Rooster_Ties

Even my iPod mini managed music better than my iPhone 5 (16GB) ever has, even before I routinely have 95% of the memory used up, which means it runs like a dog half the time, and barely has room for a dozen CD's now. I've tried backing it up (meaning the whole phone) to/though iTunes (to my laptop), which was supposed to somehow trigger a reloading of everything using memory more efficiently, but I tried that 3-4 times, and the memory usage was always the same. In any case, my wife's iPhone 5 (same vintage, also 16GB) is probably short for this world, so we're both going to probably update later this year. And this will be the LAST time I ever get the minimum memory option available, I can tell you that. Especially since I seem to keep these phones for a good 6 years (or probably 3x as long as most people typically do, I gather). But if I still owned a car, and wanted to play music on it a lot from my collection -- I seem to remember being able to load about 50 CD's worth of stuff on my old iPod mini, which actually really performed much better.

Yeah, but it's always such a pain loading CD's into iTunes every time I want to change the music on my phone. Granted, my iPhone is an ancient iPhone 5 (with 16gb, which makes it suck even more). But then having to delete albums out of iTunes on my laptop, and ripping the new ones in order to sync everything, is all such a pain. Granted my phone only holds about 30 CD's, but still, ripping 30 CD's every time I want to switch out all the music on my phone is a good entire night's worth of time, couple hours at least. SO much easier to grab 36 CD's and put them in one of those multi-folder things, which only takes about 15 minutes to switch out all 36 discs (incl. liner notes). Granted, we don't even own a car any more (haven't for almost 9 years), and now that rentals don't even have CD players, I never get to take CD's on trips, unless it's to St. Louis, cuz my Dad's car has a CD player still. Point being, when you have 4,000 CD's, and potentially 1,000 are things that might be nice to listen in the car, a car CD player was and still would be a hugely helpful thing to still have (if I even had a car, mind you).

It doesn't bother me so much that I can no longer get any sort of trade-in value for books, or for CD's -- so much as it does really pain me to think that there literally is so little interest in books and CD's that you can't even give them away in many cases. Cripes! My wife and I have about 4-5 boxes of books we've been meaning to find a good place to donate to (and finding somewhere that'll take them has been a little hard). And I also have maybe 200 CD's that I probably ought to cull from my collection (my wife would say 500 CD's) -- that I would similarly like to donate somewhere. I'm under no illusions that libraries have no actual "need" of them (to use as items to lend) -- but that there's literally no market for any of this perfectly good, and well-maintained stuff (most of which is in very good or even "mint-minus" condition), really does bug me. You can't tell me that there isn't a market for books and music any more - really?? We still buy books, and I buy CD's all the time. Not as many as I did 10-15 years ago -- but that's more a reflection of some runaway spending on my part when I was in my 30's (and when I had twice as much space for stuff, and more time). I just turned 50 (solid Gen-X), and are the leisure-time habits of Millennials really THAT radically different from our generation? We're not talking about easy-listening 100-strings LP's here, or readers-digest compendiums (and the stuff of Salvation Army donations). I totally GET that nobody wants encyclopedias (and the two sets in my father's attic are going straight in the dumpster when the auctioneer clears out/cleans out his house -- I totally realize that, even if my father doesn't, and doesn't understand). But are books and music SO passé -- or at least non-electronic versions of them -- that they literally have no value even as stuff to donate, to be resold at $4 a pop, all of which could go to the charity to which the donation was made?? Maybe I am living in the past, but it wasn't at all like this 10-15 years ago, which wasn't all that long ago at all.

