Ed S

Anyone notice that Mosaic Records is now listing sets on Ebay? Looks like they are slightly above the price at the site with shipping to US only. Interesting

That would be nice. You can reach me through the board.

I've had my 2 boys involved in sports since they were 4. That's 14 years or so - with one more to go. They've both played soccer at the house league level, though my older son played a couple of seasons of travel soccer. My younger son played hockey until he was about 10. My older guy played hockey (goalie) until age 18, finishing his "career" this past March. His team lost in the finals, but my son did not start the championship game despite shutting out the league leading 26-0 team in the semi-final game. The head coach chose to play the assistant coach's son - who was the other goalie - "because of the rotation". He let in three horrible goals in the first period and the game was over. I know I sound like a bitter hockey parent but I really thought my son should have started. It was his last game ever as a youth hockey player and he had just shut out the 26-0 team. After they put him in, he shut the other team out, with the final score being 3-1. I felt bad for him. Anyway, my younger guy is still involved in house soccer - U17 division and..... this past Monday, they won the championship. I'm as mellow a soccer/hockey parent as there is - one of the reasons why I never pushed my kids to more intense levels of competition. The primary reason I had them in sports is to have at least some physical activity - but I have to say it was nice to finally have just one son win a championship. He was very happy and I am very proud and I suppose relieved.

Yes, the children factor. As I begin to close out my "children years" - I've got 2-3 years left as I figure it, I realize what a fun trip it's been. It will be missed, for sure

Has a price point been determined? Sorry if I missed it. That will be the determining factor for me. At the right price, I'd love to have this stuff.

PM sent on these discs: 6 Lou Blackburn Complete Imperial Sessions (BN Conn) 7 Bobby Hutcherson Ambos Mundos (Landmark) very light mark not affecting play 7 Jonah Jones Swingin' on Broadway (Capitol TOCJ-50105) w/obi 8 Jackie McLean Jackie's Pal (OJC/Prestige) 6 Jackie McLean & Co (w/ Ray Draper) (OJC/Prestige) 7 Jackie McLean A Ghetto Lullaby (Steeplechase) 8 Jazz Message of Hank Mobley (Savoy) 8 Jazz Message of Hank Mobley #2 (Savoy) $14 for both Mobleys 5 Don Patterson Boppin & Burnin (OJC) 6 Best of Don Pullen (BN) 6 Various Artists Lost Sessions (BN)

I enjoyed the Tour this year as well. Like Brownie - I love the scenery. I too loved Corsica - and the bus issue at the finish line of the 2nd stage (I think) provided some drama. I'm fine with Froome winning and I believe he is clean. There were some great revelations (for me) on this Tour - Bakelants, Mollema, Kwiatkowski to be specific. Richie Porte was impressive. Not yet a fan of Quintana. As an American I was really pulling for van Garderen on the Alpe d'Huez stage, but I was really impressed by Riblon's tenacity and spirit. That was a great win. I thought the rides of Quntana and Rodriguez on the penultimate stage were marvelous and great examples of how competitive the tour is even after the yellow is decided. I'm no fan of Contador so I had no issue with his being displaced from his podium spot. Chavanel and Voigt were just workhorses at various points and provided great viewing as they worked so hard in the tour. Along those lines, I was a little disappointed in Voeckler's performance as he is usually one of those combative guys. Watching the US broadcast, I almost thought that Voigt's first name was "41 year old" - but I guess that's a story angle that they felt compelled to work. I love rooting for the underdog teams like Euskatel Euskadi, Sojasun, FDJ, even Europcar. At the same time - I'm not such a big fan of Astana and Katusha. As for the US riders, van Garderen was pretty much a disappointment - the Alpe d'Huez and the penultimate stage notwithstanding. I was impressed with Talansky. It was somewhat sad to see that Cadel has lost it. Marcel Kittel impressed greatly. I'm a fan of Cavendish and it's sort of ironic to say that with only 2 stage wins his tour was a bit of a disappointment. I was glad to see Schleck perform as well as he did. I'm a fan of his and hope he can take the next step and return to form. I like Sagan, but I thought that with only one stage win, his green jersey did not mean as much to me had he won as many as , say Marcel Kittel All in all - I thought it was a nice tour to watch. For the scenery, the race itself - and the races within the race.

I had a pretty serious crash this past Saturday. Hit a depression in the road while I was going about 16 -17 mph. The bike stopped completely, but I did not. Flew over the handle bars and landed about 10-12 feet up the road. Really bad road rash on my knee and elbow, bruised ribs, general bruising all over, a fracture in my upper arm and perhaps a torn rotator cuff. Going for an MRI today to check the shoulder out.

