The Magnificent Goldberg

I haven't got the Cannonball in NY, so that should get on my list. MG

Some Gospel LPs Dorothy Norwood - Look what they've done to my child - Savoy orig (Mel Sparks, guitar) Florida Mass Choir - Storm clouds rising - Savoy orig Willie Banks & the Messengers - Mother, why? - Black Label orig The Williams Singers - It was you, Jesus - Checker orig MG

In English? MG

I got this recently and finished it the other day It's a bit old, for a current history book that aims to point a way forward - 1992. Basil Davidson is about my favourite historian - a specialist in Africa. He's a bit on the romantic side, I think, and sometimes gets carried away when he himself is at the cutting edge of events. But he writes very well and it's a joy to see him thinking. This book is very nearly persuasive. And it's certainly true that it's been shown subsequently, for example, in Somalia, that even when a state disintegrates completely, political, social and economic development is possible. But, in the end, it seems to me that the modern nation state is a thing that looks very much like most of the many pre-colonial African empires, but with newer physical, political and social technology. So, while Davidson's analysis of the problem and its precise cause seems spot on, I'm not wholly convinced about how useful this is in developing solutions, though I agree that institutionalising distrust of government, as was usual in pre-colonial days, seems to be an important element of any solution. And God knows, there's plenty of uninstitutionalised distrust of government in Africa. MG

Choc Stars Choc Musica Anti-Choc (Congolese stuff)

Jan Jan Moses Davis The Fabulous Counts

So, who killed 'em? MG

Have a good time. I have one Ray Lema album, from 1990, which I haven't played for some time. You've reminded me to dig it out. MG

Syliphone material has been reissued on the Syllart, Bolibana, Dakar Sound, Popular African Music and Sterns labels, if you're looking for stuff on Amazon, Niko. MG

Yes, Kaloum Star is the real stuff. It was the main Federal band for Conakry, the capital of Guinea Conakry. The band recorded first for Syliphone records in 1973. Made several singles which appeared on compilation LPs. I have one of their singles, "Maliba" on the "Discotheque '74" CD. It was one of only five of the Mandinke big bands to survive the death in 1983 of Sekou Toure (Guinean president), who had used these bands to foster a climate of opinion in which the Mandinke maintained a hegemony over the other tribes in Guinea. I don't have that album "Felenko". If you like that band, you'll probably enjoy most of the other Mandinke big bands of the era. The big names are: Bembeya Jazz National (later Bembeya Jazz) Orchestre de la Pailote (later Keletigui et ses Tambourins) Orchestre du Jardin de Guinee (later Balla et ses Balladins) The Horoya Band Camayenne Sofa (later Camayenne Sofa International) Syli Authentic Les Amazones de Guinee All of these bands recorded for Syliphone, which was the Government record company. They were generally paid by the Government, too, and expected to promote the Party (PDG), which they did. In Germany, I imagine it might not be impossible to find original Syliphone LPs. They are VERY sought after by collectors. Quite a few have been reissued on CD - one or two in Germany on the Popular African Music label. Syliphone records aren't sought after for their Deep Grooves but because the music was THE most innovative and the best that was being done anywhere in Africa at that time. Anything of anyone (with the exception of Mirim Makeba) on Syliphone is worth buying, whether it's a big band or a solo singer or whatever. Here's a Syliphone discography. Graeme Counsel, the author, is doing a good deal of work with Sterns lately getting this stuff reissued (on compilations, unfortunately - no equivalents of OJC ). http://www.radioafrica.com.au/Discographies/Syliphone.html The Government of Mali also sponsored big bands. The best known Mandinke big band from Mali is Rail band. An offshoot, in Cote d'Ivoire, was les Ambassadeurs. But there are Bambara big bands that are just as good - Super Biton de Segou and Kene Star Sikasso are two I play a fair bit. The main label for this material, and it's small compared with Syliphone because the Malian Government doesn't seem to have had the same kind of agenda as Sekou Toure, is Mali Kunkan. Here's Graeme's discography of that label. http://www.radioafrica.com.au/Discographies/Kunkan.html MG I should have mentioned that Syliphone 45s are also very sought after, because much material was only issued on 45.

Search for what? Threads with the word "Obama" in them or something like that? MG Well, I Hunt-ed and Chase-ed down "Wardell Gray". But whatever floats your boat. Ah yes, so that's the principle then. MG

Ah, David Sanborn; the man who can almost imitate almost anybody. MG

Yes, I have only to replace the dust bag with the hose and add a plastic filter on the vacuum side. It works great. I use it for the dust all over on my system. BTW Let's make it clear that we are speaking about vacuum cleaners, otherwise you'd censore your own post. Well, I was going to say something about wanting to come back as your turntable, but thought better of it MG

Greeeeaaazzzyyy afternoon/early evening John Coltrane - Plays the blues - Atlantic (80s pressing) Larry Young - Contrasts - BN orig Pharoah Sanders - Pharoah - India Navigation orig MG

It is felt by many, including myself, that it is the supreme virtue to distrust government and to give it as little information as possible about oneself, at the same time as it is clear that there are many things that ONLY government can do. Obviously, these two points of view, which are usually held by the same person simultaneously, to some degree, have to be reconciled somehow. In view of governments' general bad behaviour (and sometimes gross incompetence), and the fact that governments are capable of behaving a hell of a lot worse than individuals are, it's felt that the compromise point needs to be a lot closer to protecting individuals' privacy than to making things easy for government. In the last few months over here, we have had a succession of scandals involving the loss, through incompetence, of huge banks of data on huge numbers of people - tax, welfare, bank, driver and vehicle records information has just been lost. Some has clearly been chucked away; on two separate occasions, data files on thousands of drivers were found (by the same person) tossed onto the same roundabout. I leave it to you to imgine the price such information would fetch if sold to a Nigerian; all the scams would stop, wouldn't they? MG

Must be a bugger to dust. MG I use my Kirby (home vacuum cleaner) as air compressor twice a week. Does it blow as well as suck? MG

In that case, you do damn well! MG

Search for what? Threads with the word "Obama" in them or something like that? MG

Bleedin' 'ell - it's a tenner here ($20 to you, Guv) and this is a cheapo area. MG

Lucky man, so you can trade them for that very low numbered copy of The White Album. MG

Er... how come you even WANTED an Australian passport? I think I've had passports more or less continuously since I was fifteen. MG

There really ought to be a pair of Big Macs in those things. MG

MG

An interesting remark from one for whom neither English nor American is first language. Why side with us? MG

Well, this is primarily a JAZZ forum. Those of us who can't play instruments have to do it some way (and so do some of us who can). MG