Rooster_Ties

Well, in a little over 24 hours - my better half and I are headed to Seattle and Portland for a couple weeks, to visit some relatives and generally relax and see the sights. Just thought I'd mention it here (and I didn't want to start a brand new thread), so you all wouldn't worry. You know, to head off the inevitable calls of...... "Where's Rooster???" So, then, now you know. Also, I expect not to be the only "Groove Merchant" by the time I get back!!! ( Jazzmoose is right on my heals (or will be soon), and AfricaBrass isn't far behind!!!! ) Have fun while I'm gone!!! I'll check in a time or two, if I get the chance - but I suspect my computer-time will be way down on the list of priorities. See you all again in a few weeks!!!

All your base are belong to us Yes, that's what I said... "All your base are belong to us" And don't forget it!!! (Use3D should like this one - it's practically right out of his own Avatar!!! - well, sorta...)

Even more Yatta!!!!!! (yatta performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live)

The best jazz club in Kansas City is smoke-free (by choice), and there are several hip independent coffee shops in midtown Kansas City that are moving towards being smoke-free too. Come to think of it, I think the best blues/rock club in town is smoke-free too, or at least I don't remember any smoke the last time I was there in December. All this in a town (Kansas City) without any 'no smoking' laws. You might be surprised - there quite a few people that hate smoking and smoke-filled rooms - who refuse to go anywhere where smoking is allowed. Perhaps this will be something good for business in Austin?? Or perhaps not - depends on the area, I suppose. Good luck - let us know how things are 6-months from now.

Amazing that "Etcetera" wasn't released at the time it was recorded, but rather it sat in the vaults for 5 or 10 years - I'm not really sure how long. In any case, it's right in the running for "best Wayne BN" in this poll.

I'd have to think about it some, but perhaps my first thought is to say Nefertiti and Sorcerer. They were the first Miles albums I ever heard (after KoB, of course). A friend of mine made me a tape of Nefertiti, Sorcerer, plus the acoustic tracks off Water Babies (side 1) - when I was back in college (in the late late 80's), shortly after I took the Jazz 101 course there. I mentioned that I had really liked KoB, and he said, "wait until you hear this!!". (This was before either Nefertiti or Sorcerer had come out on CD in the U.S., and he had Japanese import CD's of both of them.) Afte that, I went through a big Miles phase for about half a decade, then I got over Miles - and am now getting back into him again somewhat, as the box sets are coming out. But to this day, listening to Nefertiti and Sorcerer reminds me of old times, and they somehow seem both like I've known them forever, and they sound as new as the first day I heard them. I don't listen to them all that often, so I'm not sure if the "slipper" analogy fits exactly, but in some ways they are as familiar to me as any jazz recordings I can think of - so surely that's slipper-y!

Well, I'm game, and to make it official, "ME ME ME" - For the record, here's the full-size image of my current Avatar, which is possibly the coolest jazz-related image I've seen on the net in a long time. I immediately sent the picture to an artist friend of mine, secretly hoping she would be inspired to want to do a series of jazz-themed paintings. Haven't mentioned my ulterior motives to her yet, but plan to within the next month or so. I'll let you know if anything comes of it. Anyway, here's the bigger version...

And much like OK Computer too!!! All at the same time!!!

I'm thrilled that "Mode For Joe" is getting the RVG treatment, and "Inner Urge" would be very welcome too. Really, I think all of Joe's BN albums as a leader should be in print, always, and they could all use the sonic upgrade. Not one of them even comes close to being more of a Conn, than an RVG. Joe is one of the core people on the label, as much as Herbie or Horace Silver or Grant Green. Just wish Joe had recorded more dates as a leader for BN, though thankfully he's a sideman on at least a couple dozen recordings.