Every year since I became a single father, I've taken my boys on a summer vacation and a winter ski trip. Along the way, I've tried to expose them to a variety of different things - from art museums in NYC, Washington and Chicago, to touring Frank Lloyd Wright houses, coal mines, caverns, baseball games, soccer games, walking under the New river Gorge Bridge, Sun Records in Memphis, National Parks, Washington, museums, Civil War battlefields, concerts, and more. We even saw Return to Forever and Zappa Play Zappa in St Louis. This year - due to insufficient funds to do a trip out west or to Europe combined with the fact that my older son now has a job and could not get a lot of time off, I had to choose something shorter - and hopefully interesting. So we went on a short music festival tour with the intent of getting all of us some exposure to different types of music. My wife - their stepmother - also came along for the trip. Day 1 - Quebec City Summer Music Festival. The night we were in Quebec, the music featured on the main stages was reggae, hip-hop and rock/punk rock. My boys are old enough to venture off on their own - so they went to the punk rock and hip hop stages. My wife and I started off with the reggae. We saw parts of three acts interrupted by a trip over to the hip hop to catch part of the Wiz Khalifa show. I can now say that I've experienced a live hip hop concert. 'nuf said. The reggae, however, was eye opening. I'd never heard live reggae before this night. I was blown away - especially by the last two groups - a Paris based group called Danakil and Alpha Blondy & the Solar System. Just incredible. The thunderous sound and feel of the bass and drums was something I've never experienced listening to albums. It just penetrates right through you. There's an excitement to the live experience with the reggae rhythm/percussion, horns and vocals that just never came across in any of the recordings I've heard. Excellent excellent experience. Day 2 - Montreal Jazz Festival. We hung out most of the day doing tourist stuff in Quebec City and then headed over to the Montreal Jazz Festival in time to catch 3 acts. The first performance I heard was a group called Bomata. It was a jazz group consisting of clarinet, drums/percussion, double bass and piano. The featured clarinet, btw, was the bass clarinet - which I'd never seen played before. At first I thought it was a bass saxophone because I heard the deep honking before I saw the instrument. The music was cerebral, rhythmic and almost spiritual. One of those performances in which you can just close your eyes and get lost in the music. It was a nice accidental find typical of the outdoor free concerts in Montreal. The next act we caught was a zydeco/Cajun band - The Lost Bayou Ramblers. I sought these guys out as a direct tie in to my enjoyment of Tab Benoit - who I saw earlier this year at the Tampa Blues Festival. The best word to describe these guys is fun. Accordion, fiddle, bass and drums. I'm just starting to enjoy this style of music and these guys did nothing to prevent me from from going further on down the road. They played a great set. The last act I saw was blues guitarist Bryan Lee. He payed a very solid, very bluesy set - just what I expected. I enjoyed it thoroughly - but as this show met my expectations while the jazz group Bomata was a "jazz festival find" that was a real eye opener - they stole the night for me. Day 3 was tour old Montreal and Montreal Impact soccer game day. I wanted to catch the last few hours of the festival but it was pouring rain - so we headed back to the hotel. Which brings me to the hotel - the Square Phillips Hotel and Suites. It's an old warehouse that was converted into a hotel. They preserved many of the architectural features of the warehouse - specifically the beams and support columns - along with the high ceilings. It is very nicely done and located close to the jazz festival site. I've stayed there several times before, so - with my wife on the trip - I reserved a room that consisted of a kitchenette/dining area (all rooms have them), bathroom, a living area with a double bed and fold out couch along with an additional bedroom with queen size bed. The rate is a little over $200 a night for such a room. When I got there, I was told I got a free upgrade. Holy shit, did I get an upgrade! The room had the look and feel of a loft apartment/condo. There was a private entrance to a grouping of four such suites. My room had a large foyer with a closet. Off the foyer was the first bedroom - nicely sized with a queen sized bed, night stands, radio with ipod cradle and dresser. Across from that was a full bathroom that was well proportioned. Then there was a full dining area with table for four which was adjacent to the kitchen with island and heated ceramic floor. Off that area was the larger bathroom with a giant walk-in shower with one of those rainfall shower heads along with a couple of other options for choices of shower type. Off the kitchen/dining area was a large bedroom with king size bed, flat panel TV. The loft style bedroom was separated from the living area and kitchen area with a rich mahogany finished wall/room divider with shelves and decorative shelves with vases and such. There was also a living area with couch, comfy chairs and another flat panel TV. Plus, there was a small office area. The whole place must have been around 1000 square feet. It was enormous and luxurious. I don't know what else to say. Day 4 - Ottawa Bluesfest. We headed off to Ottawa first thing in the morning. Got there with plenty of time to walk the Rideau Canal (which I've skated on during the winter), tour Parliament Hill and check out the Byward Market and grab something to eat there. Then it was off to the Blues Festival. The big attraction of the night was Rush, but I wanted to be there in time to see Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. My persistence in moving us all through the day to get there by 6 PM was rewarded several fold. I'd only heard of the group - but had never actually heard them prior to the festival. In a word - terrific. Bluesy rock, high energy, straight blues, great solos, great voice, excellent songs, excellent guitar solos, very good cover of Cinnamon Girl. Those would be my bullet points. Grace Potter is obviously a very attractive woman but she has the chops to get beyond the sex appeal and take her seriously, IMO. She plays B3, keys and guitar along with supplying the voice and energy to drive the band and music. But the band are no slouches and the collective effort works very well. Super show. The next band up was the Specials. As a fan of the English Beat back in the day, I always heard references to the Specials. But I had never actually heard the band. The crowd was psyched and I was eager to hear these legends. But, by the second song in, I realized they were not my cup of tea. Too punk rocky for me. So, I moved on to another stage - and on to another festival discovery. A group called the The Harpoonist and Axe Murderer. With a name like that, I was expecting some thrasher metal band - but as my wife and I rounded the corner and saw the stage - we saw there were two guys - one on harmonica (The Harpoonist) and the other playing a telecaster (The Axe Murderer). They were playing a very raw, visceral blues. It looked and sounded as authentic as it gets in the year 2013. Just some good shit played with feeling - a palpable feeling - from an audience member's point of view. After a couple of songs they brought out some guy who is a guest on the current tour - who plays the B3. Again, more of the same really good blues music that really hits you where it counts. I thought it was really interesting to see a band consisting of a guitar, harmonica and B3 - without bass and drums. These guys pulled it off in a big and very enjoyable way. This is why I love these types of festivals. You never know when you're going to discover someone or something unexpected. The final act was Rush. Unfortunately, we had to leave the Harpoonist and Axe Murderer show early to get to the Rush show. As we left, I told my wife that I wished they had scheduled the shows better and that I really wanted to stay for the rest of the set - but I'm a Rush fan, and my boys - who are just as big fans of Rush - were waiting at our spot in a sea of people - so I had to go. Plus, I needed to bring food and drink for them. The disappointment of leaving early was rewarded with a kick-ass Rush concert. Rush is one of those bands that you love or hate - and I love them. I particularly like the new album with the strings - which they drew from extensively. They played a great set which was really enhanced by the outdoor venue. Super show. There's something about seeing one of your favorite bands on a perfect night in an outdoor venue that really strikes a chord. At the end of the night and on the way out of the Rush concert, my younger son Phil - who is a guitar player - put his hand on my shoulder and said - "Dad, this was such a great concert. Thanks so much for bringing us". Made my day. Apologies for the long post.

