours made it nearly impossible to work out and keep a social life with my wife & children. Now I can get up and work out at my leisure and still have the rest of the day to do what I want. Before I moved up to Maine, I lived in NH and my main exercise was playing volleyball 3 to 4 times per week. I can't do that anymore so this elliptical is a lifesaver, particularly in the winter.
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I really like that live Jazz Messengers date. I first heard it on that single RCA disc from 1992 but when it came out "complete" on 2 CDs, I had to get that too. They were on fire that night.
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5 hours ago, Dan Gould said:
I am fortunate on the cholesterol side, when I started with the current doc (I sought out a regular doctor only due to a fractured arm from a horse kick) the blood work had predictably terrible cholesterol numbers across the board. He put me on a statin and between that and the weight loss triggered by the diabetes A1Cresult, he told me last November that my cholesterol numbers were "awesome".
And yet, the "good" cholesterol has been slowest to improve and was still short of "normal" range.
I can live without french fries but could really use General Tso's Chicken at some point.
I have been taking statins since I was in my late 20s after I had a free cholesterol check at lunch hour at work. I did it expecting no big deal when the person doing the tests came and found me and said, "You need to go to your doctor. Your cholesterol is over 300". My cholesterol has been "good" for a long time because of statins but apparently, it wasn't good enough to prevent plaque from building up.
I do miss Chinese food too. That said, there are low fat options at most Chinese restaurants but there are no low fat version of General's Chicken.
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25 minutes ago, T.D. said:
There appears to be one plus: the portfolio of brands is now owned by an electronics conglomerate rather than a health care company whose "financial engineering" apparently went awry. 😆
Beyond that, too early to say.
Since the brands (presumably) had to be acquired as a portfolio, I wouldn't be surprised if some straggler or underperforming names get de-emphasized or shut down. Just my opinion and I know nothing of the financials of the acquired marques.
D&M Holdings used to include Boston Acoustics speakers. I bought several home theater speaker systems with my employee discount before D&M shut them down. I always liked Boston Acoustics speakers for their "bang for the buck".
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My diagnosis is clogged arteries, so a change in my diet isn't enough for me. Yes, I've had to cut way back on my fat intake and avoid foods that raise my cholesterol. Additionally, they upped my Lipitor dosage to the max to help get my LDL number below 80 and put me on a low dose of blood thinner (Plavix) to minimize the chance of one of those clogs causing a heart attack.
Sucks getting old but it's better than the alternative.
FWIW, I've only managed to lose ~30 pounds, but I'm still watching what I eat so I may lose a few more pounds in the future. I do miss french fries and maybe a nice ribeye every now & then but I am managing.
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50 minutes ago, Rabshakeh said:
I think Jazzbo is right in his description. It is modern post bop and studious with it.
I personally found it very boring. Whilst it certainly is "intellectual" I found it perhaps not creative or very fresh. Everything is in the mix and played with slick facility but my feeling was that the songs aren't great and excitement doesn't even seem to be a goal.
However, that is just my idiot opinion. I am at any point in time slightly agnostic about these players (I quite like Ross and Wilkins), so if you normally like these musicians a lot it is worth probably following Jazzbo's tastes over mine. In any case, it is streamable, so there's the opportunity to give it a go and see who is right.
I've been going to quite a few Jazz shows lately where this style is in play. I wouldn't call it boring but comparing it to a lecture hall is a good analogy. To be honest, seeing a whole set of this style of music isn't my idea of a great show. Not a bad show, but not great.
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45 minutes ago, Rabshakeh said:
Johnathan Blake – Passage
Amazing to think that jazz used to be a disreputable party music. Listening to this record is like being stuck in a stuffy lecture theatre.
So I take it you don't like it? I have yet to pick this up but it sounds like maybe I don't need to.
Jason Marsalis
in Artists
Posted
This is such a divisive topic... I would rather we don't have to weather another one of these threads. They suck. He sucks. They're great. He's great. This place is so much more enjoyable when this particular topic doesn't crop up.
It's almost as bad as politics or religion. Maybe we can have Jim A modify the rules to include a ban on Marsalis threads?