Big Al

Jams Run Free by Sonic Youth

Well, the rest of the disc is still better (even if it won't appeal to Big Al at all ), but I wanted to feature this particular tune and all the other tracks go longer than this one... YIKES!!!!!!!

Have I mentioned that I hope the Cows go 0-16 this year? And every year that that stupid MF Owens is stinkin' up the joint.

Not in the Crusaders box, but don't let that stop you buying it! I don't know who it is, but it doesn't sound like the Crus to me. MG Yeah, I kinda figured it wasn't them, even if I was hoping it was. The trumpet solo threw me off.

Yup. Got plenty of other things to worry about as it is!

Will likely go with the RVG, since I've got a 30%-off coupon for Borders this weekend!

Precisely what I was trying to say!

Buck Showalter, are you listening????

Track 1: Nice lazy rainy Saturday afternoon groove to this one. Track 2: Nice way to open “Star Eyes,” but the rest of it is just your standard groove. Nice enough, though; can’t say anything bad about it. Track 3: Lovely, sensuous groove here! My God, this sounds like an ABBA outtake, ABBA unplugged! That’s a compliment, BTW. I love the way the voices harmonize. And I love the sound of the vibes like that. Is the rest of this album as lovely as this one track? I am really digging this! Track 4: Gotta be Erroll Garner! Track 5: Lord, here we go again. NMCOT, HAFC, DKDC, and WTF???? Sorry. Track 6: Ah, now this is nice! Love the way the piano player dances all over the keys. Not to hip on the electric bass, but the drummer keeps things sprightly! Track 7: Starts off like a Hubbard/Spaulding riff, and then goes….. nowhere. It’s a three-minute intro to a song that never happened. Track 8: Nice and lilting. How does that tenor player get that tremolo going? Pretty amazing, but also kinda distracting. Quick: the tenor player just shot up into the stratosphear! Someone bring him back before he blows up the song! “He ruined the ending! One of the loveliest parts of the whole—HONK HONK SQUEEEEAL BLATT—piece!” (anybody know who I’m quoting here?) Track 9: Some more good greeeeaze! Who’s that smooth guitar player (smooth as in nice and slick, not like Earl Klugh)? Track 10: Not sure what to make of this one. Like the drummer, though. In fact, I’m quite digging the battle going on between him and the tenor player. Drummer is putting on a helluva fireworks show! Track 11: Another nice little groove here. Man, Luca, you sure like your sax players to hit those high notes, don’t ya? Track 12: Sounds like a New Orleans funeral march. That bass trombone is just baaaaaaaaaaad!!!! What is it with these sax players playing as loud and hard as they can? I can’t take this anymore!!!! AUUUUGGGGHHHHH!!!!!! Track 13: This has the kind of groove I could tap both feet to all day! Nice bass solo, and I don’t usually dig bass solos. Enjoying the tenor sax for his understated playing. Still got three minutes to go; hope the tenor player doesn’t start trying to blow his brains out like some of the other players on this disc! Ah, he didn’t. Now that I’m thinking about this, the tenor player sounds like Stan Getz. Track 14: Nice enough. No clue about anyone, though. Track 15: No clue again, but a nice rollicking way to wind up this BFT! Another nice job, Luca! Again, I can’t say I enjoyed all of it; however, once again, I can tell your heart is in this, so praise for a job well done!

