Jim R

Oh. Yeah... happy birthday (in advance) to everybody. I mean it. Jim, since you started this... how long does the "in advance" wish remain valid? Do we have to do this again in July 2005?

Man, this is a very ingenious AND thoughtful alternative to a thread I had been thinking about starting (for the same reasons, believe it or not)... something along the lines of... CAN WE QUIT WITH ALL THE GODDAMN BIRTHDAY THREADS ?!? (Hey, I wasn't really going to do a thread like that... well, not exactly like that ). At any rate, like the man said, sometimes I'm too busy, sometimes I'm too forgetful, and most of the time I'm just too fucking lazy to post in all those birthday threads. Unless you hit 'em all, there could potentially be feelings hurt out there- especially if (yeah, AS IF ) some of you guys have a better memory than I do, and remember who wished whom a happy birthday. SO... um... hmm... I forgot what else I was going to say...

AMG is so review-oriented and review-driven, I've always gotten the sense that they always want to create a distinct heirarchy among the recordings for each artist, whereby a lot of excellent recordings get slighted only because they're not as good (or as popular, perhaps) as that artist's absolute best-known and best-loved works. I say "sense" because I don't (really, honestly) often read their reviews, at least not in their entirety. To me, it makes almost no sense to put so much credence in their reviews, as so many seem to do. Same with the Penguin guide, IMO. I'm not trying to dump on Yanow, BTW, who I think is one of their best. It's just that he's ONE guy. It's ONE opinion. Of course it's fine to consider Yanow's opinion, and post about it, or whatever. But sometimes I get the impression that people want to be led too much by AMG in their thinking and their purchasing. Just my opinion. Maybe AMG's screw-up of their site revamping will cut down on this terrible problem. Anyway, getting back to the heirarchy idea, it seems to me that this approach works better for some artists than it does for others. Artists who are restless, progressive, eclectic, etc, are more likely to have ups and downs (especially from the viewpoint of one reviewer) than artists who prefer to stay more in the same general groove most of the time, where you pretty much know what to expect with each recording. I'm talking in generalities here, but basically, someone like Horace Silver (especially during his run during the classic Blue Note era) was very consistent, IMO, and comparing those recordings is highly subjective as compared to an artist who takes more stylistic chances or includes more variety in the production and structure of the music. I happen to be one who digs a lot of artists like Silver, even though I usually know what to expect. I remember debating this with Yanow, in fact, some years ago at either JCS or Jazz Corner. The topic was Kenny Burrell, and Yanow was basically trashing some of Burrell's (IMO) best stuff, simply because it wasn't pushing any envelopes.

I still haven't managed to try one of these out yet. I just got a mail order catalog (Musician's Friend) and saw the Classic 15 again, and was reminded of this thread. I know this is wishful thinking, but as I look at this new amp I kind of wonder why it was designed this way. I'm sure it sounds fantastic, but to me, 64 pounds (even with casters) is a big negative. I ain't getting any younger, and even my tweed Bassman is a pain to move around at 50 pounds. I guess what I'm getting at here is that in addition to almost never seeing amps with 15" speakers anymore (unless you get into smaller companies and hard-to-get stuff), amps seem to be getting bigger and heavier (even the '65 Deluxe Reverb weighs in at 42 pounds). I miss my old Gibson Vanguard, which had a 15" JBL, and didn't weigh a ton. Anybody got any other recommendations for a smaller, lighter jazz amp with a 15? I never see jazz type amps in local stores, which makes shopping around all the more difficult.

Welcome, Freddy. Check it out: Stitt threads

Eddie Higgins ain't new, but he's relatively little known. He's also playing better than ever, IMO. Lou Levy isn't new (isn't even with us anymore, unfortunately), but I think he's always been underappreciated. Just in case you hadn't checked them out... B)

There are some great ones from the 80's and 90's, for sure. JAZZ POET is a classic, for example. relyles, here you go (can't necessarily vouch for the accuracy here 100%, but fwiw...) From: http://corbusie.hp.infoseek.co.jp/tfdc.htm [i tried to actually paste in the data here instead of just giving the url, and I got an error message telling me I had used too many emoticons. I knew instantly that this was the result of the dreaded (B), (a "b" in parentheses, indicating "bass" in discographical notation). Unfortunately, there were way too many (B)'s in this 20-year discography for me to manually fix them, so... hopefully the above link still works...]

A few steps behind, IMO.

If I understand your question, I would say I'm not aware of any major stylistic changes in Flanagan's approach during the 70's, but maybe it's a more subtle thing that I haven't picked up on. At any rate, I don't agree with your use of the term "rote" in this context. Flanagan was a piano giant, one of my all-time favorites, and whether or not he was challenging himself stylistically, he was a great artist who always played with taste and sensitivity. Any particular reason you're asking about the 70's only? He of course continued to record through the 80's and 90's, increasing his output as a leader over the years. I recently found a discography of his later work (1979-1999), BTW, which I saved and could easily post here if anybody's interested. Anyway, here's what I have from the 70's, all of which I would recommend. 1975-02-15 -The Tokyo Recital (Pablo) w/Keter Betts,Bobby Durham 1977-02; 1978-11 -Confirmation (Enja) w/George Mraz,Elvin Jones 1977-07-13 -Montreux '77 (Pablo) w/Keter Betts,Bobby Durham 1977-12-08 -Alone Too Long (Denon) solo 1978-01-28 -Our Delights (Galaxy) w/Hank Jones 1978-01-30 -Something Borrowed, Something Blue (Galaxy) w/Keter Betts,Jimmie Smith

Every team seemed to have stars missing from this tournament. It was a chance for some younger and less experienced players to compete, I guess. I thought it was a pretty good match today. Argentina played very hard, and outplayed Brazil for most of the game. They just about had it wrapped up, and simply gave Adriano too much space on that final ball into the box with time running out. An exciting way to finish in regulation, though. Too bad they had to go directly to PK's to decide it.

