Rooster_Ties

Jeez, for 6 discs, that still comes to slightly over $15 per disc. Youch!! I'll probably take my chances with used copies on eBay. $70 or $75 would be a far more reasonable (and fair) price, IMHO.

No Hill either.

me too - it's really annoying! Just like its owner...

Holy crap, here's a QUARTER TONE clarinet!! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarter_tone_clarinet

And yes, in addition to my specific query above, let's just turn this thread into a big ol' conversation about anything clarinet related. Not so much players, but I'm thinking more that nerdy "instrument-geek" type conversation that one occasionally can get into in certain circles. Other questions that come to mind... 1) Have there ever been any "straight alto clarinet" instruments over the years?? (Not unlike a straight alto sax.) A regular alto-clarinet is rare enough as it is, so I'm guessing probably not. 2) Is a "basset-horn" really a clarinet, just pitched a tiny bit differently than an alto clarinet?? Or just "damn similar, but not quite the same" as a clarinet would be, pitched in that same key?? Also, is there even such a thing as a "modern" basset horn?? - or are all of them archaic throwbacks to a different era, a couple of centuries ago?? 3) Are all-metal standard Bb clarinets ONLY good for making into cool lamps?? I heard from somebody once probably 10 years ago, that you can still find relatively new (new-ish, less than 25 years old anyway) all-metal clarinets in Turkey, of all places. Supposedly there's been some kind of small demand for them in Turkey, off and on, for years. I don't know if Turkey was where they were being manufactured, but that's where he said that anybody who he knew had any kind of decent instrument had gotten theirs (again, talking all-metal standard Bb clarinets here -- NOT of the contrabass variety). And speaking of "all-metal" -- since there definitely ARE "all-metal" standard and contrabass clarinets (both) -- 4) have there ever been any all-metal BASS clarinets manufactured?? ( I wasn't kidding when I said nerdy "instrument-geek" type discussion. )

I've always been a bit of a fan of the Bb contrabass clarinet, which I'm mostly heard in non-jazz contexts, actually (mostly classical). Eb "Contra-alto" clarinet is cool too (which is roughly half-way in pitch between the bass clarinet and the contrabass), but especially the contrabass. [And yes, the standard bass clarinet too, but -- in some ways even more than the bass clarinet -- the regular ALTO clarinet is another under-utilized instrument, IMHO. I really wish Don Byron played alto clarinet, for instance, as his main axe.) In ANY case... Late tonight, I semi-randomly stumble on this Youtube clip below, which purports to be "two bass clarinets, one contrabass clarinet". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFpY9X6SU4E# ...except at first glance, the contrabass clarinet in the clip really looks to me quite a bit like a tenor sax -- or maybe like the way a bari-sax is wrapped up (i.e. the proportions of a bari-sax), but only the SIZE of a tenor. Now then, looking more closely, I guess I'm about half sure it really is a contrabass clarinet -- what with the flare of the bell, and the degree to which the main wind tube of the instrument increases in size over the length of the instrument. I mean, if it really were a tenor sax, it would gradually get fatter, faster -- not unlike the difference between a soprano sax and a standard Bb clarinet. (I'm not saying that very clearly, but you probably know what I mean.) Has anybody seen a contrabass clarinet (or any kind of "low" clarinet), that looks like the instrument in this Youtube clip?? – the one that looks almost like a tenor sax??

I'm certainly no expert, but is there any chance that's a rotary valve flugelhorn that Owens is playing?? My first thought seeing the clip was it sure looked more like a flugel than a trumpet to me... ...but maybe rotary-valve trumpets just look that way (more like flugels).

Luqman passed away on Sunday... SOURCE

What an amazing film. I'd love to hear Ebert's commentary, and may have to rent the DVD sometime. Is there a special edition that has Ebert's commentary?? - or is it the standard DVD edition that has this?? I've seen Citizen Kane probably 10 or maybe 12 times in my life, but nearly always on the big screen (which I consider quite a feat, considering I first saw the film in 1988). That said, it's been a good 8 years since I've last seen it. (And what few times I've seen in on video (maybe twice), it was always in the context of some "public"-like viewing, like on somebody's big-screen TV in a room with 20+ people.) Thus, I've never seen Kane at home, on my own TV. There was a major re-release of the film (with a majorly restored print) back around 1995 or '96, and it was playing on the biggest screen in town here in Kansas City for one week only. I had just moved here about 2 years before, LOVED the film, and told EVERYONE I knew that we HAD to go see it when it was playing that week. Well, what I didn't count on was most of those people taking me up on my offer -- but them NOT being able to all go on the same night ( )... Thus, I saw Kane FOUR times in the SAME week (all on the big screen). And I'll be damned if I didn't see things I'd never noticed before each and every one of those four viewings that week.

I saw the original scroll on display in the Minneapolis museum of modern art about a dozen years ago (where about 50 feet were unfurled). Haven't read the tome, I'm afraid.

So true, so true!!

