Dave James

Actually, the guideline for HOF voters is to compare those who are eligible with their contemporaries. The game changed so much from era to era, that it's not thought fair to do evaluations on any other basis. Consider the so-called dead ball era, or the importance or relief pitching and the closer, or changes in equipment. Just to give you an example of how much things change, did you know that outfielders routinely left their gloves on the field at the end of an inning until 1954?

Al, I've got both of these sets and they really suck. Mobley wasn't the middle weight champion of the tenor, more like the feather weight champ. Besides, anyone who doesn't write his own material ought to be ashamed of himself. Just ask yourself this: when's the last time I heard a good Hank Mobley original? And Turrentine? Wow, don't get me started. Talk about a guy without his own sound. Completely useless without Shirley Scott. Thank God he found his way into pop jazz so he didn't continue to pollute the hard bop gene pool. OK, now repeat after me. "These are good reasons I don't need these two sets." "These are good reasons I don't need these two sets." Doesn't that make you feel better?

Andre Dawson was the only former player elected to the Hall of Fame today.

Believe me, Lon, I would love to be proven wrong. Just hope at some point we do get he opportunity to find out. I can't imagine "dropping the needle" with greater anticipation and a sense of possibilities than with this.

I tend to agree with this in spite of my admiration for Montgomery. I'm not all that familiar with outside playing, but how many guitarists are there who could have kept up with, not to mention extend the things Cotrane was doing in 1961? It seems to me that of all the instruments, this is the one that least lends itself to this type of music. I have heard one guy who plays some with Braxton who is pretty amazing, but he only plays on Braxton's more "in the tradition" recordings. His name is Kevin O'Neal.

And you want to be my latex salesman.

And you're still wondering why your reputation plunged to a -42?

Maybe yes. Maybe no. Miles hired Sam Rivers and that certainly didn't work out. Maybe Trane didn't know either, but was curious enough to find out. Lord knows, he was always pushing the envelope. Regardless of motive, it would sure be a treat to hear these guys together.

Oh yeah. My dad was a big fan of Have Gun Will Travel. As I recall, it aired on Saturday nights. We'd watch it first and then Gunsmoke. This is probably only funny to me, but my twin brother and I who were probably eight or nine years old at the time, were convinced that Paladin's first name was "Wire". That's because his business card, the one with the chess piece on it, said "Wire Paladin". It never occurred to us that this might have been a way to contact him in San Francisco. I'm not sure how good an actor Richard Boone was, but he was sure perfect to play Paladin. I wish I'd known this was on Encore.

Geez, my first thought when I saw the title of this thread was that I could get an Ornette Coleman Fathead. You know, one of those life sized things you can stick on your wall. I think I may need professional help.

PM sent on Sahib Shihab's Summer Dawn.

The Three Stooges marathon on AMC.

I like Melody Gardot, but she's not a jazz singer.

I've had a Keurig B-70 for about a month and I'm a believer. Virtually no clean up. A fast and fresh cup of coffee every time, nothing wasted. Even hot chocolate or tea if you so choose. I had reservations when first bought it, but not any longer. IMO, a great way to go.

Jessica Williams is another very accomplished player who is easily overlooked. The two volumes of her live recordings at Yoshi's are particularly nice.

http://www.wallacecollection.net/

Any of Swedish pianist Jan Johansson's trio recordings. That guy packed more music into his short life of 32 years than just about anyone I can think of. And, speaking of musicians who died young, how about Englishman Mike Taylor? Both these guys had fairly unique approaches to their instrument.

FWIW, around 1966-67, American new release pressings were $3.98 although occasionally, you could get one for $2.98. I recall buying It's A Beautiful Day's Marrying Maiden at that price. Upscale English LP's ran $5.98. I know because I still have the English pressings of Nick Drake's Bryter Later and Pink Moon with the price tags still on the covers. This was in Portland, Oregon.

ESPN is reporting that Urban Meyer has resigned from the Florida football program. He's been in the hospital twice in the last month for heart related concerns and even though his problems are not life threatening, continuing stress will not be helpful.. Time will tell if there's more going on here, but for now, he's out for health reasons.

Those two kids better be glad they don't have to sing for their supper. They'd die of starvation.

Saw it tonight in 3D IMax. Pretty cool. The way some of the images seem to be hanging about three feet in front of your face is a very neat effect. I thought the story was fine, if predictable. I like movies with decent villians and while the army commander in Avatar doesn't rise to the level of Alan Rickman in Die Hard or Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men, it's still enjoyable when he gets what's coming to him. All things considered, very entertaining.

Nostalgia 77 is an interesting band made more so by their work with the Tippetts. Also, anyone who doesn't give Brian Auger shot, with or without Julie Driscoll (Tippett), is missing out on some of the very best jazz-rock-fusion there is. Give their song Voices of Other Times a listen and you'll see what I mean.

Remember that Star Trek episode when they visited a planet where everyone was a zombie except between 12:00 and 1:00 in the afternoon? They called it the Red Hour. During that time, folks could do as they pleased without consequence. I'm pretty sure that's what we're talking about here. Return of the Archo...wait; I'm not a trekkie! Can I go there now? I will check with Landru to see if there are any openings. Last time I looked, there was quite a long waiting list.

Remember that Star Trek episode when they visited a planet where everyone was a zombie except between 12:00 and 1:00 in the afternoon? They called it the Red Hour. During that time, folks could do as they pleased without consequence. I'm pretty sure that's what we're talking about here.

I wasn't aware that Kate and Alex had split the sheets. Not sure what impact that will have on Mr. Rod. I don't think he's going to have any trouble finding women. Apparently, he was in Florida over the weekend partying hardy with not one but two women. Still, you have to wonder what went wrong. Maybe Kate got tired of fooling around under the gaze of the picture that Alex keeps at the head of his bed. If I understand correctly, it's an A-Rod centaur. Although I don't know for sure, I'm assuming that he's is the front half and not the rear, although who's to say. One can only hope for his sake that he has better taste in women that he does in art.