Rooster_Ties

Forgot to say thank you, Jim, for your kind support. And I wanted to put it out there that 1) I don't want (and never have wanted) ANYTHING to do with owning my Dad's house. And I don't love it (though I'm certainly fond of some aspects of it / good memories / etc..). You couldn't pay me to inherit this house. If my dad died tomorrow, the executor of his will sells the house, and that's been the plan for 15+ years (so I don't have to deal with it). It's loaded with 90 year old knob-and-tube wiring, and hasn't had any updates since the 1960's. I wouldn't touch owning this house with a 10-foot pole. ...and 2) I'm convinced that my 4-5 years of dreams about my Dad's house being dismantled, or sometimes grotesquely and crudely modified (think more like the sarcophagus over what's left of Chernobyl) -- ALL THAT seems clearly to be a metaphor about my dad aging and his health issues. I'm sure I could literally correlate specific increased concern about my Dad over the last 4-5 years, with my crazy dreams about this house and its demise. The mind is indeed an amazing thing.

This slow-roll of my Dad's last 5-10 years he has left on this earth is nothing like when my mom passed 16 years ago. She passed suddenly, without warning, an aneurism. This is all so different, because I'm really seeing the aging of one of my parents for the very first time. And the enormity of it all isn't a one time event, but rather something to manage over several upcoming years now. And the weight of all the associated logistics. I really did not anticipate how this would affect me. And I should say for the record that I'm 100% certain a good chunk of the people on this very board have experienced FAR more difficult challenges than what I'm going through with my Dad now. I hope I'm not coming off with a "woe is me" attitude in all this. Compared to many, I know I've had a comparatively easier life, been dealt a much easier hand of cards, etc. I don't want to come off as not being mindful of that. None of what I'm experiencing now is anything like a "gut punch", but I am suprised it feels like that some of the time, when all these emotions I can't even quite identify come bubbling up.

Bremen (if that's just the quartet only, and I think it is) is definitely 2cd's ~ 100 minutes total (I've had a burn of that one for 15 years, and it's stunning). I'm pretty sure Basel is 2cd's too (iirc), and much longer than it is on LP (just 1 LP). I don't have it yet, so can't confirm personally. But that's my recall from the links up above. LP is barely 4 tunes, iirc. CD is like 8 tunes (half of them really long), and 2cd's (again, iirc).

Mostly going ok-ish here with my Dad (I've been here in St. Louis with him since Wed) -- all things considered I guess. Long story, short (best as I can): we're going to get my Dad out of his house and into a retirement center (not quite "assisted care"). A place with his own appartnent, with onsite dinning 3 meals a day, just down the hall from his own space. One possibility is the place my dad's mother went when she was in her late 90's (she was born in 1897, and lived to be 100!). That may not be the exact same place he moves into, but something quite like it probably. Added bonus though is that's where he took his own mother 24 years ago, and it was a good, family-owned place. It's a small facility, just two small wings, maybe 40-50 units total? - not sure how big the place is exactly. We have a more formal visit scheduled on Monday. Earliest we think we can move him in there might be June or July. He's pretty on-board with the whole thing. He's pretty frustrated that he feels fine, and is very moble, but twice now he's just crumbled into a heep. We've got a walker for him, and a compact wheelchair that will actually maneuver ok through the corners in his house. He can walk around fine, but is a risk for falling, so that transition into the mobility aids is not going to be easy, BUT he is trying. I'm holding up pretty well, but 2-3 times I've had something happen that -- I don't know what -- and I've just lost it (or damn close). Once was walking out of the retirement place my grandmother was in 24 years ago (which I ducked into quickly, alone, while I was out without my dad). And most of that was relief that the place was still there (they aren't on-line), and seemed to still be a very good and down-to-earth place. The day manager I talked to for 10-12 minutes informally was super nice and genuine, and I got a really good vibe from her. She said she'd worked there almost 20 years, iirc, and seemed good. And then I totally lost it recounting my impressions of the place on the phone with my wife, about 15 minutes later -- just her and me, my dad was back home still. And then I decided to give my dad a hug this afternoon. He's not very affectionate, and I usually only give him a hug literally just as I'm about to leave when I've been visiting him. But still I'm here until Tue, and I just decided to give him a big hug an hour ago. And I simply said he meant a lot to me. I kept it all down, but I totally lost it inside. I had dreams again last night, like I've had a several times over the last 4-5 years, of this house my Dad grew up in being "dismantled" room, by room. Holes in walls, walls knocked down, entire rooms being taken out with cranes, and occasionally a wrecking ball being taken to the whole house, despite it being such a great house, in good shape, with lots of character, and early 20th century style. I can believe how hard this all is. Not 24/7, but every day something causes me to let my emotional guard down, and I'm either a puddle, or at least one on the inside for a minute or two. I'm ok, but this is really hard.

