Big Al

PM sent on You And Lee

The soundtrack CD to Woody Allen's Radio Days. I don't know the name of the song that plays as the credits begin in the movie, but it's not on the CD and I wish it was. This is one of the CDs that first got me hooked on jazz.

A mislabeled Buck Clayton Jam Session wma CDR. I thought I'd put in the Cohn/Green/Newman Select which, as it turns out, is actually on a wma CDR labeled "Buck Clayton Jam Sessions!"

Looks like we may be back on track. I just heard back from DrJ. Stay tuned for more details....

Would anyone like to volunteer to lead February's BFT? If no one has anything, I have a Blindfold Test Greatest Hits that I put together for my own listening enjoyment years ago. I figured since we have a lot of new participants, it'd be nice to give them a taste of Blindfold Tests past. This is also for any other narcissists in the bunch (myself at the head of that bunch) to see if anything you put on a BFT made the cut! EDITED 1/31/10 DrJ is back and has apparently pulled a marathon session similar to the Miles Davis Quintet's marathon November 1955 session, and the two discs promise to hold the same quality of music for our enjoyment! So, come one come all and sign up! As you'll see below, DrJ will be sending me the discs and I'll be uploading. So, hopefully, by the end of this week, BFT 72 will be going full speed and then I gotta start putting together the "Big Al 40th Birthday It's All About ME BFT!"

E-mail replied to and paid for. And I also hope your situation gets better.

Was in a CTI mood last night: Freddie Hubbard KEEP YOUR SOUL TOGETHER Paul Desmond PURE DESMOND

I backhanded a wasp off my desk today. I didn't hit it all that hard, but the force of my blow knocked it to the ground and apparently killed him. Still, I didn't want to take a chance that it might come to and get its revenge. So I stomped it into oblivion. This was the highlight of my day.

I am deeply insulted that I am not special enough to appear in Allen Lowe's signature line.

$110 for the Parlan? And it hasn't sold yet??? If I didn't already have it and love it.....

PM sent on the Turrentine box, just in case!

You're telling me! This is murder! You're in the groove, Jackson! ALLEN LOWE WILL NOT QUOTE ME IN HIS SIGNATURE LINE BECAUSE HE NEVER SAYS WHAT HE'S GONIG TO DO AND ALSO BECAUSE HE'S TOO SMART FOR US TO BECOME UNHINGED!

And Trane may not be God, but he is definitely a bad mutha SHUT YO MOUTH!!!

Metallica, Sept. 28, American Airlines Center. Special for me because it was my son's first concert and we both had a blast! Ben Folds with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Sept. 29, Dallas Museum of Art/Myerson Symphony Center. Just as enjoyable as the Metallica show but on a completely different level. I went with a friend, and had no idea what to expect. Incredible show!!! The Greg Waits Quintet, June 17, Sandaga's. The Quintet makes its debut at this little place in the industrial section of Dallas. My next door neighbor met me there and he and I made up 67% of the audience! The piano player looked like George Carlin. Sweet show! The Greg Waits Quartet, October 28, Scat Jazz Lounge. The first show at the FW venue made this jazz fan feel like he was at the Vanguard! This was also the 2nd show with Jim Sangrey on tenor in a pianoless quartet, and the first show with the new bassist, who did a MUCH better job than the bass player from the previous month's gig. Technically, I didn't *see* the following gig, even though I went there fully intending to be in the audience: The Greg Waits Quartet, September 16, Sandaga's. Jim Sangrey debuts on tenor for what was supposed to be a pianoless quartet, but was reduced to a trio when the regular bass player didn't show! Jim gives a great retelling of what happened here (scroll down to post #232). Greg and Jim, I still cannot thank you enough and am eternally grateful for letting me have my own "Sonny at the Vanguard" moment: playing upright bass in a pianoless jazz ensemble. That night was THE best night of the year for me, hands down.

That's not weird at all. It would bug the heck out of me, too. I almost bought the Ella set from yourmusic, but picked up a used copy from our esteemed board member Big Al. No matter how you obtain it, there's some great music in that set! What Skid said: not weird at all! I'd go apeshit if a box was missing a disc!

NO WAY!!! I GOT ONE RIGHT???!?!?! WOOOO HOOOOO!!!!!!! YAY ME!!! YEEAHAHHHHHH!!!!! Will definitely give those last three a spin. Getting one right has put me in a GREAT mood!!!

Al, I've got both of these sets and they really suck. Mobley wasn't the middle weight champion of the tenor, more like the feather weight champ. Besides, anyone who doesn't write his own material ought to be ashamed of himself. Just ask yourself this: when's the last time I heard a good Hank Mobley original? And Turrentine? Wow, don't get me started. Talk about a guy without his own sound. Completely useless without Shirley Scott. Thank God he found his way into pop jazz so he didn't continue to pollute the hard bop gene pool. OK, now repeat after me. "These are good reasons I don't need these two sets." "These are good reasons I don't need these two sets." Doesn't that make you feel better? What humorless curmudgeon gave this hilarious post a negative hit? I'll fix that!!!