One other really good thing, re: my Dad. Late during the move, we found his official army discharge papers from 1947, iirc (he was drafted at the tail end of WWII, never went overseas, but he is fully considered a war veteran - I think he only served 14-16 months, or something like that - a little over a year). Anyway, as I understand -- because he's a war veteran he may eventually qualify for some significant financial support/benefits (perhaps as much as $1,750+ per month) -- if he ever needs to go into a true "assisted living" (i.e. nursing home) type care facility. There are limitations based on his annual income, and his total assets -- but I have a hunch that by the time my Dad is 96 or 98 (i.e. in 4-6 more years), he may well qualify (i.e. his assets may have fallen just below the maximum allowable to take advantage of the benefit), depending on what health issues befall him between now and then. So about 3-4 weeks ago we found his draft card, and the letter he got when he was drafted, along with his official army photo (all up in the attic). But it was only last Monday that we found his discharge papers, in a box in his closet. And they were exactly where they should have been -- in with the Masonic effects he wants to be buried with -- because the cemetery where he'll be buried (eventually, probably in 10 years when he's 102) also provides a flag because of his war veteran status. I've known all about all those Masonic effects, as he's gone over them in some detail with me 6-7 times in the last 15 years (in a lot more detail than I care to know, to be frank). But I never realized his army discharge papers were in that box too (or maybe I knew that 15 years ago, but none of us have thought about them since). So, if my understanding is right, and if his total assets fall below something like $70k (I forget the exact figure), and if he needs a real "nursing home" (probably a good $4k/month) -- his benefit should be as much as $21k/year -- which is a huge relief (that we found those discharge papers). That was THE one thing I was most worried about finding, before he moved, and by gosh we found them. Whew! I think we got through about 90% of the stuff in the house fairly carefully (95% of the stuff on the main floor and basement, and maybe close to 80% or 85% of the stuff in the attic). Given how much there was, I feel like we did a pretty good job of NOT leaving behind very much that we hadn't gone through somewhat carefully. But there was so much, and it would have taken a week (and a lot of double-work) to really try and be totally comprehensive. We did open every box in the attic, and at least riffled through everything -- some boxes more than others). My grandfather was a dentist, and so there were a fair number of old dental records from the 1940's and 50's up there, including several boxes of dental x-rays too. Why in the hell was all that up there? - you might ask. 1) My grandfather saw patients 2 days per week at the house (there was a separate front room, off the living room, that was his auxiliary dental office), and the house actually had (and still has) TWO front doors (or a side-front door, is maybe the better way to say it). and 2) my grandfather died fairly young, in his mid-50's (in the late 1950's), of cancer, which overtook him pretty quickly over 6-8 months. So when he passed, I imagine my grandmother boxed up all his records from his main office (in downtown East St. Louis) and just moved them to the house, into the dental office -- and then my Dad eventually just moved all that stuff up into the attic when he bought the house from his mother. My grandfather ran a one-man dental office (with just one clerk/assistant, iirc), so what else was there to do? I'm sure my grandmother and father never threw away any of those records, just in case they were ever needed for any reason (including, I suppose, dental records for body identification - for like when someone dies in a fire, and other means of positive ID aren't possible). It was a little weird, I have to admit, to find maybe a couple thousand dental x-rays from 60-70 years ago up in that attic a few weeks ago. Not super creepy, but certainly a little odd.

So glad to hear the positive update about your mom, and how she's taking to her new place. And I'd love to see pictures of your dad's motorcycles, if you could post them here sometime. While I'm not suggesting that going the auction route (in terms of your mom's house) is definitely the way to go, one thing to consider is that depending on how long she's been in it, there may be some unknown number of things that might not be "up to code" (that you would presumably have to address before it could be sold, or else that might be something you end of paying for in the final dickering over the price, after the buyers have it inspected). In the case of my father's house, it has literally NEVER been inspected -- since it last changed hands when he bought it from his mother (and I'm sure it wasn't inspected back then in the early 1960's - or the codes were far, FAR less stringent/elaborate back then). I could probably list 20 things off the top of my head that don't meet code with my Dad's house (though they were all legit back when the work was done 40-50 years ago). Electrical (including tons of knob-and-tube wiring), door-locks, chimney isn't lined, and several things I have suspicions about (that I won't go into here). The 'beauty' of selling it at auction, is that it's sold completely "as is" with no warranty about anything. In fact, we purposely didn't get the house inspected ourselves, because we might then be legally obligated to disclose some of that to potential buyers (even going through the auction process). But if even we don't know specifically what's technically wrong with the house, then we have nothing to disclose -- it's sold simply "as is". We're certainly not going to put $10-$15K into it to bring it up to codes (my wild guess as to what it would cost), to say nothing of the $35K you could easily spend just trying to modernize the place (kitchen dates to the 1960's, original stove that only half works, etc) -- and carpet and floors that all need serious attention/redress. If you put $50k into my Dad's house, you might be able to get $110k for it (if you're lucky), but with any luck, maybe we'll get $65K for it at auction (even in the condition it's in) -- and we'd come out $5k-$10k ahead. Plus, then we're done with it quickly (and my wife and I could never manage all those improvements from 1,000 miles away). Anyway, an auction might not be at all right in your situation, but perhaps it could be worth considering.