Frankly, any true biopic about Miles was likely to be disappointing, imho. At least Cheadle's portrayal did give quite a good view (imho)into how Miles might have been like to have interacted with at various points in his life. Like I said, I liked it better than I would have a disappointing traditional biopic, and my expectations for these sorts of things aren't mega-high. Cheadle did ok by Miles, far as I'm concerned. I'll bet Miles might have even dug the movie himself too.

I mostly enjoyed the Don Cheadle movie. Didn't love it, but I definitely liked it for what it was. I felt like Cheadle's movie and performance did portray quite a number of 'truths' about the kind of person Miles was, even through the clearly fictional story.

Holy unexpected developments, Batman!!

I'm on a plane in a couple hours, for a full week with my Dad in St. LouIs. All this with him came up a few days before my 50th birthday (which was last Monday). And I have to say that I suddenly feel dramatically older than I have my entire life. Like my Dad's situation aged me 10 or 20 years overnight. Not trying to state that in a "woe is me" sort of way. But god damn, if I don't suddenly feel old right now, like 50 smacked me up the head with a crowbar. I am not ready to deal with this, but I'll be 'back home' in 6 short hours. I know we'll figure it all out, one way or another. Up in my head I "know" that, but I sure don't "feel" it, or anything even remotely like it, deep inside.

Anything would be better than my Dad's old, kludgy landline phones that are mostly 25-40 years old (every one of them). And his answering machine ain't so hot either. I don't think he ever figured out how to playback messages, and they seemingly auto-delete(?) after he plays them the first time. No idea where the manual got to (the machine is a 20 year old ancient digital machine -- just barely better than the old tape-based(!) machine he had before, for 10 years before that). But like everything else in my dad's house: if it still works (even if just barely), why replace it? He had an old electric kitchen stove that literally dated back to the 1920's -- which finally bit the bullet back in the 1970's -- and he was LITERALLY complaining about not being able to get parts to fix it as little as 4-5 years ago (because 10 years ago he gave it to my cousin as an antique, simply for 'display' purposes -- and before he gave it to her, he went around town to every single place he could find in the entire yellow-pages that (supposedly) fixed old stoves, trying to find someone who could get whatever replacement part it needed -- because DAMN IT, it's a perfectly good stove and would still work good as new, if only part XYZ could be replaced. Again, this is a stove dating back to the 1920's. ANYWAY, all in all, he'll be OK with the new cordless phones, and the new (integrated) answering machine -- and I really should have made him upgrade all that 10 years ago.

I think my dad will actually use, if he needs it. We don't have it installed quite yet (within the next week, I think). but I think some of them have a microphone integrated into the button device, so it's possible my dad can speak to someone on the other end of the line about his situation, and how serious it is. I understand there is no "per use" fee for pushing the button, and in fact they want the person to test it at least weekly. This is so the user (the elderly person) gets used to how easy and commonplace it is to use, so they don't have any stigma about using it (and to reinforce to them that it doesn't cost anything to at least push the button, so someone can help assess your situation.

Actually, I'm about to order a couple cordless landline phones off Amazon, with 2 separate base stations, and one of them has a much better answering machine than my dad currently has (and that'll play back messages at half-speed, if he wants). Fairly big buttons, and reasonably simple -- not 2 dozen features he doesn't need -- and fairly simply answering machine interface. That should solve a bunch of issues with his phones -- and also let him keep the phone with him at the dining room table, or in a room where the phone isn't super close -- so he *doesn't* feel like he has to RUN to get the phone (in another room). He's also going to have a panic button (probably a small unit he can wear on his wrist), for more true emergencies. It's a 60-day trial (his insurance will pay for the first 60 days), and we may get a better "help I've fallen" button after the first 60 days, one with automatic fall-detection. So that's all completely separate from the cordless phones (meaning the cordless phone isn't intended to be his emergency life-line, necessarily). Edit: Just joined Amazon Prime (finally), and I'm looking at a bunch of different cordless phones now (with a built-in answering machine), that have free one-day delivery. Seem to be lots of good options.

