DukeCity

I was at a performance/lecture by Bloom years ago (at a conference of saxophone geeks) during the Art and Aviation thing. She was talking about how she was fascinated by the space program, and had been working with some folks from there, putting together "performance pieces". The "live electronics" (as opposed to playing with pre-sequenced stuff, or doing electronic manipulation in the studio, after the fact) included all kinds of effects. I remember that she had a microphone clipped onto her saxophone, some kind of do-hickey that responded to the physical movement of her saxophone. She would be playing, and would rapidly wave the bell of the sax around in big, fast, sweeping motions, and as she did so, the electronic effect would kick in and add layers of sound, and change the pitch. I also remember that she was indeed pretty serious the whole time. I couldn't quite put my finger on why the stuff didn't grab me, but the whole thing seemed a little dry. But, yes, she can really play. I need to check out some of those more recent sides.

Well, since I was making my new First Post, it couldn't just be in the "What are you listening to right now" thread, or "Name Three People". So I thought I would just mark an occasion that comes along only once every few weeks: FreeForAll's Big Day!

HAVE A GREAT ONE, BRO!!!

Would a Near Mint CD copy of "Kind of Blue" pique your interest...?

Happy Birthday, Grif!!! Here's hoping for good things!!!

Charles Comiskey William Shea William Wrigley, Jr.

Goldie Hawn Delta Dawn Hall, Fawn

Yeah, yeah...Maria...McNeely...Kimbrough...Perry...whatever. Let's get to the point: which one of the school bands won, and how high did their trumpets play?

Quoting Ben Ratliff: "His mission, finally, was entertainment." WTF? That's not to say that I am not entertained when I see/hear Liebman and his groups perform. But I never for a moment feel like that is his mission. I think the 'entertainment' is a happy by-product of his consistently passionate approach to creating great music with the other musicians on the bandstand. edit: to clarify that the quote is from Ratliff, not from 7/4.

Big fan of the black and tan, or a Guinness and Harp, which some refer to as a "Half and Half". From the Guinness "Black and Tan FAQ": Yeah, it gets a little confusing. But they're all damn tasty!!!

Sounds like you got some good stuff done. Let us know when any of it is available. Scott Robinson is quite the multi-instrumentalist. A title sealed when he had a Theramin credit on one of the Maria Schneider big band sides. I also really dug his baritone sax work on the Brookmeyer side where Robinson was the featured soloist on the "Celebration Suite", written for Mulligan.

Big fan of the black and tan, or a Guinness and Harp, which some refer to as a "Half and Half". Of course, a straight Guiness is a beautiful thing, which is why wolff's avatar always makes my heart skip a beat.

Well, even though it's not his birthday, since this is a thread celebrating FreeForAll: This would be a good time to mention that Paul was a guest out here in New Mexico about a week and a half ago. He gave insightful comments to WAY too many school jazz bands, and then proceeded to play his (shrinking) ass off with the university jazz band. We played three of Paul's great charts and got a dose of some serious trombone playing. Among all the great musicians and music lovers who hang out on this board, we're lucky to have Pauly, his musicianship, and his sense of humor. So, Happy Birthday!!!

From the article in the first link: "According to DeAnna, it is speculated that Young was performing at the famous Village Vanguard in New York City. “At one point the emcee announces that the chile con carne is ready,” DeAnna said. A similar announcement was made at last year’s National Recording Registry news conference..." Ah, editing... I'm not sure, based on those few choruses of blues, that I would label that as sub-par Lester. Sounds like a guy, pretty, uh..."relaxed", hanging and playing a jam session. I'd like to hear more.

Sy Oliver and Clark Terry. Separated at birth?

Chris Woods:

Sy Oliver

Long Live the King!

Combs doesn't display his jazz playing very often. When I was a grad student at DePaul in the early '90s, Larry shared a concert with Eddie Daniels, where they played some classical duets, and played on some jazz standards. Larry sounded fine, and it appeared they were both having a great time. I also remember Larry talking about doing a hitch with the Army band at West Point. They have a jazz band there, but I don't know if Larry was a part of that.

I think Vadala has a college teaching gig at U of Maryland-College Park. He is pretty busy doing clinics and guest spots with school groups. I admit that Chris Vadala's playing was an early influence. My older brother had some CM records, and the "Feels So Good" record came out when I was in junior high school. I thought it was pretty cool to hear and instrumental on AM radio, so I got the record. Even though the tunes were happy/poppy, when I listen back to those sides, Vadala was playing some nice lines.

Don't know about "one of the greatest, ever" but back in the '70s Tom Harrell was tearin' it up! Check him out with Bob Berg on this: Bob Berg - New birth - Xanadu 159 Recorded May 12th 1978, N.Y.C. Tom Harrell, tp; Bob Berg, ts; Cedar Walton, p; Mike Richmond, b; Al Foster, d; Sammy Figueroa, perc. Reissued on CD Xanadu(F) 5169 with one additional selection Not readily available these days,but definitely some fire from TH.

Yeah, that kid (now 5 years old) was on Leno a few weeks ago. He played "It Might as Well be Spring" with Kevin Eubanks and the boys. Pretty freaky. Now, if he could just get a habit, and an agent who takes 50 or 60% off the top...

I have a friend who has been struggling with some as-yet-unidentified illness. She's adopted, and was raised ostensibly white, in a white family, in a pretty white community. Even though she does have skin, hair and features that hint at aome African heritage, it caught her a little by surprise when the doctors tested her for sickle-cell anemia. Don't know if they've actually done a DNA test for ancestral I.D. purposes.

Our weekend won't be very church-y, but we will be celebrating. The future Mrs. DukeCity and I are having about 20 friends over in the afternoon for Lamb, Salmon and other delectibles. Then we will do the "Grown-up Easter Egg Hunt" in the back yard; we'll hide mini bottles of potent potables, and some plastic eggs with "coupons" inside for gifts. The only rule is that the minis must not be consumed by the guests until they are safely back home. (it got a little out of hand one year... ) This springy time of year is great in New Mexico. Stays light later, and the weather is just warm enough, but not hot yet. Land of Enchantment, indeed! Happy Weekend to All!

The last time I saw TH perform was a few years ago, here in New Mexico. He was wearing what looks to be the same black leather coat, but the pockets appeared to be jam-packed with stuff. And he was wearing rubber galoshes. Those things didn't really bother me, but it was clear that he was having chop problems. Sounded like his mouth was totally dry, and he would get a few notes out, and then his chops would stop responding and no note would come out. Just "air-balls". There were a couple of moments when he was able to put together some lines, and they were absolutely beautiful, but it was heartbreaking when things weren't firing the way I know that they can. I heard later that some medications he was taking were responsible for his severe cotton-mouth. How did he sound at the Jazz Showcase?