Ron S

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?

OK--next micro-gear survey: for jazz guitar, what brand, style, and thickness of pick do you use?

FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! (come on, the rest of you guys, let's egg 'em on)

Are those 11's, Jeff? I think you told me before, but I forgot.

Scott, are you familiar with JustStrings.com? Jeff Blake told me about it--fantastic selection of strings (Duh!) and, at least for the D'Addario Chrome 11's, they're a bit cheaper than Musician's Friend.

Joe, here's a REAL gearhead question for you (or anyone else who cares to answer)--what kind of strings do you use for your jazz guitars? I was thinking of picking up some D'Addario Chrome 11's for the new Agile Cool Cat.

The guitar case for Joe's Hofner Jazzica Classic:

I'm sure THAT one goes on a lot of gigs.

My foist was a cheap Decca nylon string (classical) purchased for my older sister (who never learned to play it) in the late '60's and immediately commandeered by me. Since it WAS my first guitar, I tried to donate it to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland but, for some mysterious reason known only to them, they weren't interested.

What other axes--if any--do you have? Again, sorry if this has already been discussed.

. . . or the new Epiphone. B-)

Joe, I'm sure you've discussed this before and I apologize to you and the others for bringing this up again, BUT, what amp(s) do you use now for practice and for gigs?

Nice article from today's Philadelphia Inquirer in anticipation of tonight's concert:

You know Joe Morello?