BIG UPDATE. The deed is done!! My father is moved!! - and 99.9% of everything he wanted to keep is out of his house. And he's about 80% settled, which is about as much as we could get done in the last 3 days after the moving truck last Wednesday. His new digs are really working out well, and although not "fancy" -- he does have TONS of space (at least 600 sq-ft, in two big rooms that used to be 2 separate efficiencies that they combined) -- almost more than my wife and I have here in DC (we only have 630 sq-ft here). After staying with him in his new apartment 3 nights (sofa-bed in his living room, and our own (a 2nd) bathroom off the living room), and having several meals with him there in the community dining room (the food was actually not half bad at all) -- we are even more certain of him being in EXACTLY the best and right place for him. Nothing fancy, but most of the staff there are just shy of amazing. The owner/executive-director even helps provide housing for half-a-dozen vets (most Vietnam-era, though one from Afghanistan even) who I understand were in some pretty dire straits immediately prior (at least one that was living out of his car for some time). Don't know the entire circumstances, but I have a strong suspicion she's (meaning the owner/director) is doing much of that out of the goodness of her own heart (not sure how much, if any, remuneration she's getting -- maybe some, from some support programs, but I'm betting that doesn't cover everything). She also has a small handful of (just slightly) developmentally challenged folks who work as servers in the dining room, which we also think shows a degree of care and consideration (in terms of hiring folks who probably otherwise couldn't work in the traditional service-industry or public-facing sector). Multi-racial staff (of all ages, including some younger folks), and multi-racial residents too -- maybe 20% in each of those categories was African American. I may have mentioned upthread somewhere that a former member of The Ink Spots lived out his last 5-6 years at this facility, and she (the exec-dir) and he used to go out to clubs now and then. Most of the residents are very working class, but probably a little more (former) white-collar, than blue-collar. And slightly more men(!) than women, actually. All a good fit with and for my father. I can provide a longer update and some pics in a day or two, but that's the gist of it. The house gets cleared out in a couple weeks, and it goes to auction in early October (which I'm flying back for). House won't be a windfall (to put it mildly, given the near total lack of updates since the 1960's, and what houses go for in his neighborhood), but in any case -- we'll be past this big life-changing event in less than 30 days. Did it all in 8 days (plus I was there a week in early August). But this past week we were gone, felt like 2 weeks minimum. We never did more than about 7-8 hours of work in any given day, so we were never exhausted ('cept the last half-day we crammed a full day of unpacking in), and we managed to spread it all out pretty evenly, and found time for the local walk-up ice-cream place 3-4 times too, and a couple nice-ish dinners out too. Back at work now, and I'm not sure I have any idea what it is I used to do here. Fortunately my boss is out of town until Thursday, and he'll barely be in at all this week -- so I have some time to play catch up.

I've got this very 10", along with the "City of Glass" 10" too -- that both belong to my MOM! Seriously!!

Might be more visible on the PC-based version of the forum, than the mobile version?? Just a random thought (nowhere near a PC, or I'd check myself).

