Rooster_Ties

So, if you've got Sibelius (or some other music notation software, or some really good musical penmanship), and are crazy enough to want to try and write some tunes for the most subversive handbell choir known to mankind -- this is your big chance!! When we play (in church services), we typically need three tunes on a given Sunday. Two short tunes (about 2 to 3 minutes each), and one longer one (so about 4 or 5 minutes, for the offering). There are some funny goals to consider in this kind of music, somewhat unique to handbells. The parts need to be busy (even what some might call "really busy"), but at the same time NOT too complicated. In other words, LOTS of notes (to keep everyone in the group somewhat busy), but NOT lots of rhythmic complexity. The group can handle notation down to 8th notes, with occasional 16th notes if they're part of repeated patterns that they can get in their heads. Triplets, maybe. We can't swing 8th notes worth a damn, unfortunately, though it's something I intend to work on with the group (if we can find music suitable for that). Remember, very few people in the group had ever read any musical notation of any sort as recently as two years ago. Everyone plays off the same part (exact same score) -- so you wouldn't have to create any separate parts for separate ringers. Usually one two or three page musical score (assuming there's a repeat or two in there) is enough to cover 2 or 3 minutes of music. The ringers just circle (or high-light) their notes (from the larger score), and only pay attention to their own notes that way. But the other notes kind of give everyone a road-map for where they are in the larger context of the piece. In short, handbell music often looks just like a piano piece for a pianist with 20 fingers. There is tradition of composers (even big names, like Beethoven and Brahms) who wrote pieces for "students" -- that weren't nearly as complicated as what they were otherwise capable of writing (obviously). Think of this as something like that. A chance to write for a specific set of musical requirements, and then how interesting can you make things within the limitations of what the group is able to do technically. I haven't got a lot of budget for this, but depending on the complexity involved, and the time you put in -- I've got $75 to $100 or so (total) to offer anyone who wants to take on writing a set of three pieces, about about 2-3 minutes in length for two of them, and 4 or 5 minutes in length for the third piece.

This morning (in church) was the debut of our newly purchased bells -- a three octave 'used' set dating back to the late 70's, that we got on eBay about 6 weeks ago (saving us $3,000 over the cost of new). And to break 'em in right, this morning we did a collaborative performance with a free jazz trio (called "Snuff Jazz" -- they're about as free as Ornette all through the 60's), with a guy who has a bunch of hybrid horns he made himself (much like Roland Kirk), plus bass and drums. He wrote out some charts with patterns for us to follow (and a bunch of repeats) -- music that created a 'form' for his group to improv over. It was pretty crazy, and was programmed for a service about Evolution (and I billed the music as being the "evolution" of a church handbell ensemble). It all came off pretty well. A lot of people loved it, and a few people hated it, but I think more than anything, people did think it was interesting. One thing's for sure, everyone had some sort of big fat visceral response, of some kind. (Mission accomplished!!) Now, most of the time though, we play entirely 'through-composed' stuff -- though I'll be experimenting with -- well -- any interesting options I can come up with (through-composed, or otherwise). We're playing next at the end of March in an "anti-war" church service, with original arrangements of Elvis Costello's "What's So Funny About Peace, Love and Understanding" (yes, I know Nick Lowe wrote it, but everyone only knows Costello's version). And Neil Young's CSNY song "Ohio" ("four dead in Ohio"), and then to cap it off -- "Get Together" ("Come on people now, smile on your brother, everybody get together..." - best known in the version by The Youngbloods in the late 60's. And speaking of improv, the version of "Ohio" has a section in the middle with a lot of random ringing (within given pre-set chords) over the main repeated bass-line of the song, for about 16 bars or so. The goal with that piece is to sound like an angry, pissed-off handbell ensemble (if such a thing can be done). So, in short, we at NOT your average church handbell choir.

