Alexander

Stanley Crouch: The genius of Stan Getz as long been underappreciated...

I fail to see your point on this.

Those of you who have performed interviews in the past, I'm going to be joining the interview staff at a jazz website, and I'm a little nervous never having done it before. I actually passed up Nicholas Payton because I didn't feel ready. Any tips you guys can offer would be appreciated. I just don't want to ask the same old questions.

Well, I saw it tonight. And it was pretty good. Not nearly as bad as "From Hell", which was a disaster of Biblical proportions. Some elements of the comic were kept, but the film was about as subtle as punch in the nose. Some of the best things in the book are never stated. Like just what happened to Mina when she was "ravaged by a foreigner" a year before. The film hits you over the head with it. Quatermain is no longer an opium addict. Griffin, the Invisible Man, is now called "Skinner" for some bizarre reason. Both Nemo and Hyde (who are brutal in the comic) are toned waaaaay down for the movie. One of my favorite lines in the comic would have been great in the film, but they didn't use it: Nemo (mowing down opponents with a machine powered harpoon gun): "Come forward! Come foreward men of England! Tell the Gods that Nemo sent you!" But it was a fun ride, and I would see a sequel, if they made one. I give it one thumb up. Not nearly as bad as I had feared.

I'm surprised that there hasn't been any talk about this. It came out Tuesday, I bought it Wednesday, an it hasm't left my CD player since. Exceptional stuff. Easily one of Lovano's most accessable and enjoyable outings in some time. The nonet is terriffic, and there is a bit of a "Birth of the Cool" thing happening. Anyone else pick this up?

Of all the 32 covers, I think that this is one of the LEAST offensive. Especially when you compare it to the original cover! "You may call him Grant Green, but we prefer to think of him as Leadbelly."

Wow; I just read these a couple of years ago and didn't even notice "Homer Simpson"! Time for another read... Yeah, it's actually hard nowadays to read "Day of the Locusts" without picturing the Homer Simpson from "The Simpsons". Kinda spoils it for me. Otherwise, a very good book. In a similar vein, I recommend the Pat Hobby stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

You've mentioned some of my favorite non-Tolstoy/Dostoyevsky Russians in your post. I'm especially fond if Voinovitch. Have you read "The Fur Hat"? It's a riot! I also enjoyed "Moscow 2051".

Just a castaway An island lost at sea Another lonely day With no one here but me More loneliness Than any man could bear Rescue me before I fall into despair I'll send an SOS to the world I'll send an SOS to the world I hope that someone gets my I hope that someone gets my I hope that someone gets my Message in a bottle A year has passed since I wrote my note But I should have known this right from the start Only hope can keep me together Love can mend your life But love can break your heart I'll send an SOS to the world I'll send an SOS to the world I hope that someone gets my I hope that someone gets my I hope that someone gets my Message in a bottle Walked out this morning Don't believe what I saw A hundred billion bottles Washed up on the shore Seems I'm not alone at being alone A hundred billion castaways Looking for a home I'll send an SOS to the world I'll send an SOS to the world I hope that someone gets my I hope that someone gets my I hope that someone gets my Message in a bottle

I think the Hayes Code was very good for Hollywood. It made the filmmakers work harder to get all the sex and violence in without actually crossing the line. I wish Hollywood still had the kind of restraint.

I've got one: Who wrote the following lines: Busy old fool, unruly sun, Why dost thou thus Through windows and through curtains call on us? Must to thy motions lovers' seasons run? Saucy pedantic wretch, go chide Late schoolboys and sour prentices, Go tell court huntsmen that the King will ride, Call country ants to harvest offices; Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime, Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time. Thy Beams, so reverend and strong Why shouldst thou think? I could eclipse and cloud them with a wink, But that I would not lose her sight so long; If her eyes have not blinded thine, Look, and tomorrow late, tell me, Whether both th' Indias of spice and mine Be where thou leftst them, or lie here with me. Ask for those kings whom thou saw'st yesterday, And thou shalt hear, All here in one bed lay. She is all states, and all princes I, Nothing else is. Princes do but play us; compared to this, All honor's mimic, all wealth alchemy. Thou, sun, art half as happy as we, In that the world's contracted thus; Thine age asks ease, and since thy duties be To warm the world, that's done in warming us. Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere; This bed thy center is, these walls thy sphere.

Could you either explain the rules of rugby to me or provide me with a good link? I've watched it on FSN World a little, and it looks like a pretty cool sport, but just when I think I have the rules figured out something happens that proves me wrong. I forgot to mention that another sport I'd love to try playing is cricket. I'm a fan from having watched matches on TV, but it's tough finding anyone who knows how to play or who wants to play in America. There are actually lots of people in America who both watch and play Cricket. They are usually West Indians (where the sport is very popular). If you start searching for Cricket clubs on-line, I bet you will find several. US Cricket

I played soccer as a kid, and because all of the other kids wanted the glamorous positions (center, left wing, right wing, and goalie) I was always on defense. As a matter of consequence, I became an excellent defense-man. I haven't played formally in years, but I can still kick the ol' ball around, and I can still block with the best of them. It's funny how you never really forget the skills you learn as a kid. I'm teaching my daughter how to kick the ball and make it go exactly where you want. It's all in how you kick it!

