mgraham333

I guess it all depends on the teacher. I took four years of Latin in high school and learned more about writing, culture, history, and life in general than in all of my other courses combined.

OK, I will try to make this my one and only time I gush about SACD.... I just took the plunge and bought the Denon DVD-2900 universal player (note: this player uses separate circuitry for SACD). I also fell victim to buying yet another version if Kind of Blue. Listening to this SACD I felt as if I was finally hearing the music rather than a recording of the music. WOW! Unbelievably life-like. The cymbals sounded like cymbals, very metallic. The horns were also incredible, very crisp. The multi-channel layer was my favorite although the stero layer was also much improved. I also listened to The Police: Syncronicity. Again, the music had a whole new feel. There were sounds coming at me that I never knew were there before. I've got a modest system: Denon AVR-3000 receiver Denon DVD-2900 player Klipsch Synergy Speakers (front, center, surround, sub) To my ears SACD is well worth the investment.

And that reminds me of when Homer Simpson goes to the Frying Dutchman restaurant for all-you-can-east seafood. They kick Homer out and then he goes to attorney Lionel Hutz who tells him, "Mr. Simpson, this is the most blatant case of fraudulent advertising since my suit against the film, 'The Never-Ending Story.' Episode 9F06

I purchased this one a week ago. I listened to it pretty much all last week. This is really a great set. One fact of which I was unware until reading the booklet was that Parlan had polio at age five and that he lacked the use of the fourth and fifth fingers of his right hand. I'd have never known by his sound. This set also boasts some pretty impressive work by George Tucker and Al Harewood. Tucker reminds me a bit of Mingus and Harewood makes his presence known but never gets in the way.

so instead of a DMZ, this is a VMZ (very militarized zone) ok, I'll play.... how about a preemptive F.U. to everyone who ever does me wrong! Whew, you're right. I do feel better!

I set my clock radio to a country station and set the clock far enough away that I really have to reach to turn it off. The country music REALLY gets on my nerves and forces me to get up!

Here is one that pops up from time to time.

NEW YORK, July 25 — The fact that organist Jimmy Smith and the Hammond B-3 he helped popularize get no respect from most jazz aficionados really bothers Joey DeFrancesco. “Among the greats of jazz, he’s never mentioned, it upsets me no end,” said the organ prodigy and son of keyboard virtuoso “Papa John” DeFrancesco, who is pulling out the stops to bring his father’s signature instrument to a new generation of jazz fans. “THE ORGAN gets no respect. Maybe more now, but for years it was considered ... oh, I don’t know what ... “ he said, his voice trailing off. DeFrancesco, who began playing the B-3 at age 4 and met the legendary Smith as a boy, believes all keyboardists owe a debt to Smith. “Anyone who plays the organ is a direct descendant of Jimmy Smith. It’s like Adam and Eve — you always remind someone of Jimmy Smith,” he said. “He was the big pioneer, not only of the organ but musically. He was doing things that (John) Coltrane did in the ’60s, but he did them back in ’56 and ’57.” So it was a dream come true in 1999 when DeFrancesco, now 32, actually got to play with Smith, now aged 77, at a San Francisco jazz festival, and the performance was captured on the album “Incredible.” Now DeFrancesco is promoting his new Concord Records set ”Falling in Love Again,” on which he tackles vocal standards with singer Joe Doggs. On the album he plays a prototype of a new B-3, the classic stand-up console the Hammond Suzuki company is starting to manufacture again after a 25-year hiatus. “Back in ’75, at that time, synthesizers and light-weight equipment were taking over. The whole organ sound died down,” DeFrancesco told Reuters in a recent telephone interview from a Delaware club where he was performing. “The new one is identical in look and feel, but is about 50 pounds lighter!” SON OF PAPA JOHN DeFrancesco’s love of the instrument is understandable, since his father, Papa John, had switched from trumpet to the Hammond before Joey was born. “He saw Jimmy Smith in 1959 and it blew his mind. He got married in ’61, and it was my mom who bought him his first organ for their first anniversary. He probably wouldn’t have done it himself,” DeFrancesco laughed. “My dad had all the great records by Jimmy Smith and Jimmy McGriff. I loved that sound. It’s the only instrument other than the piano that can be used for any type of music — rock, jazz, blues,” said DeFrancesco, who was just 17 when he cut his first record in 1989. On the new album he demonstrates not only his mastery of the keyboard on such classics as “Love for Sale” or “Pennies from Heaven,” but also his skill as an accompanist. “Joe Doggs? I’ve listened to him all my life, he’s from Philly,” he said. “My dad also played with him and I had sat in with him on jam sessions. Sometimes it’s difficult (to accompany a singer). But with him, you play behind him. His voice is just like a sax or a horn. “He will sing the melody, but he likes you to play hard behind him. And you’re cookin’.” Source: MSNBC

Here's another warning. Stay away from Cranberry Lambic. It has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. I couldn't even finish one.

