Ron S

Sounds like you're already set, at least for now, but you should check out the Fairlington area of Arlington for a future move. I lived there in the late '80's, and it's a wonderful neighborhood and relatively affordable. It's a self-contained community of brick townhomes and apartments built during World War II and renovated en masse in the '70's or '80's, and they're very solid and have nice features like hardwood floors. There are lovely common lawns and amenities like tennis courts and swimming pools for all residents' use throughout the community. When I lived there, they even had trash collection 6 days a week! There are townhomes and apartments for both sale and rent. It's in a great location, right off I-395 and just 2 miles up King Street from Old Town Alexandria.

As are warm welcome fronts.

I'd rather see him consult with Cher:

If we continue to discuss Mr. Lowe like this, we may Allenate a few more members.

Congratulations on a great find! It's stories like this that really demonstrate the potential positive impact of the internet and sites like Ebay (not to mention Organissimo Forums ).

Keep that stuff in the religion thread.

Or even like THAT.

You mean sorta like that?

Dizzy Gillespie's "Birks' Works"--a 2-CD set of Dizzy's great big band of the late 1950's that was sponsored by the U.S. State Department on international tours. Lots of great musicians including Lee Morgan and Benny Golson. Samples can be heard here.

Playin' the Wechter!

Did you help Al Gore invent the internet?

Me too! Same disc (2), different hemisphere. B-)

One caveat about alldirect, though, is that a LOT of jazz discs are out of stock. My last order was about half OJCs and I had to really hunt to find ones that I liked and were in stock. I dunno if this is the result of there being massive deletions in the OJC catalog, or just a slowness on Fantasy's part to send them more copies of the less popular titles. But at least you know at the time of ordering that those listed in stock are in fact there and, to their credit, they refuse to accept backorders. I've found that many in-print CD's they list as out-of-stock eventually come back in stock, usually within weeks if not sooner.

AllDirect.com. Teriffic prices, free shipping for orders of $99 and over, great customer service on occasional defective discs, and generally great selection (as long as it's in stock and you know which label and issue date you want). And if they don't have it in stock, you can't order it.

(He's nothin' without his sticks. Besides, Joe and I can just PICK him into a stupor. B-) )

Sort of like your guitar playing?

The inimitable Mr. Lowe! A cameo appearance for a well-placed pithy witticism.

It's all in the pick, Man!

Saw this concert last night--excellent. Marian McPartland appeared a bit frail (had to be assisted on and off stage) and hunched over (osteoperosis, I'd guess), but played wonderfully with some marvelous, witty, and topical banter (e.g., she dedicated Chick Corea's "Windows" to Bill Gates). She played an exceptionally diverse program of 9 songs, including Corea's "Windows", Ornette Coleman's "Ramblin'" (a real crowd-pleaser), a marvelous arrangement of "All the Things You Are" that included some wonderful fugue-like passages (another crowd-pleaser), a Bix Beiderbecke piece that she said Bix had taught to her husband Jimmy McPartland and Jimmy had taught to her, a Dave Brubeck song (which she said she cleared with him before the show to make sure he hadn't also planned to play it!), and one of her own compositions. And get this--the woman will have her 87th birthday in a few days. It was a terrific set that was well-appreciated by the audience, which gave her a well-deserved standing ovation. Dave Brubeck was also great, despite his obvious frailty at 84. He received a standing ovation before he even started playing, and then played 7 songs. These included a piece he recently wrote inspired by a UK tour last year, entitled "London Flat, London Sharp," which will be on a CD he has coming out shortly. He also played another song he says he wrote on the flight down to Washington to record an episode of "Piano Jazz" with Marian McPartland entitled, believe it or not, "Marian McPartland." He had the audience repeat her name over and over leading into his intro to the song, which consisted of musical phrases with a rhythm sounding like her name. His sixth (and "official" set-ending) piece was, of course, "Take 5," with a great long drum solo. After another standing ovation, the quartet came out for one encore. In total, he played for about an hour and a half. His sidemen--all with hair as white as his--were also great. As I left the concert, it occurred to me that I will deem myself extremely fortunate if I still am able to even ATTEND a concert such as this when--and if--I reach my 80's, let alone have the stamina, agility, and mental presence necessary to PERFORM it. These two should inspire us all.

Scott, do you still like that Hal Leonard Jazz Guitar Book? I seem to recall you praising it recently (which is amazing, since I can't even recall what I ate for breakfast this morning).

I'd be a little nervous about the proximity of that door stop.

Stalag 17? One of my all-time favorites.

Who wants to see Randy play Wipeout on Joe's head?

So, you think I'm nit-PICK-ing?