Rooster_Ties

Wyschnegradsky in 1935 in front of his quarter-tone piano. More pictures of the same guy... And pardon my french (I guess I'm having an 'Aric' moment)... ...but holy shit, what the fuck is this???!!!!!!!

RAVEN PIANO BASS Believed to have been manufactured by now defunct Japanese company Gyu Sashi Gyoza, we now know for a fact that this unit was not regularly used by Ray Manzarek of the Doors. I guess that when this was made ,Bass wasn’t considered too important because this instrument has the choice of a massive two sounds…..Mellow or Bright –(really only basic tonal filters) As well as the standard Sustain/Percussive attack features and Slow/Fast decay times, the manufacturers in their infinite wisdom chose also to include a vitally important "Fuzz" facility – ideal for that authentic "Electric Prunes" total square wave sound. Two octaves long with very fashionable grey and white keys, this was one keyboard that expired well before it’s use by date.

1) Kawai EP608 From the early 80's comes this electro-acoustic, upright piano. Standing less than a metre tall and only about 120cm in overall length, this piano is quite compact. Well, small for a real piano anyway…..and this is a real piano, with wooden keys, hammers and a strung iron frame harp section. Some concessions have been made - the keyboard is 76 notes long, and the top and centre sections of the harp have only one string per note. (An acoustic piano has 88 notes with two strings per note in the centre section, and three strings for all the top notes.) Other than this, the EP608 is, in all other aspects, an amplified acoustic piano. I would imagine that Kawai chose the single strings for ease of tuning while on the road. As for the keyboard length, a full 88 would've made the whole thing considerably larger all round, thereby reducing it's appeal for stage use. (Ever lugged a CP80?!) The whole thing is enclosed in a lightweight plastic casing, with steel stand-type legs supporting it. The keyboard section swings down through 90degrees to become totally enclosed within the plastic casing…..a clever concept. All controls are mounted on an aluminium panel just above the keyboard at the left-hand end. There you'll find three push-button tone controls with different filters producing quite noticeably different tones. Tremelo has also been added, with dedicated pots for speed and depth. Outputs are on the front (this side toward the enemy!) of the unit….stereo, of course. The 608 doesn't have a damper pedal (not very necessary in it's intended applications), but has a cable operated sustain pedal not dissimilar to a Wurlitzer's .The real beauty of an electro-acoustic instrument such as this, is in it's ability to customise the action…….which is bona-fide acoustic piano, so various things like key depression depth and weight can be altered. All in all, this makes an ideal unit for a home project studio, or an excellent instrument to have at home for practice or pleasure….Hey,…you can even play the thing with headphones and avoid unwanted nocturnal visits from that grumpy neighbour!!

I think Conn500 needs a new Avatar... Congrats!! My wife and I got our first pets (two cats) in February, and it's great having them!! My wife hadn't ever had a pet before, and it had been over 8 or 9 years since I last had a cat (when I was back in college). Well-cared for animals are good for the soul.

Hi Chuck - glad to see you back!!! RE: Your post just now... That's why I specifically said that the poll was only to consider jazz pianists of the last 50 years or so. I realize that if one opens up the choices to the whole gambit of jazz piano history (of the entire last century), then there are lots of other names to be considered too. I guess what I was driving at was some sense of where Hill fit in people's thoughts about the cats who came up in the 50's, 60's, and beyond. Maybe that shows some of my biases, but more than anything - it just shows where my interests are more strongly weighted. So then, can I assume you didn't vote, Chuck?? I almost did the poll by simply asking, "on a scale from 1 to 10 (1 being 'not at all', and 10 being 'like manna from heaven'), how much do like Andrew Hill, as a pianist/composer/band-leader (combined). Perhaps that would have worked better at getting to my real question, which was "how much do the people on this board like/dislike Hill". (My sense was that the Organissimo board likes Hill a whole lot more than the All-About-Jazz board.)

Thanks Chaney!! By the way, I see AfricaBrass in on-line at this moment, and I know this poll wouldn't be complete without his vote. And I'll bet I can guess what he'll pick too!!

