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Season's greetings!

Back in the '70s and early '80s I'd encounter Paul at record label meets and musical events. He was a fascinating personality and musician. I miss him.

His autobiography...he wrote like he played...he says everything by keeping a lot unsaid. But there it is anyway

That is a very good assessment. To me he seems both inside and apart from whatever situation he is occupying. Visually, I'd say he acts within positive and negative space simultaneously. It's definitely a unique approach.

I have that record but not with that cover photo...

And dirt cheap, $4 on bandcamp. Highly recommended if you like the cut I included. Great story! I "got" 'Meditations' when I first bought it, the ones especially lost on me were (are) 'Om' and 'Expression', though 'Ascension' and 'Live in Seattle' remain tough listens also 50 years on, though I'm more at peace with them due to adjusted expectations.

Ron Currie: The Savage Noble Death Of Babs Dionne

Happy New Year Grey Cup Fans! Top 10 Plays https://www.cfl.ca/2025/12/30/top-10-plays-of-2025/ ***** 2025's Top 10 most-read articles on 3DownNation.com https://3downnation.com/2025/12/31/3downnations-top-10-stories-of-2025/ ***** Hamilton Top 10 passers https://3downnation.com/2025/12/31/evergreen-the-hamilton-tiger-cats-top-10-all-time-leading-passers/ ***** ***** For the US...

He told the tale of buying Trane's Meditations and returning it to the record store, sincerely certain the record was defective. Second one sounded the same and he ended up loving it.

Holy Freakin' Cow!! I worked with Lamont King at the Northeast Philly Peaches record store in the late 70s, knew he was a sax player and thought he was a great guy. It was obvious he was deeply dedicated to playing music even with little hope of financial reward. Bass – Warren Oree Saxophone – Lamont King, Steve Murphy Drums – Greg Jones Vibraphone – Bill Lewis Vocals – Sherry Butler Congas, Percussion – Ed Watkins This one's on Bandcamp and Amazon Music Unlimited.

This is probably my last disc spin of the year, so I selected Ellington and this was the first one I pulled out. Duke Ellington “1939-1940” Chronogical Classics cd Great variety here including solo piano, piano-bass duets, small group sides and full Orchestra sides.

Ben Wolfe “The Whisperer” Posi-tone cd Evans is very good here.

Candido – Dancin' & Prancin' Happy New Year everyone!

Especially since we can't safely determine price to order from CDJapan. I would have bought the Hannibal and Harper from them pre-tariff.

1 – Highly enjoyable, especially enjoying the bass player and piano. **** 2 – Funkier than I’m used to from Dan! Electric sax(es) wear, as does wah-wah guitar Composition and arrangement don’t anything for me. Dave Sanborn? * 3 – Things ain’t what they used to be, indeed! Back on the enjoyable good foot. ***1/2 4 – All the things you are. I like the bass player, but the whole thing is pretty ragged, though still enjoyable ***1/2 5 – Who Can I Turn To. Nicely done all around, love the pianist’s work! Enjoyed the guitar. **** 6 – Things… again. Good blues playing, but I enjoyed the approach on the first version more. *** 7 – Killer! This is the one cut I need if I don’t already own it! I should be able to ID the song, but am going blank on the title. I bet the whole album is good. ****1/2 8 – Who Can I Turn To, in a comatose version. Not doing well with this cut and especially this tenor player, though it’s probably someone you love. Sorry. ** 9 – All The Things You Are, slowed down and on clarinet. I like this tune fast, though I don’t hate on this the way I did the previous cut. But I also don’t need to hear it again. **1/2 10 – See comments to #2, although at least the sax isn’t electrified, and the conga solo is kind of cool. *1/2 No artist ID’s, a range of responses, and I look forward to the reveals on my favorite cuts (1,5,7 especially, but also 3,4), and I expect I have one or two of them on the shelves already. Have a safe and prosperous 2026, my friend!

I bought that same Harper album in my preorder. It's a really good one! Due to the ongoing demise of the CD medium, most of my CD purchases are now Japanese imports. Pricey, but I'm buying fewer.

I don't know that he "floats over" the time as much as he does play in it at different spots than most people find. The only way to do that is to have complete awareness of the time internally. Same thing with totality. He can slip in and out of it at will. At will. His Steeplechase albums usually focus on standard repertoire and more traditional rhythm sections, so it might be easier to hear how that all plays out (no pun intended) there.

thanks so much, really enjoyed your responses! Thank you, HNY, glad I could introduce you to some new stuff! Grab that Hannibal album (and the Santana! Thanks Tom. I've had Callier on two other BFT's ("Dancing Girl" and "Alley-Wind Song", but it's been a couple of years. I knew I would eventually use all three songs, so stretched them out across years. As per Cowell, I whiff on cuts I already own all the time on BFT's! 🥲 'Caravanserai' is my favorite album in the whole world, ever, by anybody! Glad you got the Hannibal - I also bought it pre-order from Da Bastids, along with Billy Harper's 'Trying to Make Heaven My Home'. Both were pricey, but were dream-come-true CD releases. Agreed on Alicia Keys, this and 'Fallin' from her first album are the only two songs by her that stick with me.

I haven't totally gotten into Bley yet, which is surprising. As Peter said, I do perceive a "coldness" in some recordings (Solo in Mondsee (ECM) and 12 (+6) In A Row (Hatology) come to mind), so I haven't collected that many. Ramblin' is my favorite so far.