Big Al

Happy Birthday, from one "Big" to another!

Just found this website about the recordings of Claus Ogerman - cover reproductions and all! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!!!!!!

Yes, that whole "we don't accept genres...it's all music" is just a drag when it comes to actually LOOKING for stuff. Unless you have time to go from A to Z in every genre of music in the world, from beginning of the store to the end, you're screwed. Of course, Waterloo mainly just sells local singer songwriter garbage out the ying yang along with the Los Lonely Boys collection . A-frickin'-MEN!!!! About ten years ago, I remember part of the reason I looked forward to going to Austin was for the record stores. With all the small record stores (Sound Exchange, and there was this other place right off Guadalupe that was in this reconstructed house) and Tower gone, going to Austin just for the music stores is a thing of the past.

Did any of y'all catch the cowbell story on NPR the other day? This page even has a link to the SNL skit about the cowbell (which I'd never seen before, and LMAO!!!) as well as a link to the Cowbell Project.

yessss: http://web.axelero.hu/nadori2/index.html It's like watching flippin' Napoleon and Kip Dynamite. GOSHHH!!! just as funnee? Heck yeah it is! It's sweeeet!

yessss: http://web.axelero.hu/nadori2/index.html It's like watching flippin' Napoleon and Kip Dynamite. GOSHHH!!!

Winona Ryder.... right up there with Keanu Reeves when it comes to acting range. I never saw "Much Ado," but I figure it's gotta be as laughable as "Dangerous Liaisons," no?

Dude, that wasn't acting, though!

Hey! I've seen trees with greater acting range! Let's not lump them all together now!

Can't believe I didn't recognize Junior!!! His git-steel playin' is da SHIZNIT!!!

33 Degrees. They closed in 2004. DRAT!!!! Thanks for the heads up, tho!

Antone's on Guadalupe is worth a look-see, even tho' I haven't been in there in years. I think there's another vinyl shop on Guadalupe more towards 38th Street, but I don't remember the name of it. To be honest, I've only driven past it but never gone in, so I couldn't tell you if it's worth anyone's time or not.

If it's even 1/10 as entertaining as this was, it MIGHT be worth seeing. But this was so much more enjoyable!!!

Somebody needs to grab Jack Wilson's SOMETHING PERSONAL. At that price, it's a steal, and it is some hauntingly beautiful music!

These are the titles I'm most looking forward to! There seems to be a lot more adventure in this batch.

I haven't heard the SACD layer of this disc, but the "regular" layer blows the old '86 CD clear outta the water. The acoustic guitars sound like they're right there next to you!

ALRIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!!!!!! Momma looks very VERY relieved!!!

Man, Joe's really letting his hair grow! Have you not had a haircut since I last saw you?

Ahh; thank you! As for me, I’ve been an accountant for so long, I forgot about the odd jobs I held down before becoming an accountant: Summer 1985: worked in Costume/Character Dept. at Six Flags Over Texas, dressing up as Bugs Bunny, Foghorn Leghorn, and Sylvester the Cat among others. Ahhhh, the memories THAT job provided! Summer 1987: worked in food service for SFOT. THAT job also provided a bunch of great memories, some I can’t remember, others I wish I couldn’t! Spring 1988 thru Spring 1990: delivered pizzas for Pizza Inn. That job damn near cured me of fast-food pizza for life! Ever since then it’s been nothin’ but number-crunching!

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So I scarfed up the J.B.'s Anthology and lo and behold, that's Soul Brother #1...... ON THE DRUMS!!!! Now I REALLY can't wait to find out the story behind this one!

I can't believe I actually said that!!! Oh the shame of it! Especially when you consider I started a thread looking for Sonny recs sometime after this!

I would divide his recording activities into five periods: Fantasy (1946 - 1961, including some sideman dates and two sessions as a leader for Savoy 1953/54) Verve (1961 - 1967) Skye (1968 - 1969) Fantasy & Galaxy (1970 - 1978) Concord (1979 - 1982) I like the first Fantasy period best, although there are very good items in every period. And you're right, there were stylistic differences between them making comparisons somewhat obsolete. Who would compare Getz' bossa nova records to his early quintets with Jimmy Raney? What would you say are the choice Tjader records from each period, and why? I can only speak o the Fantasy and Verve years, as that's all I have. Any recs as far as the Concord material would be greatly appreciated. That said, as I posted earlier, I think the best place to start with the Fantasy years is Los Ritmos Calientes, for reasons which I won't bore you with a second time. Needless to say, it more than lives up to it's title. For something a little more melodic, but no less rhythmic, pick up another Fantasy 2-fer called Black Orchid. The title track is my favorite Tjader piece (which he later re-did on a Verve album, Breeze from the East. More on that in a bit), and it also contains "Mambo at the 'M'," which was prominently featured on Mike's BFT. But the REAL highlight is the presence of Jose "Chombo" Silva, who was sometimes referred to as the "Latin Lester Young," which I guess would make him "El Prez" or something like that! Anyway, his sonorous tone is not to be missed. One more Fantasy 2-fer called Latino features Mongo Santamaria and Willie Bobo on all the tracks. It also features some swinging Eddie Cano big band charts. My only small gripe with this disc is the presence of a flute player who plays it way high up in the upper register so your fillings fall outta your teeth. But the rest is very very good, especially "Cuban Fantasy" where Mongo and Bobo go at each other like a pair of lions fighting over a zebra! Now, these are the only ones I've heard. Mike can probably give you more and better recs than those, but for the money (six albums for the price of three CDs) you really can't go wrong with those three. For the Verve sides, if you don't have Soul Sauce, then you cannot be a part of the elite secret society of Tjader Fans!!! I'm not too big a fan of his Verve sides, as most of them seem to be too overorchestrated for my tastes, but a couple certainly stand out: Soul Bird: Whiffenpoof, which was one of the first Verve LPRs, and as such, is still at a ridiculously high price for a 36-minute CD. Try to find it used if you can. There's no orchestration on this one, and in fact is quite the laid-back affair. Plays the Contemporary Music of Mexico and Brazil may not swing as much as the title indicates, but it is lovely music nonetheless, and features some sumptuous arrangements by Clare Fischer, who worked with Cal a bunch in the 60's and 70's. I used to have El Sonido Nuevo with Eddie Palmieri. It didn't make much of an impression on me, but there are others who like it a bunch. The title track is killer, however, and makes you wish it would go on for another 30 minutes or so! The only one I can think of that I would absolutely avoid is the 2-fer called Several Shades of Jade/Breeze from the East. This is a pairing of someone's bad idea to have Call play bad spy-movie music. Hell, even the liner notes acknowledge that these are two of Cal's weakest albums. In fact, the best songs from this CD can be found as bonus tracks on the El Sonido Nuevo CD. And with that, I turn it over to Mike!

Pretty much any Blue Note Jimmy is worth having. Not a bad one in the bunch. Don't ya just HATE mass generalizations like that?