Rooster_Ties

Essential Interpretations: Today's Great Artists Perform Yesterday's Classics: I don't own this, but I've come mightly close to buying it a time or two. Double CD, half of which is pretty good (with a few tracks that are excellent!!), and half of which is really a let-down. Highlights include: "Baker Street" performed by Foo Fighters (which got lots of airplay), "Wish You Were Here" by Sparklehorse with Thom York on lead vocals (he's the lead singer for Radiohead), and "Martha My Dear" by World Party. (I'm just waiting to find a used copy, really cheap.)

Re: getting the Plugged Nickel set... 200% "HELL YEAH!!!!!!!", without reservation. It's DEEP, and then some....

I even own this disc, but I had forgotten all about it... The Bridge: A Tribute to Neil Young: Very good complilation of Neil Young covers, including Nick Cave's take on "Helpless", The Pixies doing "Winterlong," and Sonic Youth doing "Computer Age" (an obscure tune I've always liked, off 1983's Trans, which originally had Neil singing through a vocoder). Pretty darn good tribute, all in all, and certainly worth getting if anyone sees it for $8 or $9, used.

Stone Free: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix: Half of this CD is really quite good, and the other half isn't. I really like The Cure's version of "Purple Haze" and The Pretender's version of "Bold As Love". (And there's also a great Pretender's version of Jimi's "Room Full Of Mirrors" on their 1986 album "Get Close".

OK, these aren't tributes to just one artist, but they are all made up of 'cover tunes' - so I think they kinda halfway count towards this thread (and I'd welcome hearing about other similar releases, made up of all 'cover tunes'.)... Ruby Trax: The NME's Roaring 40: Three CD's of cover versions of #1 hits (at least they were #1 in the U.K.). The set is bloated at 3 discs, but there's at least 1 hour of fascinating and truly great performances, and probably a 2nd hour of good ones too. (And yes, a 3rd hour that we could have all done without.) Highlights (at least for me) include: Bowie's "Ashes to Ashes" by Tears for Fears; the 70's disco hit "Ring My Bell" by Tori Amos; a totally over-the-top version of "Like a Prayer" by Marc Almond (of Soft Cell) with backup singers and a horn-section, George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord performed" by Boy George (a surprisingly good version, actually), and "Go Now" by Bowie's band Tin Machine. Well worth $12 or $15, if you see it for that price (and I have, quite frequently). 20 Explosive Dynamic Super Smash Hit Explosions!: The title and packaging are total rip-offs of K-tel 70's hits releases, and the tunes are all from that era too - except remade by alternative bands from about 1991 (the year it was released). Includes "Jackie Blue" by Smashing Pumpkins (yes, the tune by the Ozark Mountain Daredevils), long before the Pumpkins were anybody. Lot's of other great 70's hits, cick on the AMG review to see the track listing. I think there was a second volume too, but I can't seem to find it online (or maybe I was just imagining it). Hell's bells - it's still in print!! ( ) and you can sample a few of the tracks HERE (including the Pumpkins track). [EDIT: No, it's not 'in print' - but for some reason the sound samples are still on the B&N website.]

Argue all you want, but this guy is 'jazz' to me...

I don't know.... A year or two ago I borrowed a friend's copies of both of the original Blackhawk CD's (from their CD release in about 1990), and again I was pretty unimpressed by them. I found myself wanting to skip tracks fairly often, and generally the whole thing left me cold. When I want to listen to some 'live' Miles from before 1965, I almost always reach for the "Complete Concert: 1964 (My Funny Valentine & Four More)" discs, or the "In Stockholm, 1960 Complete" 4-disc set (half with Coltrane, and half with Sonny Stitt). Or "Miles in Tokyo" or "Miles in Berlin" (though a year ago I traded them both off, in anticipation of the last Miles box set coming next Fall). The Blackhawk material has always left me fairly cold, for the most part. I'm not saying it's 'bad' (or substandard), or even that it's Hank Mobley's fault --- but for whatever reason - I've just never connected with it. Even when I was first getting fanatical about Miles back in the early 90's (although I suspect I probably liked it better back then). I've been meaning to borrow Free For All's copy of the new Blackhawk CD's sometime, and see if they do anything for me. Another buddy of mine (the guy who loaned me the 1990 Blackhawk CD's) loves the Blackhawk material, and clearly others here love it too. What can I say? - except maybe my ears are on crooked.