OK, as some of you might remember -- my wife and I lead a crazy church handbell ensemble at our Unitarian Church (Unitarian Universalist, actually). Have for a little over two years now (a group we started ourselves, from scratch). We have three octaves of bells (from the C below middle C at the bottom, up to the C two octaves above middle C), and we can occasionally borrow more bells from another church -- above and below our 3-octave pitch set (about an octave more in either direction). But we try to lean towards music that sticks mostly within our regular 3-octave limits. We have anywhere from 8 or 10 ringers (people), and sometimes as many as 12 to (at most) 15 ringers. Lately it's been about 10 or 12 ringers, average. Most are not trained musicians (70% of them hadn't even read a note a music when we first began), but they're enthusiastic, and we've played some interesting stuff over the two years we've been at it. The beauty of handbell ensembles is that collectively they can play music that is MUCH more complicated than any individual in the group could play, or needs to be able to play. Each ringer is usually responsible for just two notes/bells (for example, say G and A), plus the accidentals related to those notes (Gb & Ab, or G# and A#). Yes, that's theoretically 5 bells per person, but most pieces don't use all 12 chromatic notes equally, so each ringer usually only plays two or three bells per piece at most. (And even with key changes, at any given moment, there's usually only two or three bells (per ringer) in any one section that are particularly active).

I've never seen one myself, but this appears to the the original cover on the left (sorry about the crappy size, which is only a little better if you click on the image)... ...contrasted with the similar (but not quite the same) cover of the recent reissue...

I was wondering the same thing! Anything ever come of this? Was just searching for Kloss on the board, and this thread came up -- which I had forgotten about.

Just purchased new copy of "Brown Rice" on CD from Dusty Groove, with the following cover (in a jewel box) from Germany (the back says "West Germany")... I used to have this on CD many years ago (a friend begged me to trade it to him, and I did), but with a different cover -- specifically this one... What I can't remember (and this is mighty trivial, I know) is whether the older issue came in a Jewel Box, or if it was in a Digipack?? My vague memory is that the older issue (the one with the 2nd non-"Jazz Heritage" cover, and the more complete cover photo) came in a Digipack. I now have an opportunity to trade my new issue for my buddy's old one (that was once mine). But as much as I like the full (original) cover, I really dislike Digipacks (even more).

Let me set the scene: the group was in the living room, and the recorder was in the 2nd bedroom down the hall. And the only tape that survives is a 40th generation copy of the original. (And THAT'S putting it politely too.) On second thought, how's about we say it's "just about the worst sounding thing I've ever heard in my entire life". At least 100x worse than THE absolute worst Hendrix bootleg I've ever heard (and I've heard plenty).

Terence Blanchard's "Romantic Defiance" (Columbia, 1995) includes Kenny Garrett playing exclusively tenor. Always meant to pick this one up out of curiosity, since Garrett's alto tone is VERY distinctive. (Heard it once at a friends house years ago, but didn't realize it was Garrett on the date until later.)

Hey, Schuster...

Hey, Schuster...

Hi, and welcome to the board!! And no, I'm not JazzRooster.

Got it, thanks!!!!

Much appreciated, but PM not recieved as of about 1am Central. (Nor any e-mail.) Please retransmit -- much thanks!!

Nice gesture. :rsmile: Super nice!!!

Ron was kind enough to send me his latest CD "Everything in a Dream" (just out of the blue, completely unexpectedly -- I never ordered it, and didn't pay him a dime for it), after I saw him here in Kansas City last year. I keep meaning to send him a thankyou note, but have lost his contact info. Ron and I spoke for a good 30 to 40 minutes after the gig (into the wee hours of the morning), primarily about Andrew Hill, with whom Ron played quite a lot in recent years. We traded contact info, and low and behold -- this CD of his shows up in the mail a few weeks later. What a surprise!! I'm at least 6 months overdue thanking him, and really need to. Ron was an exceptionally nice guy, in person, and then the CD! PM me the info, if somebody has it. Many thanks!!

