Alexander

I'm not gonna say what I got my wife for her first mother's day, but suffice to say it was intended to remind her that I don't have one of those "ewwww...you're somebody's mother now" complexes.

I've been thinking about "Elis and Tom." Is that one worth checking out?

Doesn't seem to be available on CD. Has it ever been? Is this LP only? Is it readily available?

Big Marx Brothers fan here (especially the Paramount films). I used to go see their films at the Brattle Theater in Cambridge, MA all the time. There's nothing like seeing those films on the big screen (preferably in a half-way decent print) with the audience roaring all around you. Jokes you've heard a million times seem brand new!

Here's some trivia for our young Jazz Kat: Chippewa Street , in Buffalo, used to be famous for streetwalkers and other funky vices. I guess now ( I havn't been in the "Queen City" for many years, the last times was to see Wayne and Sonny ) that area has been gentrified. I'm sure those mayonnaise faced boys ( a Italo-American term meaning, roughly, suburban/white/rich ) of Spyro Gyra are referring to the later incarnation of the neighborhood? I don't know. If they're old enough, I'd imagine that they're familar with the earlier incarnation of Chippewa. That's certainly the association *I* make, and I grew up in Buffalo during the late 70s and early 80s. Chippewa was notorious at my elementary school (Waterfront) and was often the subject of dirty jokes and insinuating allusions. I remember that some friends and I wrote a parody of Toto's "Africa" called "Chippewa." I don't remember anything except the chorus: "I bless the whores down on Chiiiiipewaaaa..."

Light Globes!!!!

I admit that I was somewhat surprised by last night's verdict. While the skinny blond kid with the weak voice really *deserves* to get bounced, I knew he wouldn't. He's got too many teenaged girls voting for him. I thought the rocker had a similar fan base that was protecting him, so I predicted that Vonzell would go. But I also thought that the rocker's little "Eddy Vedder" impression from Tuesday night *was* a little risky for that audience, so I can't say I'm TOO surprised. I still predict that the final three will all be white and that the blonde chick will win in the end.

Very funny!!!

The first music I remember hearing was by the Beatles and Wings. My parents had several Beatles albums (Meet the Beatles, Help!, Beatles 65, Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, Magical Mystery Tour, Yellow Submarine, The Beatles (The White Album), Let It Be, Abbey Road, and Hey Jude). I especially remember being freaked out by "Elinore Rigby." I took the line "Waits at the window/wearing a face that she keeps/in a jar by the door" VERY literally. I could imagine a face in a jar...creeped me out! I was also scared by the song "Run For Your Life" from "Rubber Soul" when Lennon sings: "You'd better run for your life if you can, little girl/Hide your head in the sand, little girl." I imagined a little girl (like Shirley Temple) taking her head off of her neck and burying it in a bucket of sand... The Wings albums I remember best were "Band On The Run" and "Venus and Mars" (which are also the only Wings albums I have on CD today). I was very fond of those albums. Other albums I remember: "There Goes Rhymin' Simon" by Paul Simon (a wonderful album), "Nashville Skyline" (apart from "Greatest Hits," the only Dylan album my parents owned...although they did have the infamous "Great White Wonder" bootleg), several Jim Croce albums, "Pearl" by Janis Joplin, "Tapestry" by Carol King, "Endless Summer" by the Beach Boys, and a bunch of Billy Joel albums that my folks bought as they were released in the late 70s and early 80s (I think they stopped after "An Innocent Man").

Yeah, I don't know what cell-phones have to do with this. They could record these incidents with hand-held digital cameras. Should we title a thread: "Another reason to hate cameras?" Or they could still do them and not record them at all (which I'm sure they've been doing for years. It's only when a web site appears that something becomes a "problem").

Wow... I've never used iTunes, but I might be tempted to buy a few. That way I don't get stuck with "Silas Stingy". If you had to recommend just 4 or 5 tracks, which ones? I figure "I Can See for Miles" and "Tattoo" are essential. What else? Guy Depends on how you feel about the album as a whole. I think the whole thing is essential, but if you only want the "important" tracks, I'd get "Armenea City in the Sky," "Mary Ann with the Shaky Hand," "Tattoo," "I Can See for Miles," and "Rael." I love the commercials, so I'd want to have them as well (especially "Oderono").

I've been really into the Who lately, so this was a serendipidious release for me. I downloaded it off of iTunes, and I've enjoyed what I've heard. I prefer Pete, Roger, John, and Keith, but this is good for a larf... "What's for tea, mum?"

