Alexander

Mine is a photograph that was taken of me a few months ago before I decided to trim my beard.

The vocalist's voice reminds me of Richard Nixon! Hey! Maybe these are part of the missing Nixon tapes! No wonder he refused to hand them over to congress.

I dunno. I think all of those sessions are middling. I would agree with a three star rating for all of them (and especially the two star rating on "Reach Out" which is a very disappointing album). Patton was pretty good ("Let 'em Roll" is my favorite) but most of his stuff pales next to Jimmy Smith or Larry Young.

I've been lucky so far: Every single disc nominated has been one I already owned! I hadn't heard this one in a while, and it was indeed welcome. While Sonny's playing might seem a little far-out for some tastes, I don't find it in the least bit jarring. Knowing how proud Bean was, Sonny is stepping up to the plate and pointing to the bleachers. He then proceeds to knock one out of the park, challenging Bean to do the same. The result is some of Hawkins' most powerful playing in years. He sounds inspired by Rollins. The rhythm section crackles with electricity. Bley does some fine work here, and Grimes is amazing (Cranshawe is great too, but Grimes just runs away with the whole album). The bonus tracks on the CD, featuring Rollins with Don Cherry, and more curiosities than anything else, but they are not without charm.

Paul Whiteman (1890-1967) was a white bandleader who's greatest popularity coincided with "The Jazz Age." He was dubbed "The King of Jazz" (he never claimed that title for himself), which has guaranteed his place as perhaps the most contraversial/reviled jazz figures of the 1920s. His band tried, in Whiteman's words, to make "a lady out of jazz" and is probably most famous for presenting the premier of Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" at New York City's Aeolian Hall in 1924. While Whiteman is usually blamed for watering down jazz for the masses, his band was a breeding ground for top notch (white) talent. Both of the Dorsey brothers passed through Whiteman's band, as did Bix Beiderbecke, Frankie Trambauer, Red Nichols, Bunny Berigan, Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang, Jack Teagarden and Bing Crosby. I suppose Whiteman is being compared to Wynton because both men were overpraised by the press of the day, and both men are seen as presenting a diluted form of jazz. Between the two of them, I prefer Whiteman. His bands made good music, and if it wasn't as good the music black performers were making, it wasn't for a lack of talent or trying. Whiteman was an important figure in early jazz. Even if he wasn't really the "King of Jazz," he was the epitome of what F. Scott Fitzgerald dubbed "The Jazz Age."

I went with "Jelly Lord." A mistake if there ever was one.

I'd also say that my favorite Wynton performances have been in sideman roles ("Lush Life", "Citizen Tain"). I'm surprised that "Black Codes" didn't make your list. It's generally thought to be his best recording as a leader.

Speaking as someone who writes CD reviews (although not for the AMG), I think it is important to bear in mind that *any* review in any publication is merely a reflection of *one* person's subjective opinion. Both the Penguin Guide and the AMG must, therefore, be taken with a whole shaker-full of salt. Taken from that perspective, I think that both are very useful, and I tend to look recordings up in both. I, too, wish that the Penguin Guide had more reviews, but the ones they have are quite good, if you bear in mind Cook and Morton's particular likes and dislikes (they don't have much use for Hank Mobley, for example, but they seem to love George Coleman). The AMG has lots of reviews, but it seems that only fans of a particular artist write the reviews. For that reason, pretty much everything seems to get a rave (even if it only rates two stars). A bad write up in either the AMG or the Penguin Guide might give me pause, but it wouldn't prevent me from buying a CD that I was interested in.

Jayson Blair is a serious looney.

BUZZZZZZZZZ I'm sorry, that's not an acceptable answer. No, it's not Van's strongest album from the 70s (in fact, I consider it to be among the weakest), but it is MILES AWAY from being "bad". How about "Cold Wind In August"? "Heavy Connection"? "It Fills You Up"? There's a lot of excellent music on this disc. I've actually always LOVED the album "Hard Nose The Highway". Again, it's not as ground breaking as "Astral Weeks" or as consistant as "Moon Dance", but it's a pleasure to listen to all the way through. How about "Autumn Song" (which I play every day throughout the month of October)? How about "The Great Deception"? (favorite line: "Have you ever heard about the so-called 'hippies'? Live on the wrong side of the tracks. They take the eye-balls straight outta your head and say 'Son...kid...do'ya want your eye-balls back?'") How about Van's soulful take on "Bein' Green"? Or the title track? In fact, I've always liked "Hard Nose The Highway" better than either "His Band and Street Choir" or "Tupelo Honey".

