Alexander

Big Al, I used to feel the same way about "Trust," but listening to it this time through has really made a difference for me. I like it more now than I think I ever have before.

Of the post-"Imperial Bedroom" material, I'd recommend "King of America" (not yet reissued by Rhino), "Blood and Chocolate," "Spike," and "All This Useless Beauty." If you like these, I would then recommend "Mighty Like A Rose," "Brutal Youth," and "When I Was Cruel." If you're still jonesing for more EC, then get "Kojack Variety" and "Cruel Smile" (the odds and ends collection that came out after "When I Was Cruel." Think of it as the "bonus disc" of extras that accompany that album). The only Costello album I don't have (aside from "Deep Dead Blue," which I've been trying to get for ages) is "The Juliet Letters" which I got rid of the day after I bought it. I HATED it. Even though "Punch The Clock" and "Goodbye Cruel World" are commonly thought of as Costello's all-time worst recordings, I have to admit to having a soft spot for both. Of the two, I like "Clock" better because it's a catchier album overall. I'm glad that they elected to keep the liner-notes from the Rykodisc edition, by the way, as they were the best he'd written up till that point. Having had the Rykodisc edition of "Clock," I don't miss the live versions of "Everyday I Write the Book" and "The World and His Wife." The versions on the Rhino edition use the same arrangements, and they're studio recordings which makes them sound a lot better.

I was just thinking, as I was listening to "Trust" the other day, what an amazing band The Attractions were. What a range of material they could play! Just listening to "Trust" you have country ("Different Finger"), frenetic rockabilly ("Luxemburg"), great pop tunes ("New Lace Sleeves," "Watch Your Step," "Clubland"), "This Year's Model"-esque punk ("Fish n' Chips Paper"), grand piano-based pop ("Shot With His Own Gun"), and uptemp rockers ("Lovers Walk," "From A Whisper To A Scream"). And the Attractions manage to adapt to any musical setting! Amazing! Not the sort of grand-standing that usually attracts the attention of rock fans.

Oh, I know that Dan. But when I saw that the answers had been posted, I couldn't resist! Again, great disc. Nicely done!

Costello's latest is out, and it is lovely. It's a little bit classical (although not so much as "The Juliet Letters) and a little bit jazz (Conrad Herwig plays trombone throughout the disc, and Lee Konitz shows up on one track). Very subtle songwriting and very beautiful string arrangements on Costello's part. Recommended. Also recently released are Rhino reissues of "Get Happy," "Trust", and "Punch the Clock." I had all of these in the Rykodisc versions, but I upgraded for the additional tracks. I'm enjoying all of them, especially "Trust" which I think I'm really appreciating for the first time.

I feel really bad. I got the disc a while ago and listened to it a couple of times. I meant to join in the the discussion and post my guesses, but I never seemed to get around to it. Anyway, that said, the only one I got was Joe Williams (never would have guessed Shearing though). I was right about the first tune (I'm a big Brother Ray fan), but I never would have guessed Jack Wilson! Like most people, I guessed Gene Harris (Ramsey Lewis was my second choice). Great to hear Ike Isaacs! Loved his trio on those LH&R albums! On the whole, I didn't do too well. Guess my ears need cleaning! Damn! Better luck next time, I guess. Great selection, Dan! It was a real treat!

I only have her album with Clifford Brown (which I LOVE) and a date she did in the 80s with Stan Getz (also very nice). I'll take some of the recommendations (that are available...I'd love to hear that one with Teddy Wilson too!) under advisement. I've been meaning to get more Ms. Merrill for some time... Hey, Dr.J! Love that avatar. "You'd better watch your step..."

The thing I loved about Bush falling of the Segway was this: Bush loves doing his whole "Joe Lunchpail" bit. "Ah'm one-a y'all!" Of course, his blood is as blue as they come, for all of his "common man" appeal. So what does Bush fall off of? A $5000 scooter that his "average" constituents couldn't afford if they wanted one. Better still, his dad has TWO of them.

