John L

An interesting dicussion. Is there any reason not to consider "City of Glass" a classical composition for brass orchestra? I say that because, despite its many musical virtues, I don't really understand why it should necessarily appeal to a jazz fan, or, alternatively, why jazz fans would want to listen to that and ignore the rest of 20th century classical music.

The Chronic and Doggy Style were THE albums of the 90s. That stuff hit me over the head with a hammer in the way that nothing has since, in the sense of being incredibly new, dynamic, and immediately recognizable as the sound of the future. That was more than 10 years ago. So what has Snoop done since that takes it to the next phase? Everything I have heard sounds like the same old same old, and that's in the best case scenario.

I was at a number of these concerts, and remember being spellbound by Cables almost as often as by Dex. No, it's not the same sort of classic crisply-articulated bebop piano of Kenny Drew or Barry Harris. But I love it, myself.

Now that Bronson has been acquitted, they can get busy on the next Death Wish movie. Bronson will wear the trademark white earplugs and connect them to some sort of device that looks like an iPod, but gives off tremendous electrical shocks. After the teenage punks get zapped while trying to run off the metro, Bronson will move in for the kill.

Maybe Nina Simone was the old Cassandra Wilson? Personally, I don't have much of an attachment to either of them. On the other hand, I can enjoy listening to either one if the mood is right.

Yes! The Open Door is unfortunately only Bird solos in variable sound quality. But I freaked when that was first released about 7 years ago. Bird is in another universe. Anybody who thinks that Charlie Parker was in artistic decline in the 1950s should give that one a listen.

If you don't have it, be sure and get this one too.

So much great music! I finally went for Doin' Alright. There are few albums that give me more pure pleasure. One Flight Up is not close behind. Dex's guest appearance on Herbie's Talkin' Off makes that one a scorcher too.

Speaking any language perfectly is extremely difficult, even for natives. Once you reach a certain level of proficiency in a foreign language, the marginal returns start to decline very fast. Most people who move to foreign countries with a new language as adults never completely master the new language. The problem is that native speech requires native thought processes. The part of the brain that allows a person to assimilate native thought processes closes steadily in youth. I started to learn Russian when I was 20, worked very hard at it, spent a lot of time in Russia, and now speak it almost natively - almost. And it will always be almost, no matter how hard I would work at it. I have learned to live with that fact.

There is a film of him with Coleman Hawkins in the Verve studios. The music and the film are not synchronized however. I am not even sure how much film exists. I have only seen clips of it in the Bird documentary that was directed by Gary Giddins.

I voted for "other." I am current residing in Moscow, Russia. It looks like Europe. It feels like Europe...sometimes. But is it Europe?

Yea, I'm sure that Finnish is tough. I spent a little time learning Hungarian, which, as you say, is a related language. I didn't get too far, and have now forgotten almost everything. But I enjoyed it. Hungarian grammar is so different that it was fascinating to learn. Almost all articles English become suffixes in Hungarian. Along with declension suffixes, a word can simultaneously take 4 or 5 suffixes at a time. I believe that there is a real payoff to learning a language like that beyond its practical usefullness. It can stretch thought processes as a sort of mental exercise. Forcing yourself to articulate something in an language far removed from your native tongue can be mind expanding. So keep it up, Che!

That would be those listed as by the Castle Orchestra or some such, right? I've been looking in vain for any kind of retail compilation of that stuff for years now. Any suggestions other than going the file-sharing route? Jim: If you can find it, this 2-disc French compilation on Fremeaux includes a few of the best early James Reese Europe tracks: There is other material of historical interest too. I have to admit that I haven't listened to this collection in a mightly long time. There may be a lot to learn from these early recordings, but I think that we also need to be careful in how much weight we put on them for our understanding of jazz history. If only we could hear what wasn't being recorded at the time. I have a feeling that much of it was a lot more interesting than what we have here.

I saw Shepp/Rudd live around the time of this disc. The live show was quite nice, stronger than the disc.

Until now, I didn't know that anybody was big on the Firehouse Five.

Stitt could sound quite a lot like Bird when he wanted to. I remember hearing him live once when he played nothing but Bird the whole night, and in almost the exact manner of Bird. I kept thinking, "OK this tribute has got to end some time during this concert." But it never did. Stitt could also sound a bit like Lester Young when he wanted to.

This must be at least the fourth release date that Columbia has announed for the complete Cellar Door material in the last 5 years. Didn't they even produce reviewer copies a few years ago before they again decided against commercial release? So is there any reason to think that they are serious this time?

Any way that you get them, the live recordings with of Bird with McShann are superb. Most of them are in good sound. The Stash CD. "Early Bird." not only includes all of the Bird live with McShann, but another live McShann session from 1944. Bird had already left the band, but that didn't slow them down.

As soon as I saw this thread, I thought about contributing "Love Will Keep Us Together." But SS1 beat me to it. That was one song that never failed to ruin my mood every time I heard it.

My favorite version of Creeping may be that of Luther Vandross, but only because it is attached in a medley to the magnificent "If Only For One Night."

A Mosaic of Braxton on Arista? Now that would be fantastic!

Morgan and Hubbard are both monster trumpet players, of course. I tend to favor a bluesier and looser approach to improvisation. So I should like Lee better. For some reason, however, I have a particular musical attachment to Freddie. I just love the way that he articulates on the horn. Like Lee, Freddie also delivers blues and soul in heavy supply.

You made my day, Mr. Twizzle.

Monk already sounded somewhat like himself on the Minton's recordings. I will have to go back and listen again. But based on Monk's sound on the Minton's recordings where there is not doubt that he is playing, I had thought that none of the recordings with Charlie Christian sounded (to my ears) like Monk was on piano.

Much appreciated, Tony! John