Surprised the wiki article didn't mention anything of the instrument's history, like when it was first introduced?? Anybody know? I've only had very limited exposure to EWI's and/or EVI's. Mike Metheny (Pat's bro) has played EVI on a few tunes on both of the two gigs I've ever seen with him here in KC over the years. I think that might be all I've ever heard live. Can't say I've ever heard anything particularly "interesting" with EWI or EVI on record either, but (like with most things) I'm sure there are some interesting recordings out there that I'm just not aware of. Didn't realize Marshall played one (or more likely, I used to know that, but have since forgotten).

UPDATE, Luqman Ali is not at all doing well, health-wise -- but has NOT left the planet just yet. See several posts below this for an update. NEW UPDATE, Luqman Ali passed away on Sunday, per the following... SOURCE Original post that started this thread follows... ============================= Just saw this on the Steve Hoffman forum, HERE. I should say "reportedly", as I'm not sure I've heard any other confirmation, though I have no reason to believe it's not true. From that thread... I'll have to spin "Lanquidity" and "Other Voices..." soon. Especially "Other Voices..." - which is one hell of an amazing date. -- Rooster T. http://www.elrarecords.com/luqman.html (bio) Luqman Ali: artistic bio by Dave Hotep arrival: November 16, 1939 Starksville, Miss. [60 miles NNE of Philadelphia; a minute east of M.S.U.] Luqman Ali is a paradigm -- an historic archetype -- the quintessential traveling musician: born in one place at one moment, but, from the start of his professional career, finding home to be at many places over many years, all over the globe; trained from youth in the Black music of Gospel, the Blues, early Rhythm & Blues, and Jazz, during the legendary classic eras of the 1950s and 60s; skills sharpened by the hard work of years traveling through the smokey forgotten clubs, bars, and restaurants of the chitlin circuits, and in the concert halls of eminent spectacle, alongside the most famous of performing stars. Coincidence is non-existent; the time and place of his arrival here is fundamental to his path, his notable associations, and his struggle for balance between music, family, and religious responsibility. Born as Edward Skinner, from a large family of aunts and uncles and cousins; he was raised by his mother's parents, in a church oriented family that included several church ministry musicians. First musical performing experience was at 7 yrs old, as a vocalist with a spiritual quartet that performed locally in the style of the Soul Stirrers. At 9 yrs. old he was moved to Memphis Tenn. with his grandparents, who had been given a house by one of his uncles. [That uncle was 'colored people rich' -- owning a few stores and other real estate that was at the core of Black economic life in that section of the city. In the country life of Miss. the family owned 77 acres of land, fruit trees, fishin holes, horses and other animals; in Tenn. city life, all he got was a front yard.] By 7th grade he aspired to play saxophone in the school band, but couldn't immediately afford the instrument. Fortunately, he was able to buy a used drum book, sticks and practice pad from a classmate who had decided that she didn't like playing the drums. By the following school year he made the band. In Jr. High and at Douglas High School he played 2 yrs of junior band and 4 yrs of senior band, with both the marching and concert ensembles. It was during this time that he spent most of his free time fanatically woodshedding. During 9 & 10th grade, he and other classmates [including Jimmy Reed (tpt), Alan Jones (p), George Hudson (tpt)] formed an ensemble that played a weekly gig at Mitchell's Hotel -- in the same room that almost set B.B.King 's Lucille on fire. [in fact, B.B. sat in with the band on occasion, before he became nationally notable.] Through 10/11th grade the combo would become the house rhythm section for visiting professional musicians. During this time he was greatly influenced by a drummer named William C Tyres, who held the 1st drum chair at his school, and whose style reminds him now of Jo Jones and Gene Krupa. He remarks that Joe Dukes (another local drummer who would later become associated with Jack McDuff and M.L.K. Jr. saxophonist Ben Branch) "was the greatest drummer I ever heard". He also admired and learned from the works of Max Roach, Clifford Brown, Art Blakey, and James Moody. After graduation, the band was able to get some road work, augmented with Danny Carmichael (a former Little Richard "house rockin’ sax player). During these travels, they became road buddies with the Five Royals. Through this association they were able to forge a relationship with Universal Attractions. U.A. was the largest entertainment agency representing Black music at that time, and booked the most successful R&B bands of the day, including James Brown, The Midnighters, Jackie Wilson, Same Cooke, and others. So, in the late 1950s, he began traveling and performing in the road bands of these artists. Although he was now performing in the pinnacle of the R&B circuit, he was a known 'jazz head', and was left somewhat dissatisfied with the music of that artistic scene. By 1959 he was in Los Angeles, California, playing in the Brass Rail Burlesque Club's house band -- a 7-nights-a-week gig that lasted over a year. This grueling gig provided background music for (and between) exotic dancers and comedians such as Redd Foxx, Sloppy Daniels, and LaWanda Page. It was during this time that he first came into contact with the Nation Of Islam, which would later transform his spiritual philosophy. What helped transform his mind from settling in California was one of its' earthquakes. In 1960/61 he was on the move again; found himself in Chicago. Here, George Hudson, his best friend from gradeschool, had been settled for nearly a year, engrossed in music school. George had also recently begun working with Sun Ra and his Arkestra. This is how Edward Skinner was first introduced to Sun Ra. He was intrigued by both Ra and the sound of his band, and immediately started sitting in with them during their tenure at the Wonder Inn, where Sun Ra was rehearsing and performing 5 days a week. Not so different from the strenuous work he had just left in California -- they would both rehearse and perform Sunday thru Thursday; Jack Dejohnette's band played the Friday/Saturday slot. Not one to settle in one place for long, he soon found himself back "home" in Memphis, Tenn. He was living and performing at the Trumpet Inn, with a house band that included a young, unknown Isaac Hayes. By 1964 he had become fully immersed in the doctrines of the Nation Of Islam, and was transformed from Edward Skinner to Luqman Ali. He was brought to Springfield, Ill. as a part of the core cadre tasked to build the first NOI Temple established in that city. This was literally a brick-by-brick endeavor that not only required him to construct the building and build the congregation, but also engage in coalmining to augment the building fund. By this time he was a man called to religious duty, with a wife and children soon to be. Music became a past-life ambition that was forgotten for almost 15 years. In 1976, he and his family spent half a year in North Africa, intending to emigrate there, but unfortunate circumstances forced them to return to the U.S. A new phase of musical energy and education was soon sparked for him. In 1977 he was living in New York City and performing again -- making gigs and recordings with Sun Ra. He also began private studies with a NYC drum teacher whom he had found via Downbeat magazine. In the mid 1980s, after moving again to Ill., he enrolled full-time in the music program at Southern University at Evansville where he took the required classes in multi-instrumental performance and music theory. There, many of his "teachers" acknowledged him as an already accomplished and notable musician -- by now securely associated with the recordings of Sun Ra. In the late 1980s, he moved to a private residence in Philadelphia, Pa. He was again functioning as a member of Sun Ra's Arkestra. For a few years he briefly returned to Islamic practice as a member of NOI – until 1995, when he became a permanent resident at the House of Ra. Presently, from there, he continues to rehearse, record, and tour as a member of the Sun Ra Arkestra under the direction of Marshall Allen. It is no mere coincidence that Luqman Ali has had much of his adult life tied to the orbits of Elijah Muhammad and Sun Ra. For him there is much similarity in the revolutionary cosmological philosophy of these two spirits who were, at a common moment, both religious and artistic oracles in the city parks of Chicago, and represented ascendancy in Black thought that was at the vanguard of the growing struggles for democratic rights and Afrocentric self-sufficiency. Both spirits residing at the focal point of a community that was at the threshold of an artistic explosion that might have rivaled NYC's more famous Harlem Renaissance. No: this is not coincidence; this is myth-science.

