Big Al

A great choice! Can't wait to begin discussing this one!

In fact, I'll bet, without ever having heard the album, that track 10 is disc 1-track 5 from this album!

1. “Summertime” and the guessin’ is easy: sounds like Gene Harris again. I thought it might be from one of the “It” Club dates. But that ending goes on waaaaaaaay too long! 2. Mmmmmm! Sounds like some Joe Pass! I’ll be interested to find out the answer to this one! 3. No clue. 4. Sounds like Joe Henderson! Love the groove on this one! 5. Ohhhhh YEAH!!! Funny thing is, before I owned the original version of this classic, I thought this was it! Heard it on the radio, in fact, and it was the DJ who said it was track four from this album! 6. Has that classic Ellington sound, so I’m guessing it must be the real deal! Don’t know the song or the album, but I would place it in the late 60’s or so. 7. Sounds pretty recent, but I have no idea who it is. Sounds like the organ player went to the Count Basie School of the Slow Blues! Is that Stanley T on tenor? 8. This reminds me of Kenny Dorham & Cliff Jordan. Nice shuffle beat, too. 9. No clue. Too slow for me, anyway. 10. Could this be Stanley T with the 3 Sounds wrapping up a BFT? That’s my guess!

I got my copy over the weekend and this is pretty disappointing to these ears. I shoulda stuck with the studio albums. Where to start? Byrne’s singing, which is so much more controlled in the studio, is just short of maniacal live. I understand that’s part of the charm, but it’s lost on me. And how about the fact that there’s not much difference between these songs and their studio counterparts? Maybe a bit of a change of tempo, but beyond that, not much else. This will come as blasphemy to some, but disc two is worse than the first, especially when the full band hits the stage. I’ve never been a fan of backup singers, and this album is no exception. And for a band this size, I was expecting some fireworks from the live tracks that the studio versions couldn’t match; at least, that’s what I kept hearing about. Turns out the studio albums had it right all along! Just my opinion, of course. I’m sure there are others who are gonna love this stuff. I’m just not one of ‘em. Anybody want my copy? $20 including shipping or a half-decent trade takes it away. E-mail acrearick@hotmail.com or PM me.

Didja see that little horse that went under JSngry’s chair? Hoof Arted!

1. Sounds like Prez to me. Can’t account for the guitar player, though. 2. Sounds like Hawk to these ears! 3. “Chelsea Bridge.” Don’t know the tenor player. Like the drummer, though! 4. “Things Ain’t What They Used to Be.” Is that Flip Philips? 5. Ohhhhh YEAH!!!! My kinda groove! This has GOT to be Gene Harris & The Three Sounds doing “The Preacher.” Mind you, this is just a guess; if I’m right, it’s only because Gene’s sound is SO distinctive! If this is Dan’s way of trying to convince us to write to Mosaic and get them to put out a 3 Sounds Blue Note box, SIGN ME UP!!! 6. I recognize this tune as that long track from the Sonny Side Up album, but I don’t know the name of it. No one sounds familiar to these ears, which is just as well, as I lost interest about halfway through. 7. Sounds like a J.J. Johnson thing. Maybe Kenny Dorham on the trumpet, Oscar Pettiford on bass, Max Roach on drums, anyone else? 8. HAFC™. Kinda long, though. 9. Love that break!!! Sounds like a Duke Pearson big band record! 10. Mmmmmmmmmm!!! A nice greeeazy “Maiden Voyage!” Heck, that even sounds like Wayne Shorter on the tenor! 11. Sounds like a modulated “Mr. Knight.” Sure is long, though, kinda repetitive. Lost interest. Maybe after reading other folks comments, I’ll find something to latch onto, but such was not the case on first listen.

Every now & then, if timed properly, you can drive next to a train while driving down Division Street thru Grand Prairie into Arlington and enjoy that rhythm! Ahhhhhh indeed! Speaking of fond train memories, when I was little, my dad used to drive me to the train yard to watch the trains go by. We'd wait around and if none went by, we just figured the trains had already gone to sleep and we'd try it again the next night. The sweet irony is, 30 years later, I work right by that train yard. Thanks dad!

That's silly! And a bit suspect, I think. Time for a cartoon!

Take heart, my friend; there's a lot of people (Christians and non-Christians, believers of any faith) who agree with that sentiment. Myself included, and I am a confirmed Christian. I've always despised the way that "organized religion" (a contradiction in terms if I ever saw one) divides people more than it unites. But I tend to lay that blame more at the feet of legalistic Bible-quoting Christians more than anything else. shrdlu, at the risk of sending my soul into eternal torment, do you not see what you are doing? You are becoming the very Pharisee and religious scribe that Christ stared down on a daily basis! I don't doubt your knowledge of Scripture, but I DO question your use of it! This is the exact same tactic used by the religious scribes of Jesus' day! The very thing that kept seekers from finding God! Don't you remember what our Savior said in the 23rd chapter of Matthew: This is you, my brother! You alienate more than you attract! You are setting even firmer the hearts of those who seek the Lord (or at the very least could use an introduction different than the radical-right espouses), when all they really need is a little softening!!! Whatever happened to "Come to me, all you who are weary, and I will give you rest." You said earlier that That goes COMPLETELY against what Christ said: "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." The point is notthat children, like us, are all sinners; far from it, even though we are. The point is, we are to embrace and be embraced, just as Jesus did, just as God does, unconditionally. Period. I beg you, my brother in the faith, to remember the words of St. Paul: "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal." Peace.