Chris Fiore & Feeling Zero - Jazz Stars - original Jazz compositions in the modern Jazz style. A wide range of unique sounds with funk, Latin and rock flavor. (apparently this is a posthumous release) Al Molina - The Gift - "quintet with s.f. musicians playing excellent music, if not overly adventurous." - scott yanow Rene' McLean - Live In South Africa Generations to Come - An eclectic blend of Pan African Music; Straight ahead Jazz, Eastern and African Rhythms, Spoken Word and Beyond. (interesting CD from the son of Jackie) and here is a wildcard, just because I've never heard of blending of New Orleans and Funk... Halfbrass - Come On Down - Get your fix of some funky New Orleans second-line brass. If you ain't movin', you must be dead. (not really crazy about this one, but the band sure sounds like they're having fun)

It's been a few weeks ago, but Blue Note brought back their Blue Note Radio feature. I like the new player, it allows you to take certain artists/songs out of the mix and to vote on artists/songs so that they appear with more/less frequency depending on how you vote. I was just wondering if anyone here used that feature....even though must of us could run our own radio stations given the size of our collections.

I think of those 3, JJ would be my choice. It's actually on my short list. I just picked up the Parlan so I've got to wait a while.

There's no chance that this mini-brochure will become the standard format is there...?

Thanks pryan. I was playing with the background eraser tool of Paint Shop Pro 8.0

Looks like Mosaic updated the website to reflect the correct title of their 3rd sample track - it now correctly reads, "hipnosis"

You have a jazz lovin' postal worker on your route.

I knew that was the case for the Mosaic selects, but didn't realize it was that way for the full sets. If that is the case, then there wouldn't be an easy way to keep track of where each set was in terms of numbers. Nevermind.

I love the first 2 discs and like most of the 3rd... however, there is some percussion playing on the 3rd disc that sounds like someone is shaking a big bag of silverware.... get's on my nerves every time and mars what otherwise would be a beautiful song.

I think Lou Donaldson's Blues Walk would make a nice RVG. Of course that would mean I'd have to track Lou down again and get him to sign a new copy.

This one is good for 20% off 1 CD or DVD (valid thru 7/27)

I was also one of those who kept looking at Mode For Joe and putting it back just in case there was an upgrade. I'm glad it's on its way.

good idea shrugs... I've done the leg work (or in this case, finger work) of compiling a list of all of the currently available Mosaic sets --- someone could be responsible for the list and keeping the set counts up-to-date based on information posted by fellow board members. We could keep the list in a separate, clean thread, and members could post what they thought was the highest set count in a separate thread that the list maintainer would check and use to update the master list. So for example - thread 1 would have the list: Artist, Title, Available Sets, **highest know set number provided by board members** and thread 2, would be for members saying they just bought the Horace Parlan set numbered 2017 when someone else bought the Parlan set, they could QUOTE the previous post of 2017 and say their set was numbered 2024 We would need a couple of things to make this work: 1) someone willing to scan the thread 2 posts and update the master list in thread 1 2) some assistance from the BM to allow HTML formatting so that the list in thread 1 was legible (I tried to post the list in simple text format with poor results) I'd be willing to take on #1.... What does everyone think? Is this worthwhile, or does anyone care that much? Should we be less ambitious and simply keep track of the sets on the endagered species list?

I've been hoping, waiting for more Dex. That's the one I'm most looking forward to. But they're all on their way from CD Universe.

I'm 60 pages in and hooked. If you have any doubts, forget 'em. Get this book. I don't read, hate to - have ever since law school. But this book has brought the pleasure back to reading for me.

I just picked this one up used from ecampus.com (via Amazon.com) I'll post my thoughts after I have a chance to get through it.