:party: Congratulations! :party:

Here's my experience with the word penultimate. First of all, it's not an everyday word and I've heard/seen tons of people use it incorrectly. I think its misuse stems from the way we see the word ultimate being used quite often - which in today's jargon is often synonymous with "best ever". So, when people hear the word penultimate, I think - because there's an extra syllable - they associate that with "better than ultimate" of sort of "uber-ultimate" Plus, quite often, the way the word penultimate is used in context it is difficult to think it means anything other than "uber-ultimate" "The penultimate stage of the Tour de France" "The penultimate album by Cream" "The penultimate Grateful Dead Concert" If you don't know what it means and hear the word used in the above contexts - it's easy to think it is equivalent to being better than best. ......and it sounds like one of those words that's nice to have in your arsenal to throw out there when you want to differentiate what you're saying from everyday language or impress. We know from this thread what happens when you plan backfires because you made the mistake of hearing the word used and then repeating it in a similar context.

Terrible news. I hope his family knows how many people will be playing his music over the next few days. One of my favorite Mosaic sets. ....Down to the jazz room.....

I'm not a musician nor someone interested in the more technical aspects of his playing above and beyond the fact that he's playing bass and lead guitar at the same time on an 8 string guitar - which I think is kind of cool and sounds hard to do. So my analysis is more straight forward - I like it or I don't. In Hunter's case - I like it.

