DukeCity

Watching ESPN for some of the pre-game NFL hype, and saw a commercial for the: Denny's PBA Tour Motel 6 Dick Weber Open Perfect!

The report I heard said the mitigating circumstances were high blood pressure and emphysema. I'm thinking that maybe a stimulant that you inhale may not have been the best choice for Ike's recreational drug.

Dawn Wells Jim Backus Bob Denver

OK, my interest the "Down Home Blues" stuff is piqued enough to seek some of it out. Looking forward to checking it out. But: I gotta say I think the title, as it showed up on the list, is a much more attention-grabbing headline.

Incorrect comma placement , today your sentence illustrates . Six more guys like you and we'll have one of the categories covered.

YES to Cannonball. YES to Radio Nights. I love the spirit of Cannonball's performances. The idea that he was "presenting" the music to the crowd; inviting them into the experience with him and the band. Everytime I hear one of his spoken introductions to a tune, or the monologues from RN, I imagine how cool it would have been to be a Florida school kid in the early 1950's, and have Cannonball as my school band director!!!

Something new today, I learned!

Yeah, but at least they were up front enough to cop to being a record label, user name "Utopia Record" instead of doing one of those ultra slimey "street team" things: "Hey everybody! Lately I've been really grooving to a super great saxophonist! She's really smooth, kind of a cross between Richard Elliot and Paul Desmond, but with a little Charlie Coltrane thrown in. Check out some of her sound clips at apoijalkjn.com. Anyone else into her?"

Lewis Black Joel Gray Slappy White

I don't know, Chris. The guy seems legit and pretty sincere. You should probably contact him right away, and just do whatever he says. After all, it's going to charity.

Thumbs up to felser for being a good seller. I just received the 20 titles that I purchased from him. All of the discs are in excellent condiditon and were mailed promptly. I may have to revisit his list next month and score some more! (Currently listening to George Colemand w/Wynton Kelly Trio at the Left Bank '68)

One caveat: A friend recently bought a Mac (switching from PC) specifically to use Logic audio software. He received the new machine and software, only to learn that Logic will not run in Leopard! Trying to "downgrade" to Tiger, he somehow mucked things up. Weeks later, still trying to straighten it out.

On my MacBook I've had success using a free audio editing program called Audacity. I think you might even be able to do a certain amount of editing in GarageBand (comes with the MacBook), but I haven't really checked it out.

No, no no, no, no. Which is not to "defend" VSOP, just that Ron Carter playing Bach is a realm of wrongness deeeeeep unto itself. Yessir! pianetus envy?

Good vibes heading your way! Safe travels, and do check in when you can!

From the mind and mouth of Paul Desmond: "I have won several prizes as the world's slowest alto player, as well as a special award in 1961 for quietness." "I was unfashionable before anyone knew who I was." "I tried practicing for a few weeks and ended up playing too fast." "I think I had it in the back of my mind that I wanted to sound like a dry martini." On the secret of his tone: "I honestly don't know! It has something to do with the fact that I play illegally." When askfacted by Gene Lees what accounted for the melancholy in his playing he replied, "Wellllll, the fact that I'm not playing better." He was an English major in college. His reason for not pursuing a literary career, "I could only write at the beach, and I kept getting sand in my typewriter." "Writing is like jazz. It can be learned, but it can't be taught." Of writer Jack Kerouac he said, "I hate the way he writes. I kind of love the way he lives, though." Of Vogue fashion models, he said, "Sometimes they go around with guys who are scuffling -- for a while. But usually they end up marrying some cat with a factory. This is the way the world ends, not with a whim but a banker." "Sometimes I get the feeling that there are orgies going on all over new York City, and somebody says, `Let's call Desmond,' and somebody else says, 'Why bother? He's probably home reading the Encyclopedia Britannica.'" His response to the annoying banality of an interviewer, "You're beginning to sound like a cross between David Frost and David Susskind, and that is a cross I cannot bear." Shortly before the Dave Brubeck Quartet disbanded, "We're working as if it were going out of style -- which of course it is." Of yogurt he said, "I don't like it, but Dave is always trying things like that. He's a nutritional masochist. He'll eat anything as long as he figures it's good for him." Of contact lenses: "Not for me. If I want to tune everybody out, I just take off my glasses and enjoy the haze" On Ornette Coleman's playing, "It's like living in a house where everything's painted red." Doug Ramsey wrote that Desmond on seeing Barbara Jones' oil painting of four cats stalking a mouse said, "Ah, the perfect album cover for when I record with the Modern Jazz Quartet." Ramsey pointed out that the mouse was mechanical and Desmond responded, "In that case, Cannonball will have to make the record." Desmond's fondness for scotch was well known. So in early 1976 when a physical examination showed lung cancer, he was ironically pleased that his liver was fine. "Pristine, perfect. One of the great livers of our time. Awash in Dewars and full of health."

Thanks for the heads up! I received a couple of iTunes gift cards for Christmas, so what better way to start spending them than on some Woody Shaw!!! (no sign of the Griffith Park sides on iTunes yet )

I haven't heard Maceo playing much/any tenor lately. The albums of his that I have are all alto. There are some clips of Maceo and the WDR big band up on the YouTubes. Haven't checked 'em all out yet, but most of them appear to have been done with someone's camera phone with crappy audio/video. But, irregardless, Maceo is a master of that rhythmic, in-the-groove playing. Charts by Abene, and playing by the WDR band (with Dennis Chambers) is just a bonus!

And now, for you Sonny and Cher fans, "The Beet Goes On"! (FreeForAll: feel free to jump in any time with a "Premise Overload" post)

"Cantaloupe Island"? Anything by Coleman Hawkins?

Hey do you guys know "Watermelon Man"?

Tell me about it. Sr. had a career as a District Attorney in New Orleans, and is a very AMATEUR singer. Started in on some between-songs patter and it got quite surreal. I guess, as a father not wanting to "play favorites" he spent an inordinate amount of time talking about his other kids. "You know, I've got a bunch of great kids. My daughter Cheryl is a podiatrist who lives in Tucson with her terrific husband Jerry. They've given me some beautiful grandkids. Little Brittney isn't so little any more. Gosh, she's 12 already, and quite a good little ballerina! And Jerry, Jr, is about to turn 8 and is tearing up the baseball diamond. One day he might even play for the Cubs. That would give me a great reason to visit Chicago. And speaking of Chicago, Maestro, if you please..." (Cue: "Chicago")

Available for pre-order on the Concord website. Assuming that the arrangments are by Mike Abene, I'm interested to see what he does with those tunes.

Flipping between the Michigan/Florida game and Tx.Tech/Virginia game (Mrs. DukeCity is a T.Tech grad "Get'cher Guns Up!"). The Tech./VA game is pretty sloppy, but good entertainment.

Sounds like a fun evening. Ho that I am, I've also had a couple: A dynamic evening backing up Tommy Tune and Joel Gray. And a real train wreck backing up Harry Connick......Sr. !!! Played in a pick-up version of the Nelson Riddle Orchestra, led by Chris Riddle! Two-Thousand-seat theatre, almost sold out. As the audience began to realize that it was neither Harry, Jr. nor Nelson Riddle, they started leaving in droves. Much less than half a house after intermission. Kind of fun playing a bunch of those NR charts (instrumentals and Sinatra vocals), but pretty embarrasing beyond that.