.:.impossible

Wayne Shorter opens SECOND GENESIS with "Ruby & The Pearl." Branford made a lot of fans in the 90s playing well with the Grateful Dead as well. I've enjoyed the music I've heard from him. I think he gets a bad rap because he's Wynton's brother.

I'm also a fan of Mars Hotel. It was one of the first GD albums I ever heard. I think their are some great tunes on that album. Unbroken Chain especially. And I have to put in the usual plug for the album under Bob Weir's name called ACE. I think you should seek that one out too. Great Grateful Dead studio album.

Whenever I click on the Beck links posted at addy, I get a file not found error... did you copy them by chance? I'd love to hear them. Thanks for keeping us posted.

I would definitely go, but my parents AND my in-laws will be in town. I think its probably out of the question... Let me know how they sound if you go! edit: added link to samples of new disc. same guitarist. Click here, then on recordings. Samples from TRANSITION SONIC.

I like to imagine that those stories of Jandek are really about a "body double" or something. A decoy. Same with Sterling R. Smith. Sure, they're real people, but are they Jandek of Corwood Industries? He's probably not even in Houston. He probably has a friend in Houston who believes in this elaborate scheme as much as the recorded Jandek and fulfills orders. Jandek sends boxes of new recordings to Houston. Keep the hellhounds off my trail.

I was fortunate to hear him play about a month ago. Let me say it was one hell of an experience. I like what Jim says about his viruosity. Wayne's group played after Ornette's, another extremely advanced player, and sounded light years away from everyone else that came before. I am still in awe. He was ferocious.

I'd like to piggyback this request with an even more specific request. While you guys are thinking about Country and Western recordings, I'm looking for Country and Western recordings with vibraphone. I know Gary Burton went to Nashville in the late 1960s and recorded Tennessee Firebird. I've been told there were a few percussionists in Nashville before he got there that played sessions with vibes in the arrangement. If you can think of any while you are on this tangent, please throw them out there. I tried before with a thread called "Nashville Vibraphone" and came up empty. Maybe throwing this in on a broader thread will help. Unfortunately, I don't have any specific recommendations for you Matthew, but I do like that classic C&W sound! A lot of today's country sounds like a total de-rail to me too.

The people that we knew over at Regattabar jumped ship when the Blue Note group bought in. They have opened a place in Cambridge called Real Deal. Click here to read about Water Music (formerly booked RegattaBar, now booking Real Deal)

There was a huge billboard on i-95 back in March of last year. All it said was organissimo.org. Actually Dookie let me in on this. Let's hear it for Dookie Coleman. Dookie Coleman everybody. Alright.

Just for fun!

Weather permitting, Ornette will take the stage down the street tomorrow in Newport. This is good news. Sounds like a nice prize.

I'm not sure that it is active any longer... Al Jones was moderating it for a while.

I'll probably be there, at least for Sunday. Although Saturday sounds pretty good too. Ornette with Greg Cohen on bass should be cool. Dave, it will be good to see you and Phyllis again. Maybe I'll have those CDRs I owe you! We'll have to make plans if I can get tickets. Dmitry, let me know if you are coming into town too.

I wished you a happy birthday over on Shawn's birthday card, but I thought I'd pop in and wish you Good Times in the year to come!

Wait, you can play ANY word in the championship? I didn't think you could use slang, archaic words, proper nouns, anagrams, etc. What exactly are the rules Randy? And let us know how you did!

I don't think anyone blames Bush for pollution. They blame him for not discouraging, impeding, or attempting to correct pollution. You would be surprised to find out how much fecal choliform, e. coli, salmonella, etc. your county-level EPA water quality and groundwater department detects in the creek behind your house. Not interested? Pull up the numbers for your county's water source. It makes no sense, knowing what we now know about farming technique, to continue allowing certain practices. Knowledge is useless if we don't use it. How's that for a Yogi-ism?

I heard an NPR piece on shortwave spy messaging a few years back. I don't know if it is available online, but I remember being fascinated by it. Thanks for the links guys! By the way, if you haven't heard the Wilco album YANKEE HOTEL FOXTROT, I'd recommend it.

Happy Birthday Shawn! Happy Birthday to you too Lon!

