Big Al

Happy birthday, fellow Texan. Hope I get to see you play live again sometime!

12 years to the day. No one's more surprised than the Mavs fans, Icantellyouthat! And they did it without Finley. I'm still not sure I'm really awake yet and this isn't just some weird dream.

Just one? How do I pick between the Hill, the Rivers, and the Byrd/Adams sets?

YUP!!!

With the unlimited $4.99, this is how I did my part to clean 'em out: Cuban Fantasy Jackie's Bag (RVG) Hub Cap (RVG) Miles Davis - In Person Friday And Saturday Nights At The Blackhawk, Complete Total (without freight, which is the best part!): $37.57!!!

Me! Me! Me! I wanna play! I wanna make a disc! Please? I promise it won't be ALL greeeeaze! Or Styx, for that matter!

Very cool indeed! Thanks Guy!

With the $4.99 price tag, that just may happen!

Christmas Day, all day. Our kids are spolied enough..... er, blessed to have BOTH sets of grandparents here in town. So we open presents and have breakfast at our house, go to church, go to my folks for more presents and lunch, go back home to unload the first bunch of loot, then head over to the in-laws for more presents and dinner. So by the time bedtime rolls around, we're ready for a vacation! But I'm loving it, and the kids are DEFINITELY loving it; and as long as the grandparents are still around, we'll be loving it for many years to come!

(Self-edit: I typed all of the following BEFORE reading Leeway's post, which means I've ended up repeating a lot of what he said. But I'm too tired to edit it all over again, and IMHO, I think I've made some points (or repeated some) that deserve some debate. If nothing else, I hope I've given y'all some good flame-bait! ) **************** "Ambivalence" is the word that comes to my mind whenever I listen to Tina Brooks. Y'know, I like Tina's playing; he has a very nice sound. But as a leader, the only one of his sessions that has ever grabbed me is the one that was actually released in the man's lifetime, True Blue. In fact, I have to wonder if the reason Lion couldn't remember if Back to the Tracks was released or not was because he didn't think the session was all that memorable to begin with? This is not a knock against Brooks, BTW. There's lots of players who are good sidemen but don't have the necessary personality to push and draw the best out of their sidemen. And I have to wonder if that's not the case here as well. Some of my favorite players are on this session: Morgan and Blakey, especially. (And I guess as long as I'm blaspheming, I'll say this: I've never cared for Sonny Clark. His playing is just too plain for me. I can't think of any record he's on where anything he's played has reached out and grabbed me, or touched me in some way that makes me wanna go back and listen to it repeatedly. Flames may be sent to my e-mail, or you may bash me here publicly!) I'm sure there are many who will disagree with me here, but I find Blakey's and Morgan's playing on this record particularly uninspired, and I have to wonder if they weren't just holding back, not wanting to completely steal the show from their leader, who was making his debut as a leader? I guess the thing that saddens me the most about Brooks is that he never got the chance (or perhaps never gave himself the chance) to develop as a leader. Like Mobley, f'rinstance. None of his leader dates in the 50's hold that much interest for me; but man, what incendiary work he did in the 60's! In fact, as that decade went on, the further and better he developed! And I wonder, if given the chance, would Brooks have developed in much the same way? Having said all that, I find his work as a sideman particularly inspiring! Especially on Hubbard's Open Sesame. I mean, all you have to do is play this back-to-back with its companion True Blue to hear what I'm talking about. On TB, Brooks sounds a little more inspired than usual, perhaps because he's trying to put aside his uncomfortable feelings as a leader and is slowly trying to challenge himself; but on OS, Brooks lets loose and almost succeeds in stealing the fire & thunder away from Hubbard! Take, as another example, "Street Singer" from Back to the Tracks. This is my favorite track on that whole album, and it's not even a Brooks-led song! It was culled from a Jackie McLean date (note to self: get Jackie's Bag PRONTO!). Once again, the sideman status seems to inspire Brooks to higher levels than what is found on the rest of his album, IMHO. Once again, I wonder if Brooks felt that, as a leader there was more to prove and he got nervous as a result; whereas when he was a sideman, he felt like he had nothing to lose and could allow himself to cut loose and blaze more trails? In the end, it truly is a shame that Brooks never got that chance (or gave himself that chance) to cut loose like that on one of his own records. I think that he had so much more to offer than what he let himself give.

Eric Doplhy - Out To Lunch (click here to buy) John S has tagged me to pick this week's AOTW, and I've tagged sidewinder to pick the AOTW for 12/22-12/28. I'm taking a different approach for this AOTW by picking an album which I recognize is an unquestioned classic, but whose appeal is absolutely lost on me. That's right. I can't stand this album, it frustrates the hell outta me every time I listen to it, and it's not for lack of trying. I'll go into a point-by-point analysis of why this album drives me batty when the week actually starts, not wanting to take away from the current AOTW. But just keep all of this in your minds when preparing for next week: what the hell am I missing??!?!? Why has its charm eluded me all these years? Why is Dolphy seen as such a jazz genius, when, to these ears, his playing sounds like only so much squawking?!?!? Really and truly, I want to know!!!! Talk to y'all next week!

Jack, please tell me how you got your post count so high. Regards, JSngry

I just sent you an e-mail. I hope it's not too late. Six pages of guesses won't make me any less ignorant!

Wow..... gosh...... I mean...... golly... I better clean up my act around such a nice-looking lady.

What Clunky said.

However it's done, count me in!

Happy birthday from another Texan who knows nothing about Indiana expect that it has at least ONE very hip dude living there!

Great choice!

The picture's a year old, but the face is basically the same (complete with shit-eating grin!).

Hey John, I have an idea for an album that I think is everyone's collection; that is, if you're taking any suggestions.

Chiming in my support for this decision as well. A year from now, when you're chasing the little organissimo (or organissimette) around the house, the problems of this place will reveal themselves as the minutiae that they are. B)

I'm happy to report that side one of KIND OF BLUE was recorded 11 years to the day before I was born! (There's gotta be at least one joker out there thinking, "So what?") I'm also happy to report that my wife was born on the same day that Grant Green's AIREGIN album was recorded!

On first lesson, this did nothing for me, as I spent a lot of time thinking "WTF????" On second, third, and subsequent listenings, this has wedged its way to the top of my favorite Larry Young albums. There's just so much here to dig, not the least of which is that it reminds me of Filles de Kilimanjaro in some spots (especially on "Trip Merchant," which probably could've been the title of this album!). Yeah, that first track is unreal, to say the least. But from there it settles down, only slightly. Lots of great subtleties and nuances to be discovered on repeated listenings. Great re-release indeed!

Y'know, if you wanted to make Dan happy, you could put JTC on the cover of Herbie's INVENTIONS AND DIMENSIONS and have him get run over by HERE COME THE THREE SOUNDS. Or maybe couw could have Monk run him down on his avatar. If you run out of ideas, we could switch genres. How about putting James T Cat on a Dixie Chicks cover instead?

Royal Flush??!?!? I woulda thought THE CAT WALK would've been the more obvious choice!