bluemonk

I have the last three volumes to get, I'm still reading the series right now. I kind of read it off and on, but I'm on "Fables And Reflections, Vol. 6." It's a pretty big volume so it's taking me a little while to read through it. So far my favorites have been "Season Of Mists, Vol. 4" and "The Doll's House, Vol. 2." Both are minature masterpieces really. Gaiman is such a great writer.

I'm a huge comic book fan particularly the ones geared towards adults. I became a true comic fan after reading Alan Moore's "The Watchmen" and "Swamp Thing." After that, I really got into Neil Gaiman's "The Sandman" series and that series was just so amazing. I also really liked "Kingdom Come" by Mark Waid, which was about "superheroes," but it was a very good read. I also really dug Frank Miller's adaptation of Batman in the mini-series "The Dark Knight Returns" and his adaptation of Daredevil in "The Man Without Fear."

Hello, I didn't see any specific threads about Neil Gaiman's The Sandman, so I figured I would start a thread. Anyone a fan or a potential fan?

How do you like that Line 6 Spider, BFrank? I haven't heard much about those. How many watts is it? Here the amplifier I currenty use: It's only 25-watts and has a 10" Celestion speaker in it. It's a very nice sounding amp. Sounds great clean or distorted, which is rare in any kind of amp. It is also a very cheap amp. I only gave $160 for it. It also has chorus and a nice spring reverb built into it, but I really don't need either of these since I use my Lexicon for reverb.

What a beautiful amplifier! I heard those old Gibson's are amazing!

I've been playing the guitar for about 18 years. What are all you guys guitar setup (e. g. amplifiers, effects, guitars)? I have always had a small setup, because I hate breaking down and setting up. It's not because I'm lazy, but I've tried to really nail my tone without having to sit up a bunch of equipment. For years I have carried around heavy amps like a Fender Princeton Chorus, but for the last 4-5 years I have played smaller amps and I have noticed that I'm getting the same tone I always had with a smaller amp. I use only a 25-watt amp, but it's enough for me. My setup: Guitar: Fender Startocaster Amplfier: Jay Turser Classic-25RC Effects: Lexicon MPX-110 Boss DD-6 Digital Delay Pro Co Rat distortion Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler (which I just use for short loops) Loopers: Boss RC-20XL (I don't have this hooked up) Electro-Harmonix Memory Man w/ Hazarai (I don't have this hooked up) Morley volume pedal That's it, nothing more, nothing less. I prefer a darker, warmer tone, so I always have the 5-way switch in neck position.

Ah yes, the Democrats, is there no problem they cannot solve??? Superman wishes he had the track record of Democrats! I cannot wait til the Dems sock it to an American cartel like OPEC, and American companies such as British Petroleum, and Dutch Shell!!! It took a Democrat to clean up after W's daddy, now it'll take a Democrat to clean up after Baby Bush. By the way, this is kind of off topic, but what is the deal with some of these Republicans that still have Bush bumper stickers on their cars? Does anyone notice this or have seen this in their town? This really annoys me to no end.

Jon Christensen started out as a good drummer, but something happened....I'm not quite sure what happened to him, but he lost whatever time he had, the same with Paul Motian. I love Motian's music, but I feel like telling him it's okay to play a solid rhythm. Joe Morello...he just bores me to death. Lewis Nash....he must have two different personalities, because one minute the guy can swing, then he just looses focus. John Hollenbeck....he really has been annoying me lately. Jeff Ballard....he doesn't impress me that much and has gotten a lot of praise in last couple of years, he's pretty overrated

Gasoline prices are just so outrageous. I have cut my traveling down quite a bit. I stay at home a lot now. Bush has really bankrupted this country, I hope a Democrat gets in there and make it right again like they always do.

I totally agree with this. Garbarek's tone can sound like cat's claws scratching a chalkboard at times, but I think it mellowed out some later in the 70s. I dig his albums with Egberto Gismonti and Charlie Haden. Really beautiful music.

Everytime I hear the opening song to "Witchi-Tai-To" called "Air" it really sends me to another place. It's so emotional, so beautiful. Bobo Stenson had some very inspiring playing on this record as did the rest of band: Palle Danielsson and Jon Christensen, who I consider the who's who on the European jazz scene. I mean those two guys made some great records back in the day. I think some of my favorite Garbarek albums has to be "Twelve Moons," "Rites," "Folk Songs (w/ Charlie Haden, Egberto Gismonti), and "Paths, Prints." Both of these albums really bring a lot of good memories for me.

I love Tomasz Stanko! There's so much mystery wrapped around his music and it's so moody and dark. My favorites are: Suspended Night Soul Of Things Wolnosc W Sierpniu From The Green Hill

I tend to like Bill's earlier stuff when he took more chances and was more adventurous with his melodies and harmonies. I like his ECM session work a lot. He always had a dreamy, textural sound on the guitar in those days, especially with all the delay, reverb, and distortion he used. He also used a volume pedal back then, which, for whatever reason, he doesn't use anymore. He sounded more horn-like when he used the volume pedal, which I really dug. His work with Paul Motian is some of my favorite. Great player with a very original sound. ....but I'm also a huge John Abercrombie fan too!