Listening to Ready, Set, Shango right now. This is the band I heard in Quebec City years ago. Great stuff. I did not know that Spanier had died. Bummer.

In the midst of a Hunterpalooza, I'm realizing the same. I was surprised to see how prolific he's been since he fell off my radar.

I was buying everything Hunter put out around this time. I've got this one but have not listened to it for some time - have to give it a spin. I always enjoyed Hunter, but sort of lost track of him. Threads like this and the new Hunter corner have rekindled interest. Maybe I'll have a Charlie Hunter weekend.

I remember being in Quebec City years ago - coincidentally at the the time of their summer music festival - and stumbling on a stage at which Hunter was playing. I'd never even heard of him before and was blown away - having never heard or seen someone play like that. I picked up everything he put out until shortly after he left Blue Note. Around that time, my life took a nosedive and quite frankly I lost interest in a lot of things - including jazz and music in general. After I turned the corner, Hunter is one guy I apparently lost track of. I checked out AMG and listened to some samples - nice stuff. I'll have to see what I can pick up. I like that he's all over the place stylistically and count me among those that enjoy the quirky titles. Off to half.com...

Excellent final four. I'm a Sabres fan and since they did not make the cut my interest level sort of slacked off- especially after Montreal lost. But that Chicago Detroit series brought me back. I also loved seeing the Rangers lose, although I despise the Bruins. I've got no rooting interest - just don't want to see the Bruins win. Around Buffalo, Chicago probably will have a few backers because of local boy Patrick Kane. I'm just hoping the series live up to their potential.

:party: :party:

I usually contribute silently - but boy would I like to hear this music. I've thrown my 2 cents in and hope that anyone on the fence will do similarly. If that kickstarter video doesn't bring a smile to your face and show the possibility of how nice this date could, I don't know what to say. Here's hoping that the last five days will take Jim over the top. This is a really great project. Good luck Jim.

