Hot Ptah

3,387

T-Bone Burnett Carol Burnett Joyce Carol Oates

On some level, this is all true--once the music is in your home, it's there. I have a different experience browsing in a well stocked, vast music store with knowledgable clerks than I do when I order online. There is much more opportunity for unexpected discoveries in the music store, and the opportunity for verbal communication with the knowledgable clerks can be valuable.

Scott McGregor Jim Palmer Tippy Martinez

Pops Popwell Wayne Henderson Stix Hooper

Janis Joplin Scott Joplin Paul Newman

Kim Cattrall Lil Kim Little Brother Montgomery

Ed West Paul Coffman Rich McGeorge

Charles Moffett Ed Blackwell Billy Higgins

I have also received both CDs within a short time of ordering them. I have "Do This" on non-stop rotation in my car. I have not heard a new jazz album in some time which is as vital, alive and joyful. I love the drumming on "Do This"--it is enegetic, swinging and unpredictable.

I think he might--he has recorded some things you wouldn't expect of him.

Hillary Clinton George Clinton Bootsy Collins

I'd like to hear Gwen Stefani's "Holla Back Girl" done as a fifteen minute free jazz explosion, perhaps by David S. Ware, Brotzmann or Charles Gayle--or maybe all three together.

To add a distinctly minority opinion here--I read Watson's jazz reviews for entertainment, having accepted that he is not careful or balanced, and often find them quite humorous--perhaps not as he intended. His Frank Zappa book is often far off the mark, yet it is also undeniably funny in many places, and he hits on some intriguing ideas in among the chaff. Like Bill Clinton's famous quote--"even a blind pig finds an acorn once in a while." His acorns have entertained me, if nothing else.

Curt Blefary Sam Bowens Boog Powell

I bought the Bill Evans box and only three others, Joe Newman/Henry Red Allen, Rex Stewart, and Buddy Tate/Claude Hopkins. About fifteen years ago a music store in Kansas City put the wrong price sticker on all of their Riverside and Prestige albums and sold them all for $2.98. They knew that it was a mistake but said that they would honor the price while the supply lasted. So I actually picked up almost everything in this sale at that time. No shipping charges either!

Not to be too harsh about it, but there are any number of high school flute players, in any city, who can play much better than she can. At least the better high school flute players care about intonation. However, there may not be that many high school flute players who can dance around and exhort the audience to get funky like she can.

James Coburn James Caan Robert Duvall

Marcus Miller Bob Miller Miller Huggins

Farwell Taylor Jim Taylor Paul Hornung

Sneaky Pete Kleinow Leon McAuliffe Dick McAuliffe

Spike Lee Bill Lee Sun Ra

Joe College Billy Joe Cookie Gilchrist

The music stores that I have been discussing mostly sell used CDs for $8 and less. Another point which has not been stressed is the uninviting nature of indie record stores for a lot of people. Many of them have music fanatics working as clerks, who either lacked social skills when they started work, or lost their social skills while working at the store. My wife refuses to shop at indie stores, for example, because the clerks are rude, and ridicule her without cause. She also finds the "funky" nature of the carpet, restrooms, furnishings and decor to be real turnoffs--she does not find them to be quaint or interesting or atmospheric. I think that the days of the hippie or alternative rock influenced indie music store may be dwindling fast. An interesting phenomenon is the rise of Half Price Books, a chain which started as a single indie shop in Texas, but now has dozens of stores in about half of the U.S. I have been to three of their stores. They are all brightly lit, clean, and painted white inside, and kept spotless and organized. They carry publisher's overstocks of books, CDs and DVDs/videos, plus whatever people bring in off the street to sell. They have good selection, low prices, and many music gems--imports, box sets (including Propers) and other rare and obscure stuff. They have a discount section where jazz CDs I want to get are priced at $1 or $3. They have interesting vinyl music sections. The selection of music is close to what the long time indie stores are stocking--in some ways the Half Price Books music selection is superior. This is not a sterile environment, because the selection is surprisingly deep and unusual. The Half Price Book stores are usually quite busy, including a lot of customers who have never set foot in any of the indie book stores or music stores that I have frequented over the years. During virtually any visit, I have seen people bringing in large boxes full of books and CDs to sell. "Ordinary people", who are not hip enough to make their way to the long time indie music stores, flock to the store in droves. They have a formula that really works. I have picked up many jazz biographies, children's books, and CDs at Half Price Books, for ridiculously low prices. For example, a new, sealed 2CD set of Shorty Rogers, "Sweetheart of Sigmund Freud", for $1.00. It sells for over $20 at online sources.

Chu Berry Raymond Berry Claude Raymond