Yeah, he should have a disclaimer like the radio stations do: if you've bought anything from me in the last week or so, wait and let one of these other suckers in the Central (yo!), Mountain, and Pacific time zones have a shot first! That way, I could get in on the action too!

Trains!!! Yes!!! Finding out the reissue of The Name of This Band is Talking Heads will have my favorite Heads song on it ("Found a Job") and then finding out it KICKS ASS even more than I'd hoped!!!! (The rest of the disc ain't so bad either!) Rainy Sunday afternoons Christmas morning Christmas eve My little bubba at church who is only two, learning to talk, and when his dad brings him back from the nursery before communion will break the silence with "HI OWL!!! DRUMS???" Central Market Live theater, participating in and watching. Joe Walsh's But Seriously, Folks

Did anyone see today's (8/22) FoxTrot? Maybe someone who knows how can post it here. I found it very sobering.

It's bad enough when people who have a yard the size of a postage stamp hire a lawn crew to take care of it (instead of mowing the lawn themselves). And I'm not talking about infirm folks here; they're in good shape. If they were unable to take care of the lawn themselves, I could understand that. 'Taint the case, here. It's infinitely WORSE when the crew shows up at 7:00 am on Saturday morning. Like they did TODAY!!!

Long drives on the highway, blastin' my favorite tunes. CD Source in north Dallas. Playing bass in my church's band. Finding out the church organist is a Benny Golson fan, who wants to do a recital of Golson's music in a piano-trio format (and I get to play bass on that, too!) Reading the words "Carmel, California" (and being reminded that it's been over 25 years since I've been there) and remembering one of the happiest vacations of my life. Maybe that's where I'll take my wife for our honeymoon! Bill Evans playing "Elsa" Johnny Hodges with Billy Strayhorn and THE Orchestra Creedence Clearwater Revival My 8-year-old son, who keeps me young in ways I never imagined, who comes up with lines like this: at football practice yesterday, the coach threw the ball way over another kids head, and my son looked at him & said, "What're they puttin' in the milk YOU'RE drinkin'?" Maggie Moo's Ice Cream, especially when they have chocalate amaretto! My chili Chris Moore books Pepsi™ People like Rainy Day who start threads like this. I'd hug ya if you were here right now!

Yeah, especially that ending!!!

XTC fans being the lone exception, of course! Not at all! Being a fan of XTC, Sam Rivers, Willie Clancy, Palestrina, John Cage or anybody else is great. Condemning the taste of others for Diana Krall, Jamie Cullum, Madonna or Westlife because of that taste is somethinng else! I know, and I agree! I was just riffin' on ya!

XTC fans being the lone exception, of course!

Something similar to this happens at the public library all the time. This family brings a pile of books to the counter, start to get checked out, and THEN mention they don’t have a library card. The family then proceeds to request a card for EVERY member of their family, requiring separate applications for each family member. This would be okay if the librarian would ask that the family step to the side while completing their applications. Unfortunately, the librarian will sit there and wait for each application to be completed. It is not unusual to wait almost half-an-hour to check out a book because of these folks!

This has been my feeling about Ready for Freddie. Have the Conn, but haven't upgraded just because I was never too impressed by this album. Gonna get Blue Spirits ASAP, though!!!

Another refugee checking in, doing more lurking than actual posting. Hell, it took me over a year to finally clear the 1,000-post count. Some guys manage to do that in a matter of days!

DAMN STRAIGHT!!!!

That brings back memories of when me & a couple of my friends were in Galveston for spring break, and we went to go see Action Jackson. It was a packed house and we were the only white kids in the audience. My friends pretty much sat scared, looking like they were praying not to get killed. Me, I had the time of my life!!! I mean, when the bad guy got his, you’d think the Rapture had happened, and I got swallowed up in all the hoopla!!! The dude in front of me, he & I’d been havin’ a ball shoutin’ at the screen! There was a lady with a screaming baby in the theater and this guy yelled “Hey lady! Shut yer kid the fuck up!!!” or something like that! Man, I get excited just remembering that night; it was a blast!!!!

Will I be guilty of assasination after I vaporize you for driving too slow in front of me? I love riding my bike, always pay attention to street signs, yield to pedestrians, and live in a town without public transportation. However, the stop-sign-crash story made me laugh out loud!!! Some of my gripes? People who try to talk to me when I'm on the phone. People who say my music (jazz) is noise, and then put on some godawful hip-hop racket! Cell phones going off in church. I'm pretty sure God in His mercy will overlook the "Thou shalt not kill" commandment for this one!!!! People who use the self-serve line at the grocery store who haven't a fucking CLUE how to operate the damn thing, and then of course they usually have 20+ items to scan!!!! Popular Latino music. This stuff wouldn't bother me so much, I mean it's basically synthesized polka music sung in Spanish. What bothers me is when these dudes in the lowriders come up blaring this shit outta their speakers..... damn, that ultra-bass is bad enough, but then you get the added "benefit" of that tinny synth-accordion. BLECCHHH!!!! People who call and take FOREVER to get to the point of why they're calling, by making small talk: how's the weather, how 'bout those (insert local sports team here), etc etc ad nauseaum. CUT THE CRAP and get to the point! Did I mention slow drivers, especially in the passing lane?

People who drive too fucking slow, ESPECIALLY in the passing lane. It should be perfectly legal to vaporize their asses right where they are.

Amen, brother.