joeface

Oh yeah, So by their own words, the precedent is set with other second-rate documentarians that wouldn't know a well-constructed argument if it bit them in the arse. In other words they're advertising this as pseudo-informative entertainment with little bearing on the actual subject matter.

I was about to recommend N.T. Wright (particularly Jesus and the Victory of God) but looks like you beat me to it. Wright's knowledge of 1st century Palestine, second temple Judaism, and pretty much all extant texts and documents relating to Jesus is extremely thorough. That work is large but a must-read for a serious study. In it he spends 100 pages just explaining his historical method explicitly and why it should hold to offer serious conclusions. Wright has dialogued frequently with the more liberal side of contemporary Jesus scholarship (Marcus Borg and Wright even co-authored a two-views book). For a smaller work to handle basic questions on historical method and textual criticisms, Paul Barnett's Jesus and the Logic of History is the one to get. Too many scholars are logically sloppy in their methodology, likely due to prior commitments, so Barnett lays some groundwork for a level-headed (read: logical) approach to the matter. The notion of Jesus never actually existing is not taken seriously in any serious scholarly circles that I know of, but unfortunately it still gets a lot of mileage in pop-media scholarship specials and publications. It is provocative and attention-getting enough to gain an audience; to not only completely isolate the "Jesus of History" from the "Christ of faith" (because the Enlightenment taught us that history and faith are necessarily in opposition, right?), but even to boldly conclude there actually was no Jesus of history behind the early Christian movement in the first place. Other common problems: - So many new books painting new pictures of the historical Jesus, and we end up getting Jesuses who resemble the author's own life and times, social ethical and theological preferences, or based on seeming arbitrary thematic emphasis extracted from the same source texts everyone else is using. It's Rorscharch scholarship. - Many scholars labor under the assumption that a successful reconstruction of the socio-political climate of early first century Palestine is enough to reconstruct the person of Jesus as to his psychological make-up and self-awareness. It is ruled out then that Jesus could have (A) brought something new to the table and/or (B) reached back to more traditional, pre-Hellenistic Jewish themes (though he spoke in contemporary terms) and self-consciously appropriated them for his own unique mission. j

Charlie Hunter and Bobby Previte as Groundtruther, "Latitude" (they're, uh, interesting underformed improvs, not the usual Charlie) Thievery Corporation's "Richest Man in Babylon Rewound" (continuing my recent dub fascination)

Morphine, I can't get enough of them but I don't yet know why. Ozric Tentacles Aimee Mann Neil Finn V.A.S.T. Cocteau Twins Depeche Mode

this is the topper for me, only because of how the album title completes the band name band name: I Farm album title: So My Kids Won't Have to

This is analogous to myself and myself. If I met my high school era 16/17-year-old self right now, and we discussed jazz, we'd probably end up in a fist fight or something. My high school self thought that the only good jazz was fusion jazz and that of the slick kind, if it didn't come out of GRP then it ain't worth checking out! Yikes. In my former self's defense, it was mainly the influence of the educational environment, being in a marching band's drumline with high technical standards (think: breeding ground for the drum and bugle corps world) and tyrannical musical preferences that one dare not deviate from, lol. Smooth jazz was cool too only if the groove was tight and chops were decent. I'm on a different planet now.

I'm in Houston for computer training, stuck at the hotel with no car. Walked to the mall last night, found a music store. It was about 80% rap music, but I found Stan Kenton's Cuban Fire in the $5 bargain bin. Fun music! j

A working definition of 'genius' which I find useful goes something like this: An act or work of innovation without much precedent that proves over time to inaugurate a new paradigm in some form or other, in some discipline or another. But in retrospect this act or work will seem to have come about so easily or naturally, that it would be hard to imagine it not coming about. With those kinds of qualifiers, I think use of 'genius' in that sense would shield it from abuse, i.e. just designating certain individuals we find appealing and adventurous. I would have to recognize the genius of various people's work which I do not find appealing or constructive on a personal level. It also focuses more on 'acts of genius' regardless of the person. Someone who is called a genius may just be persistent in their acts of genius. So a more objective argument might be made for designating Stevie Wonder's '70s output (not his 12-year-old child prodigy output) as genius, because of the elements involved. He basically wrote songs with the ease of constructing melodic lines and harmonies in the way of Irving Berlin or other great pop composers, while greatly expanding the sonic pallette, all within the foil of a post-Motown, soul-pop format conveying everything simple joys to heavy social issues. The implications are pretty signifigant.