I wouldn't delete this thread either, but changing the topic 'title' and 'subtitle' (much like Jim changed his own first post) I think would make sense. Just my own opinion.

Speaking of which, does anybody know where I can score me one of these?? Preferably without breaking the bank, and possibly from a U.S. vendor of some sort?? Or if it has to be from some place overseas, can somebody vouch for them?? I'm a big fan of Hill's solo piano recordings, and I'm sure that years from now I'll be kicking myself if I don't pick this one up now, while it's still sorta-kinda-available. Thanks a bunch!!!!

...and THAT is one of the reasons why I LOVE this board!!!!

Just sent you an e-mail about the Freddie Redd "Shades of Red", and Bill Evans & Jim Hall, "Undercurrents" (BN 24-bit) discs. Thanks!! -- Tom / Rooster T.

Been down that long for me too...

Frankly, I'm speachless. And nearly 8 hours later (say what you will, Jim) -- "strung out" Bert is still on the "Family Friendly" Road-Runner homepage. http://www.rr.com/v5/home/0,1793,73,00.html I wonder how long it'll take for somebody higher-up to say "WTF???", and send Bert back into rehab. By the way, congrats to Jim on reaching "Groove Merchant" status (1,000 posts!!!), I think with the very post above this one!! Now, back to matters at hand... Jim, I think you're frontin' for Bert, though I can't for the life of me figure out why??? Anybody remember this???

Gerald Wilson, for sure. Such a great set, on so many levels. Everything swings, but it's pretty heavy stuff too, even (and perhaps especially) the covers of other jazz classics, like Milestones and All Blues (or is it So What - I forget which). In any case, you get 10 albums worth of material, and really - only one of the 10 is in any way less than 4 or 5 star material. That'd be my vote. -- Rooster T.

Time-Warner Cable is my ISP, and their homepage (which is what I have my PC's homepage set to), has links with AP headlines, and other family-friendly stuff on their site. Just now, they had a picture and a link for "Games for Kids". The graphic (below the "Games for Kids" link) showed this picture of Bert, as in Bert and Ernie... So I'm thinking, what the hell is up with Bert these days?? He seems strung out on somethin', for sure!!!! ========= Here's the general Road-Runner homepage, though it won't probably have the same link for any longer than about 24 hours. http://www.rr.com/v5/home/0,1793,73,00.html

OK, Peter --- it sounds like "Feelin' Good" is already yours, in so much as the Maupin is yours too (and has been for months, in my mind, as it were). Then, e-mail me your snail-address again, and I'll see if I can get this in the mail to you next week sometime. I've got some CD's to mail to Conn500 too early next week, so I should be able to kill two birds with one stone. I didn't pay a ton for the Maupin (nor am I looking to get much out of it), so we can work out the details of what I might like in trade later. (I might look through my LP's again too, and see if I see anything else you might like.) We can take this off-line, to e-mail, from here. Drop me a line... -- Tom / RT

Just as long as you realize that the LP is really a mess. I wasn't expecting anyone to actually want it to play it, but I guess that's an option too!!

By the way, the back of the album has a stamp (from a rubber stamp) on it that says... Rhythm Record Shop Distributors INDEPENDEND PHONOGRAPH RECORDS 2615 WELTON STREET - DENVER 5, COLORADO TA. 5-4227. TA. 5-4228 === NY address on the LP and on the cover. Damn, I just looked - and it has "RVG" stamped in the inner groove (between the grooves and label), and hell if there isn't some sort of 'ear'-lookin' thing there too - on both sides. Is that the "Ear in the dead wax" that I read about every now and then?? (I ain't no vinyl nut, if you can't tell.)

