Rooster_Ties

What about Slim Man?? Actually, a top-drawer sax-playing friend of mine once played congas for Slim Man (as a local pickup musician), at some dance-club here in Kansas City. He (my buddy) had been co-listed in the back of the local jazz rag, both in the 'sax' section, and also as a 'percussionist'. He and Slim Man played with canned background tracks, with about 3 layers of synths, and a drum machine. My buddy's wife, his brother, and I -- we all got half-drunk, and actually went to the gig at the dance club. Some of the worst "live" music I think I've ever heard, but the crowd seemed to dig it, at least slightly. That, or maybe the syncronized lights from the dancefloor (where Slim and my bud were set up), when they piped the canned background tracks through the club's sound-system.

Specifically to "There It Is". Your rooster avatar was compin' along with the rhythm guitarist. Funky as hell! I've since changed my Avatar yet again, but in case anyone missed it - it was briefly this...

Andrew Hill!!!!!

CLICK HERE to hear Casey Kasem go nuts (another .wav file, not safe for work).

Don't CLICK HERE if you are at work, and have the speakers on your PC turned up. (Link just goes to a .wav audio file.)

A strong second for Tubin. I haven't spent enough time with his symphonies (not enough to feel like I really know them yet), but I always am glad when I think to put them on.

Which one(s)???

Well, I'll take #8, though I might defer to a higher number, depending on when #8 really turns out to be.

I'd like to compile a Blindfold Test sometime after the first of the year, maybe in late Jan. or anytime in Feb. - no rush. I only have a handful of tracks in mind, so far, and want to dig for some more -- and I know I won't have much time in December. -- Rooster T.

You know, none of this would have happened in the first place - if only Musicboy had been in charge.

I'm sure others here will have more insight about this topic than I do... But it's my understanding that most of these bargain recordings fall into roughly two categories... 1) Reissues of older recordings that have already paid for themselves. Not necessarily really old recordings, but even fully-digital recordings from the 80's and or even early 90's. Of the labels you listed, I'm pretty darn sure that EMI Classics falls in this category, and Seraphim Classics probably does too (though I'm having a tough time remembering the Seraphim series - but I'm sure I'd recognize it if I saw one). 2) Now Naxos is a different story, as I understand it. They record primarily less well-known orchestras and chamber groups (and frequently non-union orchestras - I think), and they have a fairly "medium tech" recording process and set-up that they use. (I don't want to call it "low tech", but I'm sure they use somewhat less than "state of the art" equipment, and they have their own engineers that probably do their thing on the cheap (to some extent) too). Naxos also always has fairly generic cover art, which requires relatively little expense (or at least less than the norm for any release on Sony Classical, for instance). And the conductors and soloists they employ are usually not very well recorded folks who can command higher wages. I love Naxos. Most of their recordings are very good, IMHO. Is every Naxos recording the best version of a given work?? Probably not. Are most Naxos discs fairly good versions, most of the time?? I think so. And often their recordings are really great. And while they don't always hit a home run, every time, with every recording --- I have yet to find a Naxos disc that I really disliked. (And I've probably got close to 200 Naxos CD's) AND, Naxos' WONDERFUL "American Composers" series is worth it's weight in gold. Many of the works are receiving their world premier release on CD, or even world premier recording (in any format). And in most cases, I would gladly pay nearly double for most of the "American Composers" series. And as a direct result of all of them being priced at $6.99 to $7.99 per disc - I own nearly the entire series.

Dual Mr. Tillman Anthony

I wish. 10 or 12 years ago I went so far as to send a snail-mail to Val (in London, or at least somewhere in England – as I recall), in the hopes of purchasing a print of a particular B&W photo of Ornette (with a full beard!!), Dewey, Charlie, and Ed Blackwell - practicing in some sort of “loft” type space, with high ceilings, and exposed rafters. And huge windows behind the band, with lots of light coming in. Never did hear back. PS: I just found the photo in John Litweiler's excellent bio of Ornette "A Harmelodic Life". In my hard-cover edition, it's one of the photos between pages 124 and 125 (the 'photo' pages are not numbered). It's right opposite the picture of Ornette and Anthony Braxton playing pool (also a cool pic). It's this picture (below), except not so damn cropped. They've chopped poor Charlie and Ed Blackwell clean out of the photo!!

I may have to disagree with you, my friend. Have you heard this material? It's some amazing stuff- I think a lot of the the pre-Wayne Miles recordings get overlooked and underrated. I personally am a fan of George Coleman, plus you've got some very interesting Sam Rivers here, too. I do think the quintet really came into its own w/Wayne, but don't sell this one short. Some of the most amazing rhythm section work you'll EVER hear. Maybe not the most radical or innovative period, but one worth checking out without a doubt. Tony is amazing. Herbie is amazing. Ron Carter is a rock. Excellent music. Absolutely agree! Love the My Funny Valentine/Four & More concert and the Antibes set! Will Miles in Berlin be included in that box, too? Should be, no? That's a beautiful SOUNDING album! You get the idea you could hear a feather falling to the floor on that one! (I've got it on a japanese Sony or CBS or whatever CD, sounds marvellous). And I never ever heard the Rivers album (and as I might not be the only one who needs this *problem* fixed, the set might hold at least one surprise...) ubu I meant to say that as far as PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED studio material goes, I can't imagine that the "Seven Steps To Berlin" box will have anything even half as interesting as the unreleased material from the Jack Johnson box. I didn't mean to dis those early 60's years quite that much. I like that period, sure - who doesn't. It's just that it doesn't 'excite' me the way later Miles periods do. I just meant to say that as far as previously unreleased studio material goes -- we've heard just about everything that's of major interest, now that the Jack Johnson box is out.

