Alexander

The sexual nature of most fairy tales is far from explicit. In Little Red Riding Hood it is largely a matter of symbolism. The Red Hood is read as a symbol of menstral blood and sexual maturity. The woods are often a symbol for sexual confusion and danger. The stranger that waylays a child, in this case a wolf, is a common trope in children's literature (think of the Witch in Hansel and Gretel). The theme of devouring (the wolf eats grandma and then Red Riding Hood herself). The theme of rebirth (the huntsman cuts open the wolf's stomach and brings Red Riding Hood and her grandmother through the opening). The theme of the mature male who comes to the rescue (the huntsman). Red Riding Hood is highly sexual, without ever showing any explicit sex. And that's just one of the most obvious examples.

I second that last recommendation. I've learned a lot of standards from my Frank Sinatra collection.

I used to watch this as a kid, and I never missed it. I had a thing for Christine too, although I never wrote to her. Frankly, I think a lot of boys of my generation were into Moose for the same reason boys of my father's generation were into Annette on the Mickey Mouse Club: She had boobs at a time when we were starting to notice them!

My hope is that downloading will revitalize the market for singles. This once proud format went the way of the Dodo with casettes and CDs, but I can really see people downloading (especially at a .99 price point) the latest singles off the net, and then going out to buy the album. It would be a nice way for downloading and traditional music sales to peacefully co-exist.

Not to bash you or anything, but I assume that these are all duplicates? I mean, I own all of these albums, and I can't imagine ever parting with any of them.

I own it, but I didn't pay for it. My copy is a promo that was sent to the Music Department Manager (I was the assistant at the time) at B&N. I got it because the Manager already had a copy. I do like it, but I can't say that I ever play it. It's nice to think, when I do spin it, that it cost me nothing at all... B)

In an interview with Ben Sidran, Wynton admitted that he had never listened to Art Blakey when he first joined his band. Seems to me that Wynton did a lot of learning on the job. It fits, because Wynton definitely has the zelousness of a convert.

Actually, Rogue started out as a villian in the comic book. She was a member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (under Mystique rather than Magneto) and she had a really bad attitude. She wound up having a feud with Carol Danvers (Ms. Marvel, a seventies character, somewhat related to the Kree Captain Marvel, who never caught on) and aborbing her powers. Because Danvers was half Kree (an alien race) the transfer of power was perminent. She also perminently absorbed Carol's memories, which is what made Rogue into a good guy. She left the Brotherhood and joined the X-Men shortly after that. Carol Danvers did not die, and survived to have a very bad relationship with Rogue over the years.

Yes, I call Murray, Crouch, and Marsalis the Unholy Trinity, or the Axis of Lincoln Center.

Nope, that happened with me also. Simon Weil Andrew Hill has reported that the "Jazz" series put him to sleep every night it aired.

Let me address some of your observations: To begin with, Crouch is hardly the boogie man some have made him out to be. When talking about early jazz through the swing era, Stanley (and Wynton) is solidly within his element, which is why you enjoy his contributions to the program. The problems come when the series moves into the bop era and beyond. Stanley becomes quite dogmatic at this point. He sticks to his theory that jazz is: 1) Rooted in the blues, and any music that does not acknowledge the blues is not jazz. 2) Swinging. Again, if it doesn't swing, it isn't jazz (Crouch once made an outrageous statement that Bill Evans was a "punk" whose playing could "scarcely be considered jazz" because he did not swing). 3) African-American (or, to use a term that Crouch himself favors, "Negro"). Crouch sometimes likes to play both sides of the fence on this one, occasionally praising a white musician like Joe Lovano, but Crouch has gone on record stating that jazz is a Negro creation and that all of the innovators in jazz have been black. It is true that the majority of jazz innovation came from blacks, but that shouldn't exclude white musicians from making significant contributions. Crouch's writing is particularly unenlightened on this point. Is Stanley interesting? Of course. Is he knowledgable? Yes. Does he have a right to his opinion? No doubt about it. But he is also extremely conservative, and in the end I find his brand of conservatism extremely unpalatable. This may seem like heresy, but I contend that far, far too much of "Jazz" is given over to BOTH Pops and Duke. Burns subscribes to the "Great Man" theory of history, and his method is to follow these "great men" from the cradle to the grave. Sadly, Armstrong's most significant innovations were made in the 20s and 30s. By the end of the 1930s, Pops was in the rut that he would stay in for the rest of his career. Not that he didn't continue to make great music. He did. But never again would he have the kind of impact that he had with his Hot Five recordings. Seems to me that Burns could have dropped Pops in the 40s, and only occasionally returned to him in the 50s and 60s, rather than reporting his every move. I have similar feelings about Ellington. Again, no doubt that he was extremely innovative at one time, but that time did pass (he had more comebacks than Armstrong, however). Again, we didn't have to have a day-to-day account of Duke's life. Seems we could have dropped Duke by 1950, coming back to him only occasionally. This would have freed Burns up to spend more time on figures like Bud Powell, who rated barely a mention in the series. Or Stan Getz, who is only mentioned in connection with his drug addiction. He is enthusiastic, and knowledgable. And talented. But why this makes him the single most important figure in jazz is beyond me. Burns practically moved in to Wynton's house for that series! Seriously, as fun as Wynton is to watch (with his "gumbo" metaphors), he doesn't make sense half the time. His first line in the series (in fact, THE first line of the series) is "Jazz objectifies America." Nice, but it doesn't mean anything. I think he meant "Jazz EXEMPLIFIES America." I have no doubt that Wynton loves jazz, but he clearly has less love for the English language. Yeah, I like Gerald Earley a lot. He has some nice things to say. Funny that Crouch hates him so much... Absolutely he does. Brubeck is a giant. There's a lot more to him than just "Take Five!"

