Ed S

Mandatory!

Those sound samples sound VERY nice Don't think I have much if any Chu Berry. Looks like I'll be getting some soon.

My girlfriend and I went to Paris last April and had a blast. We stayed on the left bank - right in brownie's hood! - a very nice area, by the way. The Paris Jazz Corner (record store) was right around the corner and is a must visit place. Right across the street is the Arènes de Lutèce - an old Roman amphitheatre which is worth a walk through and a nice place for some people to hang out while certain other people are record shopping! I enjoyed visiting the Pantheon and Montmartre - each with their own excellent views of Paris. The crypt under the Pantheon is way cool and Montmarte is touristy....but so what? The outdoor market and neighborhood around Rue Moufetard - near the Paris Jazz Corner was a great place to walk through and get a bite to eat. We went there a couple of time for fresh fruit and casual dining. The Luxembourg Garden was our favorite stop. We spent several hours there just hanging out, relaxing and talking. There are really nice pathways and plenty of chairs to sit down and soak up the sun and beauty of the flowers or watch a game of petanque. I found the Louvre overwhelming. Too much and too huge to really do anything other than stroll through in amazement. Don't forget the Orsay and the Pompidou centre for art as well. I'm really into modern and impressionists, so those were more up my alley. We went to a jazz club called Caveau de la Huchette and really had a great time. A saxophone quartet was playing. They swung like crazy and the patron were dancing up a storm. Something I was not prepared for based on my exposure to jazz clubs in the USA. The churches - magnificent! Notre Dame, St Sulpice, St Chapelle, Sacre Couer, St Germain des Pres - all worth a vist - even for a non believer like me. The Left Bank and Boulevard St Michel area was also very nice for places to eat and drink. We stopped in some little bistro and had the best French Onion soup ever and hung out in some bar run by a bunch of Candaian expatriate hockey players. Now those are things that make memories! Walking around Ile de la Cite and Il St Louis was very nice. There's some great views of the Seine a real nice flower market and tons of souvenier shops Walking along the Seine is very nice. The booksellers, the bridges, the riverside walkway.... you can really lose yourself in the atmosphere. Do use the Metro - it's fast, convenient. We also did something called Bateaux-bus. It's an all day pass to ride up and down the Seine in a Bateaux mouche with the ability to get on and off at multiple stop points along the route. It's a less expensive alternative to one of those tour boats. Not to denigrate those types of tours - they are fun and informative The walk through the Touleries Garden from the Arc de Triomphe to the Louvre is wonderful For me, Paris is as much about absorbing the beauty and romance of the city as it is seeing the great sites. We did a lot more random walking, stopping at small shops, grabbing a pastry and a lot less destination oriented sight seeing for the sake of sight seeing. A lot of hanging out in some of the local cafes and bars moreso than destination type restaurants. Maybe it's the time in my life but I have to say that my stroll through and relaxing in the Luxembourg gardens was one of the best days of my life. We spent a lot of time walking around the Left Bank, stopping for a drink or snack and enjoying the ambience. Paris has so much to offer. I found absolutel no resentment toward tourists or Americans. The people were as friendly as I presented myself. I joked with my girlfriend that I should write a travel guide called "Surviving in Paris on a 100 Word Vocabulary", but I have to say that a well placed S'il vous plait, merci and bonjour are both respectful and well received. Happy to provide more info either here or through PM.

