Aggie87

Couple of new titles at BMG: Terence Blanchard - Bounce John Coltrane - Blue Train (Remastered) - I assume it's the RVG Kurt Elling - Man in the Air Shirley Horn - May the Music Never End Bobby Hutcherson - Montara Bud Powell - Parisian Thoroughfares Sonny Rollins - Vol. I

Anybody pick up this recent Glenn Gould double disc set, and if so, how is it?

I've been seeing a relatively new Django title from Dreyfus, called "L'Or de Django". Anybody have this one, and if so is it worth picking up? I don't see a listing for it on AMG...

The thing that's interesting to me is when they film sequels concurrently. There appears to be an assumption that the first sequel will do well enough at the box office to warrant putting out the next one. This is what happened with the two Matrix sequels, as well as the two Back to the Future sequels. Can't think of any others that were filmed this way. The LOTR films were all filmed at the same time - which is kind of an amazing risk to take on something which MIGHT have never made money. Luckily, the films have been uniformly excellent so far, and have appealed to more than just the hardcore Tolkien/fantasy crowd. Kill Bill is an interesting one also. Apparently originally conceived (and filmed) as one movie, but Tarantino or the studio decided to split it into two films due to length. Not sure I really understand that decision, but I haven't seen part one yet either.

This is the funniest thing I've read on this BB in a long time!

I have a few CTI's already - the previously mentioned Red Clay, Straight Life, Sugar, as well as Jim Hall's Concierto and KB's God Bless the Child. I like all of these titles. I can get into soul/jazz/funk, but not too much of the syrupy string stuff that some of the CTIs seem to be known for. That's about my only criteria...

Zweitausendeins has the following CTI remasters available, for €6.99 apiece. I'm not familiar with any of them, so I'd appreciate any recommendations. Patti Austin - Havana Candy Ray Barretto - La Cuna Ron Carter - Blues Farm Paul Desmond - Pure Desmond Paul Desmond - Skylark Astrud Gilberto/Stanley Turrentine - Astrud & Gilberto: with Stanley Turrentine Freddie Hubbard - First Light Milt Jackson - Sunflower Hubert Laws - In the Beginning Esther Phillips - Black-Eyed Blues Nina Simone - Baltimore Jeremy Steig - Firefly Gabor Szabo - Macho Stanley Turrentine - Don't Mess with Mister T Stanley Turrentine - Salt Song Do the Hubbard & Turrentine discs hold up to Red Clay, Straight Life & Sugar? I also noticed the Steig disc, from 1977, includes John Scofield. Is this worth picking up from a Sco-fan's perspecitive? Thanks, Erik

Organissimo I cannot avert my eyes A strange attraction Keith Jarrett "Nude Ants" This album really hits me Each time I hear it ...and two from "Gentle Giant" on Jazz Corner that I like: There is no equal No prequel and no sequel To A Love Supreme That Steely Dan riff I loved so much -- it comes from Song For My Father

Haiku is quite fun: Count all of the syllables; Go Five-Seven-Five. Hank Mobley is bad! I mean really really GOOD. But you knew that though. Frisell-Horvitz-Schrieve An organ trio setting? It's "Fascination"! These are so easy I could do this forever! But I will stop now.

C'mon Bev, surely we've given the world more irritating things, like: Dennis Rodman Tammy Faye Baker Howard Stern Barney Britney Spears New Kids on the Block, and their spawns Backstreet Boys & NSYNC edit: Adding Carrot-top and Pauly Shore

How's this one?

Bev - You clearly now French history far better than I do, so I won't challenge what you're saying. I agree that Mazarin wielded LARGE influence on his early years (even "donated" his niece to Louis), but that makes sense to a degree, since Louis ascended to the throne when he was 4 years old. And I'll certainly agree that his later years were marked by military defeats. The Revolution comment was conjecture on my part. I wish I had paid better attention during my history lessons... -Erik

The more I think about it (and the celery thing notwithstanding), my vote goes for the Sun King, Louis XIV. He reigned for 72 years (!), and turned France into one of the most powerful countries in the world. Probably set the stage for the French Revolution as well... He gets props for Versailles alone, if nothing else. 10,000 people lived at the palace in his day. Pictures don't really do it justice.

