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RIP Steve Houben, 19 March 1950 – 21 March 2026

Kurt Elling “Super Blue”

I have a lot of the dates mentioned in this thread but it's hard to sort them all out sometimes. Sessions overlap on different CD releases and it's gotten very difficult to avoid buying music you already have. I recently picked up the Ensayo CD of "Gentle Ben" in a cheapie bin & I was worried that I already had the material on another CD.

+1

If you are in an analyzing and exploring mood, no doubt about the usefulness of alternate takes for direct or successive comparison. But there ARE other moments in someone's listening experience, just like there are those (apparently quite numerous) out there who seem to be more and more dissatisfied with the chronological "complete" reissue packages that abound these days and re-burn themselves their own CDs in the exact programming order of the original LPs ...

A fascinating set - thanks for the reminder.

Have I Got News for You

Re-visiting this recent release. Joel Ross “Gospel Music” Blue Note cd 700×700 66.4 KB Joel Ross – vibraphone, celeste, mellotron, glockenspiel, drums Maria Grand – tenor saxophone Josh Johnson – alto saxophone Jeremy Corren – piano Kanoa Mendenhall – bass Jeremy Dutton – drums Guests: Laura Bibbs – vocals Ekep Nkwelle – vocals Andy Louis – vocals, guitar Geoff Gallante – piano Brandee Younger – harp Austin White – electronics

The early days of the Internet were newsgroups, not message boards. Text was all you wanted on your screen when using a 28.8 kbps modem. Downloading a single picture could take about 5 minutes.

Bird is one case where also having the alternates makes a lot of sense. Bird makes different takes sound very different. I also enjoy very much hearing Bird do successive takes of the same track in a row. For example, it is extremely rewarding to move with Bird as he spontaneously composes Bird of Paradise through three takes starting with All the Things You Are.

I'd that the album is pretty good for an inhouse production of a super market, to be sold next to dairy and vegetables... And I wouldn't blame them too much for the overselling in the title - it's not like there were other Ben Webster album on offer there ... In fact, I kind of like the idea of coupling Webster with a somewhat larger group of excellent, more modern players, it's a nice change of pace from many of his later albums

Moving on to something with full production that I wanted to hear on the system, Marvin Gaye’s “I Want You” on Tamla cd. This album owes a ton to Leon Ware, and is a tribute to his passion for Janis Hunter, who was Slim Gaillard’s daughter. I’m enjoying revisiting this one, it’s been a while.

Walking up to the warmth of a 65 degree morning. My wife fell asleep in front of the new TV we got yesterday--I retired my Sony bought fifteen years ago. Starting off the day with a compilation I made of appearances by Ed Motta in the Lumiar Records series of collecting new interpretations of songs by Brazilian composers. Also featured within this compilation are appearances by Hermeto Pascoal and Jacques Morelenbaum.

disc one: Lapis and Scraps

Being a vinyl man in this respect, I am rounding up one by one the 6 "Charlie Parker on Dial" LPs on Spotlite. So I'd second the recommendations for the 4-CD set which more or less duplicate the original LPs. Particularly at that price for U.S. buyers. However, personally adn after all these years I am still not sure if I'd want to listen to that many alternates for most of the tracks each time, so I still hang on to my "master takes" versions as well. And would do so for the Savoys as well. There are moments when the music still strikes you most intensely when you listen to the tunes in their original release context.

This one is among my recent arrivals here, but in the stack of the "to listen to" to-do list. Time to listen to it now, I guess. Same for the "Ben Webster Meets Don Byas" of which I obtained a SABA original. After having read what's been written about this session in the Don Byas biography I think you cannot help listening to this record with somewhat "different" (or should I say "nuanced" ) ears.

It is amazing that this is one of the last of the old message boards still going. There was a stage about ten years ago when the kids were romanticising the early days of the internet with their message boards.

Combine stories https://www.cfl.ca/2026/03/20/5-bold-predictions-for-the-2026-cfl-combine/ https://www.cfl.ca/2026/03/20/4-debate-worthy-prospects-to-track-at-the-cfl-combine/ https://pifflespodcast.com/blog/scouting-the-roughriders-needs-at-the-cfl-combine-special-teams/ ***** Folarin Orimolade and Stavros Katsantonis have been elected to the union's executive board. https://3downnation.com/2026/03/20/folarin-orimolade-stavros-katsantonis-elected-to-cflpa-executive-board/ ***** The details of Dru Brown's contract have been leaked. IMO, he is the quarterback in the hot seat this year. https://3downnation.com/2026/03/21/exclusive-dru-brown-contract-details-for-2026-cfl-season-with-ottawa-redblacks/

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I'm here, FWIW

We're the Millers