Mitchell Duval

So, I'm going to the World Cup in South Africa next month--soccer, music, and good food being the things that keep my world turning--and I'm interested in catching some live bands. I'll mostly be staying in the Johannesburg area but will probably be making side trips to Cape Town and Durban. Are any of you beautiful people familiar with the jazz/other-music scene in SA? Good clubs, venues, etc.? Also, is the crime in Johannesburg really as bad as they say it is, or is it a case of "don't go looking for trouble and it won't find you"? I don't want to be one of those nitwit tourists who won't go anywhere after dark because they're afraid of getting stabbed. Is it like, say, south side Chicago on a Friday night? Or more like mid-90s ninth-ward New Orleans? Or is it something else entirely?

I think that Sonny and Annie might be fictional versions of a real-life couple that became infamous in post-Katrina NOLA. If this is so, spoiler alert: It doesn't end well.

Peyroux's diction and contralto range are "masterful"? Hmmm....

I believe that there was also a jewel-case "Decca Original" by Ella Fitzgerald, "Lullabies of Birdland."

I've started to use the expression "trading fours with a cross-eyed percussionist" as a phrase meaning "minor boredom tinged with a little embarrassment." On the other hand, the little guy playing congas with Eddie Palmieri was smokin'.

Here's the list I have, ordered by when the "limited edition" batch was supposed to expire (in fact, they're mostly all still available in stores or through Amazon): Available Until May 2005 Count Basie: King Of Swing Willie Bobo: A New Dimension Dave Brubeck & Paul Desmond: 1975: The Duets Rosemary Clooney: Swing Around Rosie Alice Coltrane: Universal Consciousness Ella Fitzgerald: Whisper Not Stan Getz: Stan Getz And The Cool Sounds Astrud Gilberto: The Shadow Of Your Smile Dizzy Gillespie: Afro Woody Herman: Woody Herman 1963 Stan Kenton: The Formative Years Carmen McRae: Birds Of A Feather Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66: Equinox Wes Montgomery: Willow Weep For Me Gerry Mulligan and the Concert Jazz Band: At The Village Vanguard Anita O'Day: Incomparable! Oscar Peterson: Soul Español Mel Tormé: Olé Tormé Sarah Vaughan: It´s A Man's World Margaret Whiting: Margaret Whiting Sings The Jerome Kern Songbook Available Until September 2005 Ernestine Anderson: My Kinda Swing Buddy De Franco: Mr. Clarinet Slim Gaillard: Slim Gaillard Rides Again Terry Gibbs: Plays Jewish Melodies In Jazztime Gigi Gryce-Donald Byrd Jazz Laboratory & The Cecil Taylor Quartet: At Newport The Jazztet: The Jazztet At The Birdhouse Sam Rivers: Crystals Lalo Schifrin: Piano, Strings And Bossa Nova Sister Rosetta Tharpe: Gospel Train Cal Tjader: Soul Bird: Whiffenproof Available Until March 2006 Dorothy Ashby: Afro-Harping Albert Ayler: Music Is The Healing Force of the Universe Ray Brown: Jazz Cello Buddie Emmons: Steel Guitar Jazz Jim Hall: Live! Earl Hines: Once Upon A Time Steve Kuhn & Gary McFarland: The October Suite Pee Wee Russell: Ask Me Now! Archie Shepp: Attica Blues Gabor Szabo: High Contrast Available Until June 2006 Cannonball Adderley: Julian "Cannonball" Adderley Stan Getz: Reflections Jimmy Giuffre: The Easy Way John Klemmer: Involvement Lee Konitz: Motion Billy Mitchell: This Is Billy Mitchell Gerry Mulligan/Johnny Hodges: Gerry Mulligan Meets Johnny Hodges Sonny Stitt: New York Jazz Phil Woods And His European Rhythm Machine: At The Montreux Jazz Festival Available Until September 2006 Brook Benton: Songs I Love To Sing Kenny Burrell: Have Yourself A Soulful Little Christmas Blossom Dearie: My Gentleman Friend Frank D'Rone: After The Ball Ella Fitzgerald: Sings Sweet Songs For Swingers Al Grey: Snap Your Fingers JJ Johnson: JJ's Broadway Hugh Masekela: grrr Buddy Rich & Harry “Sweets” Edison: Buddy And Sweets Jack Teagarden: Mis'ry And The Blues Mel Tormé: Tormé Available Until March 2007 Mel Brown: Chicken Fat Gloria Coleman: Soul Sisters John Frigo: I Love John Frigo...He Swings Roger Kellaway: Cello Quartet Yusef Lateef: The Golden Flute Lyle Ritz: How About Uke? Tony Scott: Tony Scott Archie Shepp: The Cry Of My People Stuff Smith: Cat On A Hot Fiddle Clark Terry/Chico O'Farrill: Spanish Rice Available Until June 2007 Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers: ‘S Make It Candido Camero: Candido Johnny Griffin: J G Illinois Jacquet: Desert Winds Roland Kirk: Kirk In Copenhagen Machito: Vacation At The Concord James Moody: James Moody Dave Pike: Manhattan Latin Patato & Totico: Patato & Totico Sonny Stitt: Personal Appearance Available Until September 2007 Lorez Alexandria: Alexandria The Great Freddy Cole: Waiter, Ask The Man To Play The Blues Blossom Dearie: Soubrette Sings Broadway Hit Songs Bill Evans: California, Here I Come Ella Fitzgerald: Hello Love Ahmad Jamal: Chamber Music Of The New Jazz Ramsey Lewis: Another Voyage Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66: The Fool On The Hill Oscar Peterson: A Jazz Portrait Of Frank Sinatra Jimmy Smith: The Boss Available Until March 2008 Al Cohn: Al Cohn Quintet Featuring Bob Brookmeyer Xavier Cugat: Cugi's Cocktails Harry Edison: Sweets Dizzy Gillespie: Sittin' In Gene Krupa: Plays Gerry Mulligan Arrangements Joe Newman Quintet: At Count Basie's Buddy Rich: Blues Caravan Max Roach: Jazz In 3/4 Time Available Until July 2008 Ernie Andrews: This is Ernie Andrews Ella Fitzgerald: Hello, Dolly! Milton Nascimento: Courage Marlena Shaw: The Spice of Life Jimmy Smith: Stay Loose Sarah Vaughan: After Hours at the London House Dinah Washington: I Wanna Be Loved Jimmy Witherspoon & Brother Jack McDuff: The Blues is Now Available Until September 2008 Albert Ayler: New Grass Gato Barbieri: Chapter Four: Alive in New York Yusef Lateef: Psychicemotus Oliver Nelson: Live From Los Angeles Freda Payne: After the Lights Go Down Low and Much More!!! Pharaoh Sanders: Elevation Gabor Szabo: Spellbinder Michael White: The Land of Spirit and Light The first 30 are packaged mini-LP style, and the rest are in digipacks. Mostly a pretty enjoyable lot; some fun stuff with only one out-and-out dog (the Kenton).

