The Mule

There was a famous jazz musician who was from Chicago Heights... ...Joe Farrell.

Bloom High School!!!!! It's in Chicago Heights, Illinois. My home town. I did not, however, go to Bloom (although many of my friends did). Our neighborhood was districted for a different high school which was much better educationally, but much more drab architecturally. Haven't seen that building in 20 years...where did you find the picture? My 2 cents: The Tribune Tower, Chicago, Illinois Across the street is The Wrigley Building

damn....that may be one of the strangest jazz albums I've ever seen. Is there a tune on it named "Satan?"

SATAN?!?!?!?!

A friend of mine was fond of making the disparaging comment, "And yet Bob Hope STILL lives," every time some other worthy personage passed on. Example: "Celia Cruz died and yet Bob Hope STILL lives." Going to have to retire that one finally...

If you're in Burbank you have to make a stop at Atomic Records on Magnolia. Vinyl and cds. Lots of jazz. Their jazz vinyl is like being in a museum... And I second El Cholo for the green corn tamales and margaritas!!! Oh, and go to Musso & Frank on Hollywood Blvd. for the best martinis in town. Totally old-school restaurant with cranky waiters who have worked there for 50 years. Drink where F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, and Orson Welles once did. You'll also likely to see celebs. Last month when I was there Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart came in for a cocktail... The bar... ...the drink (note the sidecar)... Weirdest celeb I ever saw there was Iron Eyes Cody...

My pleasure. Also, if you go to Amoeba there's another great record store nearby with a very savvy jazz section as well as a nice used bin. Aron's Records

Jazz clubs: Catalina Bar & Grill The Jazz Bakery Other LA jazz links

I got it for a GREAT price. I couldn't believe I was the only bid and expected to pay much more than I did. Whole thing including shipping to the states was 19 pounds... The seller is also a very friendly and charming guy who has been collecting jazz for 40+ years. Thanks again!

Just wanted to bring this back up to thank Mr. Delaney for linking the UK Ebay auction on the Esquire box. I was the only bidder on the box and won it. It should ship tomorrow. Can't wait to listen to it. Thanks, John!

This is the octet recording mentioned above and it's a must have. The arrangements, however, are NOT by Mulligan, but by the great Bill Holman. Unfortunately, I think it's out-of-print... I'm also rather fond of this session with the great Astor Piazolla. Probably shouldn't be one of your first picks, but well worth tracking down once you're hooked on Mulligan. Also, OOP, I'm afraid...

Yeah, it's already started. I watched these two idiot lawyers on CNN over the weekend "debating" the case. The lawyer taking the defense position was arguing that if she had voluntarily gone to Bryant's room at midnight it would look like consent to a jury and the lawyer taking the prosecution position was crying foul and yelling "sexist" and it was ALL JUST SPECULATION at this point. Honestly, I think lawyers should be disbarred for trying cases in the media and these two had NOTHING to do with either side. They were just media whores.

Well...some other friends are saying a few other things including a suicide attempt a couple of months ago and two other "encounters with the police" recently that the police refuse to comment on. I've also seen allegations that the girl is a regular NBA groupie. I'm sure all sorts of ugly and embarrassing things about both accuser and accused will be trickling out every day--and lord only knows how many will actually be true or not. Guilty or innocent this is going to be a nightmare for both of them for the next year at least...

Rooster beat me to recommending Barber. No doubt you've heard his "Adagio for Strings" and probably didn't even know it. That piece is often overused on movie soundtracks and can be found in the opening moments of PLATOON, for example. Let us not forget Gershwin, when mentioning American composers! And if you really want to push the envelope there's always John Cage.... If I mention Philip Glass I might get flamed, but here goes: Philip Glass! Oh, and Leonard Bernstein did a lot of worthwhile work that he always felt deserved more recognition. I personally think that the music in WEST SIDE STORY is some of the most beautiful ever done for the American stage.

Chet sings on "Walkin'," "Whatever Possess'd Me," and "Ann, Wonderful One." Great album.

Due to the overwhelming response I got to my post last month about the Arthur Lee with Love FOREVER CHANGES concert I attended at UCLA's Royce Hall.... ...I thought I'd mention that a live cd of the concert in January at The Royal Festival Hall in London is now available in England (they haven't secured an American distributor for the cd yet, but I got it through Amazon.uk). It's a two-cd set which also contains a video of "Alone Again Or," screensaver, and photo album. Can't recommend this highly enough!

"Esquire Box Set"?! Do tell! Is that available stateside?

Yeah! Gimme! For anyone who lives in LA and haunts Aron's Records on Highland, Mr. Shank can be found occasionally cruising the used jazz bins on the weekends...

WEST COAST JAZZ by Ted Gioia goes into a fair amount of detail on the SF jazz scene tracing the careers of Dave Brubeck and Cal Tjader. Great book.

I saw him in NYC and LA 2-3 years ago and he was terrific both times. At Birdland he was playing with his son, Rene, and in LA he was playing with the Cedar Walton trio. I knew he'd been sick for a while and when I saw the title of this thread I got worried for a minute...

Another magnificent voice silenced. She will be missed. (one of her best recordings, btw)

Let me be the first to say CONGRATULATIONS!!!! Great news! You are embarking on the greatest adventure of your lives. Give my best to your wife and kiss the kid for me....

Unjust obscurity?

This is what happens when computer spell-checks replace actual proofreaders--human beings who check copy not only for spelling BUT FOR SYNTAX AND USAGE. The state of proofreading in today's newspapers, magazines, and books is horrible. ...and take a close look at those obnoxious "crawls" on all the cable stations. They're FULL of typos...

Very little of this is "live," but I can't praise this three-disc set highly enough. This is MUST HAVE! Junior Wells, Otis Spann, Jimmy Cotton, Otis Rush, Homesick James, and more AT THEIR PEAK. Originally released as CHICAGO/THE BLUES/TODAY these records had a HUGE influence on the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppellin and countless others...