...from CNN... 'Looney Tunes' DVD ticks off buyers Fans disappointed by cartoons left out Wednesday, October 29, 2003 Posted: 9:47 AM EST (1447 GMT) LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- What's the rush, doc? That was Warner Bros. response to the backlash from some "Looney Tunes" fans who complain that a handful of their favorite cartoons are missing from the collection of 56 shorts released Tuesday. (Warner Bros. is a division of Time Warner, as is CNN.) "Looney Tunes -- The Golden Collection," the first-ever DVD release for Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Yosemite Sam and Elmer Fudd, includes such classics as "Rabbit of Seville," "Duck Dodgers in the 24th-and-a-half Century" and "The Scarlet Pumpernickel." Animation fans, however, have debated and second-guessed the selection of shorts endlessly on Amazon.com and elsewhere on the Internet. Among the notable absentees: "What's Opera, Doc?" with Bugs tormenting co-star Elmer Fudd, who sings "Kill the wabbit! Kill the wabbit!"; and "One Froggy Evening," which showcased the "Hello, My Baby!"-singing amphibian Michigan J. Frog. "We held back some of the jewels for future releases," acknowledged George Feltenstein, the marketing executive who helped pick the shorts for the inaugural DVD release. "We couldn't release all the best ones at once ... what would we do for an encore?" Some fans see that response as cynical, saying they feel like their loyalty is being abused. "I would have rather never had these shorts be released than to deal with this garbage," Aaron Strader of Houston wrote on Amazon.com. "I hope it sells well enough to justify a full release on DVD of everything." Warner Home Video counters that its plan to release a set of 60 cartoons each year is not just a marketing ploy -- it's as fast as they can clean up the originals. Dorinda Marticorena, WHV's director of children's marketing, said it takes months to restore the original cartoon prints to their original bright colors. "Looney Tunes" admirers could have a total collection sooner, but it would be a DVD full of grainy, faded cartoons. The "Golden Collection" ($64.92) and the lesser "Premiere Collection" of 28 shorts ($26.99) is part of a bid by the studio to rejuvenate its trademark characters, Marticorena said. A new feature film, "Looney Tunes: Back in Action," is set for release November 14. Fans have waited nearly six years since Warner Bros. began creating the DVD of classics, so Feltenstein said he understood why they're as impatient as Porky Pig's speech therapist. He described the "Golden Collection" as "an all-star sampler," with a lot of Bugs and Daffy, and a little bit of Foghorn Leghorn, Tweety Bird, Sylvester the Cat, Marvin Martian and the Tasmanian Devil. There is also the first Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner cartoon, "Fast and the Furry-ous." Nearly 1,100 "Looney Tunes" cartoons were created between 1930 and 1969, so there are a lot left to choose from for future DVDs, he added, although not all of them are created equally. "About 300 of them are excellent," Feltenstein said, "300 of them are very good, 300 are good, 100 of them are OK, and 100 of them are lousy."

Would've looked better on his c.v. had he been DIRECTLY responsible for this. Certainly it's a unique claim though. And where would the good folks of Nottingham be today without celery??

Morgana King anyone?

I just noticed that BMG now has the following titles available: Bill Frisell - The Intercontinentals McCoy Tyner - Land of Giants ...there's also still a few goodies in the Clearance section: Bob Belden/Tim Hagans - Re-Animation Live! Don Byron - Romance with the Unseen Ravi Coltrane - Moving Pictures Mark Shim - Turbulent Flow

Vinyl West is probably the best place in Stuttgart for second hand jazz vinyl. They also sell used cds. The other used vinyl/cd store I frequent here is called Second Hand Records, located at NeckarStrasse 140A (telephone 0711-260404). Not a real big place - the ground floor is used (& some new) cds, and the cellar is where they keep all of the vinyl. It's definitely worth a visit as well. Not vinyl, but for jazz cds, there is a good store called "Einklang", located at ChristophStrasse 7. (telephone 0711-234-8771). Large selection of both jazz and classical discs. They also have a website - www.einklang.de.

I haven't been doing this too long, so all of mine are in-person and fairly recent (i.e within the past 5 years): Dave Brubeck Gary Burton Charlie Haden Herbie Hancock Stacy Kent Diana Krall (I know, I know) Christian McBride Pat Metheny Sonny Rollins John Scofield

Saw this one on the Hoffman website, and had to share it. There is nothing moving in this picture.

Came across a new (to me) Scofield disc yesterday, called "Shortcuts! Jazzpar Combo 1999", with Hans Ulrik, Lars Danielsson, and Peter Erskine. It's a mix of studio and live tracks, on Stunt Records. It's a very good recording, and the group play in a style similar to the scolohofo group. But it seems to have a little more life to it than that disc does - something to do with expectations in both cases I guess. Worth picking up if you come across it!