Found this one for $2 yesterday in Columbia MO. Side two of the LP is playable (based on how it looks), but side one has a pretty deep, ugly scratch in it that mars the first two tracks on that side. (But even without the 'big' scratch, I think most would grade the album as being in poor condition - or perhaps "OK" condition, but they'd be lying.) But, I would grade the cover as being in "Good" condition. Not great, but good. If anybody wants it, like to hang on their wall - it's theirs (which might be even cheaper if you don't want the LP, and only want me to send the cover). Or maybe somebody wants the LP so they can make a clock out of it or something. ===== Dan Gould has right of first refusal, cuz -- well, he was the "Gene Harris Fanatic" in a past life, so how can I not give him first crack at it?? Peter Johnson has right of second refusal - since eventually he and I are going to get around to me sending him my LP of Bennie Maupin's "The Jewel In The Lotus" LP --- so as long as I'm sending someone an LP (which is a rare event), I might as well throw the 3 Sounds wall-hanging in there too, with basically no extra cost or effort on my part. Other than that, operators are standing by!!

Hey Eric, what is "Urban Core"?? Afraid I'm not aware of that group - although it sounds like I should be!!! FYI, I live in the Westport area, near the K.U. Med Center (just south of the 39th Street district, and north of the "West Plaza" area). PS: I just went to www.kcurbancoregroup.org, and see that they are an organization that I should hook up with, for sure. Thanks for the tip!!!

Just to clarify - are you asking for any/all clubs (per your specifications) in our own hometowns??? (reguardless of where those hometowns happen to be, meaning anywhere in the U.S.??)?? Or, are you only looking for Florida hometowns??? Or clubs (per your specs) in hometowns in the south in general??? I'd be glad to let you in on the skinny for places to play in Kansas City, St. Louis, and maybe even in Iowa City (if I ask some friends of mine), and perhaps a few other midwestern cities. But, alas, they all be in the oposite direction from your Florida trip.

Very cool as well!! B) I'm definitely gonna use these in rotation on the KC board. Thanks a bunch!!! (And keep 'em comin'!!) By the way, I think that's the Mutual Musicians Foundation building on the cover of that album... http://www.umkc.edu/labor-ed/kclh/10.htm MUSICIANS LOCAL 627 1823 Highland Ave Pete Johnson and Dave E. Dexter, Jr. immortalized Local 627 in their 1940 song The 627 Stomp. The Mutual Musicians Foundation remains a center for the development of jazz, particularly the "Kansas City Style," one of America's distinctive art forms. Originally constructed in 1904 as an apartment flat, the building was purchased as a headquarters in 1928 by the former all-black Musicians Union Local 627. Musicians Local 627. The photo was taken in 1930 Many of the nation's leading jazz performers have been members of Local 627 and/or the Foundation. These include band leaders Bill "Count" Basie, Bennie Moten, Jay McShann and George F. Lee; singer Julia Lee; trumpeter "Hot Lips" Page; tenor saxophonists Dick Wilson, Hershel Evans and Lester Young; alto saxophonist Charlie "Bird" Parker; drummer Baby Lovett; and pianist Pete Johnson. The building and Local 627 are immortalized in the song "627 Stomp," an original boogie-woogie tune by jazz greats Pete Johnson and Big Joe Turner. Kansas City in the 1920s and 1930s became the western center of American jazz. The art form was simultaneously being perfected in New York City, New Orleans and Chicago. During the regime of political boss Thomas J. Pendergast, nightlife flourished in Kansas City during and after Prohibition. Large bands formed throughout the region and gravitated towards Kansas City, where nightclubs and dance spots remained open around-the-clock. The most famous clubs were the Reno, the Subway, the Sunset and the ballrooms El Paseo and El Torreon. The clubs nurtured jam-sessions, a Kansas City specialty, and jazzmen vied in contests of virtuosity. Today the union's building has become the Mutual Musicians Foundation ======================================= (You can see why I wasn't 100% that was the same building, given it's redress, sometime in the 40's (I would guess).

Yup. That settles that. Welcome back, Aric!!

Andrew Hill (piano) Jimmy Vass (alto sax, flute) Chris White (bass) Leroy Williams (drums) ( source )

Very cool, Jim. Very cool... B) B) B)