Rooster_Ties

Obviously I'm no expert in Calculus, or Mathematica - so my appologies if I was speaking out of turn (which I probably was). In any case, the moral of the story is that I discovered that 'pure math' wasn't the life for me. I can appreciate some aspects of higher math (or at least I remember a time when I was able to), but I'm afraid I just couldn't "get into it" with anywhere near enough of the enthusiasm necessary, in order to really pursue "pure math" as my life's calling.

Part of the problem, at least in Kansas City, is that frankly; most of the time the jazz scene here is boring as hell. Well, at least 80% or even 90% of it is. Half the cats might as well be phoning it in, and it's like pulling teeth to get them to play anything that's in any way challenging, or creative. (And I mean just playing with fire, and I’m not talking about doing anything “out”, or “free”.) There's a core group of very talented musicians, who sometimes play in creative contexts, and can make it happen when they do... ...but the rest of the time, they're about as exciting as multi-grain whole-wheat bread (which is better than plain white bread, but still). And, there’s several relatively well-known guys (well-known in the Kansas City area) who I believe really haven't done a truly "creative" thing in over 20 years. I mean, playing "Footprints" is a big stretch for them, and they've been known to fuck up the changes on that!! (I know, I've heard ‘em do it). Now, there are a few (maybe as many as a dozen or so) active Kansas City musicians around – real musicians – who normally play anything from 'well', to 'pretty well', to 'pretty darn well', to 'hot damn!!' - depending on the context they're in, and how much freedom it allows them. But most of the time, there’s not that much freedom to be had. For instance, to the best of my knowledge, there are NO active organ trios in town, or even bands with a B3 (there was one a few years ago, since broken up). And there's one guy who plays some half-ass synth keyboard with a B3 setting, but he's one of the guys I bitched about in the second paragraph of this post. I, for one, am rarely motivated to go out and hear any live music in this town - cuz there's only about one or two shows a month (3 tops) with all local guys, that are ever even worth walking out the door for. And there's only one club in town anymore that ever brings in outside acts (Greg Osby a couple months ago, Greg Tardy next month, usually one or sometimes two great out-of-town acts per month). There have got to be better scenes than this in other towns, cuz if this is the future of jazz - then jazz is on life-support, and it’s dyin' fast. (Not that I think it really is dyin', overall -- but the scene here in K.C. is way more "shit" than it is "the shit", and I fear the same for anything short of New York, Chicago, and cities of that kind of size.) HEY, YOU, that guy from K.C. who lives like less than a mile west of me!!! Get in here, get registered, and get in the game. I know you lurk here all the time (and used to lurk back on the BNBB), and this thread - if nothin' else - needs your input.

That Bastard!!! Great story!!!

From the Kansas City Star "stuff around town 'gossip' column" (for lack of a better descriptive term) on Sunday...

Most certainly. Definitely!!