More important than Ali's considerable skill, power, and speed in the ring was his impact as American Icon. He presented a paradigm of Black Manliness at a time when such figures were sorely needed. Think about it: Ali was one of the most prominant, outspoken, bright, and successful Black Americans of the 1960s. It's hard to imagine a sports figure having that kind of influence today. Ali certainly stood alongside political figures like Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, and entertainers like James Brown, Sydney Poitier and (yes) Bill Cosby as one of the biggest African-Americans of the decade. He was a symbol of Black Power, of the skill, strength and intellect that was inherent in every human being, black or white. Ali demanded respect, not because of his race, but because he represented a pinnicle of humanity. Where, I ask you, are such figures today? Will there ever be a boxer (or any other athelete for that matter) whose influence is as widely felt as Ali's?

I have an Italian import in which Kenny Dorham is credited as Kenny D'Horam. It sounds like he's Indian! Seriously though, it's not nice to make fun of people speaking a second language (badly). I'd like to see some of you start a board in which you attempt to converse in Japanese only, and we'll see how funny your posts turn out to be.

I certainly understand the value of change, but I really enjoy that image. Keep it, maybe not forever, but for a good long time.

I saw it in the theater. It was quite good. A surprise, since the names DiCaprio, Spielberg and Hanks are guaranteed to keep me out of almost any movie. Yes, it is very well done, and the music is very evocative of the period. Some very good perfomances too.

I can tell you who all four of MGs were: Steve Cropper, Booker T. Jones, Duck Dunn, and Al Jackson. Before "Standing in the Shadows of Motown", I will admit, the only two Funk Brothers I could name were Jamerson and Benny Benjamin. The dead guys. I will honestly admit that I didn't know that some of the Funk Brothers were white. That surprised me (and, hey, they played the same instruments as the white guys in the MGs: guitar and bass!).

I'm shocked! A 21 year old woman who has had sex? What is this world coming to...?

Come on! A great as the Funk Brothers were/are, and as deserving as they are of wider recognition, it's silly to blame Gordy. Gordy was interested in selling and promoting the Motown roster...that is to say, the people who sang on those records. The Funk Brothers were studio pros. They knew when they came into work every day that all of the credit was going to go to Marvin Gaye or the Supremes for a record's success. Those records were great because of a combination of factors: Great studio musicians, excellent songwriting, wonderful production, and the stars themselves. The Funk Brothers contributed to the success of songs like "Heatwave" and "Uptight", but come on, do you really think those songs would be classics without Martha and the Vandellas and Stevie Wonder? Gordy had many faults, but he treated the studio musicians no worse than Chess or Stax or any other independent lable of the day. Oh, yeah. LOVED the movie. Great stuff!

The poor guy thinks that it's still 1984 and that Reagan is still president. That would be hell. Imagine! Having to listen to Flock of Seagulls and those damn "Where's the beef" commercials for the rest of your life...

My column was, not suprisingly, an opinion column and was based on the best information available at the time. I admit, I did not call JazzTimes to ask for details about the dismissal. I was more interested in using the Crouch contraversy as a springboard to talk about race and jazz in general. My opinion, generally, is that Crouch makes too much of the race issue. He overstates the racism of jazz critcs (of which I am one, and I do not consider myself racist by any standard), and see conspiracies where none exist. I also think (and I didn't mention it in my article because I didn't think it was relavent) that Crouch is intellectually lazy. His ideas never gel.

In addition to all of the Blue Notes (and just about as many BN side-man dates as you can find) and select Milestones (I have the box, and I agree with the assessment above: Some of the stuff is superb, some is less so), I recommend Joe's Verve recordings. "Lush Life" and "So Near, So Far" are classics. Great playing all around. The band on "So Near, So Far" is very tight. The only reason I didn't dig it at first is because I hadn't gotten into Scofield yet. "Double Rainbow" is a lovely album, and "Big Band" is quite exciting. Joe's last album, "Porgy and Bess" is perhaps the least safisfying of the Verves, but that doesn't mean it is bad. In fact, it's quite good. It's just not as strong as the others, and it is sad that it was Joe's last hurrah before his final illness. The mature Henderson sound was a wonder to behold.

I bought this one "sight unseen" so to speak, having read or heard nothing whatever about it. I was delighted. It is a wonderful session. I'd never heard Dailey before, and he was wonderful. Highly recommended.

I think that Pitt will make a pretty good Cap. A decent Captain America film should spend no more than the first 30 minutes on Cap's origin and on his activites during WWII. The rest of the film should be given over to the whole "Man Out of Time" thing. Think about it: Cap had a hard time when he was revived in the 60s, less than 20 years after the end of the war! Imagine what Cap will make of life in the 21st century! By the way, you forget that Brando did play a comic book character: He was Jor-El in "Superman the Movie".