Track 1: That is one SERIOUS Jazz Crusaders groove! If this is on the Mosaic box, I may be springing for that ASAP (or at the very least, putting it on the Christmas list!). Helluva way to start a BFT! Track 2: My first thought was that this was one of those Dexter at Copenhagen sides, but then the second tenor came in. I still think it’s Dexter, maybe Sonny Stitt on the 2nd tenor, no clue when or where. And, to be honest, it’s a little too slooooow. Track 3: Tenor & guitar, no piano! I love this kind of lineup, and can’t wait to find out who it is. My first thought was Mark Elf, since he rarely uses a piano. No clue on the tenor player. Eddie Gomez on bass? Track 4: That trombone sounds like it’s being blown through a Hefty bag. Electric bass is off-putting. The whole group sounds way too loose, like someone called a Monk tune but nobody agreed on which one to play, so they all played a different one simultaneously. Track 5: Eight-and-a-half minutes of this???? Random squawking? No offense, but this may very well be THE most unlistenable BFT track I’ve ever heard! NEXT!!!!! Track 6: Nice little swinger! Who’s that singer? She’s so kitschy, it’s wonderful! It’s like listening to an opera singer try to swing! Lovely! And an accordion! Uh-wun’erful uh-wun’erful!!!! Track 7: Sounds like a Basie-type band, but not Basie himself. Swings nicely, though! Track 8: Grappelli? I know less than nothing about jazz violin. But this sure swings, that’s for sure! Sounds like it was recorded at a Prairie Home Companion taping. A jazz square-dance! Where’s Bugs Bunny? “Whomp your partner, whomp him high / stick yer finger in his eye / pretty little ribbon, pretty little sound / bang yer heads against the ground!” Track 9: Sounds like the tenor player is on a totally different wavelength, not to mention time-signature, than the rest of the band. Sounds like he’s trying to play a ballad, while the band is trying to play a swinger. Good Lord! What is that guitar player doing???? It’s like he’s run it through a Marshall, a Leslie, hyperdrived it to death, and then decided to play something completely away from what the rest of the band is playing. YIKES!!!! NEXT! Track 10: Ahhhh, now yer talkin’! Sounds like a late-40’s/early-50’s R&B groove, and a welcome respite after the directionless noise of the previous track! Like I said before, I love pianoless quartets with tenor & guitar! Track 11: Not much of a fan of solo instrument performances. It’s a nice enough version of “’Round Midnight,” I guess. Oh, wait; I guess this is a band performance. It’ll be interesting to see who this is. How does he get that harmonic sound like that? Track 12: Some good greeeeeaze here! Is that George Braith? Or maybe Rahsaan? That’s gotta be Brother Jack there! Track 13: Nice, as classical music goes, I s’pose. I’m guessing this is supposed to be a jazz standard played on a classical guitar, but I’m not hearing it. And that’s my hangup, not anyone else’s. Track 14: More classical sounding stuff. NMCOT. Still not into solo horn performances. Sorry. Track 15: Ummm.... Sorry, this one lost me as well. Track 16: Back to the groove! Yes! No clue! Yes! Short, sweet, & swingin’! Just the way I like ‘em! Track 17: Heheheheheh! I love the “fidelity” of this one! What would be really amazing is if these guys played those “skips” intentionally. Nice job, Luca. Can’t say I enjoyed all of it, but I can tell you put your heart into this, and for that it was worth the listen!

How's about 30% off one item, no minimum purchase? I think you have to be a Borders Rewards member, but you never know.

Ordered that with the Mclean & Evans. For that price, it's worth the curiosity!

Yes yes YES get this album before it goes OOP. There certainly ain't anything like it, which is a pity!

I think you guys may be onto something here.....

Get MF well soon!

"Cancer boy?" "Cancer kid?" That's just rude, tasteless, completely uncalled-for, and totally wrong. Please, take your Red Sox trash-talking to the Red Sox fan forum, where you can trash them to your heart's content.

At the very least, he died doing what he loved. RIP, and thanks for the wonderful adventures.

These are the same folks who gave us the Verve LPR series. It's a good thing the albums chosen for that series have been so wonderful, but in the end they're just a bunch of nice-sounding needle-drops (at a nice price as well).

It's not personal, Big Al Clemenza. It's strictly business The Don if i hit a grandslam in my first AB on the first pitch..... i'd retire on the spot Me too!!!

I hope so, too. Man, what a shame for Lester, the poor kid.

Y'know, I just got this record player that is simply ITCHING to play some old jazz records on it..... Do you need someone to accompany you on your drive tomorrow? I've got a van with lots of room in it!

Damn ss1, your Tribe is killing my Rangers tonight. You'd never know the Rangers had the better record of the two teams.

Well then, PM sent!

PM sent. Drat! Late again!

Dude, I will come and dance at your next gig that I can get to. Seriously!!!!