I just want to recommend to everyone on this board the great Harvey Pekar story titled "How I Quit Collecting Jazz Records And Put Out A Comic Book With The Money I Saved." Everyone here will recognize him or herself in Harvey's story. A true classic. I consider myself a fan with collector tendencies. When I like something, I REALLY like it. I've got close to 100 Miles Davis discs alone. Something like 60 or 70 Stan Getz discs...Way more than I can reasonably listen to. Still, I love having them around. It is such a pleasure to pull something out and hear it with new ears.

Based on the list above, I have 67 Conns (there are some things, like "The All-Seeing Eye", "Inta Something" and "Blowing in From Chicago" that I have in RVG, JRVG, TJOC, or Mosaic form, but I elected only to count those items that I have as Conns). It was only in the last three or four years that I started buying *every* Conn as it came out, regardless of whether I was familiar with the artist or not. I honestly don't know if I'll be getting all of the October Conns, as I feel like I have enough Blue Notes. I'll be getting "The Flip" though.

If you like "Kind of Blue," I would check out "Somethin' Else" by Cannonball Adderley. Also, any of Coltrane's Atlantic albums would probably suit somebody who is into "KOB."

This fuck-all to do with anything, but recently I had a patron (a white guy) here in the library who gave his name as Richard Davis. Now most of the time I would refrain from making a comment, since Richard Davis (the bassist) is a VERY obscure figure, and the patron would most likely not have the faintest idea what I was talking about. But this time I figured, "What the hell?" So I said, "You know, there's a great bassist named Richard Davis." The patron leans forward, very excitedly, and says: "I know. In fact, I met him once! I'd gone down to the Vanguard, and a friend of mine introduces me to the bass player. He says, 'Richard Davis meet Richard Davis.'" It was pretty funny, since I'm sure this guy thought he was the only one who knew that there was a "famous" Richard Davis. On a related note, a friend of mine (who is a bassist for the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra) was flying to an audition several years ago. When she reached her destination, she went to the baggage claim to pick up her instrument. Now she flies all the time, and on any given flight she's the only person travelling with a bass violin. So when she sees her bass coming out, she's surprised when an older black man standing near her walks over to get it. She stops the man, and when he sees that its her bass, he apologizes. Turns out he's waiting for his bass too. They talk for a while as they wait for his bass to come out. She introduces herself, and he says, "Pleased to meet you. My name is Ray Brown."

I think I have every Morgan CD on Blue Note, but I don't have a single RVG version. I'd go for "Tom Cat" myself, with new cover art.

Avast there ye swabs! I be readin' this here thread and wonderin' what all this pirate nonsense be about, till I take the test to find out me own pirate name, and I end up talkin' like this! Arrrrrr!!! Here be me own pirate name. May strike fear into the hearts o' all who plunder these seven seas! Arrrrrr!!!! "Your pirate name is: Iron Roger Flint A pirate's life isn't easy; it takes a tough person. That's okay with you, though, since you are that person. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!" Arrrr!!! So Iron Roger Flint I be. An' if any o' you swabs think that ye're man enough to cross swords wi' me, I'll cleve ye through the brisket, ye Cake eatin' Sodomites! Now run up the Jolly Roger, an' ready the plank! We're burnin' moonlight! Heave to, me hearties! Weigh anchor an' break your backs!!!

I once saw the phrase "Writing about music is like dancing about architechture" attributed to Elvis Costello!

Ray Jay Rayjay

What's this about being in hell? If you've ever read any accounts of the shooting, you'll see that it was hardly unprovoked. Lee was treating Helen like shit, and she cracked. From what I've read, she regretted her actions immediately. She's suffered quite a bit. Why would she have to go to hell?

Oh thank God! Iraq has porno now! Yippee!!! Now instead of vieling women, they can exploit them, just like Americans! What a great day for Democracy!

Cash was a titan. He was a true original. Probably the greatest and most authentic coutry voice since the death of Hank Williams. I have several Cash albums, but none of the recent ones. My wife and I had been planning on getting "The Man Comes Around" for some time. I'll pick it up on the way home from work today...

