Rooster_Ties

If Andrew Hill’s date with strings qualifies (and I think it does) — then the next-generation incarnation of that is Greg Osby’s Symbols of Light (2001) — with Jason Moran, plus a string quartet (that includes Reggie Workman’s daughter on cello). The sole Moran-penned track from the album is track 2: “Replay In Kind”. I think(?) Osby may have overdubbed some additional lines on the main statements of the head, but I’m open to being corrected on that (if it’s all strings). I’m about positive Osby has done some similar overdubbing on a couple other of his BN albums from this era. Anyway, Moran’s “Replay In Kind” is a real corker… And here’s the album’s opening track #1: “3 For Civility” — which is a little less exuberant… Anyone else dig this album?

How have I never even heard of this before now? Time to track one down.

I have to confess I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything at all, from any of his leader-dates — and only a thing or two with him as a sideman. Edit: What’s his best leader-date?

Do expound!

Like everyone else on the date — Chambers is integral to my favorite Wayne Shorter leader-date, Etcetera — and his efforts there are a little more ‘visible’, since it’s just a quartet.

Just stumbled on this one with Pops…

Wow!! That was amazing!!! Incredible to see all those obscure instruments, and VERY satisfying musically too. I imagine that’s gotta be well in excess of $100,000 in instruments right there. Fuck, maybe closer to $200,000? The mind reels trying to consider it. Beautifully done. Thank you, thank you for sharing that. Remarkable.

I’ve seen it on CD out in the wild a few times, but I guess that was 12-15 years ago. I used to have one myself, but traded it off in the great purge before I moved to DC. Lot to like about it, but I never connected with it super-deeply, for some reason.

That’s why I am INFINITELY more interested in algorithmic programming, like Pandora. Especially since Pandora added “deep cuts” and “discovery” modes (although I wish you could run in both of those modes at the same time — where the algorithm plays deeper cuts by lesser-known artists — alas, Pandora won’t do that). I used to never pay a dime to Pandora, and I only listened to it with all the commercials. But when they added the “deep cuts” and “discovery” modes, I actually have been ponying up $5/month for their commercial free service, as a vote a confidence (and also because I started listening to Pandora about 5x as much). PLUS, their world music, Afrobeat, and other world pop musics coverage is certainly good enough for a relative newbie like me — further justifying my $5/month — and I can listen to the first 30 minutes of any album on-demand by watching on 30-second commercial. Not ideal, but certainly good enough for exploring things, which is all I use that for. But listening to human (or programic) curated stations (like Sirius, or MusicChoice which included free on our cable-box) is for the birds. You can’t skip tracks, and you can’t influence what’s played in any way, shape, or form. 20 years ago such a thing might have been more useful, but still extremely limiting.

We did too. Wonderful film. One of maybe 3 movies I’ve seen in a theater since the shutdown started. We used to go to about 20-30 movies a year, mostly art-house stuff (or at least half of it).

True. But I was so thankful I got to see Roma, for instance — about 3 years ago — in an actual theater. It only played in like maybe 25 cities — and thankfully DC was one of them. Absolutely gorgeous cinematography, and the black and white pallet was stunning — and a much more modern range of b&w shades than I think I’ve ever seen in any b&w film ever before. But, yeah, sticky floors are awful.

Yeah, but I sure miss seeing movies in actual theaters. Especially good movies. And quirky art house movies (the kind you can’t quite tell whether they’ll be good, or great! - or neither). And even a few documentaries here and there, yes, on the big screen.

Wow, interesting. I’d still love to hear this, but I may try and wait to find a cheaper used copy at some point then — as Woody is the biggest draw for me (though I do certainly like Cook, don’t get me wrong).

Yeah, I got some custom musicians earplugs too within my first year in the KC Symphony Chorus (custom earmolds, with inserts for 15db and 25db reduction, and of course you didn’t have to use the same inserts in both ears at the same time). My mom was an audiologist, and taught audiology at the masters-degree level — and she insisted I get a pair. And I’ve been wearing them to rock concerts for over 25 years. They weren’t cheap, but they were worth every penny.

I sang in the Kansas City Symphony for most of 10 years, often in the front row of the baritones — less than 6 feet from the bells of the French Horn section.

That sounds like a Mitch Hedberg joke. I mean, it is a Mitch Hedberg joke, but it sounds like one too.

Disc 1 and Disc 3 have the roughest sound on the set. It mostly only gets better after that (though I think Disc 2 sounds pretty good).

That’s a certifiable Andy Rooneyism right there.

It must have been his second appearance, which ends pretty abruptly — he never gets the chance to reply to her closing, so I think they really did a hard chop-edit to the thing. Appears he was on twice, and I may try and give these a listen at some point… https://freshairarchive.org/guests/howard-hesseman

Trust, but verify — gotcha.

Or how about Judi Singh, for that matter. https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.591966 https://citymuseumedmonton.ca/2021/02/19/judi-singh-a-black-south-asian-musician-from-1950s-70s-edmonton/ http://citizenfreak.com/titles/300644-singh-judy-a-time-for-love https://www.discogs.com/artist/4265027-Judy-Singh Unless I’m mistaken, she’s the one and the same who wrote and sings on this…

We could get curious about Katrina Krimsky, while we’re at it… https://www.discogs.com/release/5836689-Katrina-Krimsky-Katrina-Krimsky

Yeah, I remember Sandy getting top billing too — which I’m not saying he didn’t deserve. Just that all of them deserved it, in a way. Such a great cast. What I loved about Hesseman in KRP was how big and small his character was, all at the same time. He was at the center of so much, but always at the periphery too. He was both larger than life, AND the most “practically fade-into-the-wallpaper” character ever. He was everything and nothing. Very zen.

WKRP was an absolute classic — and Hesseman was almost the lead among many in a very, very strong cast. But the great thing was that nobody in that cast dominated. They were all equals, to my way of looking at it. Closest parallel might be Barney Miller, though Hal Linden might have be just a skosh greater in prominence. But the great thing about Hesseman was how he was both the biggest character, but also the most laidback/quietest character, all at the same time. The writing surely had a lot to do with that too, but so did Howard’s well calibrated portrayal.