Great.... another two weeks of fighting the temptation to buy the Mobley & Turrentine sets.....

Track 1: This sounds like the kind of thing John Fahey aped so well back in the 60’s. On some of his records, he made the songs sound like they were recordings of old blues 78’s. I’m pretty sure this isn’t one of them, but I love it nonetheless! Track 2: Baby Dodds. (Oh, like I would know this! Hahahahaha!) Gotta love it! Maybe I need to re-think my whole attitude towards pre-1930 music. Tracks 3 thru 6 were all very enjoyable, although I couldn’t name a one for ya. Track 7 was painful. Couldn’t make it through the first two minutes, let alone all eleven!!! Track 8 was cool. I’m gonna guess Stanley Clarke on the bass, but that’s all I’m even remotely comfortable guessing! I’m sorry to say the rest of it did nothing for me. But those first few tracks sure were nice!

Still bummed over that whole WWII thing...

$25 for the Desmond/Hall box? Free shipping??? How come this hasn't been pounced on yet???

Terrific BFT and a great theme, too! Loved it! Track 3 was Django on violin???? You rat!!! At least now I know how I mixed up my track numbers on my guesses. Good stuff, Hans. Keep swinging indeed!

Learn something new every day! Thanks for the tip about "Carinhoso." Gonna go check my guesses to the answers now...

Well, FWIW, the Cows have NEVER beaten the same team three times in one season. Last time this happened, they swept the Giants in the regular season while going 13-3 and landing the top seed, and then promptly lost to the Giants in the first round. I agree that ignoring the rule is wrong, and wouldn't be surprised one bit if TV was behind it.

Holy sh...... here it is the last day of the year and I’ve completely forgotten to participate! Here we go, just before the calendar flips! Track 1: no clue, but I love the interplay between the cello and the piano. Roger Kellaway perhaps? Track 2: I so wanna say this is Freddie Hubbard & Herbie Hancock. I’m probably wrong, but that’s who it sounds like to these ears! Lovely nonetheless! Track 3: Guess who? Yehudi!!! (let’s see if any of the Looney Tooniacs know which cartoon I’m quoting there). Anyway, no clue, but the fidelity suggests a recent recording trying to get that mid-30’s single-mike sound. I like it. Track 4: Whole lotta bass! I dig it. No clue who it is, though! Track 5: Was all set to write this one off as another HAFC™ and then the bass solo started. Slam Stewart or a reasonable facsimile! Sax? I dunno... Zoot Sims jumps to mind for some reason.... Track 6: Guitar and piano doing “Love for Sale,” fidelity sounds pretty recent so that rules out Bill Evans and Jim Hall. I’m not entirely convinced that the guitar player isn’t Jim Hall.... wait a second.... Peter Leitch!!! That’s my guess and I’m sticking with it! Really digging the mellow feel of this BFT. Sure wish I’d given it a spin earlier this month when the stress level was frantic! Will DEFINITELY need it next month when audit time comes around! Track 7: BWAAAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!! Flintstones! Meet the Flintstones! They’re the modern stone-age BFT!!! Well, now I know of a second version of this song, the first being on a Jim Hall Quintet record from the 70’s! Y’know, I’m seeing his name pop up so much in my guesses, I think I might go back and make that my guess for everything! Alright, I’m at track 10 and I don’t remember 8 or 9. One thing’s for sure: Durium sure loves him some BASS!!! Track 11: Ah!!! I know the song if not the specific performance: it’s Jobim’s “Carinhoso” and I didn’t even need to check Amazon to get the answer! (Verifying, however, is another matter altogether!) I imagine Jobim, being a fantastic arranger himself, would be very pleased with this! Track 12: Can I confess something since I’ve already mentioned Looney Tunes already? Is there anyone else in here who, when they hear this song, instantly think of the 1937 Friz Freleng cartoon “Streamlined Greta Green?” EVERY time I hear “Our Delight,” no matter who’s doing it, I ALWAYS and without fail hear those words. Maybe I oughta pull a Jon Hendricks and mashup the two. In fact, I went and looked up “SGG” on YouTube just to hear the title song, just to see if there’s any similarity. There isn’t. In fact, the prevalent songs are “My Little Buckaroo,” “Lullaby of Broadway,” and “Shuffle Off to Buffalo,” none of those penned by Tadd Dameron and none of them sounding even remotely or phonetically like “Our Delight” OR “SGG.” So, I don’t know where this is coming from! The mashup idea is sounding better and better. Stay tuned to FacePage for further developments! Track 13: Nice sax/bass duo. Thought it was “Bass Blues” by Coltrane, but it ain’t. Sure sounds like Joe Henderson to me. Track 14: Again, no clue. Nice though! Track 15: Sounds like a dad and his son havin’ a good ol’ time. Gonna be nice to hear who’s who on here. Very nicely done, Durium. This certainly lives up to your moniker: keep swinging indeed!