sonnymax

My post was not meant as a professional assessment or a personal attack, and I apologize if that's the way I came across. It is, however, how I see things in our society today. Some people try to understand life's mysteries and accept its inconsistencies, while others insist life should be the way they remember it or worse, the way they (or "God" or some other fictional character) thinks it ought to be. Again, I don't know how those in the latter group can fully appreciate music, art, and other expressions of life as it is.

And sex isn't, at least in part and/or sometimes? Sexual abuse, rape, and other offenses are not expressions of an individual's sexuality or sexual orientation. They are expressions of a perpetrator's efforts to control and exert power using violence in an assault on a victim's sexuality and sexual identity. You may not appreciate the difference, but I assure you that they exist, and they are crucial to the victims and the people in their lives.

As a psychologist and a person who wholly embraces emotion, I do believe some experiences (music, humor, love, nature, children, animals) can have cathartic and healing effects. Some people find healing and hope in these experiences that help them to acknowledge, accept and work through life's difficulties and uncertainties. Others, however, seek sanctuary in such experiences. They try to immerse themselves in such a way that they deny the difficult and confusing, claiming peaceful ignorance as others try to grapple with the reality around them. Ignorance might be bliss, but how can a person truly appreciate artistic expressions of life if they ignore the problems and inconvenient truths that are a part of life?

Respectfully, I say, "bullshit". Spousal abuse, rape, and the like are not about sex or sexuality. It's all about power, control and violence.

On a more serious note, I see that a few people have referred to homosexuality as a sexual "preference", and then proceed to question how this could influence their artistry. While sexual activity can reflect individual preferences, we're talking about sexual "orientation" here, i.e., the point from where one begins, a basic and inherent aspect of one's identity, a fundamental part of a person's sense of self. Consequently, one doesn't have to "play gay", "compose gay" or "arrange gay" for their sexual orientation to be a part of the music they create. It is, simply, who they are. I find it both sad and amusing when heterosexuals try to identify or judge the "gayness" of an individual's work. "Breeders" simply don't have a clue, and they call homosexuals "queer".

That's kind of unfair. If and when Mosaic uses needle drops, they are very up front about it and do so only after they've looked at all available source material and determined that the ND is the best possible representation of a piece of music. Further, the percentage of ND's they resort to is miniscule in comparison to the totality of what they're reproducing. I agree with Dave, that's not fair. Needle drops are Mosaic's last resort and are done in very few cases. Associating Mosaic with the Andorrans is "kind of unfair"? Sweet Mary Mother of Jesus God in Heaven, that's the most disgusting comparison I've ever heard of on this board.

It's very enjoyable and certainly worth a listen. The Alexander disc is, as you would expect, another Alexander disc.

"Wait a minute. Kurt Rosenwinkel is a "modern jazz icon" and a "leading light of jazz"? Okay, now that sucks!

I disagree. Ignoring homosexuality makes heterosexuals comfortable and homosexuals invisible. I think "acknowledging", perhaps after the individual is deceased, is different from "outing", while they're still here and vulnerable to the hatred and violence of our world. Also, I don't believe artistry is asexual, it's the culmination of everything the artist is, including their sexuality. To quote Homer Simpson, We're here. We're queer. We don't want anymore bears!

He recorded two dates for HighNote last fall, Jeremy Pelt's The Talented Mr. Pelt and Eric Alexander's Don't Follow The Crowd.

It's a repacking of these two Storyville recordings: Recorded live at YBC TV Hall, Yamagata, Japan, March 14, 1978, it features: Art Pepper, alto saxophone Milcho Leviev, piano Bob Magnusson, bass Carl Burnett, drums

Honesty goes a long way.

The piano trio has continued to evolve since the 1960s. Perhaps you should listen to what some of the "newer" voices are saying. I certainly hear a lot that makes me want to come back for more.

Katrina, the storm, was nature. Katrina, the disaster, was man-made.

For the life of me, I can't hear anything resembling that on this recording. What I hear is a pleasant and proficient sound that won't offend, but also won't inspire.

"It's gonna take an ocean of calamine lotion?" I never heard of that being a remedy for the clap. I agree. It's a stretch. Do you think they were going to write about needing penicillin, or maybe the fact that it hurts when you piss? I don't need to examine the lyrics to decide if it could be about the clap or not. I believe the guys who wrote it when they say the song was inspired by STDs. Just because they had to write it knowing full well what could be recorded and aired on the radio doesn't mean that their description of the inspiration isn't true. Let's not forget the fact that the song's lyrics work quite well without any underlying meaning. With two older brothers warning me about the perils of dating and of girls in general, Poison Ivy served as a reminder of what could happen to you if allowed yourself to get too close.

According to Songfacts: The song is about a femme fatale who is beautiful but dangerous, and much like poison ivy, can get under your skin and make you sick - or at least that's what we thought until 2009, when Leiber revealed in "Hound Dog: The Leiber & Stoller Autobiography": "'Poison Ivy' is a metaphor for a sexually transmitted disease - or the clap."

What's the fascination with artists who died tragically in war?

Not quite. If you're unfamiliar with the "Andorran Connection" in jazz reissues, you might want to do a topic search on this board.

The price increase on ECM titles isn't confined to eMusic. For example, December Poems is now $9.49 on Amazon.

Please excuse my ignorance, but why doesn't Cadence publish the magazine online? Wouldn't their operating expenses be greatly reduced, past issues be much easier to obtain, and the occasional missing/damaged issue be a thing of the past? I certainly would be willing to pay a reasonable subscription price for a digital edition of this magazine.

In case anyone wants to watch this episode of POV online, here's the link: The Archive

I guess I now see it as a son preserving his father's legacy, something he's been doing for a few years now. Maybe the tone of the conversation turned a little sour, but the underlying message is still the same: the music of Woody Shaw II is being treated with respect and will hopefully reach new listeners at the same time as it is enjoyed by those of us have heard it before. Good luck shawoody.

Ah Berigan, tireless defender of the right to be ignorant and ill-informed.