Fantastic string. I wish this were a radio show, and each of you were a guest DJ with a couple of favorite tracks to share. I have some of the music mentioned anyway, but I have to confess to being somewhat blase about appreciating the art (never been as keen to large ensembles, at least as compared to small group recordings). Was Quincy Jones mentioned? I was just listening recently to Art Farmer's "Last Night When We Were Young" on ABC Paramount, and was reminded of Jones' work on that.

Trivia time- the original CD release of this was OJC 001. Thanks for mentioning it, Brad. Time to pull that baby out again.

Amen. THANK you. B)

One of the sessions on Burrell's (Japan only) FREEDOM album featured the same group as MIDNIGHT BLUE, except that Herbie Hancock was added. We need to have that out on CD one of these days. Amen?...

Me too, and add Luisao, who I think has quite a few caps. I recognized Alex too, but not sure I've seen him as much as Luisao. Anyway, there are many stars absent from this tournament (as I realized again with the absence of Recoba from Uruguay's squad). Apparently everybody wants to make this tournament an oppurtunity for up-and-coming players. I don't know who was missing from Colombia's team, but they better think about getting them back asap! I didn't see their previous match, but I was impressed by their performance against Brazil. They scored first, kept the pressure on, and defended pretty well overall. If Brazil hadn't surprised them with that quick goal to open the second half, they might have managed a win.

At the present time, I can answer with a definitive "no". Not only my buying, but my acquiring has slowed to a crawl. Over the past year or so, I've become more aware of wanting to spend more time with what I've acquired over the past 25 years, as well as wanting to stop jamming CD's and CDR's into spaces that are already too jammed. I'll keep acquiring (it's in my blood), but I have to keep it under control. The other reason I can say "no" is because there was only one brief period in my life when I "stockpiled" music knowing that I wouldn't be able to listen to it in a relatively short period of time. This was a few years ago when I got my CD burner, and got into some mammoth trades. Even years ago when I used to go on safari up to S.F., Berkeley and Oakland, spending $200 or $300 and coming home with bags and bags of LP's and CD's, I always HAD to play everything within a matter of days.

1973-ish. I'm with Mr. Armstrong.

She is quite a woman, and that was a very enjoyable read. Thanks.

Joe is Empathy. http://joecartermusic.com/ He's also a member of this board.

I just wanted to mention that this is an extremely good (and important) point, IMO. I've seen those "played-out" sentiments expressed a number of times on different jazz boards, and believe me, it's even more annoying to someone who is less inclined toward avant music, and takes some pride and pleasure from seeking out many wonderful musicians who are not exactly known for breaking new stylistic ground. It's a subtle thing that some don't seem to understand. So, thanks for saying it (and displaying it with the music).

The most recent piano CD I purchased (a couple of months ago) was Broadbent's YOU AND THE NIGHT AND THE MUSIC (A440 label), which came out in 2003. I heard his version of "Ceora" on the radio, and I went out and grabbed this CD immediately. Brian Bromberg on bass, Joe LaBarbera on drums. Recommended. Pleased to see I got the instrumentation right on track 3. That's a sweet combination, and I'm still enjoying this music. Very interesting approach to go with Cadence review material. I've encountered enough obscure yet wonderful jazz players (and Cadence played its part in that) from all over the world over the years that I can't say I'm too surprised by the overall quality of your selections. Thanks again, Nate.

Staffan William Olsson (Swedish player working in Norway) is the real deal. I have two of his CD's, one from 1995 and one from 1998. Both excellent, and showing both an impressive command of the instrument as well as a great deal of finesse and musical sensitivity. Both were nominated for grammys in Norway. I was hipped to him by a poster over at Jazz Corner a few years ago, but I already knew there were some fine jazz musicians in Scandinavia. Now I guess I'll have to track down some ABBA.

Has anyone been watching the Copa America? I was looking forward to the final rounds, but the last couple of matches have been highly disappointing. Brazil's 4-0 win over Mexico was pretty dull, with Brazil outplaying Mexico in just about every phase of the game. What was worse, though, was tonight's Argentina vs Colombia match. I didn't really care who won, but to watch Colombia play such a lifeless, uncreative match was boring, and even frustrating at times. They lost 3-0, and were barely able to possess the ball and move forward. It's been quite a while since I've seen any national team look so pathetic. How they made it to the semifinal is beyond me. Tomorrow is Brazil vs Uruguay. I hope Uruguay can at least make a strong effort. I'm tired of watching boring and lifeless matches.

It seems most of you had more exposure to ABBA than I did (I guess they were mostly after my time). I have a vague idea of who they were from seeing TV ads, but I managed to avoid hearing them pretty easily. Fortunately, I can say that about a LOT of pop groups.