kenny weir

Originally from Dunedin in the deep south of NZ; have lived elsewhere in NZ and London; past 20+ years in Melbourne Orstralia. With much time also spent in New Orleans.

No doubt, but we don't see much by the way of American sweet stuff in Melbourne. Besides, we have such a strong Italian influence here, that if ya really want quality sweeties it's best to think biscotti and/or gelati.

Hmmm...cinamon cookies...never tried any of those. They good, Kenny? Hmmm, yup, fully of sugar. And cinamon. Crunchy, too. I loved Stanko for a while there, and even saw him at a festival a few years back. I doubt, though, he'd turn me on these days.

Today I'm full-bore on some Dutch cinamon cookies Bennie and me got when we were buying some sausages for din dins. God but I'm a sucker for that sweet/bitter coffee/cookie combo!

For me, on the evidence of the two releases so far, the Road Trips idea is looking pretty shaky. Not that I'm a completist or such like - after all, several of the band's greatest albums were compiled the same way. But I found the first Road Trips just pretty much useless. Although I concede that was my first serious foray into the post-Godchaux lineup. But but but ... a big part of the problem was that some change in the overall sound means I can no longer so easily separate, in my ears/mind, the playing of Garica, Mydland and Weir. There's no particular reason why this should be a problem, I guess. But I'm just so used to hearing the band the same way I listen to a really cooking hard bop outfit: All easily indentifiable parts, but sounding like one sweet-rocking whole. Road Trips Vol1 No2 is much, much better - there's some really great stuff. But some patchy things, too. Oh well, that's the GD! I guess it's tricky, but tune order is really crucial here. Don't know about the packaging, either. All very eco/greenie and stuff, but I wonder about its longevity.

Now that's bloody funny! What to you expect? It's a weird place.

FIXED:

A guarantee: This absolutely will not happen because this guy is ... 1. Too lazy. 2. Too self-observing. 3. Not really interested in a conversation with people, but mostly in having his own views commented upon. Postively or negatively, doesn't really matter. Looking up threads on artists would take time, and besides by posting on earlier threads he would be merely joining a conversation rather than initiating one. Not the same buzz at all, eh?

Ordered this months ago, getting it at lunch time today: Yum! Hag: The Studio Recordings 1969-1976

Reports/reviews/comments wanted on the new(ish) Joe Robichaux. Anyone got it? What do you say? Where does it fit in, stylistically?

BTW, could be that if so many folks here are doing this that it's little wonder some newcomers are a little perplexed - that while there's a lot of jazz talk there's also as much these days about other stuff, musical and non-musical. We all just take it for granted, but it probably does seem kinda strange.

Well, heck, I'm certainly a paid up member of this club, too. It's been a very gloriouslty confusing couple of years - esepcially, no doubt, for the listeners to my radio show. Our station is split up into various categories - roots, jazz, metal, etc etc. But now, thanks to an understanding programming manager and a suitable timeslot, I'm in a place where I can play pretty much what I please. Such pigeonholes may be necessary for logistical reasons, but are really for administrative purposes. I'm sure there's been a bit of head scratching going - "Yes, but what kind of show is it, exactly?" Bah! And, of course, those pigeonhole don't reflect musical reality AT ALL. So for me the past few years have been a jumpin' jamboree of jazz (mostly older stuff), R&B, western swing, bluegrass, blues, gospel and much more. As well, I have been exploring various kinds of psychedelia with much zeal - which means that when I reach for more modern jazz stuff I have a knack for picking out Coltrane and/or Sun Ra. I can identify at least two contradictory impulses at work - one, to nail down music that gets me "closer to God"; and, two, just to have some good old plain goofy fun. Preferably at about 3 minutes' duration. Hell, maybe those two aren't contradictory at all. I even picked up the entire Pearls Before Swine catalog - they'd been a blind spot for sure and give me much pleasure. And much to my son's delight, the Monkees are prime time driving music for us. And then Allen's That Devilin' Tune came along to play a hefty role. Like Dan, I am relishing being up to my neck in vocals again - Charley Patton and Floyd Tillman, hello there. And if I'm expensively retracing some moves/steps made many years ago, the ease with which all this stuff is gettable is amazing and thrilling. I have to confess, also, that a part of this is disenchantment with some of arid and precisely brilliant contemporary jazz I had been hearing. And lots of it. Just wasn't doing it for me any more. It's all good - cliche, cliche. I'm finding my revisitation of ancient and venerable and crusty blues and country stuff has been enhanced by a decade plus of little but post-war jazz.

Dirt's a soul classic!

Not me, bud - but I do know I'd rather listen to an horse shitting than a WM rekkid.