I've heard several good recordings of this, but I'll have to go with the Nat King Cole Trio's version.

This is one tough choice. I like all of the men listed above, but I had to go with Bix.

For me, the ultimate recording of "Softly As In a Morning Sunrise" is by John Coltrane at the Village Vanguard. Absolutely incredible. Tyner plays as though his hands were made of gold...whatever that means. If you don't have at least the master takes Vanguard disc, you need to get it. The complete box set is amazing, of course, but the masters are essential.

Larry Young. I'd vote for Sam Yahel as the best contemporary organist, though.

I chose Jim Hall, although I admit that it was a very tough descision. Of course, had he been named in the poll, I would have gone with Django!

I'm sure that some famous jazz person shares my birthday, but the only famous person I know of who was born on December 28th was Stan Lee...

I disagree. I have all of Van Morrison's albums from 1965 through 1980 (and then only some of his post-1980 work) and I don't think Van recorded a bad album throughout the 70s. If you think you know one, please name it. Then I'll laugh, because it just ain't so.

I haven't heard it, but it doesn't surprise me. Many of the house musicians at Motown were, indeed, jazz musicians who agreed to work there on the understanding that they would be allowed to record jazz as well as soul. I don't know what Gordy's intentions were, but he never came through. Marvin Gaye wanted to sing jazz, too, and attempted to convince Gordy to allow him to make a jazz album. The closest he ever got, I think, is "What's Goin' On" which is very jazz-influenced, if not actual jazz. I did know that the Four Tops started out as "supper-club" singers, as was the term back in the day.

I agree. This has become one of the best jazz discussion boards on the net. Great job, guys!

I hadn't listened to this on in a long while before I spun it last night. Man, what a great disc. Trane captured right at a period of transition, between the Atlantic period and the Impulse sound. Amazing. Hubbard and Dolphy play their asses off. Davis and Workman on bass...so organic I STILL can't tell them apart. Great stuff. Good pick, man!

Hank McCoy is shown speaking about the mutant problem on the TV in the bar where Mystique rolls the prison guard. Blink and you'll miss him! His name is on the screen in front of him. Colossus has a couple of lines, and he doesn't have a Russian accent.

Rube Goldberg would be proud.

I think the X-Men movie's greatest strength is it's cast. Full of top drawer talent who invest their characters with real emotion (unlike Michael Keaton's phoned-in Batman performance). McKellan and Stewart are, of course, masters of their craft. Having them aboard adds real class to the proceedings. However, for me, the standout performance came from the mercurial Alan Cummings who gave a real sense of depth to Nightcrawler (after Wolverine the one X-Men character I was really dying to see on the big screen. Thank goodness they got it right!), a character who could have been hackneyed in lesser hands. From his excellent German accent to his apparent sincerity in the character's faith, Cummings played a small but invaluable role in the film (everyone in the theater cheered when 'Crawler "bamfed" out of the plane to rescue Rogue. Speaking of which, she's got to get on the stick and absorb Carol Danver's powers soon! That wouldn't have happened if she could fly! Note: If you understood that last reference, you are as much of a geek as I am). It was also nice to see a cameo from Henry "The Beast" McCoy in one scene. He needs to be in the next X-Men movie! Complaint: They managed to get Nightcrawler's nationality right. Why wasn't Colossus Russian? Warning...Spoilers below: So...Obviously the next film will deal with Phoenix. No way is Jean dead. But dare we hope that Stryker's last threat means that the Sentenels will finally appear in the next picture? I also liked the way they brought Pyro into the Brotherhood. Let's get the Blob into the next picture!

I can't tell you how disappointed I am in that man. I gave him a lot more credit tastewise (both in music and in women). To throw over a former Pogues bassplayer for Diana Krall...it's disturbing. Then again, he had a long affair with Liv Tyler's mom while still married to his first wife, so I guess I'm not terribly surprised... In fact, before she found out that Steven Tyler was her dad, Liv seriously thought that Elvis Costello was her pop.

I saw this last night and thought that in many ways it was a whole lot better than the first one. Any thoughts?