I have to say, this came as quite a surprise. I'm curious and confused I guess. I guess I can buy into the "improve the bottom line" logic. It does makes sense, I suppose. I don't know this Pierson guy from my neighbor three doors down, but the fact that some of you guys react to the mention of his name with a certain amount of trepidation is enough to raise my level of suspicion. I wonder how much the fact that 50% of Mosaic Records is owned by Capitol or EMI or whoever (I think) plays into what appears to be more than a trend to address the bottom line. We've seen - infairly rapid fashion - the introduction of Mosaic Selects, then Singles, then new releases, now Mosaic Contemporary. But certain aspects of this Contemporary thing really puzzle me. As of right now, there's no mention on the Mosaic Website. Not even a link to a Mosaic Contemporary page. Not that the typical Mosaic customer would be interested in Mosaic Contemporary. But if they are part of the family, why the red headed stepchild treatment? I have to winder why use the Mosaic name at all given the risk of tarnishing the reputation of Mosaic as an elite jazz reissue label. Then - they are going directly to retail outlets, which is unusual for Mosaic. Then there's the 2 comps. Now I do admit to buying comps, but that is so un-Mosaic like. And to call them "Ultimate"......Oy vay . All that said, I'm keeping an open mind. Given the discounted pre-order price and the link through this site, I'm going to place a preorder for at least the Hubbard and Laws. Wonder what's next?

Thanks for the info. Sounds like it will be a good show. I'll let you all know if I end up going.

Thanks for the info. I did not realize that they were down to one (undesirable) candidate. I guess that's an issue with some of the other possible cities that have been mentioned for possible expansion like Quebec City and Halifax. It's a shame to see that stadium sit empty. On a related note, I saw the stadium in person last winter. My boys and I skated the Rideau Canal from the Confederation Park area to see an Ottawa 67s game at the Civic Center, then back again to our hotel. Pretty cool way to get to a game.

I have a soft spot in my heart for the CFL. As a border town denizen I had access to Canadian TV through my cable company - Hockey Night in Canada and CFL games. I have Directv now and the Canadian stations are gone now, unfortunately. But I do follow the league casually. I'm wondering when the heck the Ottawa situation is going to be resolved. I've been following the most recent developments and wonder if they are going to have a team or not?

The legenday (at least locally) Tralf in downtown Buffalo seems to be up and running again with new management. Here's the link to their website (or at least their URL): http://www.tralfmusichall.com They've got a pretty good cross-section of acts booked at this point - Leon Redbone, Coco Montoya, a Genesis tribute band, Alan Holdsworth, Cowboy Junkies. The place really is a great venue. Over the years I've seen a lot of different acts there - Pat Metheny, John Scofield, Wynton Marsalis, Joshua Redman, Blood Sweat and Tears, Bill Bruford, Gregg Allman to name a few - so there's quite a bit of history. The Tralf at its present location has been managed with varying degrees of success by several different people over the years. Recently, it was run by local saxophonist Bobby Militello - who plays with Brubeck. He lost the lease to some young upstart who ran the place into the ground over the past few years. The new management started a couple of months ago and seems to have the experience and commitment to bring the place back to where it was when Militello operated it.

The Alan Holdsworth Band is coming to a local music club in March 2007. I'm familiar with some of his work, mostly through my exposure to Bruford and UK, and have not really heard anything new by him. I'm an old fusion-head so I do have a soft spot for the genre but am not particularly looking to re-live the glory days, if you know what I mean. I'm thinking of checking him out. Just wondering if anyone has seen him lately and has a recommendation one way or the other.

Boy, doesn't that sound familiar.

Very sad news. Condolences to his friends and family.

Songlines just might have been my favorite album of the year

Lots of blues and "bluesy acts". Tab Benoit, Jimmie Vaughan, Johnny Winter, Fabulous Thunderbirds, Derek Trucks, Buddy Guy, Allman Brothers Band, Derek Trucks, Tinsley Ellis, Robben Ford are a few that come to mind. Listened to very little jazz, actually.

I only was casually looking, but as far as I know Live Oblivion had never been issued on CD until now. (at least at a reasonable price) That's why I was so happy to get this new CD. It's a 2CD set with a 2006 release date.