So why are you posting about him? And why if you're such a jazz buff are just about all your posts since arriving here on this thread and this thread alone? Don't care what people think about Wynton? Ri-i-i-i-i-i-ght. R-i-i-i-i-i-ght. One reason: He attracts trolls like like horse shit attracts flies. A self-referencing cyber legend is born!

Hmmm ... vivid imagery!

I'd say posing that question is itself a pretty smartass stunt.

I think it's a matter of perspective ... From the perspective of the mainstream, Grammys and other awards, commercial radio and TV, and so on - I'd say rock AND jazz both and lots more besides are rotting corpses. But I don't take any more than passing notice of that stuff, and certainly don't base my buying and/or listening on it ... so far as I'm concerned music - on the margins, in the fringes, underground, cyber-wise, whatever you want to call it - is thriving. It's music - how could it not be, somewhere, somehow? We are very fortunate to be able to make the decision to completely opt out of all that BS. Making a comparison between rock and jazz from that perspective seems to to be quite surreal.

yEAH THAT'S IT!

Welcome here. You may just find it a bit of a relief. Here's what someone posted at that other place recently: I think these sorts of forums have as many defintions as there are people using them. Speaking only for myself, jazz is just part of what it's all about these days. Many of us have talked that particular topic to, um, death. As well, for me, jazz is just a part of the whole glorious buffet that are my current musical tastes. But I still I continue to hang out here and at JC. Why? Because that despite my digging to bits rock and country and blues and pop and, oh yeah, jazz, I continue to like talking about them with jazz fans. I check out the Steve Hoffman forums every now and then, but I prefer the goofballiness, sarcasm, cynicism, lateral thinking, aggression, humour, kindness, intelligence and so on that jazz fans bring to the table. Same goes for talk about food, politics, movies, books, and even serious stuff like family fuckups and so on. For me, this isn't a place to come and talk about jazz and jazz stuff. It's a place where jazz people come to talk ... about just anything. So make of this here place what you will - others sure do.

I doubt 'Mericans of any age or generation are in general way more dumb than, say, Kiwis or Aussies. As far as geography goes, 'Mericans are challenged by the insularity of their culture and country, where each state is seen as a virtual country. As well, it often seems 'Mericans tend to view the rest of the world as something that happens on TV. I reckon this lack of curiosity about the world allows nasty nut jobs of all sorts to bypass the nuances of the world at large and typecast, say, all residents of the Middle East as rabid bomb-hurling types who "hate us because of what we are are, not what we do" and so on. In Oz and NZ, by comparison, just about everybody gets out and travels the world. We gotta - we're stuck right up here on top of the world! Still, it was pretty bloody funny when I saw a clip of 'Mericans being utterly flummoxed when asked in a vox pop poll: "Name a country starting with the letter U."

Uh oh - flames on a Wynton thread!

The bonus disc as being what the shipping fee has paid for - I like that; a good way of looking at it. Anyways, I've ordered the RT Vol1 N2 along with From The Vault 1, which I've long wanted. Ordered yesterday, and already shipped.

Ahhhh ... still looking, but I may have found a martial arts home at last. The aikido place didn't work out at all. In the end - which came quite quickly - the place and the people didn't suit me. There was a bit of macho about the place and very little by way of explanation or detail about the path on which I was supposed to be embarking. Another factor that I didn't take seriously enough was travel time. The aikido joint was in an inner city suburb, but driving time was more than an hour each way from my home. Longer if using public transport after work. A tiring, unsustainable logistical nightmare in other words. A rather costly mistake! A few weeks back I saw a notice in a 2nd hand book shop for a wing chun school in the CBD. After a free introductory lesson I went to a few casual $18-a-pop classes. Then, feeling very comfortable with the place and the people, I went on a monthly direct debit plan. Needing to go at least 3 times a week, and preferably 4-5, paying the casual rate was killing. This week I've been to 3 classes in 4 days. It's a trip. Some of the classes - lunch times, Saturday mornings - are 1 1/2 hours, with the first 1/2 hour an intense, sweaty workout. Man, it feels weird/great to be doing some serious exercise after about 2 decades of couch potatodom. (Not that I'm about to cancel my cable sub mind you). After that there's a lot of sparring exercises with revolving partners. The concentration required during such is fabulous - this is a real meditation trip. Very cleansing. The school has a pretty wide range of ages, sizes, genders. No macho BS, very friendly. Better, it's quite a new place - only been going a couple of years, there's no grading or belts as yet, although the teacher is very experienced and part of a long lineage. The school is unafiliated in any formal sense, which I suspect is no bad thing, as I've heard that wing chun is notorious for its political feuds.

That's nutso. I thought $12 to Oz was bad, but $10 to Virginia?