kenny weir

John, the whole deal changes for the next cup anyhow, from an Australian perspective. Australia will leave the Oceania group and compete as part of the Asian group. I doubt this will be much easier; the efforts of South Korea and Japan at the last cup were far and away the most thrilling and inspiring part of the tournament for me. But there will be numerous positives for us in the Asia move: * No longer facing the fifth-placed South American side. * Regular, tough international competition. Up until now, Australia's erratic cup campaigns have been marked by easy Oceanania games against the likes of NZ and Solomons, then haphazard friendlies, followed by the South American nightmare. * There will also be intra-club activity with Asian sides, which will hopefully push our new A-League - already off to a flying start (the crowds have been great!) - to a whole nutha level. * And, perhaps best of all, football may play a big part in creating better understanding and less mistrust and ill-will between Australia and its northern neighbours. In these days of bombs in Bali, this game just may do what politicians, conferences, talk fests, trade talks and disaster aid can never acheive.

Well as Australia gets its head around facing Uruguay again, a pretty decent effort is being made of looking on the bright side: Soc: Uruguay better outcome than Colombia: Arnold SoccerAust Colombia By Guy Hand MELBOURNE, Oct 13 AAP - The Socceroos have dodged the most lethal of the South American bullets which could have shot down their hopes of making their first WorldCup finals in more than 30 years, according to assistant coach Graham Arnold. Arnold believes Uruguay is an easier assignment than having to play Colombia, a strife-torn and drug-troubled nation offering a selection of venues among the world's most inhospitable for away teams. Options included the nation's capital Bogota and Medellin - the city where Colombian soccer player Andres Escobar was shot dead in 1994 after an own goal which led to the nation being knocked out of the World Cup finals. The Colombians play most of their home matches in the port city of Barranquilla - with heat and humidity Arnold believes would have severely hindered the Socceroos' hopes of World Cup qualification. ``This is a better option than having to go to Colombia,'' Arnold said after Uruguay beat Argentina 1-0 to claim fifth place in the South American group and book a playoff against the Socceroos next month. ``We would have preferred Chile, but we prefer Uruguayto Colombia definitely. ``Barranquilla has 40 degree heat and 100 percent humidity - the players wouldn't have been able to handle it. ``And most of Uruguay's players will have to come backfrom Europe through South America. ``Seventy-five percent of the Colombian team are based in Colombia so they would not have had to travel.'' Arnold also said revenge would be a powerful motivatorfor the Socceroos who had been part of the 2001 campaign which faltered in Montevideo. Australia lost 3-0 to Uruguay there and played poorly, looking overwhelmed by the occasion and the hostile atmosphere generated in the Estadio Centenario. ``The players are looking forward to it because they'd like revenge,'' Arnold said. ``It's better to go to the known than the unknown at times. ``This (Uruguay) is a known. The players are more ready than they were four years ago. ``Some of the guys who were 22 or 23 then are now 26or 27 and more mature.'' AAP

Yup, Chile or Colombia would have been better for us. Still in with a chance, though. Man after all this hectic fun at qualifying, waiting until June for the real stuff to begin will be a drag.

Well, I guess there'll be a lull after qualifyingn is over, but I'm still a little surprised how pumped I'm getting about all this. Last Sunday, the Socceroos thumped Jamaica 5-0 in a friendly in London. It was one those matches: Did we make them look lousy by being so good, or were they so lousy they made us look good? Y'now? Still, it was clear that new coach Gus Huddink is having a major impact, and everyone is now wishing he'd replaced Frank Farina a long time ago. Things still look scarily patchy in the defence department. Australia's South American opponent - Uruguay, Colombia or Chile - will be known later this morning. A big break came Australia's way when it won the right to host the home leg of the two games last, so they'll return from South America knowing exactly where they stand I'm veering between gloomy pessimism and the merest twinkle of optimism.

Your're 100% correct. It IS too much. Pobably the most preposterous reissue of any genre. Ever. I ordered it anyway.

OK, my bad. I love it here and realise I should just shut up about that other stuff. Ordered the CD anyway!

Well, I'm a former BNBBer, too. But I'm a slut - this is one of four jazz BBs I frequent. And say what you like about the others - good, bad or indifferent - their members virtually never feel the need to diss other places. Which I like. To be fair, that sort of crap NEVER comes from the members of Organissimo. Which means I'll go and order their new CD. Right now.

I think he's nuts, but - as I've posted elsewhere - much of the problem (as alluded to above) comes from thinking of New Orleans jazz scene. There's no such thing in reality. There's just a New Orleans music scene.

One wonders if this guys has actually spent any time in New Orleans in the past decade or so. Mentioning Connick and the Marsalis Bros (and nothing against them) as "good examples" would seem to indicate not.

Seventh level for me. Youse guys either aren't trying hard enough or you're lying. The obsession around here Mosaics in particular and boxed sets in general - and never mind The Bastards - would I think automatically qualify just about all board members for the hotter nether regions.