Man, definitely a step backwards. The site is ugly and amateurish, like they got some high school intern to do it for extra school credit. And does anyone else think it's a little crass that the company is now pimping the aftermarket value of Mosaic sets: "Although we believe the value of these sets are priceless, winning bids on out-of-print sets (link) listed on e-bay have topped hundreds of $ more than the original selling price. Nothing will replace what we put out." With a non-working link and bad noun-verb agreement! Thanks, Junior! Plus, I had just repopulated my wish list for the second time and now it's gone. Sheesh.

So, the jazz section of my local Tower has pretty much been picked over and the bones boiled to make soup. I think there are, like, three Najee albums and 11 copies of The Sermon left. Milling around the jazz/classical room with the other middle-aged dudes is getting kind of depressing... However, I noticed today that they put a table of Six Degrees records out on the main floor. Many titles, several copies of each. The only Six Degrees CD I have is a DJ Spooky and my knowledge of what the label is about is pretty shaky. Could any of you beautiful people recommend some Six Degrees albums that would be worth my while? I like dance, good electronica, Afrobeat-style stuff, but my tolerance for snoozy, Starbucks-type world music is rather low. Thanking you in advance.

My girlfriend is going to be attending a conference in St. Louis next week, and I'm tagging along as "spousal equivalent." I've only ever driven through St. Louis before, so I'm probably more excited than I should be to tool around the town for a few days. I suspect that it will be more interesting in its midwestern way than the usual depressing convention destinations like Phoenix or Tampa. Anyway, I'm hoping that some of you good people can give me a bit of inside dope on things in the jazz line to do in St. Louis. Also, how about good used CD and book stores? And, while you're at it, decent restaurants, especially in the Washington University area? Thanking you in advance...

I think they're only shipping them out to the people who call them I've called, I've called! Status: "At the warehouse." Maybe they didn't like the edge in my voice.

Still no shipping confirmation for my order (#5577) of 90 CDs placed on 7/12. Do you think that they're sending out the "free shipping" orders last? Anyway, irritating...

I ordered the Honi Gordon, along with 89 other Limiteds and K2s. Ugh. I think I'm a little sick to my stomach. The world is a bittersweet place for compulsive people.

Thanks, David Ayers and everyone, for the interesting, if confounding, bits of information. Now where does everyone weigh in on on the pellet with the poison issue? Is it in the vessel with the pestle or the chalice from the palace?

Does anyone know if Verve has decided to stop releasing new entries in the LPR series? It's been a while since the last batch. I e-mailed the Verve Group but got no response. I don't imagine the series made any money, but I sure did dig the out-of-the-blue album selections!

So, I was going to place an order today at the Concord site for a bunch of the Prestige etc. K2s--you know, taking advantage of the sale price before the end of the year--but I can't find them listed on the site anywhere, even though they're in the winter sale catalog. And the Concord customer service line still has a canned message that the office will be closed until Dec. 27. Does anyone know what gives? Have the K2s been deleted in favor of the new RVG series?

I'm a longtime lurker, and I hate for my first post on this board to be on such a nerdly thread, but thisMosaic auction blew my mind. More than $140 per cd! With a scuffed box!