I picked this one up yesterday, and I can't stop listening to it. Harrell's arrangements are so rich and so deeply textured...there's so much to hear, and yet he always makes his writing accessable. There is quite a bit of fusion on this album. Xavier Davis plays Fender Rhodes, Hammond B-3, and other electronic keyboards as well as acoustic piano. There's some electric bass and electric guitar as well. Some of the arrangements are more "pop" than others, but every track is interesting and dense. I'd say that of the tracks with the vocalists, Claudia Acuna's is the best. Dianne Reeves is OK, but I find her voice to be somewhat generic. Jane Monheit does a nice job, but I'm really not a fan of hers either. Cassandra Wilson puts in a very good performance. Overall, the instrumental tracks are better than the vocal tracks, but the vocal tracks break up the album and provide some variety. Harrell's interest in Brazillian and other world musics continues as he uses all manner of interesting percussion instruments on the album. He also makes good use of strings, as he has in the past. On the whole, I think this is a worthy addition to Harrell's catalogue.

I had a bunch of these that I picked up very cheap in Boston. Got rid of them all when the albums were reissued as Conns or Collector's Choice CDs, but it's certainly a useful way to fill gaps in the interim. I agree about the price, though. Wouldn't pay more than six bucks for one.

Yeah, doesn't top mine either.

Dan, PMed you.

In a word: AMAZING!!! The live album of the year, hands down.

Study: CDs may soon go the way of vinyl Video rental stores also on the way out, report says By Jeordan Legon CNN Wednesday, September 3, 2003 Posted: 12:02 PM EDT (1602 GMT) (CNN) -- In the 1950s, the revolution was all about rock 'n' roll. The 70s brought punk and disco. And sometime this decade, the rebellion shifted from the music genre to the digital domain. Signaling a new era of media distribution, Forrester Research on Tuesday released a study predicting an even bigger drop in compact disc sales as Internet music file-sharing keeps gaining ground on the flagging CD. Twenty years after its introduction, the CD is no longer hip. From 2001 to 2002, Nielsen SoundScan estimates that 62.5 million fewer were sold -- a 9 percent drop to 649.5 million. Plummeting CD sales have forced record shops to close. And the music industry is scrambling to lift sales -- fueling the growth of new digital music services and suing hard-core file sharers. Downloadable future Forrester's survey of 4,782 adults and 1,170 young people finds about 20 percent of all Americans download music from the Internet. Half of the downloaders say they're buying fewer CDs. The study forecasts that in five years, about a third of music sales will come from downloads, and CD sales will drop 30 percent from their 1999 peak. "On-demand services are the future of entertainment delivery," said Josh Bernoff, principal analyst at Forrester. "CDs, DVDs, and any other forms of physical media will become obsolete." The survey did find some bright spots for music executives. It shows that the industry might ultimately be helped by pursuing lawsuits against heavy file sharers. More than two out of three young downloaders told Forrester they'd stop if they risked jail or a fine. At least 10 Windows-based music services are expected to emerge in the next nine months, the report said, and by the end of 2004, downloads and on-demand subscriptions may bring in $270 million. If the trend continues, three years from now digital music sales could account for $1.4 billion of the music industry's $12.8 billion in expected revenues. Music companies are also trying new tactics to keep CDs alive. Last year, for example, Interscope gave a DVD to the first million shoppers who took home 'The Eminem Show' CD. They're also trying out new, more expensive technologies such as the super audio CDs and DVD audio, both of which profess to offer superior sound than the plain old CD. "The CD is turning out to be a transitory sort of item," said Roy Trakin, senior editor of Hits magazine, a California-based tipsheet covering the music business. "The future of the CD may be in its enhanced content -- in a hybrid CD DVD and the more upscale formats like DVD audio and super audio CDs." Movies, TV take note The report urges movie and television companies to take notice of what's happening with music. One in five young file sharers has downloaded a movie, Forrester says, and among downloaders with more than 400 files, 70 percent had at least one video file. In the coming years, growing access to digital video on-demand in U.S. homes and the hassle of late fees and trips to the store will push many customers away from video rental shops, Forrester says. By 2007, the research group estimates that video rental revenues at Blockbuster and q-Mart will drop 37 percent. And by 2008, overall revenues from DVDs and tapes will drop 8 percent. "Consumers have spoken -- they are tired of paying the high cost of CDs and DVDs and prefer more flexible forms of on-demand media delivery," Bernoff said. "Piracy and its cure -- streaming and paid downloads -- will drive people to connect to entertainment, not own it," the report concludes.