Alexander

I go through similar periods where I'll buy up as many CDs by a given artist as possible, only to find myself moving on to the next big thing within a few months. That happened to me a few years ago with Stan Getz. I'm still a huge Getz fan, but I don't listen to him nearly as much nowadays as I once did. "People Time" was a disc I *didn't* buy when I was getting tons of Getz, mostly because it's a double CD set and it was kind of pricey. I got it about a year ago, and it is lovely. Getz had a great affection for pianists, and its a great pleasure to listen to Getz interact with an artist like Barron (another excellent duo set is "Poetry" with Albert Daily). Although Getz was in declining health (this was his last album, in fact), his playing still shines. Barron is in great form. Easily recommended.

I got this from my wife for Christmas this year. I loved it, of course. Strangely enough, although I don't consider myself a huge "fan," I found myself pleasantly surprised by the Taylor number. He was playing some pretty brilliant shit, and it made me want to reconsider some of his recordings. I agree that it wasn't the best way to end the DVD, however. As to the rest of it, great, great stuff. My favorite was the number by Petrucciani and Lloyd. Stunning performace from both men! I'd seen the stuff with Hubbard, Hancock, and Henderson before, so it wasn't a surprise (although it is wonderful. Freddie was ON that night). I'm not a huge Soul Jazz fan, but I did enjoy Stanley T. and Jimmy Smith. Quite fun. Bobby Hutcherson was trancendent, as always. McCoy was in great form too, as was Woody Shaw. Great fun to watch them all play. Two thumbs waaaay up! I'd like to see more from this concert in the future.

More to the point, he sings an intensely irritating pro-USA, post-9/11 song called "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue (The Angry American)." I've never heard it all the way through, but I do recall that Keith invokes the image of "the Statue of Liberty shaking its fist," which is pretty ironic considering that it comes from France...

Moreover, who is *capable* of stabbing oneself to death? Unlike cutting one's wrists, hanging oneself, taking poison, shooting oneself, or fatally exposing oneself to carbon monoxide, stabbing yourself to death would be EXTREMELY difficult. Most methods of suicide are fairly passive, which is why they work. But stabbing yourself in the chest (twice no less) would entail a great deal more work than most suicide methods. I suppose it's possible, if one was unusually determined to die. But unlike most other methods, stabbing oneself would give the suicide plenty of chances to reconsider and even go for help. It just doesn't seem likely.

I went with the Sonny Clark Quartets. You get two classic BN artists for the price of one...double CD set. Great stuff, in any case.

I'm disappointed! I thought Norah's follow-up album should be called "Have You Met Miss Jones?"

Chestnut is very good but...NO! He's good, but not THAT good...

Not to nit-pick, but was it necessary to write "dead" after each name? They're all dead! It's not like some of them were merely wounded...

I don't think I made a prediction last year (was it only a year ago that the BNBB went down?) because I don't think that I COULD predict the direction my listening might take. For example, I really got into Ellington this year, and I couldn't have predicted that at the end of last year. \ The only prediction I could make for NEXT year is that I'll continue following my interests in whatever direction they lead.

I just find the suggestion that Guaraldi *wasn't* jazz to be galling, if not downright insulting. I really have to wonder on what ground Guaraldi *wouldn't* be considered jazz. Does Dave Brubeck qualify? How about Paul Desmond? Those guys where very popular and very accessable. Desmond's solo work is great music to relax to, but he also happened to play beautifully. I really have to wonder if some people don't prefer their music to be of the "brow-furrowing" kind (The sensitive jazz fan sits in his garret transcribing Cecil Taylor solos, wondering what anybody could see in Guaraldi's work...). I mean, I appreciate music that makes me think too, but I appreciate good music when I hear it, regardless of the difficulty setting. BTW, Jim, I have no problem with any of the gentlemen you named being considered jazz. There's a lot of similarity between bluegrass and jazz, so Bill Monroe is welcome in my book!

"Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus" is UNQUESTIONABLY jazz, and high quality jazz at that. Moreover, Guaraldi's Peanuts compositions are certainly jazz, not merely "jazz-inspired television music" Is there improvisation? Does it swing? Yes? Then it's jazz. There are two not entirely wholesome reasons for dissing Vince: One is that his work is well-known and well-loved (via his Peanuts work, even if most Charlie Brown viewers couldn't tell you the name of the man who played it) by a great many people. If he's popular, then it can't be jazz. I mean, EVERYBODY knows "Linus and Lucy," right? The other reason is that he was...dare I say it...WHITE. I don't think anyone would question the credentials of a black musician, no matter how many cartoons he scored. Vince was a jazz artist, there's no doubt of that. Was he in Bill Evans' league? Not really. But honestly, why compare? Vince was a good musician with an instantly indentifiable sound. I don't see the issue.

Yes, thanks for the "inside" info, Chris! Very interesting!

I actually *didn't* ask for a lot of music this year (although I did get some money, a certain amount of which will be spent on music...) but I did get the "One Night With Blue Note" DVD from my wife (my birthday is the day after tomorrow, and I know I'm getting "The Complete Jack Johnson" box set, but I haven't got it yet, worse luck). A friend of mine gave me "There Goes Rhymin' Simon" by Paul Simon (my parents had it when I was a kid, so I've always liked it).

I get a big kick out of Up All Night. I was just listening to it last night, in fact, and having a good time of it! So there! I like it too, so you're not alone...

I HATE Adam Sandler, but I think the Chanukah Song is pretty great. So Happy Chanukah to all from this Jewish Atheist! Even though I don't believe in God, I embrace my heritage by lighting the menorah. Another great Chanukah song is "Eight Days A Week" by the Beatles. Think about it!

I'm a BIG Woody Shaw fan. Over the years, I've collected every disc of his that I could get my hands on. I haven't listened to this in a while, but my recollection is that it's very much of a piece with "Bitches Brew." I'll have to listen to it tomorrow and post my thoughts. I'm looking forward to it!

I downloaded this from iTunes yesterday (so I only paid $9.99 for it, which is the most I was willing to spend on a "curiosity" such as this). I was VERY curious to see what the DJs would do with Bird. I have to say, I was unimpressed, but for different reasons than many of you might think. I'm not down on samples or remixes...quite the contrary, I think that these things embrace the very essence of jazz, and I think that their application in jazz is virutally unlimited. What disappointed me about "Bird Up" (and there were cuts that I liked, such as "Bebop," "Salt Peanuts" with the Kronos Quartet and Rob Swift and the X-Excutioners AMAZING turntable work on "Cheers") was the fact that the Parker samples were too often poorly integrated into the "new" compositions. Sample Bird, but please sample Bird WELL. The best tracks on this album created a sense of dialogue between the original recordings and the new settings. Alas, these moments were outweighed by some decent hip-hop occasionally interrupted by a totally out-of-place Parker sample (sometimes samples can tug against the groove, and that's a good use of a sample, but these sounded obligitory: "Oh, yeah. We're supposed to be remixing Bird, aren't we? Quick, drop a sample from "Koko" right here"). I don't think "Bird Up" went far ENOUGH. These DJs and producers should have been thinking, "If Bird were a hip-hop artist, what would he sound like?" This "Bird" just doesn't fly high enough for my tastes. The best project of this kind that I've heard to date is still Bill Laswell's excellent "Panthalassa," which arguably IMPROVES on the original Miles Davis recordings (which were all cut-and-paste jobs anyway). The "Panthalassa" remixes were quite nicely done, too (Miles's seventies music anticipated hip-hop in a number of ways, so it works very well remixed). I haven't heard the Madlib project yet (I might get it from Napster or iTunes), but I'm heartened by the comments that it *doesn't* sound like a Blue Note rehash. The Us3 stuff was predictable in the extreme.

