DukeCity

I think it's a more common term because restaurants insist on making their menu descriptions WAY too wordy, to make the food sound more interesting than it often is: Server: "Tonight's special is a smooth paste of lightly salted Georgia legumes, with preserved Concord grapes, nestled between oven-baked mixture of leavened wheat flour..." Diner: "So, that would be a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich?" Server: "Um...yes. Would the gentleman care to hear about some suggested wine pairings?"

I went to his website, and you're right about the cover art. None of the mp3 samples were up. Is there anywhere online I can find some clips? BTW: I like that he has PDFs of a bunch of his tunes.

This thread also reminds me of a classic bit from a National Lampoon album from the '70s. It's like a Mr. Rogers' neighborhood thing and he's interviewing a bass player. He asks what the player thinks about while he's playing and the guy says that he thinks about how much the gig pays, and then divides that by how many notes he's playing on the gig to determine how much he is getting for each note. Mr. Rogers is played by Christoper Guest and the bass player is Bill Murray. Absolutely hilarious, and you can get a short clip of it here. Listen to the clip of track #16.

I can relate to what Free For All said. Another analogy that is used frequently is that jazz is a language. I'm not multilingual (in the literal sense) but I've heard people say that you aren't totally fluent until you can speak the new language without first having to translate it in your head from your native language. I think that being able to play a musically coherent solo, while still having to think about the changes, the form, technical stuff on your instrument, etc. is like being conversational in the language of improvisation; you can get your thoughts and ideas out, but the internal process you experience yourself may not feel as effortless as you might feel in casual conversation, hanging out with your friends. So, keep practicing, keep learning about harmony, rhythm and melody, and keep listening to the music that you really dig. The deeper all that stuff gets inside you, the deeper your own music will be. (Come to think of it, I should take my own advice more often! )

Received!

I was just channel surfing, and during the last moments of the Ellen Degeneres show she thanked today's guests "...Herbie Hancock..." I assume it was one of the duets from the new CD. Did anyone see this?

Thanks, guys! and remember... the extra 'n' is for 'narcissism'.

I don't know if you'd call it a "discovery" since the recordings were known about, but I seem to recall a fair amount of exictement about the Benedetti recordings of Charlie Parker.

becoming...?

What about those nutty apostrophes? I think the plural of CD looks better as CDs, but I very often see CD's. I vote we all switch over to speaking Esperanto!

I use the couw/AfricaBrass technique of opening the case bottom to top for getting the sticker off. Residue is another issue, and all of the suggestions seem reasonable.

Not sure about "whack", but I see a mention of Jim McNeely in the ebay listing. Possibly him?

One of my only LP autographs is from George Shearing. I was in high school (late '70s) and went to a duo concert he did with the bassist Brian Torff. I enjoyed the evening, so I stood in line to buy their new record (On A Clear Day, Concord, now available as part of a 2-CD set). Shearing was sitting at a table with a student from the hosting college. George had the pen in his hand, but the student had his hand on top, and guided Shearing's hand in the autographing process. So I guess I actually have some college kid's autograph of George Shearing's name, with Shearing acting as the holder. Very wierd, slightly uncomfortable moment. But Shearing was very cordial, and I got a little story out of it.

One can check out the infamous Buddy Rich tapes here and view accompanying illustrations like this perhaps a new thread will emerge...

The House of David Baseball Team, for you "Buddy Rich tapes" fans. ← "I want young men...with faces!" -- Buddy

I've only had the CD for a couple of days, and had the chance to listen only in the car. But I've been enjoying it. Ron has a beautiful saxophone sound; full and clear without being harsh or edgy (except when he wants it to). Interesting mix on the record. It sounds like the drums are miked up close, and the bass drum and bass sounds are pretty punchy, as opposed to records with a more conventional acoustic jazz mix. I haven't yet checked out the second disc with the re-mixes. Has anyone listened to these? What do you think? later that same day... It finally occurred to me that "Dance of Passion" is a Johnny Griffin tune from a CD of the same name: (BTW this cover could be on the sexy album covers thread) What jogged my memory is that Blake uses almost the same arrangement as JG, including the instrumentation of fr. horn, trombone and tuba in addition to the sax and rhythm.

Clark Terry con Poncho y Sombrero! What's not to like?!?!

Happy Birthday, Bill!! Enjoy the vindaloo, and I hope the wine turns out great!

I completely agree, akanalog! I had some bob james sides in the '70s and they were enjoyable for what they are. I have saxophone students come to me and when I ask them who they're into I hear that they like (shudder) Kenny G. After I stifle my gag reflex, I encourage them to find out who his influences are. So they might learn about someone like Grover Washington, Jr. and then check out his influences to get to Stanley Turrentine, then back to Dexter. From there you can move forward to early Trane, etc. Like six degrees of separation, you can take almost any entry point or gateway, and get to some pretty happening and deep music in just a few steps. In the meantime, JK, just enjoy whatever you're digging at the moment, and be open to checking out whatever comes. That's my 2 cents...

PM sent...

I dig. I don't have any info for you. But I dig, none-the-less...

JOS?

Not exactly a wedding registry, but you could direct your loved ones here to start cashing in on those Mosaics.

I seem to recall that Reagan got the Iranian hostages freed with 3 8-balls of blow and a HUGE chunk of blonde Lebanese hash. Then again, I was pretty messed up, so it's all a little foggy.