Big Al

Thanks for the endorsement Al! By the way, my quartet is playing this coming thursday night at Greenville seafood and jazz on lower greenville avenue in Dallas. (7-11). Drop by if you can! I'll definitely try! I'd love to hear your quartet, and it has been WAAAAAAAAAAAAY too long since I've gone to see some live jazz!

Thanks for the reminder. Is there any way you can come with a few million dollars and buy the Rangers from the current clueless owner?

I was thinking the same thing! Maybe we should go into this together.

I can see where you, Mike, and Donald are coming from, and I don't totally disagree. But I still feel a more closer connection to the CTI albums he appeared on. Different strokes, y'know?

Yup, as well as The Real McCoy. Didn't care for either of them because: a) As I said before, I can only take Joe in concentrated doses, which also means I'm not a fan of any of his quartet settings; b) I don't particularly care for any of McCoy's work outside of the Coltrane quartet. I guess that could be the subject of another thread, but there have been SO MANY albums where McCoy was the pianist, and I ended up not enjoying the LP. Believe me, it is nothing I'm proud of; I have tried to enjoy McCoy's playing on so many BN (and other labels) albums, with little or no success.

Folks, I can say with absolute confidence: BUY FROM SLIDE WITH CONFIDENCE! If these records are in as good a shape as the bunch he sold me last fall (as I'm sure they are), then these are great deals!

A wonderful set, and an absolute bargain at that price. Now I wish I'd waited a little longer, as I got mine about two weeks ago!

I just recently picked up this set and am enjoying this like nothing in recent memory. Tony sounds so freakin' HAPPY throughout these sessions! I mean, I don't know what he sounded like in the years between his playing with Miles and this group, but his level of inspiration is truly on the level of those great Miles Quintet recordings. His drums sound so BIG, too! I absolutely love the cover photo, where it looks like he's swingin' a frickin' redwood! And dig that SMILE! It's not hard for me to imagine him smiling like that throughout these sessions. Truly amazing stuff, and amazingly consistent throughout. This one is definitely a keeper!

... and I've deleted mine - didn't want to appear too greedy for the set You da man, Mike. Always nice to know I've got folks I can count on, and I hope you know that you can look at me the same way!

No wonder the Boston blogs are describing the games as "like home games". I know that's how it felt when they were here for the Rangers games. It's the same way when the Yankees are in town. Or the A's. Or the Angels.....

Thanks for the concern, Mike. I've edited my original post. No cash problems right now though (thank God)!

And I see Clemens won tonight. Well, I guess that's why he's paid the big bucks.

Amazing.... the Rangers go into the bottom of the ninth down 3-0, former Ranger and currently invincible closer Francisco Cordero (he with the 0.26 ERA) gets two outs on the Rangers, people start to leave because they've seen this scenario way more times than they'd like to....... And the Rangers do the impossible: score four runs and win it. That's two against the mighty (for them, anyway) Brewers. Gonna enjoy this for as long as it lasts!

A few years back, before I sold my Andrew Hill Mosaic* (needed emergency cash, and there were a few sessions I didn't care for), I made copies of sessions that have since been released as either RVGs or Conns. So, a question for those who've upgraded from the Mosaic. What, if any, are the differences in sound quality between the Mosaic and the subsequent reissues on the following titles: Black Fire Pax Andrew! Compulsion Thanks! *Edited to correct the time frame; the original post made it sound like I still own the set. It's been a few years since I sold that Hill Mosaic, and yes I've been kicking myself for it. I've learned my lesson, though: haven't sold any Mosaics since then. Of course, I haven't purchased very many either! Yet!

So I got tired of posting about this album on the Keepnews thread. This album deserves a thread all its own. Let it be known, first, that I am not the biggest Joe fan in the world. I like him; a lot. But I can only take him in concentrated doses; I hardly have any Joe Henderson recordings. In fact, the only other Joe album I own is MODE FOR JOE. I don't own any of the legendary albums he recorded with Kenny Dorham, although I did own every one of them at one time. Fact is, I prefer Joe as a sideman than as a leader. Hence, the concentrated doses. But what doses they can be. A quick sample of some of my favorite Joe moments: His solo on the title track of Idle Moments (this was the solo that convinced me to stop complaining about him and start looking into his work; damn near steals the show on this whole album) His solo on "Song for My Father" I also highly respect all of his work with Andrew Hill, though I rarely listen to it. Though it ain't always my cup o' tea, it makes sense in a parallel-universe-if-I-enjoyed-this-as-much-as-I-appreciate-it vein. And finally, his playing with Freddie Hubbard on Red Clay and Straight Life are nothing short of mind-blowing. For the longest time, I always thought these were Joe's shining moments. That is, until I heard POWER TO THE PEOPLE. First, it sounds like it could be a close cousin to the aforementioned Hubbard titles (the presence of Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Jack DeJohnette certainly helps). Heck, with that lineup, this album has all the earmarks of a great CTI record; I even file this next to Hubbard's CTI albums. Which leads me to the trumpet player on this album, Mike Lawrence. I don't know much about him, but a quick AMG search reveals he spent a lot of time with Bob James, FWIW. IMO, he does a fantastic job of establishing his own voice, when it would've been so easy to be another Freddie clone. Every song is a highlight for me, but I really enjoy his remake of "Lazy Afternoon," which IMHO smokes the version on Basra. And the improvisation that ends the album is quite a funky little pianoless trio stomper, that actually had my feet tapping while I was first listening to it. Easily my favorite Joe Henderson album, easily my favorite Joe Henderson moments. I can listen to this nonstop without ever getting tired of it.