Oh there's tons of Oblivion Express and Brian Auger on Cd. It's only the title Live Oblivion that I was looking for and happily have finally found

One of the first 3 or 4 concerts I ever saw was also one of the most memorable - Brian Auger's Oblivion Express at some bar just south of Buffalo called the "Outside Inn". It was circa 1975 - both the drinking age and I were 18 and this place was one of a number of summer party bars in an area along the Lake Erie shore still referred to as "the lake" This was the Oblivion Express with Auger, Alex Ligertwood, Jack Mills. It was a phenominal show - I can still feel the groove 30 years later. Concurrent with my seeing them was the release of Live Oblivion in two volumes totalling 3 LPs. I have both volumes but they are quite worn. So, off and on over the years, I've been looking for CD releases of Live Oblivion whenever I think of it. Interestingly - at least to me - is that I've been on sort of a Brian Auger jag of sorts. I was with my girlfriend out at "the lake" this past summer and passed the building which housed the "Outside Inn" on my way to a tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's Graycliff. Funny what 30 years will do insofar as the reason for heading out to 'the lake". 30 years ago I never even knew or cared there was a Wright home out there. Anyway, the memories of that show came to the forefront and I decided to pick up a few Oblivion Express releases. But alas, there was no Live Oblivion. Then, just a couple of weeks ago, I repainted my basement jazz listening room - a nice shade of blue for those of you still with me. I found some of those record album frames for 5 bucks each at a local store and started digging through my old LPs to display on the walls. Earlier in the year, btw, I had picked up a few Blue Note LPs in Paris at the Paris Jazz Corner just for that purpose - to hang on my walls. Anyways, one of the albums I decided to display was Live Oblivion - the blue one - which prompted me to check "the net" once again for a CD release of Live Oblivion. This time, I hit paydirt. Using - of course - the link through this site, I checked Amazon and saw that Caiman had the complete 2 volume/3LP Live Oblivion on a 2 CD set for like 20 bucks. With cat-like reflexes, I pounced upon my quarry, then waited the week or so for delivery. It came 2 days ago. All I can say is WOW! I know this stuff is not for everyone here - but I have to tell you, the years have done no injustice to the music. The groove is phenominal. The songs - Oblivion Express classics like Maiden Voyage, Compared To What, Freedom Jazz Dance, Whenever You're Ready, Second Wind, Inner City Blues and more - sound as excellent now as they did to me 30 years ago. I realize that may be a bad thing as often as it is good - depending on one's point of view. I have to say that I'm revelling in this shit. What a great live album and a real treat for Auger fans.

Just poppin' in to make an obligatory post to keep my membership in the board active. My mother always said that if you don't have anything intelligent to say, say nothing at all. But this thread changes everything Now back under my rock......

I'll see your "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" and raise you a "Surrey With The Fringe On Top"

Best of luck Dave. Seems like more than a few of us are going through divorces at this point. As someone who has turned the corner after some very dark days, I can attest to the fact that things do work out. PM me if you ever need to "talk" to someone.

Maynard Ferguson performs Round Midnight

Sort of related to this thread. One of my fondest memories of my trip to Paris this past April was an afternoon spent in the Luxembourg Gardens. It was beautiful - sunny, about 75 degrees and the spring flowers were in bloom. While walking through, we stumbled on an area set up solely for petanque. Is petanque court the correct term? At any rate, the area was packed with players. Interesting, there was a portable coat rack for businessmen to hang their jackets upon. The whole scene was way cool. Bocce seems to be making a comeback of sorts in my neck of the woods. My girlfriend's brother has a set of bocce balls. Takes the place of pitching horseshoes at summer gatherings.

There's probably a lot of discussion about this on the Blue Note Europe board.

Same here

Jeez - I have a lot of catching up to do - have not heard half these guys. Personally, I'm a pretty big Erik Truffaz fan. Love Blanchard too. His first Blue Note album was great, IMO. Did not pick up the second as I was waitng for yourmusic - but they never picked it up. Saw Ingrid Jensen last year at the Montreal Jazz Festival and she was very good.