Pointless, but kinda fun... Nintendo Cartoon Hour

Oh, you can click these links. Actually pretty damn cool, IMHO, you'll like 'em... What time is it??? (#1) What time is it??? (#2)

I grew up on the Illinois side of the river, but I think our house was actually closer to the Arch (as the crow flies), than some people who technically live inside the city limits, at the far edges of the city - down south and up north. We lived (and my parents still live) in Fairview Heights, Illinois - just north of Belleville. Both my parents grew up in East St. Louis (back in the 30's and 40's - they're both in their 70's now). As a kid, we went to St. Louis all the time - Downtown, along with the Central West End, and U. City, and all around the county. Even though I grew up on the Illinois side of the river, I think I spent as much or more time in and around St. Louis (City) as anybody -- considering how many of the people from the 'burbs never went to the city that much (from my experience in talking with other kids from St. Louis at the college I went to in the northern part of Illinois). I didn't ever experience much "night life" in St. Louis, however, since I was under 18 the entire time I lived there (from 1969 to 1987). PS: I wasn't into jazz at all either, when I lived there. (Didn't discover jazz until my college days.)

I might add that in the recent poll here on this board, I picked Patton's "Boogaloo" as my favorite Patton album (as did many!!!) - so strong is my belief that "groove" + "out" = "bliss". Then last night, listening to "Understanding" again, I wondered if it wasn't my favorite Patton - hard to pick which one!! Harold Alexander was a mighty damn interesting player, and it's a shame he wasn't recorded more often. (I suspect when Jim get's to this thread, he'll heap some praise on Alexander as well - as well he should!) And I agree -- Braith's contribution on "Blue John", especially for it's time (as pointed out above), is definitely a precursor to the whole "groove+out" thing. I haven't heard any of Patton's more recent work (of the last 20 years), but I've been meanin' to get Patton's "Minor Swing" with John Zorn (one of these days when I've got some more $cratch for such things). I also thought it was a nice touch that BN got Zorn to write the liner notes for "Boogaloo".

I was just listening to "Understanding" John Patton tonight (for the first time in quite a while), along with Patton's "Boogaloo" - which both feature some fairly 'out' (at times) tenor playing from Harold Alexander. But all the while, the groove is a sold as a rock, and deep as deep can be. Man, sometimes there's nothin' better than music that grooves so hard you can practically taste it, while at the same time - there's somethin' on top of the groove that's really freaked out. OR, there are some pretty damn complicated metrical things I know I've heard here and there (but I can't think of specifically at the moment), which are somehow also as greasy as hell, but are still a lot more complicated (rhythmically) than your typical grease. ( Or maybe both - at the same time!!! Don't I wish!! ) Actually, I included it in the title of this thread, but I'm not sure if I know of any truely 'mixed-meter' grease and/or boogaloo recordings - but if there are any, I sure want to know about 'em!!! What are your favorite Avant-Garde jazz recordings that are also really damn high on the grease and/or boogaloo factor(s)??? (Or conversely, what are your favorite grease/boogaloo albums that aren't afraid to go 'out' at times, while not loosing the groove???) [*]Surely everything John Patton recorded on BN after about 1967 qualifies, no?? (I've never heard "That Certain Feeling", so I can't comment on that one - can someone else??) [*]And every album Larry Young led on BN qualities, to one degree or another (and most of them to a high degree). [*]It's not exactly greasy, but Tyrone Washington's lone BN album "Natural Essence" surely qualifies on the Boogaloo side, as does Washington's even more obscure "Roots" from the early 70's. There are others, but I'm just not thinking of them at the moment. Oh, well, a bunch of MMW qualifies, for sure!!! And as a side-topic, can we also discuss why "Avant-Garde/'Out' Music" and "Grease/Boogaloo/Groove" go so well together!!!!

I still like it. Easier to find what I'm looking for, and it highlights all the sets in a way that should make it quite a bit easier for those not familiar with every artist from all the titles currently in print. It highlights the new Select series nicely. A little color, but not too much. Just enough to focus the eye on the names of the sets themselves. I still like it, and I like it better than the old one.

Music always wins over sports with me. Then again, almost anything wins over sports with me.