I'm quite fond of Missy Elliot. She's got a lot of talent and a VERY quirky sense of humor, which I appreciate in hip-hop. Like hard rock, too much rap is self-important. I like the guys who can laugh at themselves, which is one of the reasons I like both Outkast and Ludacris. Both of them (in their videos, if not in their songs) send up the conventions of hip-hop (the booze, the girls) while embracing them at the same time. I haven't heard all of "Speakerboxx/The Love Below," but I liked both of the singles I've heard off of that album ("The Way You Move" and "Hey Ya"). "Stand Up" by Ludacris is a PHAT track with a great hook ("When I move you move (just like that?)") and a lot of energy. I guess the attributes that make a great hip-hop artist are as often extra-musical as they are musical: rappers benefit from having an outsized personality (which is why I like Snoop Dogg but not 50 Cent, who sounds embalmed) and a sense of humor.

I recently signed on to both, and have already downloaded a couple of albums that I was curious about, but didn't feel like getting in the stores. I got "Panthalassa" and "Panthalassa: The Remixes" as well as "Bird Up: The Charlie Parker Remix Project." Last week, I got the No Doubt "Singles Collection." I have to say that I've been pleased so far. The sound quality of the copies I got is very good (better than the few times I experimented with illegal file sharing). I'm pretty good at making myself covers and stuff, so I don't miss that aspect of buying in "real life." On the whole, my experiences with both have been positve so far. Anyone have different experiences? I'm thinking this is a very positve direction for the music to take. Anyone disagree?

I actually just did a report in my Ed Psych class on MTV and the targeting of American teenagers by marketers. "Milkshake" was one of the videos I used when I presented my paper. I recall my remarks were something along the lines of: "When I saw this video, I wondered if I was expected to stuff dollar bills into my TV's g-string."

I like 'em both. It really depends most on who's doing the playing.

As many of you know, I spent almost six years working at Barnes & Noble as a supervisior and/or manager. This past spring, I got my candy-ass let go (I was lazy. I broke a rule because it was "convient" to do so. Had it been a regular bookseller, it would have been a slap on the wrist and a "don't do that again," but because I was a manager, I was supposed to know better). When it happend, I was devistated. I literally never saw it coming. But, the next morning (literally) I came up with a plan. I'd been thinking about going back to school and getting a Master's in Education, but I'd never done anything about it because I was too comfortable at my job. I decided to see what I could do about getting into a program in the shortest time possible. After only a few days, I found the program I'm in today (they had a July application deadline). I took a class over the summer so I could get a reference (got an "A" in the class and a glowing recommendation from the professor), worked on getting my transfer credits in order, and by September I was in Grad school! I also got a job at the local library to help with the bills. It was a whirlwind, literally! I went from complete disgrace (in my eyes, if in no one else's) to a career path in a matter of months. I feel better about myself because I know I'm doing something constructive for my future, and because in the final analysis, I really *wanted* to leave B&N (I just wanted to do so at a time and place of my own choosing). This is the first holiday season in YEARS that I haven't had to work retail, and it is magnificent! I didn't mean to crow. None of this alters the fact that I was FIRED for doing something stupid. I still feel bad about that, and I know it bothers my wife. I wish there was a way to make it up to my former boss, because I had a lot of respect for her and losing face in front of her really hurt. But I know that the only thing I can do is put it behind me and try to make a better future for myself and my family. I may never completely live down the shame, but I can make sure it never happens again!

There are also some principles that apply to specific genders: Women: At least one room should be completely decorated in the same color (ie: blue), and you should have an outfit that matches. At least one room in the house should be leopard or tiger print. Your bedroom should have a frilly four-poster bed and a metric ton of teddy bears (be sure to point out the ones sent by fans or celebrities). Men: You should have a room dedicated to sports memoribilia, all of which was given to you (and autographed) by celebrities that you hang with (be sure to mention that they are your dawgz). If you are a velvet voiced R&B singer, be sure make an appropriate comment when you show your bedroom ("Now we come to the room that all you ladies been dyin' to see: My bedroom. This is where I get my swerve on...")

If I'm jsut getting out of the car for a second, to pump gas say, I leave the disc in the car. It doesn't hurt the disc or the player to turn the car off while the CD is playing. In fact, that's what car CD players are designed for! Most of them (mine included) remember where the disc left off when you turned off the car, so you don't have to go searching for the track. I will remove the disc (and the CD player's faceplate) if I'm getting out of the car for an extended period of time.

Have you ever had a problem with the CD flying out of the CD player? The round hole is fine! If it ain't broke...