Jim R

Stonewall Jackson Jim Brickman Norman Rockwell

Just curious... This rarely seems to get a mention. Won't be for everybody I know, but I wonder who else digs it, and whether anybody out there might need a "push". B-) This is probably my all-time favorite Kessel recording, and in fact would probably make my desert island list. This sets a certain mood that no other album seems to do for me... it swings like crazy, but it's also got some great wistful, melancholy moments. I love Bob Cooper's oboe (and tenor, but especially the oboe) on this, and the way it's worked into the arrangements. With Hampton Hawes and Claude Williamson playing behind Barn, there's also a driving quality that's hard to beat. Anyway, I just find this one has always been very special, since I first found the vinyl at a garage sale ~25 years ago...

R.W. McQuarters Norris & Ross McWhirter Alec Guinness

Bernard King Ernie Grunfeld Ernie & Bert

FFA, you made a good selection, IMO. I must say, the AOTW discussions have been kind of disappointing for quite awhile (I'm not knocking anybody, I just think it's the unfortunate truth). Sorry I missed this thread. I've had this music in one form or another since it was first released on vinyl. I agree that these all-star sessions often fall flat, and that this one does not. I think the reverence for Duke's music must have prevented that, in addition to the assembled talent having been of such a high caliber. For me, this material was important as an introduciton to Ellington's music (it would be some years later before I began to collect some of Duke's own recordings). I was hearing others play these tunes, but in terms of collections of Dukes songs, this was among the first that I heard). I'm still knocked out by Ernie Andrews on "Don't get around much anymore", one of the most soulful versions of that tune that I've ever heard (one of the most soulful vocals, period). It's been too long since I've played these CD's. I'm going to remedy that in about two minutes. (thanks for reminding me) B-)

Clyde Barrow Mia Farrow Nancy Harrow

Thanks for the heads up, Mike. I just read the piece on Johnny Smith... very well done.

Bob Saget Tom Bergeron Peter Marshall

Y.A. Tittle Spanky DeBrest Gene "Jug" Ammons Jughead Veronica Archie

Barbie Ken G.I. Joe

I was hoping you'd ask. Anyone ever see "The Thing With Two Heads"? It ranks up there with Plan 9 as a gloriously bad movie. Ray Milland and Rosie Grier. WTF?? If everyone (like me) says "no", how can we be sure you ain't makin' that up?

Otto Preminger Henry Ford Chevy Chase Chris Speed Quentin Kopp Larry Fine

Leo Fender Gary Bender Vicki Carr

Joe Lieberman Joe Garagiola (...and there's) Uncle Joe (he's a-movin' kinda slow, at the junction...) sorry about that.

It pre-dates Bossa Nova. Here's an excerpt from McGowan and Pessanha's book, "The Brazilian Sound": Almeida and Shank's "jazz-samba" was not bossa nova, as some have claimed; it lacked the characteristic João Gilberto beat, the harmonic stamp of Jobim, and the economy of expression achieved by bossa. Quite simply, it had a different mood and sound. ... [Almeida and Shank] continued their jazz-samba collaborations with "Holiday in Brazil" and "Latin Contrasts." On other albums, Almeida linked a variety of Brazilian musical genres to jazz and classical forms. For example, he explored modinha, choro, maracatu and boi-bumbá in "Duets with the Spanish Guitar" in 1957... Though Almeida was several thousand miles away from the burgeoning bossa nova movement in Rio in the last 1950s, he adapted that to his own style when it was carried to American shores by Getz, Gilberto, Byrd, Jobim and others. I heard Joao Gilberto before I ever heard the Shank/Almeida material, and I must say, the latter never really appealed to me much (nor has Charlie Byrd, as I've listened to him more in the years following my exposure to Joao). I still enjoy Getz's work in the brazilian realm (although some purists have said that even Stan didn't always "get it" in terms of rhythms), but the work of some of his rhythm section sidemen makes some of those recordings far less enjoyable than they used to be, before I began exploring more authentic brazilian music (and I'm being polite ).

Alexander Mundy Ted Bundy Jeff Van Gundy

Sometimes you (I) just go with the first thing that pops into your (my) head... no matter how odd the idea.

Reebop Kwaku Baah Steve Winwood Rick Grech

Marcello Mastroianni Sophia Loren Carlo Ponti

Floyd Goober Ernest T. Bass

Willie Wood Herb Adderley Willie Davis

The Birdman of Alcatraz The Prisoner of Azkaban The Prisoner

Beaker Dr. Bunsen Honeydew The Swedish Chef

I forgot about Ruppli! My copy only gives "Cal Tjader (vb) + ?", and lists the recording date (in L.A.) as Sept. 19, 1967. FWIW...

The fool on the hill Nowhere man Dr. Robert