Greg Osby - Alto Sax Stefon Harris - Vibraphone Jason Moran - Piano Daryl Hall - Bass Terreon Gully - Drums

I think it's interesting that two of the most important Blue Notes, "Somethin' Else" and "Blue Train", were made by artists who did very little on the Blue Note lable. Neither Cannon nor Trane ever recorded for Blue Note as a leader again, yet they helped define the sound and substance of Blue Note through their limited contributions. To me, two of the ultimate Blue Notes are Grant Green's "Idle Moments", which is so much more than the sum of its parts (it doesn't sound like a Grant Green album, that's for damn sure), and Eric Dolphy's "Out To Lunch", which sounds like nothing else. While these albums didn't necessarily spawn a host of imitators, they represent the best of what the lable had to offer.

Bad news for all the straight-ahead purists. Vibist Stefon Harris has formed a new quintet called Blackout which plays funk and fusion. Harris joins Joshua Redman, Christian McBride, Roy Hargrove, and Chris Potter, all of whom have released fusion albums in the last year. I know there are some here for whom words like "fusion" and "Fender Rhodes" are dirty, but I've gotta say that Blackout's show at the Egg in Albany, NY was one of the most exciting I've seen in ages. I'm really looking forward to this band's first album! Here's a review: Blackout Over Albany

I enjoy the few Pink songs that I've heard (and technically, it's not "Pink", it's "P!NK"). I have a file of crappy yet catchy pop songs that I've downloaded off of Kazaa, and both "Get The Party Started" and "Don't Let Me Get Me" are in there, as is the version of "Lady Marmalade" that Pink did with Maya, Li'l Kim, Christina, and Missy Elliot. In terms of looks, I think Gwen Stefani is WAY better looking than Pink, although Pink certainly ain't too shabby. I will admit that I've always thought that Jewel was cute even though I never dug her music. I admire the fact that Jewel has crooked teeth (in fact, I have a front tooth that's crooked in the exact same way). In terms of her sound, I had her pegged as a Michelle Shocked knockoff from the very start. And I'd rather listen to Michelle any day of the week (her CDs are finally being reissued, after being out of print for more than a decade).

I never had a letter printed in a jazz publication, but I did get one in Time Magazine. It's particularly obnoxious and deliberately provocative. Here it is: I also got one printed in American Scholar, the journal for the Phi Beta Kappa Society, but sadly they are not on-line. I still have the issue, though!

Jacknife, I'm a big Kikoski fan. Do yourself a favor and check him out. "Combinations", his most recent release on Criss Cross, is great. Also look for "The Five", which was recorded during a recent tour of Japan. Dave also plays on the two BeatleJazz albums, which are very accessable, but full of excellent playing. Great straight ahead stuff. I recently learned that Kikoski has had very bad luck with his hands. He's broken both of them during the last several years, and has recently developed a case of tendonitis! In fact, he recorded the "Birds of a Feather" album with a broken left hand! Amazing to think that he could play like that with only one good hand!

I chose 1848, the year of revolutions. Old Karl Marx himself wrote some excellent articles that year... It also happens to be one my favorite periods in American history. Herman Melville was hard at work on "Moby Dick" (to be published in 1850) during that year. The 1840s and 50s were interesting from a social perspective too. The Civil War would soon break out, changing a great many things about 19th century America (for good and for ill).

I keep my Mosaic CDs filed away with the rest of my collection. The booklets are all on a bookshelf nearby. The boxes themselves (empty, of course) are in the basement. I can see letting my daughter play with the box. I can even see letting her take it in the car, but not with the CDs in it! Yikes! I hope you find them, Eric.

Yes! Once again, I already have it! No one has picked a CD I don't own! I wonder what that says about me?

I like quite a few recent bands when I hear them, but I don't own anything by them. I would say that the most "contemporary" artist I own is Tom Waits(!). My wife has several Barenaked Ladies albums, if that counts.

IV is great, but sags a bit with "Stairway to Heaven" (which isn't the classic Plant thinks it is). I had to go for II, which is more of a kick-ass record (and that's what we all want in a rock record, right?). I enjoy III and I, and really like Houses. Half of Physical Graffiti is amazing. The other half is a bore.

"People on 'Ludes should not drive!" Wise words, indeed...

I chose "Smokestack" from the list, although my all time favorite is "Cool Struttin'."

I went with Sonny Clark. When you think of the sheer number of Blue Note sessions he played on in his short career... In addition, Sonny added to any session he played on in a significant way (not that others didn't). In many ways, he *made* those sessions with Grant Green. I don't think Green did better work than on those recordings, "Idle Moments" included. Really exceptional. Herbie Hancock is amazing, of course, but he was quickly distracted by his own recordings and his work with Miles. Powell and Monk had their own thing going, and didn't work as a sideman nearly enough.