.:.impossible

I agree. I think his playing is very clear. I just feel like he is always playing whenever I see his name on an album. The most recent example for me that comes to mind is Roy Ayers Stoned Soul Picnic. I think I could like this album a lot more if Hubert Laws wasn't ALWAYS playing!

Mjzee, what can you recommend of later Milt? I've been listening to a couple of early sixties recordings (non-MJQ) and last night listened to MJQ & Friends from 1993. Some of the tracks on the latter disc really are good, but Milt's playing sounded incredible. Its funny. I have a whole new respect for mallets playing and I never respected this 1993 recording of Milt like I did last night! I'm going to be seeking out more Milt.

There's something about Hubert Laws that makes me think I don't like the flute. Then I hear someone like Harold Land play. What do you like about Hubert Laws, Shrd?

Awe fuck it.

Hm... that was last summer. Wrong photo. Try again.

Self Po-trit. Last winter.

So, how does it sound?! Are you enjoying it? Do you listen to any of the DVD-A or SACD discs?

John, I didn't mean to imply that Jandek and Lightning Bolt were similar musically. I meant that they are similar in that they prefer to remain anonymous as musicians. The Residents come to mind as well. No, I think Lightning Bolt has a much more "together" sound than Jandek... all I've ever heard are dubbed cassettes of Jandek's music. I sort of agree with the above. Twenty discs seems like a lot to me. As collector's items, though, I can understand why you guys are interested.

I voted for Walt Dickerson as well. He is the reason I am learning to play the vibraphone*. *Vibraharp actually. Dickerson plays a Deagan, as did Milt Jackson. J.C. Deagan patented the Vibraharp. Claude Omar Musser later patented the Vibraphone. In essence, they are the same thing. J.C. Deagan is also credited for establishing the standardized tuning A=440.

Dave, I have heard a minute amount of his work. As you've read, the sound will vary drastically from one release to the next. I haven't heard The Units, never even heard of them until this thread actually! I liked what I heard in a Beck One Foot In The Grave sort of way. I know not all of his music sounds like that though. BTW, One Foot In The Grave once sounded very rough to me. After learning more about untempered music, it actually comes across as almost pretty. I like Jandek's stigma more probably than I would ever like his music, and I think his music is almost a necessary bi-product of his art. He is like beneath underground. I feel like Lightning Bolt is attempting to work within that anonymous world as well. Do you know about them? They are mythed to live in Rhode Island.

Dave, No. I don't own any of his recordings. I think the only thing that would make Jandek cooler is if he had never recorded anything. Or if all of his recordings were destroyed, like a Buddy Bolden story.

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!