Kalo

Great record!

I was a fan too (up until about 1991 or '92 that is.) When I first heard about this, I was hoping for an anthology of the choicest bits from the magazine's best years. According to the reviews I've seen, while it does reprint some old stuff, much of the book is taken up with "behind the scenes" memoirs of the magazine in those days. Before I take the plunge I'll have to give it a look the next time I hit a bookstore.

'77 Karajan Beethoven was my first box, too. My stepdad gave it to me as a birthday gift the same year I got my first component stereo, 1978. First box I bought for myself was Alan Mandel's recordings of the complete Charles Ives piano music, which was in 1979, I think. First Jazz Box I ever bought, a year or so after that, was the Smithsonian Ellington box of 1938-1940 recordings.

He was just goofin' on SNL, but Eddie Murphy did a pretty good job. His character in Dreamgirls is supposedly based on JB. I haven't seen it yet (nor am I in a hurry to).

Weird thing: I pulled out a bunch of my JB music and started listening again a few days before he died, starting with In the Jungle Groove.

Another vote for Tiger. I have enjoyed all of the JCC-related discs I've heard, especially the Herbie Nichols Project.

...the north, south, east, and the west of her?

Let's hope you're right... Yes, it was a joke... But no laughing matter.

Swing is that without which "it" would not mean a thing. Seriously, has anyone ever been able to put what swing is into words? I've certainly never come across a convincing, memorable formulation.

Anyone heard about his new band the Jazz Curators?

I used to win tickets for jazz and blues shows a lot in the late 1980s to early 1990s. Here in Boston there are several Public and College stations and they all had blues and jazz shows where they gave out tickets to whoever was in town. You usually had to be the first caller to identify a saxophonist or other musician on the next cut the DJ played. Sometimes it was just being the fifth or sixth caller. Among the shows I attended this way were Jay McShann (with a big band!), Koko Taylor, Courtney Pine, and Cecil Taylor.

Saw the man with a big band in Boston in the 1980s. A glorious night I'll never forget.

Riot on vinyl (w/lyric sheet) is one of most prized possessions. And that "alternate-timeline flag cover," as BruceH puts it, is easily my favorite album art ever. Just because...

Most depressing for me is the Freddie Redd on vinyl. The reason is that I found it used for a very good price (at Stereo Jack's BTW), but scratched it badly the first time I listened to it! Just one track, but it still stings. (Tick... tick... tick... ) That was a long time ago, though.

I've got it and have learned to live with it. When I was diagnosed years ago (early 1980s) my doctor at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary told me that they have no idea in general of what causes it and that my insight would be appreciated if I had any! He also said that caffeine consumption can make it louder, which I have observed is true in my case. I'm pretty sure that I got it from listening to headphones way too loud in highschool and college. I played in rock bands for years (not very loud ones) but my tinnitus preceded that involvement by quite a stretch.

Well worth seeing. This assemblage (?) appeared at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in the mid-1970s and I vividly remember being captivated by it. My first exposure to "outsider art" at a very impressionable age. Cool that it seems to have found a home at the Smithsonian.

"...and your goddamn sister better be not too far behind us with the bale of rolling papers!"

To clarify my last post: Please say it ain't so...

That was my reaction, Paul. I loved Costello when I was a kid, but please. And adding lyrics to that particular tune seems almost sacriligious.

Which releases are you listening to? My (limited) experience has been more in concert with the other posters on this thread: crazy separation with a big old hole in the middle.

Those would be my three choices for the pinnacle, Clem. Ellington and Monk as musical architects first and (amazing) soloists second, Parker the reverse. But there's no doubting that as a soloist, Bird burned the brightest of anyone. In fact, though I own a lot of Bird on disc, I don't listen to him as much or for as long as I should because he's so brilliant that really listening to him can be like staring into the sun. Time to pull out the discs and go burn those aural retinas again...

Dragon fruit? What does it taste like? Right now I'm drinking Pian Del Ciampolo, a wine made in the Chianti region by the Montevertine winery. Yes - Dragon fruit. Can't say it's like any other fruit I've tasted - The seeds (black dots in pic) are edible and crunchy, like seeds of a kiwi fruit. The flesh, white or red, is a little crunchy like a semi-ripe pear and has usually what many would consider a bland taste (sometimes a little sourish), but can be quite sweet in spots. Sounds interesting, to say the least. Pears are probably my favorite fruit, so it sounds as though I might like this.

Geez, but there's a quick and sharp bunch here on Organissimo Forums. That's just what I was going to say, Uncle Skid. All who have not read it should seek out Geoff Dyer's "But Beautiful' immediately. One of the best jazz books ever. Harry Carney has to be one of the secret heroes of all of jazz. Irving Berlin asked, "How Deep is the Ocean?" I'd have to reply: not as deep as Harry Carney! THE anchorman of Ellington's Orchestra. (Not to mention a DAMN fine chauffeur! After all, has anyone heard of Duke missing an engagement owing to an accident or delay in all those years?)

Hey, BruceH! Anything "hip" (at least to folks our age) such as the Minutemen is already gone. No Television, no Eno, no Pere Ubu -- NADA! I did visit again last night and the discount is down to 40%. I picked up a Mike Leigh film, "Career Girls" for six bucks (Katrin Cartlidge!), as well as "An Angel at My Table," my favorite Jane Campion film and one of the only Criterion DVDs left (yet the price was no better than currently available on Deepdiscount). Also found a copy of Gigi Gryce's "the hap'nin's" in the dwindling jazz section. However, I won't rule out another visit in a week or so to see what's left...

Don't hesitate on Far East Sweet, unless you seek to forestall massive Ellington-related expenditures in the future. The man WAS jazz...