I rather like York's vocals, actually. He often sings with a "balls-to-the-wall" full-tone that I find really refreshing. He's not a screamer, not at all, but a real singer (in some sense), in that he vocalizes in full-voice, not (always) relying on microphones to give him his vocal power. I suspect he could fill a "500 seat"-sized church with his voice, without amplification, which is something I would guess many rock singers would be hard-pressed to do. Not arguing that he's a "great" singer, which is open to debate - to be sure. Just that I personally find his voice refreshing and honest, and direct.

'Poets of Action': The Saint Louis Black Artists' Group, 1968-1972 (Part 1 of 4) 'Poets of Action': The Saint Louis Black Artists' Group, 1968-1972 (Part 2 of 4) 'Poets of Action': The Saint Louis Black Artists' Group, 1968-1972 (Part 3 of 4) 'Poets of Action': The Saint Louis Black Artists' Group, 1968-1972 (Part 4 of 4) [sOURCE ESSAY]

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE BLACK ARTISTS' GROUP

Artists and Groups from ST. LOUIS, MO (AMG, part 1) Artists and Groups from ST. LOUIS, MO (AMG, part 2) These lists aren't just jazz artists, and surely they aren't complete lists - but perhaps there are some names in there that might spark some more St. Louis oriented jazz discussion.

Not an answer to the question posed by the first post, but I just nosed around about B.A.G., and found another similar group based in St. Louis in the very late 60's and/or early 70's... Human Arts Ensemble So, anybody have "Under the Sun"??? How is it???

You know Jim, that "Chicago was so close" theory may hold some water, especially if there were already quite a few more active clubs up there, more than in St. Louis. Anyway... The big World's Fair in St. Louis was in 1904. ( My grandmother was born in 1897, and went to the St. Louis World's Fair, and she recounted some memories to me of the fair as recently as 1997, shortly after her 100th birthday. ) Your friend's theory about St. Louis' high-point being in the early 1900's may also have a ring of truth to it as well. I only lived in St. Louis until I was 18 (born in '69, off to college in '87), but I'm having a hard time thinking of any kind of robust jazz scene that went on in St. Louis. Certainly nothing even half as important as the stretch of clubs in Kansas City on Vine St., between 12th and 18th streets. (Then again, I didn't know squat about jazz until after I moved away to college.) St. Louis is a strange town, in my estimation. In some ways it's more like an East-Coast town, meaning it's more urban like the bigger cities in the eastern third of the country (and like Chicago). But Then it tries to claim some sort of 'gateway to the west' thing, when Kansas City really deserves that title more than St. Louis. (The "Oregon Trail" started in Kansas City, for instance.) And really, the St. Louis Arch ("Gateway To The West") should be in Kansas City if you ask me, and that's coming from someone who's originally from St. Louis. I also thought of B.A.G. - which I don't know that much about, other than it was progressive, much like the A.A.C.M., and I'm assuming it existed no earlier than the late 60's. That's pretty late to be developing your first 'home-grown' jazz scene/style. What about the 20's, 30's 40's, 50's, and early 60's???? Great topic!!!

A local buddy of mine gave me a burn of the new Radiohead release about a month ago. Best thing since "OK Computer", IMHO, and that's coming from someone who really liked (but didn't quite 'love') both "Kid A" and "Kid B". Don't hesitate to get the new one - it's really strong!!!

One plus (from my perspective) is the way they've organized the sets into different groups, like... BIG BAND TRAD & SWING NEW ORLEANS JAZZ VOCALS LP BOXED SETS BLUE NOTE COLLECTIONS JAZZ GUITAR MODERN JAZZ OTHER

My father and Miles Davis were both born in the same year (1926), both in East St. Louis. Both my father's father, and Miles Davis' father were dentists in East St. Louis. One was white, and the other black - so to the best of my knowledge, their paths never crossed. Still, kinda an odd coincidence, slightly – or I’ve always thought, anyway.