Look at the track-listing for both the Smitsonian and the big Ken Burns box. Pick a subset of tunes from those two sources, and suplement it with a few tunes of your own choice, from your own collection. I think the Smitsonian set is getting a bit on the 'old' side, in terms of favoring earlier styles (with very little after 1960), but it's not like the Ken Burns set covers the whole gambit either. Don't forget a couple circa 1970 gems, like maybe Joe Henderson's "Black Narcissus" (the version from "Power to the People"), and maybe a Charles Tolliver big-band tune off "Music Inc & Big Band". ( My wife has responded relatively well to Tolliver tunes for some reason - and the only jazz she normally likes are piano trios ). Maybe a track off Herbie's "Speak Like A Child", since the horns don't solo, but provide such a nice harmonic framework for things. Maybe a ballad from a 1967 Miles Davis studio recording. Just some ideas to get you started, in terms of things to add beyond Smitsonian and Ken Burns -- which are both good starting points.

A-fuckin'-men to that, couw.

Just called my mechanic, and the problem was just a blown fuse. Didn't ask him how much, but I'm sure it's like $2 or so. And the tow didn't cost me anything either - covered under my insurance. Cool beans!!!!

I totally agree with you on this, Dan. Child endangerment of the highest degree.

Since Unitarian Universalism is coming up fairly high on a few of our lists, and since I be a UU, here is beliefnet.com's description of... What Unitarian Universalists Believe... I'm most proud to say that Thomas Jefferson was a Unitarian, as were also John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Millard Fillmore, William Howard Taft, Benjamin Franklin, Paul Revere, Susan B. Anthony, Clarence Darrow, Daniel Webster, Adlai Stevenson, Thomas Paine, Horace Greeley, and Ethan Allen. Also Ray Bradbury, e. e. cummings, T. S. Eliot, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Carl Sandberg, Pete Seeger, Henry David Thoreau, Kurt Vonnegut, and Frank Lloyd Wright.

Man, any Michael Jackson case is just like the O.J. case was for me... It doesn't matter a hill of beans what I think about it, or if I stay the least bit informed about it either. My goal is to NOT know anything about the Michael Jackson case, at any given point in time, throughout the entire thing. When I first moved to Kansas City, I didn't have a TV - and this was in the fall of 1994. I successfully avoided ALL of the O.J. trial coverage, and all broadcast media accounts of it -- and consider myself as being a far better person for having done so. When the verdict was announced, it was my goal to go as long as humanly possible without knowing the verdict. This, despite the fact that the company I worked for set up frickin' televisions in the cafeteria that day (and in the days preceding), so that everyone could watch the verdict live, whenever it came down. Unf*cking believable... ( Needless to say that I won't be checking any of the "Michael Jackson" threads on this board -- except maybe to look for responsed to this post. )

Fairly traditional Turkey Day™ with my wife's parents (who live in town, as my folks live in St. Louis), probably with my wife's slightly younger brother there too (maybe with his girlfriend too?? - maybe not?? - maybe with one or both of her kids by a prior marriage?? - maybe not?? --- no tellin' until the time comes). The TV will have football games on all afternoon, even when we're in the other room feeding our faces. Fortunately I love my wife's folks dearly, and they are really great to have around, so close. Any my wife's mother is a great cook too.

Just took the quiz, and here's my "top-5" matches... 1. Unitarian Universalism (100%) 2. Secular Humanism (99%) 3. Liberal Quakers (87%) 4. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (84%) 5. Nontheist (72%) And guess what!!! - I really am a 'devout' Unitarian-Universalist, and I have been for about 3-4 years. (And my beliefs have been consistent with UUism for at least 10 years.) I also belonged to a local Secular Humanist group (for about 6 months) when I first moved to Kansas City, back around 1994. As a kid, I was brought up in the United Church of Christ, which is a liberally dogmatic mainstream Protestant church. (And I also frequently went to a liberally dogmatic mainstream Presbyterian Church as a kid too.) How about you??? I'd be interested in see all of us take this quiz, and report our findings here. (That includes those of you who do not consider yourself to be particularly religious, including atheists, as well as those that just aren't all that interested in religious discussions of any sort. I won't mention any names, but I think you know who you are.) No reason, just curious... By the way... ...that's a bit of a UU joke. UU congregations include theists, agnostics, and even some atheists too. (To be a 'devout' Unitarian-Universalist is a bit of an oxymoron.)

Even if YOU don't know what faith you are, Belief-O-Matic™ knows. Answer 20 questions about your concept of God, the afterlife, human nature, and more, and Belief-O-Matic™ will tell you what religion (if any) you practice...or ought to consider practicing. Warning: Belief-O-Matic™ assumes no legal liability for the ultimate fate of your soul. To try Belief-O-Matic™ for yourself, all you have to do is: CLICK HERE. Also, be sure to cut-n-paste at least the top 5 matches, based on your answers, and post them to this thread!! PS: Be sure to answer the "What priority do you place on this selection?" question after each of the actual questions in the quiz. That allows a sort of 'weighted' score, which will return better and probably more accurate results. [Would that all on-line quizes had some sort of way of denoting if you think that your particular answer to a particular question is particularly meaningful (or not).]