To see the LOC recordings as mainly of interest for Jelly's delicious and sometimes suspect reminiscing is a mistake. The piano playing and music side of those sessions if wonderful, with all his classic compositions featured, often in longer versions than found on earlier recordings, be they either solo band versions. For mine, I'll be keeping the earlier, music-only Rounder CDs for sure.

Try this: http://web1.nugs.net/attics/720827_mp3.asp...w=246&cmd=shows

Ahem ... Sugar Magnolia for sale: http://www.undercover.com.au/news/2005/sep...atefuldead.html

I'm now officially open to pre-EBay offers.

The Socceroos beat Solomon Islands 7-0, and must now play the fith-placed South American side home and away to get through to the cup. That's Uruguat at the moment - the side that put the Australians out last time around. Meanwhile, two rounds in, the brand new Aussie A-League has surely surprised even the boss honchos, with amazing crowds that rival (at the lower end sof the scale) those of rugby league and AFL (Aussie rules). The games I have seen on TV have been OK, if a little shaky defensively. But it's great the public is swinging behind these teams. I saw the US-Mexico game. Pretty oridinary, especially in the first half, but the two goals were pure class!

Visa Simple really.

Yep!

Australia lost all its matches at the Confederations Cup in Germany, after which coach Frank Farina was quickly replaced by Dutchman Guus Hiddink. Ditching Farina is a move that prolly should've happened a year earlier. The national squad has just been through a training camp in the Netherlands. To get to the cup, the Socceroos must beat the Solomon Islands - should be easy, but with the Soocceroos ya never know - and then the biggie: Home and away matches against the fifth-placed South American side. Colombia, I think it'll be. I remain both hopeful and pessimistic! Meanwhile, a new 8-team A-League kicks off next weekend in what is widely perceived as a last-ditch project for the game to get its act together in Australia. Soccer here has long been dragged down by the passionate but stupefyingly boring and pathetic clashes of rival ethnic sectors, with only the odd riot to liven things up. Ha ha. I enjoyed the hell out of the last cup - esecially the performances of South Korea and Japan. Incredible to think an Asian team made it ot the semis of the World Cup! My wish for Germany 2006: Buckets of upsets, with stellar showings by Asian/African side and - gasp! - one of them to make the final. Actually, in that regard, the US would do, too!

Yep. And it can get even murkier. Take the case of Fresh Sounds. Dodgy reissues but widely respected releases of new music, too. What do we do - boycott the reissues but buy the new stuff? Personally, I was getting quite a few Proper boxes for review a few years back and thought they were pretty cool, but I've gone off them in a big way. Not so much for the ethical reasons as because of quality. Recently I was happy to pay quite a bit extra to get the official, complete Milton Brown on Texas Rose, sound quality amazing on a release done in conjunction with Brown's brother. Proper has a Shorty Rogers box coming. Hmmmm ... Folkses can rant all they like - and in general I agree - but if the source label doesn't release stuff others will. I guarantee it. Simple if sad.

I have the previous Rounders. Don't play them that often, but OTOH couldn't live without them either. And certainly, I'll be keeping even if I splurge on the new set. The talking bits will likely be played even less than the music, but nice to have. And the new book and packaging will make it very tempting. Much will depend on the price.

I have: The Cotton club set Bill Monroe - Early days set, with the duos, proto bluegrass and first Flatt & Scruggs stuff. I once owned, in another life, ths second '50s set, which I will rebuy sometime. Incredible! I have recently ordered the Cliff Bruner set. Can't wait to get among all that Bob Dunn and Moon Mullican. Next up - in a return to my pre-jazz fandom of western swing - will be the Wills set, after some SERIOUS saving. That, the Bruner and the recently purchased five-disc set of the complete Milton Brown on Texas Rose should see me right for a while. In this regard at least, and other issues aside, Proper is a poor substitute. The Texas Rose/Brown set (available through Origin jazz Library) is a lot pricier, but the sound is incredible and it was released with the co-operation of Milton's brother. I've also ordered the Brown biography from the University of Illinois and already have the Townshend Wills bio. Itr's interesting. In times past I would have taken a much more scattered approach to this music, but here I am snagging multi-disc sets by the three main players; compilations, obscurities and cheapies be damned. Feels right.

Given the 10cd complete Live/Dead set is limited to 10,000 copies, what are the chances that it'll sell out pre-release?

Wow this seems like a steal at the price, especially with the bonus disc. Whether I NEED all that is something I'll ponder in the coming week or so. Just landed and loving: The 5cd soundtrack set.

Of course, just about all the blow-hard hard bop men that mrjazzman digs could not do what Art Pepper, Bob Brookmyer and Gerry Mulligan even if they wanted to. Whereas those three dudes could do the hard bop thing - and very well, too - but I suspect that style was just too limiting for such expansive musical minds and talents. And I;m glad about that.

For fuck's sake - it's not a freaking contest. Why do you feel the need to validate your own heroes/tastes by trashing other players. And FWIW, I loved hard bop long before I discovered the sheer pleasure of the three gents named in the title of this thread. Still do - including most of the people you've given thumbs-up to. Hard bop versus cool/whatever? Bah! I LOVE 'em BOTH - and lots more besides.