Yes. Silly question, since by law, it has to.

How about this (SOURCE, complete with jaw-dropping headline)...

Agreed, DS9 was pretty freaking great, especially after Worf joined the crew. I lost interest after Jadzia died, though. Ditto here, on all points. DS9 still holds up in reruns (except that last season), which I still catch every once in a while (on Spike TV). The multi-episode story arcs were great (sometimes 5 to 8 epsiodes at a time). And the HUGE cast of extended characters on DS9 really made it one of the most interesting Sci-Fi productions in television history. Some might call it a Soap Opera in space, but there's a lot to be said for NOT having to wrap up every story line in 52 minutes each week.

Woody has been my "current favorite" trumpeter for going on about 5 years now... Funny how certain musicians just speak to you (not the same musicians speak to everyone, but those that do speak to you, really do -- if you know what I mean). Their solos "tell stories" to you, in a sense. Their musical language -- whether you understand it technically (or not, as in my case) -- just demands your attention, even with repeated exposure. Woody is like that for me, and solidly he has kept my attention for the better part of half a decade. And slowly I chip away at collecting his entire (released) recorded output. I'm not fanatical about getting everything, but I know that eventually I will have most of it -- if for no other reason than anything with his name on it piques my interest. (And yes, I have heard a good handful of things by the man that DIDN'T float my boat, so this isn't just a blind obsession. I've even traded off those things that didn't quite cut it -- his studio albums with Art Blakey in the early 70's, for instance, or some of that "Paris Reunion" stuff in the mid 80's.) But man, when he was 'on' -- he was "ON"!!

All I ever watch The Grammys for is the musical performances. And most years I just tape it, and go back and cherry pick the few things I'm mildly currious about. On that basis alone, I actually thought this year wasn't all that bad. The Feist performance with the chamber horn section was really quite lovely, and I'd buy a recording of it (like as a bonus track or something) without much pause. The Foo Fighters with the orchestra (lead by John Paul Jones) was pretty cool too. Nothing earth shattering, but better than expected. Tina Turner wasn't half bad, and it was kinda cool to see The Time again. As someone said above, it's just The Grammys. Going into it with low expectation, and a finger on the FF button really does improve things. I think I got through the whole thing in about 30 or 40 minutes this morning. Some of the music, here and there, wasn't half bad at all.

Turned the tube on just in time to see Herbie win. Damn! How old is the average age of Grammy voters?? THAT'S the answer as to why Herbie won. I've got the whole sorry mess on tape to watch later. With remote in hand, and the 'fast forward' button never more than 5 mm from my index finger, I'll watch what I want and need to see in about 15 minutes flat. 20 seconds here (damn, that sucks), 20 seconds there (damn, that sucks EVEN MORE!), 20 seconds there (holy crap, is THAT ever a pile of steaming suck). You get the idea.

Working my list down to something I can afford -- thanks for all the advice people. (I've about got it down to 15 discs at this point.) Three titles I'd still LOVE to get, but I can't seem to find any on-line sound-samples to seal the deal, are... Anybody have any more luck than me finding on-line soundclips of these three?? Even just a clip from one track would be helpful. (Side note: I've been amazed at how many of these weird, obscure Dusty things that I HAVE been able to find on-line clips for. Damn near everything I've posted about in this thread. That REALLY helps with taking chances on things.)

What certain age?? Shuster was born in 1967 (so he's about 40). Pretty close call, if you ask me. I mean, if he was 25, sure, give him a pass. But 40? It's not like he's MTV's John Norris, who'll be 50 (50!!!!) sometime next year (Wikipedia says Norris was born in '59). Norris dyes his hair blond now (here he is, below, on the left), so as to look even more like a goofy teenage idiot. Now that's TOTALLY PIMP, if you ask me. But just don't ask me to say it out loud on TV, cuz I'll be 40 next year myself.

Yup, that's all I've got saved. No way I can get all of it, clearly.