Kinda reminds me of Paul Auster's novel City of Glass in which a mystery writer named Daniel Quinn repeatedly gets wrong-number calls for Paul Auster. Finally, Quinn decides to impersonate Auster and embarks on a bizarre mystery which eventually claims his sanity and possibly his life. Auster based this on a real incident in his life when he repeatedly got phone calls for the Pinkerton Detective Agency. Auster always wondered what would've happened if he had said that he was with the Pinkerton Agency, but of course he never did. Some years after City of Glass was published, Auster reported getting a wrong-number call for one Daniel Quinn...at first Auster thought it was a prank, but it turned out to be real... "It was a wrong number that started it all. The phone ringing three times in the dead of night, and the voice asking for someone he was not..." - City of Glass

That's her version of the Isley Brothers' "For The Love of You." THIS is the peformance where Stone really shows her chops. You're absolutely right...a lesser talent wouldn't be able to carry this off. In fact, as much as I love the Isleys, I actually prefer *this* version. I don't say that about many covers of soul tunes...

My wife and I have determined that the reason all incarnations of L&O (although I still haven't gotten into CI) are so addictive is that sound...the "doink-doink." You can turn on an episode of L&O and escape with your sanity intact...if you turn it off before the first "doink-doink." Once you've heard the sound, you're hooked...another whole hour down the tubes...

I got it too, and I like it a lot. When I saw them here in Albany last year, they did their version of "We Are The Champions," which is also on this disc. One thing I miss, however, are Ethan Iverson's song intros. Those are a hoot and a half! BTW, this is also available through iTunes (which I only found out AFTER I'd gotten it through Sony Online).

Got it...love it...not much more to say, is there?

Yes! It's AMAZING! Burke's cover of Dylan's "What Good Am I" is worth the cover price alone. Ray Parker, Jr. displays his guitar chops to great effect on this disc. He's definitely redeemed himself of "Ghostbusters" with this one... The new Al Green is pretty great too. All in all, it's a good time to be a soul singer...

I'm not watching it regularly (I usually plan lessons while my wife watches "Idol"), but I have caught a bit of it this year. I think the "agenda" this year is to do away with the blacks and keep the weedy white boys and girls. The blond kid with the glasses and the traich scar should've gone a long time ago, but he keeps coming back. The guy who looks like a serial killer (the fat guy with the crew cut) needs to go too. And those weak "rockers." They both look like they failed their auditions with Three Dog Night in 1971... The strongest candidates that I've seen have all been black, and they keep getting bumped (I liked Nadia myself, what I saw of her). I think this has to do with the fact that the last two winners have been black (Fantasia and Ruben) and the teeny-boppers who vote feel that two black winners to one white winner is somehow "unfair." From what I keep hearing in the faculty breakroom at school, the favorite is that blonde chick who sings the country songs. She's the one I predict will win.

I've never gotten into Alicia Keyes. She's a bit too pop for my tastes. But I am a big fan of Jill Scott and India.Arie. Both very fine soul singers. I'm also quite into Angie Stone (who sings back-up on Joss Stone's "The Soul Sessions," btw). Never liked Mariah or Christina. Both of them oversing to the point of yodeling (although I will admit that Mariah does it better than Christina). Ever since Destiny's Child became big, I've said that Beyonce Knowles has a very fine voice. Unfortunately, she's never done material (that I've heard) that showcases her talent. I like Erika Badu and I LOVE Meshell Ndegecello. There are a lot of very fine neo-soul singers working today, and I'm glad that so many of them have gotten exposure. But all of their talent doesn't dimish Joss Stone's by one jot, and again it seems to me that she's getting the short end of the stick here because she's young, white, and pretty. She's done pretty well for herself singing well-written and well-produced material, whatever her age or race. Seems to me that Joss is the Norah Jones of the r&b scene: There are some people who are going to resent the hype, and trash her regardless of what she's capable of doing. I dug Joss the first time I heard her, and I have to admit that I'd never heard her name before... In fact, I remember well how puzzled I was when I first turned on VH1 one morning and heard "Super Duper Love." At first, I was ready to dismiss this kid as another Brittany...but then I listened to the song. "Wait a second," I said, "This kid is singing SOUL...and she's pretty damn good!" The rest is history...or herstory...or whatever.

I don't see what the color of her skin has to do with it. Should white singers who sing soul NOT go into show biz because they MIGHT become more successful than worthy black singers? Should Elvis Presley have continued driving a truck because he MIGHT overshadow Big Mama Thorton or Junior Parker? If white singers get privilidged over black singers, its our culture's problem, not the singer's.

Well, I liked her on first listen, and I still like her. "The Soul Sessions" is the best thing she's done to date, but her version of "Alfie" from the movie soundtrack is excellent as well. "Mind, Body, and Soul" is, indeed, patchy but it has its share of good songs. "Jet Lag" is great, although I have a live version I got off of iTunes that I like even better...

Agreed! I got "Naturally" when it came out several months ago, and it COOKS. My favorite track is the duet: "Stranded in your Love." AWESOME!!!

No to which question?

Traps the Drum Wonder, ladies and gentlemen! He was a motherfucker....but damn! that motherfucker could play! I know that Diz did an episode of the Muppet Show. Aside from him and Buddy, did any other jazz musican guest star?