Perhaps Miles wasn't a pioneer, but rather a visionary who by the time of his dealth was a walking encyclopedia of jazz history. I mean sure he wasn't really involved with the swing music of the 40s because of his age and having missed much of it, but he was there when bebop was being created, which everything after bebop, he pretty much had his hands in and helped move the music forward. Is that a fair analysis?

I don't know about "pioneer," but he was involved with the development of these styles: 1. Bebop: everybody knows he used to skip class at Julliard to play with Dizzy and Bird 2. Cool jazz: not really sure if this was movement, but it was an alternative or counter active to the bebop movement 3. Progressive big band: he collaborated with Gil Evans on numerous occasions and Evans helped Miles produce a very interesting big band sound 4. Modal jazz: think of "King Of Blue," all the songs were based on a couple of scales and were simple in structure, but were very complex from an improvisational standpoint 5. Jazz rock/fusion: Miles was involved with some of the first blending of jazz and rock music, but of course there were several before him that were doing it, Miles just brought it to the attention of the jazz world 6. Funk/acid jazz: this was during his "On The Corner" up until the day he died, this style not as aggressive as his jazz-rock work, but still was hard hitting Am I leaving anything else out?

Some other recordings by Gryce to check out:

Yeah, you know, it's shame that not many people are familiar with Gigi Gryce, because he was fine alto saxophonist and composer. Then again, he wasn't on the scene for very long, which may explain not many people knowing about him. He led several groups, but I think he's probably most known for his work in Art Farmer's quintet, which produced such classics as "When Farmer Met Gryce" and the follow-up "The Art Farmer Quintet." Gryce changed his name to Basheer Qusim and quit playing in the early 60s and became a public school teacher. I always thought Gryce was a very enigmatic and mysterious person. I mean not really much is known about him other than the few recordings he did as a leader and the ones he sessioned on.

Monk only appears on the quartet session of this lp, correct? That is correct. It was released on the Savoy Jazz label.

Lol....yeah I did something similar when I saw a rare Curtis Counce album at a store. The clerk was like "Are you okay?" I looked at him and said in a very calm voice "Yes, I believe I am."

Thanks for that information. I had an idea that's basically what happened, but wasn't sure. I will definitely snag "My Conception" if I see it for a decent price.

Yeah, you know I like all of Monk's records for different reasons. Sometimes it's hard to get into the groove, but I really did like "Straight, No Chaser." I thought Rouse's playing, in particular, was really good. Monk did a record with Gigi Gryce that was released under the name "Nica's Tempo," which was half big band, half quartet. I really liked this album a lot, because it showed Monk in a sideman role, which is something he didn't do much of. Clark Terry's "In Orbit" in another favorite. Have you heard these JSngry? What did you think about "Monk's Music"? I thought that was one of Monk's best 50s studio efforts. Yeah, I've heard those. I've heard a fair amount of Monk. Truthfully, once you get past the "definitive" Blue Note, Prestige, Monk's Music/Brilliant Corners canon, I'm not so sure that I don't come back to 5 By Monk by 5 about as much as anything. That was Rouse's first side with Monk, he sounded waaay fresh in it, and Thad, hey, Thad was every bot as quirky as Monk, and they fit together quite nicely, I think. Sam Jones, as well, always a pleasure. And ig there's been a better version of "Jackie-ing" than the one heard there, I've not heard it, at least not for my taste. I liked "The Unique Thelonious Monk" a lot and all his albums on Prestige and Blue Note were just brilliant. His Riverside recordings were all really good, but it's like I said, I don't think I own an album by Monk that I didn't like. I also liked "Thelonious Monk Orchestra At Town Hall" that was different album for him. Yes, "5 By 5 By Monk" was a great record too. I haven't listened to that in quite some time, but I do remember it being quite good.

They do this to a lot of artists' music unfortunately which is a damn shame.

Whenever I hear about Rouse's "limitations" I wonder: Am I just too damn numb to hear the flaws in his playing, or does he bring some extra magic to the table that more than makes up for them? Damned if I know. But I like him. I like him with Monk, and also with Clark, Louis Smith, and a bunch of others; I also like his own albums. (Maybe I'm easily pleased.) I'm ashamed that I haven't really checked out any of Rouse's solo recordings, but I think I will now. Thanks Bruce.

Yeah, you know I like all of Monk's records for different reasons. Sometimes it's hard to get into the groove, but I really did like "Straight, No Chaser." I thought Rouse's playing, in particular, was really good. Monk did a record with Gigi Gryce that was released under the name "Nica's Tempo," which was half big band, half quartet. I really liked this album a lot, because it showed Monk in a sideman role, which is something he didn't do much of. Clark Terry's "In Orbit" in another favorite. Have you heard these JSngry? What did you think about "Monk's Music"? I thought that was one of Monk's best 50s studio efforts.

Yeah, it seems Blue Note does this a lot for some reason. Do you know the logic behind this?