randissimo

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRO!

Great article.. We (organissimo) played the Syracuse Jazz Festival two years ago and Joe and I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. John. He is one of our great musical treasures and has been a long time inspiration for me..

Actually enjoyed her performance on the Letterman show..

That's funny. I saw him four or five years ago, never having heard of him, and never hearing his name again since, and I thought he was damned good. I've liked him wherever I've heard him (mostly with Rosenwinkel). He has a nice loose, propulsive, yet precise style. Great sound from the kit as well. And I've yet to hear Lewis Nash lose focus. Got to go with Joe here.. Hung out once in awhile with Ballard when I lived in Oaklnd, Ca in the late 80's.. At the time he was hittin' with Jessica Williams.. I saw Nash last winter in GR with Joe Lovano and really enjoyed his attentive, relaxed, and creative approach. Very sparkly, entertaining, and always musical.

Great line...

That would be an idea... Healthy donuts made with organic spelt flour and raw honey !! See there, you've gone out of business before you even got started.

That would be an idea... Healthy donuts made with organic spelt flour and raw honey !!

Thanks for your insights and encouragement. Making a living as a self employed drummer and teaching private drum lessons is getting tougher and the economy here in Michigan is taking a real beating especially with food and fuel prices rising almost daily..

First off a lot of creditors will not negotiate settlements with them or anybody but you stand a greater chance with a place like Consumer Credit Counseling. Sorry dude, I don't care what ripoff report says, this company cannot guarantee shit and look how many complaints they had to resolve before getting an endorsement from that website which still isn't worth much of anything. Why would you want to deal with a place that takes so much of your money? They take $303. the first 3 months, then $147. for 14 months, then after that 17 months they take nothing. During this time (36 months) I would have a bank account that is growing and will be used to pay off the settlements. I think we understand the way it works. The concern expressed is the fact that they get $3000 from you over the next year and a half without actually having done anything to eliminate your debts. If you don't keep up with the plan, you'll be out that money and still be in debt. You also haven't said whether anything will be paid on your debts in the interim, or whether interest will continue to accrue or what. To answer that question: CSA instructs it's clients to stop paying the creditors in the agreement on the activation date (June 10).. Here's the part where I confess I signed up with their program.. Try and understand I am a right brained knucklehead musician. I talked today with a lawyer friend and we went over my contract with CSA. He concurs that I don't really stand to benefit from their program and could accrue even more debt since I would need to have at least half of the total $20,000. debt available to settle at .50 to the dollar with the 3 card companies. In 3 months I would have only $165. in my account and in 14 months only $2475. and in 17 months only 3105.00. And most of the settlement offers come in the first 3 - 9 months after the activation of the program. At this point I want to terminate the contract with CSA and work with my lawyer friend to help settle my debts. I e-signed their agreement on May 22nd and their cancellation notice states that if I decide to back out it must be within 3 days of the agreement (whoops).. Don't know how this works because they don't give any explanation in the contract or on their website as to how it works should one decide to cancel the program after the 3 day sign up period and I haven't payed them anything yet. The June 10 date is also their first fee installment.

First off a lot of creditors will not negotiate settlements with them or anybody but you stand a greater chance with a place like Consumer Credit Counseling. Sorry dude, I don't care what ripoff report says, this company cannot guarantee shit and look how many complaints they had to resolve before getting an endorsement from that website which still isn't worth much of anything. Why would you want to deal with a place that takes so much of your money? They take $303. the first 3 months, then $147. for 14 months, then after that 17 months they take nothing. During this time (36 months) I would have a bank account that is growing and will be used to pay off the settlements.

The ripoff report actually endorses Credit Solutions... http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/264/RipOff0264955.htm

Credit Solutions doesn't make payments. They negotiate settlements with the credit card people and I chose the best settlement deals and pay off the cards while depositing $359. a month in a savings account for 36 months starting June 10th.. They claim that by the end of the program I will actually have a better credit rating.. To whom do you deposit the money with, Credit Solutions? And what, you then continue to make payments directly to the credit card company? CS charges me $2,980.20 to settle on the $19,868.00 owed in outstanding balances to 3 credit cards. First I set up an account at my bank and deposit $359. for 36 months. CS withdraws payments of $303.54 from the account for the first 3 months and then the amount is reduced to $147.83 for the next 14 months. Then there's no more payments to CS and the fees payed to CS the first 17 months are used to negotiate the settlements with the creditors. They guarantee I will be out of debt with these accounts in 36 months after the program is initiated. They claim to typically get better than $.50 on the dollar in settlement offers.

Credit Solutions doesn't make payments. They negotiate settlements with the credit card people and I chose the best settlement deals and pay off the cards while depositing $359. a month in a savings account for 36 months starting June 10th.. They claim that by the end of the program I will actually have a better credit rating..

I am overwhelmed with my monthly bills and particularly 3 credit cards I owe almost $20,000 on. I contacted CREDIT SOLUTIONS and think I am going to try their 3 year program.. Does anybody here know first hand about the company? I've gone to sites like ripoff.com and can find no derogatory reports..

Let's not forget drummer Richie Goldberg. He was a colorful character on the San Francisco jazz scene until he passed away sometime in the late 80's or early 90's.. He grew up in Texas and was also a rodeo cowboy.. Here's Richie Hangin' out with Sun Ra..

Don't forget Jewish-Israeli jazz violinist Miri Ben-Ari. I heard her at a jazz festival in 2000 with Jeff Haas and she blew me away!

I play gigs occasionally with Jeff Haas, a jazz piano player who's dad was Karl Haas, an accomplished pianist and known in classical music circles around the globe from the entertaining and educational music series he did for many years on public radio. "Adventures In Good Music" was an insightful program that helped generations of people better understand and appreciate classical music and the composers.. Jeff Haas leads a very interesting and prolific jazz group featuring arrangements and originals inspired by old Jewish songs and melodies from west and east Europe.

I won't be getting a check... I'm self employed and usually don't end up owing any money to the IRS..

HAPPY BIRTHNESS JIM...

Thanks raf and welcome to the forums!

Start time at Bells is 9:30 pm...

HAPPY BIRTHNESS CH UCK!

Disturbing, yet I couldn't look away.

Very cool... I sure enjoyed the Traverse City show!