I've enjoyed this1977 leader-date I'd posted about in the thread/link right above), with Carter Jefferson on tenor (which is actually how I discovered it on YouTube, searching on Carter Jefferson, iirc). I'd eventually like to find a copy on vinyl, though it's not a huge priority. I've only heard it on YouTube, this far.

No idea about the lumber in the house. Far as I know, it's not a frame-construction house, and I think(?) the brick walls are load-bearing. By way of contrast, our "brick" house that my wife and I owned back in Kansas City -- it wasn't covered in brick veneer - but the full-thickness brick was structurally considered facade. But I think(?) my dad's brick isn't(?) facade, but load-bearing. Of course, there are are joists and beams inside the walls. But other than one small (narrow, but floor-to-ceiling) built-in bookcase near the front door -- there's actually no exposed woodwork in the entire house (except a bit in the attic, of course, and a couple really thick posts in the basement, load-bearing too, far as I know). My great-grandfather was an architect (not of any renown or anything), and he actually designed the house (the father of my grandmother, who did the needlepoint). And we STILL have the blue-prints, which are in excellent condition, and I plan to get framed one of these days -- as family keepsake, and as a memory of the layout of the house. PLUS, I absolutely LOVE blueprints, just generally speaking (remember the architectural museum I work for here in DC? - since 2012). So the fact that I have the plans for the house, and also manifest(s) of the goods and materials that went into it's construction, etc. - while not earth-shattering, is still kinda nifty. My love of architecture kinda came a little through my Dad's love of BIG civil engineering projects (dams, bridges, etc...) -- but really more so, it came from my aunt (my Dad's sister), and my uncle (her husband), who were both art history professors, and they both had a deep love of architecture, Louis Sullivan, FLW, Eero Saarinen, Mies van der Rohe, and the like. I used to listen to my uncle talk about architecture a few times a year, just extemporaneously when we would visit (same uncle I got my complete Downbeat collection from, starting in April 1965 all the way up to the mid-1980's -- every issue). Anyway, enough rambling this late, I'm due to walk out the door here for the airport in 8 hours -- so I gotta hit the hay. PS: Come to think of it, though, those building manifests would have the type(s) of lumber all specified (I'm sure I've seen that), so what kind of materials went to it is not only a knowable fact -- it's something I'm sure I have ready access too. Those manifests are still with my Dad at his house (I only have the blueprints here in DC with me, at the moment). I'll have to look this week, if I get the chance -- or when I'm back in early October.

Nice review! Mostly agree with all of it, but count me in the camp with a handful of quibbles about giving short-shrift to a few periods/albums. I felt like 30 more minutes (on the right stuff), would have made an already great documentary truly outstanding. I guess "truly outstanding" probably is an unachievable goal, but there were some things that really didn't get but a mention, or a minute or two. I did think the sequence covering his 'debut' at Newport in, what was it, '55? -- that was told essentially through a very "animated" sequence of still photos -- was certainly a part of the story I knew, but didn't know the import of. Still, the second great quintet only got a minute or two, pretty much all focused on Footprints (iirc) -- a great tune, sure, but (iirc) that was the only thing covered between his early 60's triumphs, and Bitches Brew. The early 70's coverage was not half-bad, iirc (wasn't there a nice On The Corner sequence?) -- but overall, I just felt like a little too many things were left. out. And yet, there was time for 2+ minutes of "Some Day My Prince Will Come" -- which I've never thought of as being the most revelatory Miles track ever. But all quibbles. A very solid 8/10 in my book -- and much of it probably closer to 9/10 (in spots).

This cross-stitch/needlepoint is a good 6-feet wide, and 2+1/2 feet tall. My photo really doesn't do it justice -- the colors are just as vibrant as when she did it, I think (it's never had any direct sunlight on it, in all these years). A true piece of folk-art, I guess you could call it.