Sounds like a great job! Nice work and best of luck

Steve Wilson

Just back from the Tampa Bay Blues Festival. Had a great time. My wife and I went all three days - though we did not see all of the bands every day. We were joined on two of the days by some of her family members who live in Tampa - which was nice. The venue: Basically a nice sized park on the waterfront surrounded by trees. Around the perimeter were tons of local food merchants plus the beer/wine/liquor kiosks. Beer was $5, wine was $6, liquor was $7. I got hooked on the Taco Bus Mexican food truck and also had a great pizza on Sunday from a portable wood fired pizza oven, of all things. They allowed chairs and there was an area towards the back of the spectator field that you could erect umbrellas and such. Having been stuck behind an umbrella more than once - that's a nice idea. You could stray from the the spectator field and head over to the sea wall - where you could sit and watch pelicans and dolphins - which I thought was pretty cool. There was also a section of vendors - some local, some not - selling jewelry, clothing, hats, and one selling the complete works of L Ron Hubbard along with a complimentary "stress test". I did not see those guys getting much business however. The music: In a word it was great. Friday I went to see Lucky Peterson - who hails from my home town Buffalo, NY. I also saw most of Rod Piazza and the Might Fliers - who were okay. The highlight of the day was Janiva Magness. She is terrific and the crowd loved her. Jim Alfredson just ripped it up on the keyboards. I was very impressed. It was also nice to say hi and finally meet Jim after the show. I skipped Dickey Betts who was the headliner of the night. I'd gotten up at 4 AM, spent the day in transit, then visiting my wife's father in a nursing home, the heading over to the hotel and then the Festival. I'm not the biggest Betts fan there is so we headed back to the hotel. More about that later. Saturday, we got to the Festival a little later in the day. The third act of the day - Sugar Ray and the Bluetones were playing. For those who've been to festivals like this there are always guys you've never heard of before who leave a great impression. This was one of those acts. Highlight of the day, IMO. Another guy I never head of - Curtis Salgado was up next and they were pretty good. My wife really wanted to hear the headliner of the night - Jonny Lang. She picked up his first couple of albums years ago and became a fan - based on those. All I can say was that to me especially, but also to her - he was a huge disappointment. I actually thought the show was a mess. Lots of chops overlaid on crappy songs. Long periods of noodling around. Some of the songs were just so plodding that they were almost painful to listen to. Also - his spiritual awakening was a little too much in evidence for my taste - no offense intended. After 7 or so songs, we headed back to the hotel. Sunday was fabulous. Started off with a nice lunch with my wife's brother and his girlfriend at an outdoor restaurant on Beach Ave, then headed over to the festival We then were treated to another one of those bands you've never heard of but were glad you did to start our day off - Walter Washington. Great stuff. Next up was the Royal Southern Brotherhood - one of my must sees at this festival. I stumbled on these guys last year at the Ottawa Blues Festival midway through their set and thought they were phenomenal. Hearing their full set this year confirmed that. Lots of really nice originals incorporating Blues, southern rock, soul, and a touch of New Orleans. They do a a killer version of Fire on the Mountain and also do great covers of One Way Out and Gimme Shelter. The band features Devon Allman, Cyrille Neville and Chuck Zito. If you dig the Allman Brothers - which I do - these guys can't miss. And they did not. My absolute favorite of the Festival, though - was the last show I saw - Tab Benoit. Great, great, great show. Blues dripping with a Louisiana Bayou feel. The guy has a great voice and plays great as well. The music was a blast to listen to. About midway through the set he brought out Devon Allman, Cyrille Neville and Chuck Zito of the Royal Southern Brotherhood for one of those special moments that can only occur at live events like this. They played 3 or 4 songs that were phenomenal. For sure - a night to remember. The hotel: I wanted to stay close to the Festival and as I booked this fairly late in the game - so most of the "big guns" were booked solid. A TripAdvisor search led me to a boutique hotel about a 15-20 minute walk away from the Festival called the Hollander Hotel. Great place. It's older and oozing with atmosphere. Rooms were clean and decently sized. Bed very comfortable and flat panel TV. They were certainly friendly and welcoming. Here's an example. They have a shuttle running to the Festival. It's an older gas golf cart. My wife and I were walking back from the Festival on Saturday around 10PM and they apparently recognized us, pulled over and asked us if we wanted a ride back to the hotel. Who recognizes people staying in your hotel these days? The Lobby of the hotel was a beehive of activity. Really nicely decorated in a very eclectic fashion - sort of old world meets mid-century modern. There's a nice fireplace sitting area where we had some salsa and chips and our own wine on our last night. There's a huge porch with sitting areas as well as tables where we hung out on Saturday after the festival and, in the rest of the lobby - there's a bar area, dining area and lounge are with live music that was packed on Friday and Saturday. We ended up getting a few beers and hanging out each night as the atmosphere was great, they have 20-some beers on tap and live music. Can't say enough about the place. Overall - good time. I've got regular trips to Tampa to visit my wife's father for the foreseeable future. I like to tie the visits in with hockey or baseball game. I'm thinking this Blues Festival could work as well for the next little while.

Anyone ever been to this? Perhaps an interesting coincidence...... My wife's parents live in Tampa. In February, her mother passed away. As a result of the time we had to spend in Tampa - we missed two shows back in Buffalo that we had planned on attending - Tab Benoit and Jonny Lang. A couple of weeks ago, I was surfing the net and checking out where some bands were playing. I stumbled on the Tampa Blues Festival - and guess who's playing there? Tab Benoit and Jonny Lang. There's a couple other favorites of mine as well - Lucky Peterson, Royal Southern Brotherhood, Dicky Betts, Trombone Shorty. There's also some female blues singer named Janiva Magness...... At any rate - I thought the coincidence to be be very interesting and since we needed to go down to Tampa to see my wife's father and take care of some legal matters I said what the hell - let's go to the Blues Festival. Just wondering what the scene is like there - what's the venue like, can you bring chairs, how's the food, how's the parking, how's the beer?

I have had the 4 LP Return To Forever Live set since it came out in the late 70s. It was still virtually brand new when the entire set was damaged - as in soaked - in a flood - in my parent's basement. Hey - I was a young college student living at home. At any rate - we are talking a raw sewage type sewer back-up. Very nasty. The box and booklet were destroyed, but I hung on to the LPs - even though they sounded horrible afterwards. Snap crackle and pop like you have never heard. As I had not listened to vinyl for decades, all my LPs were in storage until a year or two ago. I finally picked up a turntable and dragged my LPs out of the crawls space in which they were stored. Of course, I found my RTF LPs and they sounded as nasty as I remembered. So last night - I tried the glue. The results are remarkable. Stunning improvement - just a few residual pops here and there. I thought the RTF albums almost an unfair trial due to the extreme conditions to which they were exposed. So I found a copy of the Blood Swear and Tears album - the self titled one with Spinning Wheel. I played it and it had the requisite snap crackle and pops. After the glue treatment - sounds like virgin vinyl. I am a believer.