Those "Yo Miles!" 2CD sets are fantastic. Each one is 160 minutes, and some of the best reimagining of electric-era Miles I've ever heard. And all 3 together is like 8 hours of material.

I have to confess I don't know any of Scott Walker's music at all, though I understand David Bowie held him in the highest, of high esteem -- and may have covered a couple of Walker's tunes over the years (iirc). I'll have to listen some of the music linked to in this thread. I've read his AMG bio a time or two, and maybe his Wikipedia entry -- because of the Bowie connection -- but I have to confess to not really having any idea where to start with any of his music, which I understand changed considerably over his entire career (iirc). RIP.

Pretty reasonable price on the Larry Young. I think I paid $115 for my used copy (but without the booklet, and no box) from eBay 20 years ago -- and I thought that was a good price back then. Heaven On Earth has only ever been on CD once, back in 2010 (for about 5 minutes), and it alone tends to be pricey as hell. Here's that specific CD on Discogs, fwiw. https://www.discogs.com/Larry-Young-Heaven-On-Earth/release/5040595

Then there's also this more recent album cover, which doesn't mean shit...

Damn, I count something about 15 kitties in that photo! Well over 10, that's for sure.

The lettering configuration sure seems nearly identical to this album cover (down below, should be visible). Also, this source (bare URL link right below) has the picture above (the one in the OP), with a caption stating that the title(?) of the photo (above) is... “Miles Davis, San Francisco, 1961” by Leigh Wiener https://jerryjazzmusician.com/2015/01/liner-notes-miles-davis-person-friday-saturday-nights-blackhawk-san-francisco/

PM sent on the four (4) Hendrix Dagger titles. Thx!

Just noticing that the listing on The Bastards site says that this new LP issue also has a bonus track: "Repetition (take 2)", by Neal Hefti. I though(?) there was a previous digital-only (mp3) release of this album that had some other alternate take of one of the tracks (I don't remember any bonus material being something other than an 'alternate' - but it's been eons since I've read about/considered that digital release, which I never bought). BTW, the back-sleeve liners on this new LP issue are by Michael Cuscuna, and you can zoom this image up and clearly read the whole text quite easily (at least I was able to). You might need to cut-n-paste this URL into a separate browser page to get it to appear big enough (and maybe zoom in more, on top of that). https://www.deejay.de/images/xl/4/9/349649b.jpg More info about the release here too: https://www.deejay.de/Charles_Tolliver_All_Stars_SES-19681_Vinyl__349649 And here the dusty prose about it... https://www.dustygroove.com/item/909779

Man, oh man, I do NOT think I can resist. "Seventh Avenue" and "Love Dance" are both big favorites. And I'm not sure, but is this the first ever live version of "Teotihuacan" that's been issued so far? Not a tune title that I remember seeing that much on any of the various live Woody CDs' I have (and I have practically all of them).

I mentioned the thread, and my wife promptly wondered if half of them were all from me.

Me too. Toughest one to track down (at the time about 15 years ago), was this 1977 album: Compassion (Strata-East) aka New Tolliver (Baystate). I have the 1991 German 'Bellaphon' CD issue as Compassion. But it came out in Japan again in 2009 (as New Tolliver). I've also had about 80% of all his sideman appearances on CD too at one time or another, but traded a handful of them off because of space issues with my collection. Easily on my top-10 list of my personal list of favorite trumpeters, somewhere down around #5 or #6 probably.

Would love it on CD. There's one alternate take of a track, iirc. I think the whole session was (is?) available as mp3's off Amazon or something, iirc. But it's just about the last Toliver session I don't have on CD, if I'm remembering right.

Turns out I started a thread about these very same specific four (4) dagger releases on the Hoffman board 9 years ago. https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/which-of-the-non-live-hendrix-dagger-releases-are-most-worth-getting.229362/ So there's some crowd-sourced input on them right there. Tempting.

The Hendrix CD's on Dagger are tempting. Not sure if I'd take all of them -- I need to investigate more this weekend.