The first time I listened to disc #1 of the new box, I was also a little put off by that many takes of "Willie Nelson" --- though I'm an admitted Miles fanatic, especially of most of the "Jack Johnson"-era music. But I'm mean, there's 52 minutes of versions of "Willie Nelson" based mostly on that same vamp - so it's bound to get a little old... ...and it sure did the first time through (for me). BUT, then I listened to all of disc #1 again (several days later, while I was making dinner --- so it was semi-focused listening, although I was doing something else at the same time too), and somehow I really connected with this music, nearly all 52 minutes of it, actually. I think part of it was that I started focusing on the individual instruments, particularly on Jack DeJohnette (man, his playing is deceptively simple at times, but always DEEP!!), and also on Sonny Sharrock and/or John McLaughlin (although I think it was Sharrock that captured my attention more so.) Man, this music really has some kick to it (at times). Not quite a kick like "Right Off" or "Go Ahead John", but still - there's a strange forward momentum to this music (even with the 'starts' and 'stops' at times) that really is a bit of a mind warp. So simple, yet so complex. All that said - the "Jack Johnson" box in general, and all the "Willie Nelson" takes in particular, would probably be better with all the discs in a 5-disc changer, on 'random' mode. Still, I have been very impressed by this box set. Of the 5 hours of material, I think fully 4 hours of it stands up very strongly. Only disc #4 (most of the slow, moody, and 'pulse'-less tunes by Hermeto Pascoal ) leaves me fairly cold. A little goes a long way with that kind of Miles (for me anyway)... ...but I think nearly all the previously unreleased material is highly interesting, and very worthy of release. And overall, I think the "Jack Johnson" box stands right up there with any of the Miles Box sets. In fact, my three favorites probably are the "1965-68" box, the "Miles & Gil" box, and the "Jack Johnson" box (all three being about equal, collectively in 1st place for me). Then I'd probably put the "In A Silent Way" box in 2nd place, followed by the "Miles & Coltrane" and "Bitches Brew" boxes in 3rd place (together). And I'm sure I'll rank the "Seven Steps To Berlin" box in 4th place (which is my 'last' place position in this ranking). For a time I wasn't even sure if I was going to get every Miles box (particularly the "Seven Steps To Berlin" box), but now that I've got all of them (so far), so I'm sure I'll take the plunge and get the last one too (especially if I can get it used and cheap sometime). Anybody know why they're NOT going to do a box for the studio material recorded after the "Jack Johnson" box????? (I understand that the "Jack Johnson" box is the last (chronologically) in the series. I really dig "On The Corner" (though I didn't right at first - but it grew on me quite a bit, over time), and I would love to hear more of that material.

...and some are quite good. Testimonial Dinner: The Songs of XTC: I could try to write my own review of this, but the AMG review perfectly fits my opinion of this release - so here it is: In short, if you like XTC, please get this -- you'll thank me. (PS: I probably like this CD as much as any XTC album.) Outlandos D'Americas: A Rock en Español Tribute to the Police: An all Spanish-language CD with covers of Police and Sting tunes (Police tunes mostly), as done primarily by groups from South and Central America. Pretty darn good, at least most of the cuts - and even the one's that aren't quite as good are at least interesting. Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland guest on one tune each (though not on the same tune). Picked it up used, and have spun it more often than I might have expected to. (IMHO, it's better than either of the two 'Reggae bands cover The Police' discs, also on the same label - Arc21.) Deadicated: A Tribute to the Grateful Dead: Dead covers by the likes of Los Lobos, Bruce Hornsby, Elvis Costello, Suzanne Vega, Warren Zevon, Midnight Oil, and Jane's Addiction. Holds up quite well, and some performances are really outstanding (Costello, Midnight Oil, and Warren Zevon in particular). Fictional: A Tribute to the Cure: Covers of Cure tunes, entirely by Swedish bands -- although everything is performed in English. Many of the tunes end up sounding like late 80's Brit-pop (many with synths and the like), including one tune that I swear is a total knock-off of Depeche Mode. Fun!! We Will Follow: Tribute to U2: Not every cut is 'fantastic', but they're all good, very good, or both 'strange' and 'very good' at the same time. Don't spend top-dollar for this, but my wife and I have taken this on numerous road trips, and have listened to it quite a bit. I guess I'd call it "better than average" - as far as tribute-albums go.

I understand that there is still some unissued Cellar Door material with McLaughlin, although the majority of it (2/3rds) is without McLaughlin. From what I've read, though, the material from the first two nights (without McLaughlin) is actually stronger than the material with McLaughlin.

Gosh, I was so looking forward to "Passing Ships" - (and thrilled about the other Conns coming out too - even if I had most of them in other formats). And I was TOTALLY blown away by the new Miles "Jack Johnson" box, and all it's previously unreleased material. So, what re-issues are on the horizon that get you even half as excited as either the recent Conns, or the recent Miles box??? In particular, what's being reissued that either has never ever been issued before (a 'new' old release, like "Passing Ships"). Or are there any releases and/or box sets on the horizon that promice some substantial previously unreleased materal??? Or, stuff that's never been on CD before (not even in Japan)??? Stuff like "The Flip". Look here for new stuff coming out soon: http://jazzmatazz.home.att.net ---> then click on "Upcoming jazz CDs"

If only this one were somehow available as a poster....