Kenny Burrell - God Bless the Child Herbie Hancock - Headhunters Dave Holland - Extended Play Brad Mehldau - Places Thelonious Monk - It's Monk's Time Thelonious Monk - Underground Oregon - Winter Light John Scofield - Shortcuts! Jazzpar Combo 1999 (w/Ulrik, Danielsson, & Erskine) Phish - A Live One

There's a recent interview with Steve Howe at Classic Rock Revisited. In it there are a couple of interesting (?) jazz references, thought I'd share them here. Howe can be fairly obtuse in interviews at times, but these comments can be followed pretty easily, by Howe standards. Steve Howe Interview October 2003 ***** CRR: When I heard those two (new) songs, I thought immediately of Wes Montgomery and some of the stuff that he did in the early 60’s with a big band. Howe: I’m totally beyond myself that you said that, besides flattery will get you everywhere <laughs>. Wes has a particular presence with me because I actually saw the guy live and he was one of the few jazz guitarists that I was able to see in that era. I later saw Kenny Burrell who I love as well. CRR: Yeah he’s another great player. Howe: Yeah, I like guitarists who are cool. I don’t like guitarists who are un-cool, who do too much who fall over themselves doing it like some of the blues players started to do. They got their reputation and then they started to play a hundred notes. CRR: Right, it’s important that it’s tasteful and they don’t over do it. Howe: That’s right. Wes was almost a revolution in my mind because being young, I was 16 at the time; I thought I was going to go and see someone who I could pick things from <laughs> and when he came out of the dressing room he had this big smile on his face and he never lost that smile. He’s was one of the few musicians who actually smiled when he played. It was a wonderful thing to see, so Wes was onstage at Ronnie’s (Ronnie Scott’s a popular club in London) and he just sat on this stool and played his ass off. It was just amazing. CRR: You saw him you were only 16. That must have been a real eye opening experience. Howe: It was a total thrill, but I learned nothing visually because watching his hand was like watching a glove go across a walking stick. You couldn’t really see how he formed his octaves. They were mainly what I call back ended, where the higher figured finger is actually on top and the lower figured finger is below, and he strummed these octaves much more than he ever picked them. What I did get from it was this marvelous feeling of being able to close my eyes and feel that what I was absorbing was actually from the man himself. This guy was sitting in front of me and that was enormous. I think one of the attributes that guitarists have to have and it’s as true in jazz as it is in all other forms of guitar music, is they have to be very caring about their sound, they have to be very loving about their sound. You’re nurturing and your learning and this is an important thing that I think that maybe some Yes members haven’t realized is that over the years you are expected to learn about you’re craft. You are expected to be more sensible, more practical, more realistic about what makes this tick, what makes it happen. So now when I walk into the studio, sure I know certain ingredients I know I’ve got to have if I’m going to do certain things. I go for them, experience tells me it’s right and then they are actually, but if I was a fool like many musicians are I’d walk around thinking it’s just me that has to do it. I just have to be there and it’s right, bullshit! I’ve heard that from musicians for a long time, you know they think that their presence is sufficient. They have to bring with them the wealth of knowledge that they learned along their career, not just bringing their career along. CRR: And what you can still learn as a player. Howe: Oh yeah, that’s the challenge because to make a song like “Westwinds” and “Pacific Haze” was like, you know I’ve never wanted to pastiche other guitarists. I’m not a guy who’s really good at copying, even guys like Chet Atkins who is one of my favorites. I’m not a big copyist but what I am is, I absorb, I’m like a big sponge. For example Wes gave me rhythm, he showed me that a guitarist without a strong sense of rhythm is nothing you know? When you add a real distinct phraseology to your playing like Django (Reinhardt) did and Wes did it so brilliantly. His phrasing is all about use of keen and interesting rhythmical patterns as opposed to lamenting on the straight ( makes simplistic guitar sounds), that’s nowhere. It means nothing. Sorry that’s not music. So yeah I’m totally a Wes fanatic.

Perhaps we could bribe Piglet to take out Sigfried as well? Never having seen Sigfried & Roy, are those "costumes" really what they wear? Looks like a combination of Rick Wakeman & Luke Skywalker!

Thanks for the info! I haven't heard any highlife music that I'm aware of. In fact the Nigerian music in my collection is limited to some Fela and some King Sunny Ade, which is more in the juju/afrobeat camp than this appears to be. I don't have African Beat yet either, so both are now on my want list. Thanks, Erik