I was originally going to be a Math major in college, because I got a 780 on the Math section of the SAT (and at the time, there wasn't any way to get a 790 - so that means I only missed one question on the whole math section). So I took "Calc I" my first term in college (term = 1 quarter, sorta - weird system at the college I went to, don't ask for any more details, too weird to explain). I think I got an "A", and then I took "Calc II" my second term in college, and probably got another "A" or maybe an "A-". The I got to "Calc III", which was subtitled "Multi-variable Calculus". All this was pre-Mathematica, around 1987, although I think we had an early beta-copy of Mathematic at the college at was at, so we could all see what was right on the horizon. So then, every term, week after week, we kept learning new (and "exciting" ) ways to integrate different kinds of equations. Yeah... We got some theory, and we had to do proofs (which I didn't care for much), but 75% of what we were doing was learning dozens and dozens of methods of integration. Lord if I remember now, but I think we had learned something like 70 or 80 methods of integration by the end of the 2nd term (each term was 10 weeks long, about the same as a quarter - although as much was packed into our "terms" as other college's "semesters"). Then I get to "Calc III - Multivariable", and it's like the 3rd week of the term, on a Friday morning, 3rd hour (meaning the class that runs from 11:10am to 12:20pm), and I'm half-asleep, and the lecture topic of the day was "third order partial derivatives in multidimensional space", and in a dream-like state (I said I was half-asleep) the heavens opened up, and it said in bright purple neon lights... THIS ISN'T ENOUGH FUN!!!! And I called my advisor that afternoon, and changed my major to Computer Science that very same day. True story, honest to god. Now I'm not sure I even remember the Quadradic formula (although I think I could pick it out of a line-up.) I mean, come on!!! With Mathematica, can't you just integrate like ANY equation, no matter what kind it is, though "sampling" techniques - and to hell with all the methods of integration. Right???? It all seemed like a huge waste of time to me, and nobody I actually knew (other than other Math majors, and some Physics majors) even had any idea what the hell any of it was all about. I mean, it's not like you can explain even the simplest of concepts of higher-math to even the most intelligent non-Math majors (other than Physics geeks). If you've got a burning passion for it, I say more power to you... I didn't, so I bailed out. Turns out I'm not so happy with Computer Science as a career either, so what the hell do I know?? ( FYI, I'm currently trying to figure out how to change careers, after having been laid-off as a business analyst in Information Systems about six months ago. I sucked at programming, always have, and in IT these days, it's pretty much only the techies that are getting hired - if even that. Reminds me that I need to start a thread here (on this board), about how other people have gone about radical career changes. I'm currently looking at areas related to Urban Planning, Historic Preservation, Transportation Planning, Architecture/Engineering/Design, Museum Curatorships, some sort of Archivist role (in music), Institutional Planning and Research (at the University level), and Not-For-Profit Work doing something like grant-writing. I have two B.A.’s from a strong Liberal Arts college, in Computer Science, and also in Music. )

I've nuked the "20pt" type in my previous posts – sorry about that. I just wanted to make sure you saw my questions, since they were directed towards you. I think we're more in agreement, than disagreement - though I might still quibble with the finer details of, well, the semantics of things. I am strongly pro-women's rights and gender equality, but there is a wing of academic feminism (not all of academic feminism, but part), that has taken to labeling all men (meaning "every man") as being a potential rapist that hasn't yet actually committed rape. And they believe that majority of men think about rape all the time (sex = rape), and (for a few of the most extreme authors) for whom sex between a man and a women is, by definition, a kind of rape. I was in a round-table discussion group around men's issues for a number of years, several years ago, and when I hear anything that sounds like it's going down that road... Well, let's say that I was good this time and didn't start flaming away. I think it's probably best to recognize that we probably agree more than we disagree on this point, and I should probably just leave it at that. Peace.

I just wanted to point out what a mega-cool word "Organissimosiosos" is... I had to say it out loud like 6 or 7 times, before I could even come close to pronouncing it. The stress is on the second-to-last syllable, right?? Organissimosiósos

I'm, sorry... What were you saying???

Horace Silvers' "The Jody Grind" is certainly one. I'm told that the U.S. CD issue was mastered off an LP, and I think I've verified this personally, with the volume turned way up, and with some headphones. Don't know what that means for the master tapes (lost?), but in any case - this one sure needs help. I've also generally thought McCoy Tyner's "Tender Moments" and "Expansions" could both sure use some help. I'm normally not too overly critical of the earlier U.S. CD issues, but there are a few others that need help too. I'll have to skim through my stacks of CD's, and see what comes to mind. Joe Henderson's "Mode For Joe" was another one, but it's due out this fall - thankfully.

FYI, I just started this exact same poll as a thread over on AAJ, just to see what the results are like over there. I predict that Lee Morgan will win the poll over there (over 25% of the total vote), with Hank Mobley running a close second... ...and Andrew Hill and Larry Young will each get less than 10% of the votes (or less than 20% for their combined total).

And so was Zappa!!! (a big fan of Varese) Varese kicks ass!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think it depends on whether you favor progressive stuff, or less progressive stuff. (I only mean that descriptively, no value judgement implied.) There's a lot of Andrew Hill fanatics on this particular board, and possibly as many or more Larry Young fanatics. Lee Morgan and Sam Rivers are mighty high on people's "all-time-best" lists too. But, I suspect you could run the same poll on AAJ, and get some entirely different results. In fact, I think I'll pop over there right now and do just that...