ANOTHER UPDATE... My wife and I are due on a plane in the morning, helping to finish packing up my father's stuff and then he's moving on Wed (Sept 4) into the retirement community detailed up above in various posts. Then we have 3 days to help get him settled. His house appraised at well less than half of what he was hoping it was worth, and given it's condition (it's been well kept, but there haven't been any substantial updates since the early 1960's -- original "updated" 1960's kitchen remake, complete with the same 1960's oven -- which only half works, etc...). Much longer story, but given the issues with the house, which has never been inspected (since he bought it from his mother back in the early 60's), we have little choice but to sell it at auction (in early October). The auction company seems very on top of things, very professional, and I've gotten nothing but good vibes from them (in terms of their competence). The auction company is cleaning out the entire house, and auctioning everything Dad's not taking with him -- and thank goodness, because it would take my wife and I at least 3 months to do all that (working over weekends, and some evenings) -- but of course we live 1,000 miles away. We expect the proceeds of the auction (of the contents) to cover their cleanout services, and we may net $1,000 from that (at best). But I've heard nothing but the highest recommendations about them, including (unsolicited), by the appraiser we hired to get a better sense of what the house is worth. I won't detail everything, but the house is all still knob-and-tube wiring, and there are 5 different electrical boxes (half fuses, half breakers), surely none of which would pass a modern code inspection (though the electrician my father had to have sign off on the whole thing -- my Dad did all the actual work himself back in the 70's and 80's -- that electrician said my Dad did excellent work). But none of that is up to modern codes, to say nothing of the knob-and-tube. The house has solid bones, and is in great structural shape. But it's an OLD house, in very "average" (at best, and that's being charitable) condition. And it doesn't help that it's located in only a "fair", very working-class part of town, and less than 2 miles from what is very perceivably "the wrong side of the tracks" (not that *I* think about it that way, but the reality is that buyers sure will). My dad's mostly come to terms with it all, and he's taking it all more in stride than I would have expected. ("What else can you do?" - is one of his 'favorite' sayings - or at least something he says frequently). So his, and my boyhood home will be no-longer his (ours) soon. He'll be out of the space about 95% by this time next week, and then the auction is October 5th (which I'm flying home for too, not that I really have to, but I feel like I should be there). Just today -- really only in the last 2 hours actually -- I'm feeling like a ton of bricks on my shoulders. Maybe the gravity of all this is just settling in. I've been close to tears, back here in my office at work, at least 3-4 times. Haven't actually broken down or anything, but it's all in there. All in all, we're all -- my Dad included -- all pretty (reasonably) upbeat about the impending move. And to say it'll be a HUGE relief that he's somewhere that people can check on him if he has issues, and where he gets three squares a day without having to lift a finger. And where he doesn't have any stairs, or he doesn't have to go outside at all (in the winter, or in bad weather), if he doesn't want to. All that will be a HUGE relief, and that's just days away. I would never want to own or live in that house again, but I guess I've got more of myself tied up in it than I really realized. Remind me sometime, and I'll share some photos. My Dad also has this HUGE cross-stitch that my grandmother (his mother) did of the house, back during WWII -- it's about 6 feet wide, and 2.5 feet high. Shows the house, and the whole yard. She sketched it all first, and then designed the cross-stitch around it herself, and it's just an incredible piece of art, really. I wonder if I can upload it here now, maybe I'll give it a try real quick. Anyway, wish me well. All positive news mostly, and a good transition, and not really a "tough" time, per se. But I'm feeling way more emotional than I ever expected, on the eve of all this.

Bump! -- check out this enormous new mural here in DC!

"Dialogo" can also be found here, on this very recent odd/interesting double-LP of much of that same material... https://soundsoftheuniverse.com/product/i-dont-care-who-knows-it Also even more info about it here... http://www.wallenbink.com/

Fantastic new (and huge!) Buck Hill mural just went up in my neighborhood here in DC (OK, the adjacent neighborhood just south of me). Nice story from the local NPR affiliate: https://wamu.org/story/19/08/27/d-c-s-newest-and-tallest-mural-honors-a-local-jazz-legend-who-was-also-a-mailman/ For comparison, check out this image of Hill in uniform from back in the day (a pic that accompanied an obit of Hill)... https://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/arts/music/blog/20855826/buck-hill-obituary The finished product is frickin' huge!! https://www.capitalbop.com/buck-hill-dc-mural/

