The Magnificent Goldberg

Yeah! Good luck, to you too, Mike. MG

I have more than a sneaking suspicion that none of that is a joke (well, maybe the first is). Good luck! MG

Mr Grimsdale Norman Wisdom Pitkin

1) Jim's had it, board is toast 2) Members unite, send major bread and moral support 3) Board gets reprieve, lives to fight another day 4) Some members don't like each other but call (temporary) truce 5) Epilogue: everything is beautiful once again A Quinn Martin Production Brilliant!!!!!! MG

MG - It's the 'Jazz Cafe' in Camden Town 13-14th Dec. Not my favourite venue and I probably won't be able to get into town but it sounds tempting. Their admission (standing) is usually around £20 I think. Twenty quid for Jazz Cafe! I don't MIND the venue, managed to get just behind Charles Earland's organ there, so I could see everything he was doing. But adding up the fare from South Wales, and a night in a hotel, I think I'll give it a miss. MG

Baritone players really do have something of an advantage over other players. Eb is it? I thought it was that powerful sound that just stirs you from your soles to your soul. Pepper does and I always know I'm going to get stirred. Never more than with his solo on Turrentine's "Baptismal". But, for me, Leo Parker, Ronnie Cuber and Hog Cooper blast my socks off. Interesting point about alto/baritone players. Hank Crawford first impressed me on baritone on the first Newman album, "Fathead". But he rarely played baritone after Ray moved up to an octet and Hog came in. His alto playing is altogether different from his baritone playing. Bebop on baritone, blues on alto (and very BASIC blues on piano). MG

'Bout time someone else bought this. MG How is it? (maybe I shouldn't ask ) Just noticed they have a gig coming up in London later this month. Best bit of grease this year! And would stand comparison with almost any bit of grease made in the last fifty! GG Jr is developing a bit away from his father and it turns out he can sing quite well. I saw them in Brecon in 2000 and they were very good indeed (though swamped immediately after by Lonnie Smith/Ronnie Cuber/Peter Bernstein) and on the strength of this album (made in 2005 but took a long time to get it out) they've improved no end. I should go and see them if I were you. In fact, I should probably go and see them if I were me. Where's the gig? When? How much? MG

Poured and galed (?) all day yesterday. Just about drying up this morning. No gale damage but still extremely windy. And the forecast is more the same pretty well, until Monday. MG

Where's Isaac Asimov when you need him? MG

I love it! And not just because I'm a GG addict; it's one of my dozen or so most favourite albums of his. Not quite as good as "Easy", "Alive" or "Green is beautiful", but well up there. And the only one of his albums that made the pop charts. MG

There are a few musicians and bands that I think I ought to get round to having a bit of a push on next year. 1 Sello Manyaka - a South African sax player in the Kippie Moeketsi tradition. I just found out that he's playing (or was recently) with the latest edition of the African Jazz Pioneers. I don't have any records of that band anyway, from any era, so that's one band I'm going to have a go at. 2 Teddy Wilson - I'm determined to start getting the Hep series of his thirties recordings. 3 Andy Kirk - I don't have a thing of his, but this band is definitely one I think I ought to have quite a good collection of. Any suggestions about the best way to get Kirk? 4 Lucky Millinder - another band I have nothing of. I think I want to start with the Decca material, then the King recordings. Again, any suggestions about the best way to get these? What are you interested in exploring next year? MG

This thread's been in existence only about 52 hours and it's had 10442 views! That's fractionally over 200 an hour! MG

Back to normal now. And the clock's correct (at least for here). I shouldn't be surprised if the two things weren't connected. MG

I've been wrapping, on and off, for the last three days. My wife just brought home some more to do tomorrow. I take exactly the same line as you, Dan, but perhaps with the variation that I just do basic wrapping, my wife puts the ribbons on artistically. MG

"Today's active topics" is working again now, though some of the times are a bit suspicious. Looking at another thread, I see that, about the same time you posted, someone said there were a huge number of users on line. MG

This LOOKS as if it's a serious business - but I just CAN'T believe it. MG

Thread already started http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php...c=37596&hl= MG

MG

I think, now, that this might be more appropriate MG

That has got to be the longest cigarette I've ever seen. What'd he do, tape two together? Maybe they're composing and that's a pencil? Good thought - he hasn't lit up. But I think there is one brand of extra long ciggies. MG

Yes, normally. However this year it's November and (going to be)April, 2008, I believe. Thanks - so it should have corrected itself and only have been an hour out between 31 October and whatever date in November you changed on. MG

Continuing my Jimmy Ponder day with White room - ABC Impulse orig Down here on the ground - Milestone orig So many stars - Milestone orig MG

MG

I'll be VERY sad to see you go, Brownie. The amount of stuff you've put me on to over the past couple of years has been really important to me in many ways. And I've greatly appreciated your non-jazz side too. But my good wishes go with you. MG

Eddie De Haas is also on Chris Connor's album, "Chris in person", which was done at the Village Vanguard. Hard to imagine a musician who's played the VV being regarded as unknown in a jazz context. The other members of the band were Kenny Burrell, Bill Rubenstein and Lex Humphreys. MG