Pretty slim pickins for vinyl in KC these days. There's a relatively new(er) place on 39th Street, just about 5 or 6 blocks east of State Line (address might be in the 900 block of west 39th St.). I forget the name exactly - it's in an old two-story house on the north side of the street. There's also a place or two out in Johnson County (on the Kansas side), or so I've heard. Not sure if they're still open. Others here can report back with more details than I'm able to provide. Slim pickins for vinyl, and used CDs too. There's a place in Lawrence KS (about an hour west of KC), that's pretty good (relatively speaking) -- Love Garden, if I'm remembering the name right. The best place in KC, Recycle Sounds, closed up a couple years ago -- long, long story.

Look elsewhere for burns. Not kosher around these parts.

My wife and I bought a Prius about 15 months ago, with absolutely no complaints. Would buy another one again in a heartbeat. And even without the 45 MPG gas mileage (sometimes closer to 50), I'd still buy the car again based solely on performance, handling, and comfort alone. The only thing I wish is that there had been a Prius station wagon, although with the back seats down and the hatchback, the car is at least 2/3rds of a station wagon already.

Anybody know??

Where does this fit?? Good? Bad? Trivial? The 'norm' of late? ("Airbag", "Paranoid Android") ("Fitter Happier", "Optimistic", "The National Anthem", "Karma Police") ("Exit Music (From A Film)", "Lucky") Not having attended a big university (I went to little ol' Knox College, with then a size of 1,000 students total, and now 1,200 or so -- and no marching band), I have practically no experience with this whole sub-culture, either in the past or present. Not being a sports fan (to put it mildly), I've rarely encountered marching bands in my enitre life. (I guess Youtube is the way to go for me, in this area. )

Hip Hop Violin Mad skilz, yo! (And perhaps even more importantly, mad intonation, word! ) Edit: "Crazy" shortly after 4:10. Even cooler shit after that, which I can't ID.

What's with all the eleventyeleven!!!!!!!!!!!! crap I see from time to time, mostly on Fark.com (and there I almost always think it's making fun of something else). Damn kids. And they need to get off my lawn too.

Well, whether or not the list is very "complete" (in terms of representation of various styles/eras) -- one can probably say that there's not a whole lot of crap on the list either. (Or at least a lot less than one might have expected, given the way that it was put together.)

Lard knows if I had posted this, I'd have gotten it with both barrels from you-know-who.

Due here in Kansas City (at the Blue Room), Thu., Aug 23rd. I'll be there, for sure!! (And it'll be DAMN hot here, of that I'm sure too.)