Although he hasn't ever played bass flute (or at least not that I'm aware of), I'll go on record as saying that my favorite 'current' flute player (meaning somebody playing today) is probably Gary Thomas. His main axe is tenor sax, but he doubles on flute - and I've loved nearly everything I've ever heard from him on flute.

Yup, Robert Dick was the first name I thought of too. He has a dics made up mostly of Hendrix tunes (really!!) - with quite a bit of contrabass flute. Don't have the specifics handy. I'll try to look them up a bit later tonight. Gotta run... Edit: OK, here's the specifics... Robert Dick (AMG bio): Third Stone From the Sun (New World Records, 1993) Nearly all Hendrix covers, plus a couple Hendrix-inspired originals. BUT, don't let the "Hendrix" thing give you a false impression that you know what this music sounds like. He uses Jimi's compositions as a jumping-off-point for some pretty wild improvisations - often with multiple flutes (overdubs), and (if I recall - it's been years since I've heard this) any number of the tracks would only be recognized by some diehard Hendrix fans, who really know their material (harmonically speaking). If I remember right, my favorite tune on the disc was " Pali Gap", originally an obscure Hendrix tune from the original "Rainbow Bridge" soundtrack. Quite a good disc. Take a chance, if you find it cheap.

Up for more input. Haven't had the chance to listen to any more of the 67-70 material yet, but plan to try to sneak some in late tonight, or tomorrow...

I've also (often) had a ton of trouble posting to this board over the last week or so. Frequently even just opening a thread will time-out, as will other attempts to access the board. I've had several double posts, and a couple triple posts too. Sooooooooo, very, slowwwwwwwwwwwwww.....................................

So, what the hell are people supposed to do if they buy a "CD" (or what they think is a CD), only to discover that it won't play on most of their CD-playing devices?? Thankfully we don't have this problem in the U.S. - but I fear that this won't last forever.

Now that's just plain weird!!

Me too!! Or, well, at least "All Seeing Eye" was my all-time-favorite Shorter disc, until I heard "Etcetera".

Different strokes... I bought "Think" as much for my interest in Lee Morgan as any other reason, and was relatively disappointed by it. It's fairly good at times, but Lee sounds like he's half-asleep on the date (at leat as I recall - but I haven't listened to it in 10-12 months - which is about when I first got it). But I got the TOCJ of "Turning Point" about a month ago (my first time ever hearing it) --- and Lee's playing, and 'overall' too - I think I much prefer "Turning Point" over "Think". But I'll have to dig "Think" back out and see if I missed something.

Only had time to list to "Passing Ship" today, so here goes... from "Passing Ships" (1969): "Plantation Bag" has a great groove to it, and the head is pretty darn cool too - especially in the way that it mostly has straight eighth notes (and not swung) [much like the title track off "Grass Roots"] -- and I think "Plantation Bag" has a very 'made in 1969' feel to it, with those backbeats from Lenny White. Everybody seems to like "The Brown Queen" as their favorite on the disc, and I'll admit to really liking the tune too. But I think "Cascade" is really great too - with the most 'big band'-ish writing on the whole disc (perhaps) -- and it sounds the most like a 17-piece band (when it's really only nine). The whole disc is amazing, but those are probably the three strongest tunes, IMHO. I'll get to the other 1967-70 material in short order, sometime tomorrow or Monday.

I liked "Pulp Fiction" quite a bit, and loved "Jackie Brown"!!! I too will probably go see this, perhaps with the same mindset that I went to "Natural Born Killers" with. (I mention "NBK" because I've heard "Kill Bill" is incredibly violent, as was "NBK".) "NBK" gave me a huge headache when I saw it (in a theater), but I kind of thought that was part of it's aim, so I didn't hold that against the film. On many levels, I thought "NBK" was an incredible film, and although I haven't seen it again since - I do hold the film in fairly high reguard. Not entirely sure if I'll go see "Kill Bill", but I suspect I will, if my wife shows any interest (which she might, surprisingly). Or maybe not - hard to tell.

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PS: Those of you who probably think I'm half as crazy as Aric (and probably think that with some justification, at times ), might be surprised to know that the other half the time I'm actually a pretty thoughtful sort of guy, as evidenced by my letter above. (I think the anonymity of being on-line brings out a more extroverted side of me that doesn't manifest itself in my 'off-line' world. Or maybe it's just Andrew Hill’s fault.. )