'Dead zone' spreads across Gulf of Mexico HOUSTON, Texas (Reuters) -- A huge "dead zone" of water so devoid of oxygen that sea life cannot live in it has spread across 5,800 square miles of the Gulf of Mexico this summer in what has become an annual occurrence caused by pollution. The extensive area of uninhabitable water may be contributing indirectly to an unusual spate of shark bites along the Texas coast, experts said. A scientist at the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium said Tuesday measurements showed the dead zone extended from the mouth of the Mississippi River in southeastern Louisiana 250 miles west to near the Texas border and was closer to shore than usual because winds and currents. "Fish and swimming crabs escape (from the dead zone)," said Nancy Rabalais, the consortium's chief scientist for hypoxia, or low oxygen, research. "Anything else dies." In the last 30 years, the dead zone has become an annual summer phenomenon, fed by rising use of nitrate-based fertilizers by farmers in the Mississippi watershed, Rabalais told Reuters. The nitrates, carried into the gulf's warm summer waters by the river, feed algae blooms that use up oxygen and make the water uninhabitable. The dead zone's size has varied each year depending on weather conditions, but averages about 5,000 square miles and remains in place until late September or early October. Virtually nothing is being done to stop the flow of nitrates into the river, meaning the dead zone will reappear every year, Rabalais said. The dead zone forces fish to seek better water, which may be a reason for the recent shark bites on Texas beaches. Three people have been bitten by sharks along the upper Texas coast this year -- a high number for a state that has recorded only 18 shark attacks since 1980. Terry Stelly, an ecosystem biologist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, said increasing numbers of sharks have been found in recent years in the waters along the Texas-Louisiana border, near the edge of the dead zone. Along with other factors, "chances are good they (sharks) were looking for higher dissolved oxygen in the water," he said. Rabalais agreed, saying "The higher number of sharks in shallow waters may very likely be due to the low oxygen being close to the shore at the time of the attacks." "The available habitat for the sharks is definitely less when the low oxygen is so widespread," she said.

Yeah, I won it on ebay. There are usually one or two auctions going on each week. Deagans are highly sought after and bidding can get out of hand. Timing was perfect on this one. I think people are away on vacation, etc. and I got in on this for a very reasonable price. I haven't actually played the Traveler before, but I have played Deagan bars. The bars are uniform from model to model, depending on the era. The model name generally refers to the frame. In this case, Traveler refers to the portability and breakdown design of the frame. The variable speed motor was refurbished by Gilberto Serna at Century Mallet in Chicago, who was the master tuner at Deagan before they closed their doors. Century services Deagans, sells parts, etc. They are actually located in the old Deagan factory. Here’s a link to their website, if you are interested: Century Mallet

Can't play vibes without a vibraphone!

Oh boy am I excited. I have been saving and waiting and researching this instrument for about four years. This week, the stars aligned, Walt Dickerson's Life Rays shown down upon me, and I won a 1960s Deagan 582 Traveler. I can't wait for it to arrive! Here's a photo from the seller's home. These are the same bars that Milt Jackson and Walt Dickerson played. Both were actually playing an Aurora 1100, but the alloy is the same. The main difference in these instruments is the frame. The Aurora 1100 was designed for studio and symphonic work, whereas the traveler, the commander, and the like were all designed for portability. The Deagan sound is darker and warmer than the Musser sound that you would hear from Bobby Hutcherson and Gary Burton in the 1960s. She's a beauty. She's my spaceship.

Just to bring this to the top, my brother usually plays an upright, but bought an Ampeg Baby Bass specifically for this band to get that real Salsa sound. I don't know if you've ever been in the same room with a baby bass, but the plastic wreaks! I'm told that hard plastic from the 1960s is very different from the plastic of today. This is an image of a typical Ampeg that I found on a google search. I've seen ads with Richard Davis and Charles Mingus endorsing this instrument at its advent.

Have you ordered yet? If not, GET IT!

Check It Out A little spam, I suppose. My brother is playing bass in the second band, Bio Ritmo. If you are in NYC and are free on Sunday afternoon, you ought to come check these two bands out. Being chosen to play by Papo Lucca is a huge honor to these guys. Papo Lucca y La Sonora Poncena Formed in 1944 by Papo Lucca’s father Enrique Lucca, Sonora Ponceña is the oldest active band from Puerto Rico. Originally formed by local musicians in the Puerto Rican town of Ponce, Sonora Poncena has reached audiences across the world for over 50 years. The Afro-Caribbean salsa band Bio Ritmo formed in the early 90s in the unlikely city of Richmond, Va. Since their inception, the band has released four albums, including the critically acclaimed self-titled Bio Ritmo. The Village Voice writes, “Its a classy mass of pulsating rhythm and wry wordplay on which Bio Ritmo comment on their connection to the musics 70s roots while, you know, swinging relentlessly into the future.” Bio Ritmo Embracing the straight-up, street-wise classic salsa sound of the 1970s Puerto Rican New York, Bio Ritmo brings hard-core groove, creativity, and pure energy back to the forefront of music. Bio Ritmo is a veteran salsa band out of Richmond, Virginia, creating a buzz everywhere they go. They recently won the Disc Makers Independent Music World Series (IMWS) Northeast finals in New York City, beating out 1,700 other independent bands from the entire Northeast region.