Another great show! Actually got to listen to one live for once (but only caught the last half-hour of it, from "Ghetto Lights" on). Strange thing is, I have never liked POINT OF DEPARTURE before, and I've owned it in one form or another at least three times that I can think of. For some reason, hearing two tracks from that album tonight, and not being able to them as tracks from POD, it was like hearing them with brand new ears.... AND IT FINALLY CLICKED!!!! So, yeah, I'll probably go out and get P.O.D., PAX, BLACK FIRE and COMPULSION in the next week or so. (I already have JUDGEMENT, so there. Nyah! Not to say I won't go and buy it again just because that's the kind of spell your show casts) I think I'm gonna start calling this the "Ghost Lights Effect:" the compulsion (ha ha) to go out and buy music on the basis of having heard it on Ghost's Night Lights program. Hell, David, y'oughta just get right on there at the beginning of the show and say, "Yes, and by the way Al Rearick, if you are listening tonight: let me provide you a shopping list of music you'll need to buy at the end of the show!" AFAIC, you're already saying it in so many words (and tunes)!

You may be interested to learn that for decades the Beatles refused to allow Capitol in the US to release compilations. You mean, apart from (at least): The Beatles 1962-66 (released 1973) The Beatles 1967-70 (released 1973) Rock n Roll music (released 1976) Love songs (released 1977) Rarities (released 1980) Reel music (released 1982) 20 greatest hits (released 1982) Past masters vols 1 & 2 (released 1988) Anthology 1, 2 & 3 (released 1995 & 96) ? MG Well you've proven me wrong, MG. I didn't realize that the compilations started as early as 1973. I do remember reading plenty of times in the 60s that Capitol in the US wanted to release a Greatest Hits record and the group wouldn't allow it. edit for typo But that's your whole point, and it's a good one: the comps didn't start rolling out until AFTER they'd broken up. Even the Rolling Stones had two comps under their belts when the Beatles broke up.

Maybe the folks at Concord saw that horrid picture of OK in the trays of his Keepnews reissues along with the notes he was writing, and in a state of panic decided to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

I am in total agreement with Dan on this. Of course, I'm disappointed that folks are apparently losing their jobs as a result, but from a consumer's standpoint, this doesn't bother me near as much as say.... Paris going back to jail.

I'm so proud of this one, 'cause I thought of it myself (Sangry & Jim R can go right ahead and skip this post, cuz I've already tortured them with it): I've been teaching the first graders at my church's Vacation Bible School this week (yeah, I know; I had to go with a group with whose maturity level I almost matched). The Bible story for the first day was of baby Moses being placed in a basket on the river. Me & my kids were sitting listening to the story, when it gets to the part of the story where Miriam, Moses' sister, hides Moses among the reeds. I raised my hand to ask a question. The teacher, a dear friend of mine who is about 15 years younger than me (I'm 37), someone who should know better because I've been heckling him nonstop, calls on me. I ask, "Does anyone know why Miriam hid Moses in the reeds?" "No, Al; why did Miriam hide Moses in the reeds?" "Because she couldn't trust the brass section!" He still isn't speaking to me! It doesn't help that he's a music major in college right now!

Oh, I don't know: I always thought SIX VIEWS was one of JOS's better discs. I really dig Cecil's playing, and having Blakey in the back just makes it that much sweeter!

Grant Green's THE MAIN ATTRACTION on Kudu/CTI. Anything but. The word that came to mind rhymed with Kudu, however.....

My post was not directed at you personally, Al. It's just that I don't understand why people can't be more careful with someone's name, that's all. It's not their fault they've got the name they have, if you get my drift, and making fun of it is just silly in my view. That's cool.

The Blackburn was 2 LPs on 1 CD. And a marvelous CD at that!