The Mule

Wanted to bring this thread back up since I joined Emusic last week. All I can say is...damn! Very impressed so far. If you're into the kinds of music the people on this board are and you've got a big hard drive and a broadband connection it's a pretty amazing bargain for the money. As others have stated, the best thing about it is the ability to try out some new music without having to plunk down $16.99 just to find out if you like it or not. In addition to the Fantasy, Xanadu, ESP, JSP and other jazz-specific catalogs they've also got a great selection from all the Shanachie labels including the Yazoo titles. There's been some griping about "unlimited downloads" not really meaning "unlimited" and while that's a valid complaint, if you don't make a complete pig of yourself every month it probably won't be a problem. Anyhow, I'm a week in and have no complaints. In fact, I'm waiting for someone to tap me on the shoulder and tell me that there's been a mistake...

Excellent post and I totally agree. One of the local Los Angeles news stations led with his death and did a really lousy job of it. The reporter obviously didn't know much about Bronson (and didn't bother doing any research) when he declared, "although never a big international star." In his prime, Bronson was a HUGE international star. At his peak his was the highest paid, most popular actor in the world. This same report also kept showing clip after clip of DEATH WISH and didn't even mention ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST. At least they showed an outpouring of sympathy from people who had gathered at Bronson's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I'll have to screen ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST as tribute today... Rest In Peace, Charlie...

Well, that covers sweet and salty both, doesn't it? I see somebody gets it....

I started a thread in the Artists session about the Joe Maneri tune that plays over the opening credits. You should check it out. With regard to the Davis/Bill Evans ripoff...It's VERY common for motion picture composers to include soundalike themes based on well-known tunes. They change the tune just enough to evoke the feel of that music and yet the producers don't have to license the rights! This tactic is even more common in television commercials.

Women.

Of the non-Blue Notes these are some faves: AND another Blue Note:

There was some car commercial that used Mingus' "II BS" a few years back...

Why you lousy crumb!

damn...that's right. I had forgotten. I do have BOSTON 1950. Think it was the first Uptown disc I ever owned... ALL the Uptowns are great. The Serge, the Bird, the Sonny Clark, the Dodo....

mebbe.....

From the LA Times: Origins of 'jazz' thrown a curve ball By Lynell George August 24 2003 L.A. — birthplace of jazz? Jelly Roll Morton will probably be rolling in his grave, but a New York researcher has turned up the first printed use of the word in an April 2, 1912, story in The Times. Headlined "Ben's Jazz Curve," the piece quotes one Ben Henderson as saying: "I got a new curve this year, and I'm goin' to pitch one or two of them tomorrow. I call it the Jazz ball because it wobbles and you simply can't do anything with it." Yes, the salient riff here is on "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." But, New York University librarian George Thompson says, as far as he and fellow researchers can tell, "jazz" (the word) has its roots in sports and in the West. Thompson spotted the 1912 article in The Times' newly digitized historical archives and posted his findings two weeks ago to the American Dialect Society's listserv (www.americandialect.org). This isn't the first screwball thrown into the timeline, says Gerald Cohen, who's been hot on jazz's trail for years. It's just another installment in the debate over the parentage of the term. Some say it was derived from the name of a dancing slave (Jasper) in New Orleans or a Mississippi drummer (Charles "Chas" Washington) in the 19th century. Others claim that it evolved from the Creole patois jaser — meaning to speed up, to chatter, or from the Mandingo language, jasi, meaning to act out of character. It was musician Jelly Roll Morton, though, who often shouted down everybody else, saying that he invented jazz. End of story. His version anyway. But it's become that the earliest usages of the word appear linked to baseball and sportswriter jargon, and that in this primordial form, "jazz" implied vim and pep. For the moment, jazz is an L.A. native. But the experts have no doubt that other references will turn up — challenging L.A.'s crown — and Ben Henderson's "jazz ball." The search isn't over, after all, 'til the fat lady scats.

Wanted to bring this up and add my endorsement of this terrific cd. Presented in the same manner as the CHARLES "BARON" MINGUS, WEST COAST 1945-49 (nice slipcase containing the cd and heafty booklet), IN THE LAND OF OO-BLA-DEE may be even more signficant, historically speaking, than the Mingus because it adds so much more the the legacy Allen Eager, a musician whose recorded output is much more meager than that of Mingus. The booklet is a fascinating read. Great notes by Ira Gitler, producer Robert E. Sunenblik, and an interview with Eager himself. Just the detailed explanation of the pitfalls of using a wire recorder makes this cd worth picking up. Anyone who complains about the sound quality of wire recordings should read this passage and you'll realize how lucky we are to have anything at all recorded with this device! Also, the snapshot of the jazz scene in those days and the impromptu parties/recording sessions at photographer Milton Greene's loft makes for very interesting and entertaining reading. The music is meticulously restored and presented--even the wire recording of a television broadcast sounds pretty good. Plus, you have the extra added bonus of hearing pre-take chatter between Eager and Serge Chaloff. I had never heard Chaloff's voice before. Great music. Newly discovered recordings of Eager, Chaloff, & Bird (playing tenor on one tune). Amazing booklet. A must-buy. Congrats to Chuck and Uptown!

If you're looking for more Vick, I'd seek out this tasty little session: Woody Shaw is also a sideman on this date. Vick played with Shaw again on "Cassandranite."

Lee Marvin also sings "Love Theme from M Squad."

Tito! Look out!!!

Ok, all you audiophiles....Please explain....

Hey! Morton Gould's here! Let's party!

With apologies to David Mamet: "You know what it takes to sell real estate?"

Remember when a birthday party was having the family over for some cake? Man, I tell my son about my birthday parties when I was a kid and he looks at me as if I'm insane...

This is one of my faves. Can't beat that line-up!

Sorry, man, but Joe is right. Tsk. Tsk. (Plus, if I warned you it wouldn't have been AS FUNNY!)

Neil Armstrong's historic moon landing, suppressed for 34 years . . . .

See, the Organissimo guys are really smart. They got these groupies they can hide in their pockets so their wives and girlfriends won't know...

Yet another nominee for Best Visual Pun...

See what I mean?!?!?!! Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!!!