This is a must for hockey fans who are not fond of pork. Non hockey fans too. J Winnfield on Hockey

Unfortunately I grew up in a relatively music-less household. I'm 29 (born in 75)... the earliest song I remember enjoying and trying to sing along to on the radio was Billy Joel's My Life. I must have been three or four. And that Italiano song Shuttup a ya face (who the heck sang that one?) ... yeah I grew up in an Italian family too. I also remember my oldest sister singing (off key) and playing on the acoustic guitar old Joni Mitchell tunes like Both Sides Now and One Tin Soldier. As far as earliest songs I enjoyed that I don't remember, my brother recently claimed than when I was 2 and he was a teenager playing his Van Halen 8 tracks, I would run around the house loudly singing "Running with the Devil" along to the chorus of that song. This pissed off my mom accordingly. Didn't have any jazz on my radar until years later when my dad started to play for me big band and swing (Dorsey brothers, Glen Miller, and Buddy Rich especially). j

yeah i just checked yourmusic.com. if i plan to sign up for monthly purchases anyway, i guess yourmusic ($5.99 per cd + free shipping after monthly regular price) is the better deal overall, right? is their selection comparable?

some of the Amazon.com reviews are truly hilarious. Here's one review for Grant Green's Idle Moments: THERE IS SOMETHING MYSTICAL ABOUT GRANT GREEN'S MUSIC THAT FORCES ME TO OPEN MY WINDOWS WHENEVER I LISTEN TO HIS CD. I CAN ONLY ASSUME THAT THE BLUES MUST STAY OUT.

sweet... thanks for the recommends. I already have some Mobley and Monk, so I went for Lee Morgan (Sidewinder), Sonny Clark (Cool Struttin'), Art Blakey (Moanin'), Grant Green (Idle Moments). All for a grand total of $30.

i'm a drummer but i don't gig (when O when). however when i practice with eyes closed i sometimes seem to get a little more imaginative yet tasteful (more economic?), enhanced spatial reasoning or something. less distracted by reflected flourescent sparkle sparkle on the hardware and cymbals, i don't know. seems to be about building a sonic environment independent of the physical environment. denying the lust of the eyes . . . OH gee haven't hit that drum in a while, i'll hit! AH that crash looks lonely. BRTJSHSHSHHHHHHH blah blah blah how sad, i'm slowly maturing i guess.

cool... ok help... if i were to grab 3 or 4 essential blue notes (outside of, say, coltrane and miles), what should they be?

hmm, all the Tapscott Sessions CD's appear to be out of stock on dustygroove now. and i was all amped on buying something after reading the endorsements in this thread! dark tree is wonderful

only like the mustard

All your Basie are belong to us.

ambitious, an epistemological question posed in something like topographical terms, all set in a stanza. I'm sold...

thanks for the heads up! anyone know what's with all those "Blue Note Plays . . ." (stevie wonder/ray charles/beatles/etc.)? Cheesy? Worth getting?

Not being a lurker on any other jazz boards, the idea proposed in this thread is exactly what I need! I've really had a hard time finding an entry point to KJ. It bugs me how I've been turned off from digging into this astonishingly beautiful piano work because it's interwoven with (what conjures up in my mind) the sound of a leprous duck in heat. Yeah I've heard grunting and vocals from other jazz kats while they play but nothing so frontal and nullifying (in my mind) the overall beauty of the music. It really works against impacting me with the music. My only guess is that KJ is in a near pure form of right-brain mode when he plays and the vocals are the sound of left-brain suppression or right-brain expression (however that's supposed to work). Of course that assumes a speculative neurological theory. Sorry to delve into the 'grunt' opinions, but in short, i welcome the gruntophone index ratings!

On her latest tour, Aimee Mann's policy was to respond with the band kicking in to Sweet Home Alabama everytime. A little bit more of an acceptable solution given the dire situation, I think.

Even though I don't know what 'acid jazz' is supposed to be, In the UK there's one labeled such called Outside. I can't get over how much ground they cover, and cover well. Their 1995 album Rough and the Smooth is brilliant (though I don't care much for some of the vocal work). The album opener, "29/8 steps", is the highlight for me. A sick groove in an odd meter, and it nicely grooves like you wouldn't expect. rough and smooth info

But it's not just the real and life-likeness, there was specifically unrealness to the camera that broke ground. The editing and pacing worked because we the viewers are being transported in ways that were new at the time, and probably rarely matched since. I'm sure the effect would have been most unreal to original audiences. If most film by that time was little more than staged theatrical productions, interior scenes with obligatory external "framing" shots, etc., and all that with photographic contraptions that just happened to capture these dramatic things (this is my impression though I could be wrong), Citizen Kane would surely have produced some kind of disembodied effect on the audience. A frequently shifting narrative stance combined with a freer and a more abstract camera eye not limited to the usual confines of the human eye (effectively transporting the audience everywhere from inner psyches of troubled souls to broader social vistas). Another possible innovation (again I cannot confirm) is this was an early instance of self-referential film, i.e. a truth-bending story about a storyteller who bends truth, though that has nothing to do with the filming style itself.

The new Heat release? I would, only if I knew that they fixed the audio mix from the version I have. With the first DVD release, Michael Mann thought he would be funny and mixed all the dialogue REAL LOW so that we would have to crank up our home audio systems just to hear what the characters are saying. The purpose was so that the special effects sounds (of helicopters and explosions and what not) which happen abruptly would literally knock us out of our La Z Boys. And it does. But I'm not interested in spilling a bowl of Shredded Wheat all over me everytime.