To further clarify, RonF, you weren't saying "all men are potential rapists" (although you did just say that, literally), or in other words "every man is a potential rapist". (I should have been more clear myself, my apologies.) Both of those statements (as I've just reworded them) are really what I was getting at before, and both are statements I've heard and read before. I'm probably still not being totally clear... I know this is wordy, but this really gets at what I think you might (or might not) have been saying: "Collectively, every man - meaning the entire male half of the human species - has the real and actual potential, within each and every one of them, to rape, and be a rapist." Or if you're simply saying that rapists can be of all shapes, sizes, colors (races), income-brackets, GPA's, etc... ...then you and I are in total agreement. I hope you realize that I'm not trying to start a big argument, and I only want to take this line of thought further if, in fact, there's a need to. Thanks!! - and I appreciate your patience with me in trying to sort this out clearly, rather than this turning into a flame war for no good reason (possibly). A lot of this has to do with semantics, and rather than blindly think you said one thing, when you meant something different, even subtly different - I'd rather make sure I don't 'go off' without good reason. Peace. (I know, this is some heavy shit - but without voice inflection, it's difficult to get to the subtlety of what I'm trying to get at.)

Amen, right back at you Moose. I don't whether to take the time to dive into this, and back it up with some heavy quoting from some of my favorite male "gender issues" authors... ...or whether to ignore this thread, and vow never to open it back up again. I'm torn, and leaning towards the latter choice. But unfortunately, I feel some duty towards the former choice as well.

RonF, would you expand on what you mean by this statement?? In particular, I'm wondering if you're suggesting something along the lines that "all men are potential rapists". (A statement that I've heard and read in other contexts.) Or if you're trying to say something else, please explain. I want to understand you viewpoint on this. And I'd like to be clear about what you're trying to say, before I respond. Thank you. -- Rooster T.

I voted for "Grantstand", but like Conn500 - I'm not laying awake at night thinking of any of 'em. And of the next batch of RVG's, "Mode For Joe" is the winner for me.

Maybe the best batch of Conns ever, IMHO.

You're kidding, right J-Mo?? If not, where ya been??

Last time I checked, this was a 'criminal' case - not 'civil'. And I have a hard time believing this case would be followed by a civil suit, though I grant that stranger things have certainly happened before. More than anything, I just wish people would shut the fuck up about this case, and let it play out in the courts, hopefully behind closed doors. About 95% of that statement is directed at our beloved press (primarily broadcast media), though I've reserved about 5% of the statement for future use, depending on how long this thread gets.

I'd get the Wilson, but that's just me. If you think there's any chance you'll get both someday, then by all means get the one that's going out of print first now.

Evil, pure evil!!!!

Also, I might add that Hill's "Lift Every Voice" from 1969 and 1970, has grown on me like a huge patch of moss on an enormous tree in a very wet and humid rainforest. And "Dance With Death", along with the '69/'70 sessions (LP #2) of Hill's "One For One", have both grown on me quite a lot too. I'd be celebrating the release of any previously unreleased Hill (from any year), but to get to hear some more of what Hill was up to in 1969, with that line-up!!! - is almost too good to be true!!!! - at least in my book. In fact, to say I'm almost frothing at the mouth in anticipation of "Passing Ships"... ...is almost an understatement.

I'm sure it will. If it didn't, that would break a pretty huge precedent of including all the "releasable" unreleased takes from a particular session, especially if there's space to include them on the same disc. I'm sure they'll be there.

Under any other circumstances, I would have voted for "Mother Ship", a thousand times over. (I was lobbying very hard for it's reissue as a Conn, back on the BNBB.) BUT, for this poll, I had to go with the Hill. I already own "Mother Ship" as part of the Larry Young Mosaic (although I plan to pick up the Conn too), and the Hill is otherwise unreleased (and from 1969 at that!!). I would have voted for the Hill, no matter which unreleased session it was, but the fact that it has both Woody Shaw and Dizzy Reece on it, makes it potentially the best release from this entire calendar year, in my book This is probably the best batch of Conns I've seen in several years, based on my own particular tastes.