I must hereby confess that although intellectually I've always known that the way the name of this tune must surely be actually pronounced is far different -- and here's the confession part -- I have always *mentally* 'heard' the name of this song pronounced as "corea" (which sounds like the country "Korea"). Yeah, I *know* that isn't right (and I've always known it), but -- damn it -- that's the way my brain first filed it in the 'great' (really more like 'sorry-ass') filing cabinet in my head. I've never once tried to say the name of this tune out loud to anyone (nor have I ever heard anyone ever say it out loud, save for once a few months ago) -- so how it 'sounds' to me is purely my own mental construction. But that's how it got filed up in my noggin 30 years ago, and it just got stuck that way. Probably a hundred other examples like that I could give -- mostly classical composer names, a few jazz musician names, some place-names too -- stuff I know isn't right, but that's just how I've "thought" about it in my mind's ear (which is stronger than my mind's eye, when it comes to language things -- although oddly, I often have trouble remembering names until I've SEEN them in print). And a few words even. I've never been able to spell holler as anything other than "hollar" without some real conscious effort. I've always spelled it "hollar" - and even though I know that's wrong, that's just how I spell it, cuz that's how it got stuck in my brain from the git-go. Random non sequitur de jour.

Nice video...

How have I never even heard OF a "pedal piano" before this very instant? I'm at least half gobsmacked.

Used copy for $4 at Dusty, I just noticed... https://www.dustygroove.com/item/571226

I always prefer CD, unless the cost is really painfully prohibitive (especially if I'm staring at an LP that's half the price). Over 90% of my collection is on CD, and that's my medium of choice. I certainly will buy on vinyl if there are no other choices (or not other good choices). Vinyl is a pain in the ass to listen to, and half the time I have 20-30 CD's stacked on top of the cover to my turntable -- so it's not like I can pop an LP on without unearthing the player. I don't hate vinyl, but it has a lot of limitations and negatives in my mind.

Agree on all points, including that I also vaguely half-remember/imagined that Sizzle (1976) was coming out on CD not all that long ago. But looking through Sam's output on Discogs, I'm betting you're remembering (or I'm pretty sure *I'm* remembering) that Contrasts (1979) actually did and only came out on CD for the very first time in 2014 (out of Germany, or so says Discogs). I'll bet THAT'S what we're remembering. https://www.discogs.com/Sam-Rivers-Contrasts/release/5327732 Maybe that's it.

Saw this on the /r/jazz subreddit this week, and thought some others here might enjoy. This YouTube upload is the entire album... https://www.discogs.com/Otomo-Yoshihides-New-Jazz-Orchestra-Out-To-Lunch/release/1253019 01 Hat And Beard - 00:00 02 Something Sweet, Something Tender - 06:11 03 Gazzelloni - 15:31 04 Out To Lunch - 19:50 05 Straight Up And Down/Will Be Back - 29:31 Personnel: Otomo Yoshihide (guitar, arranger, producer, conductor, mixing) Axel Dörner (trumpet, slide trumpet) Aoki Taisei (trombone, bamboo flute) Tsugami Kenta (alto saxophone, soprano saxophone) Alfred Harth (tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, trumpet) Mats Gustafsson (baritone saxophone) Takara Kumiko (vibraphone) Cor Fuhler (piano, inside piano) Mizutani Hiroaki (bass, arranger) Yoshigaki Yasuhiro (drums, percussion, trumpet) Okura Masahiko (alto saxophone, tubes) Ko Ishikawa (sho) Unami Taki (computer) ONJO (composer) Eto Naoko (arranger) Numata Jun (producer) Sachiko M (sampler, contact microphone) Kondo Yoshiaki (recording engineer, mixing) Nakamura Toshimaru (no-input mixing board, mastering) Dig the album cover too, nice homage without being too similar...

Rio!