Dave James

That's funny, I always thought Jarrett rhymed with unbearable. Up over and out.

If in this entire debacle, there's one group that stands out in terms of culpability, it's the rating agencies; the Moodys, Duff & Phelps and Fitches of the world. If they had rated their bond offerings in accordance with the actual risk, the financial community would have seen to it that those instruments were black & blue from people touching them with ten foot poles. Unfortunately, no one ever thought that the fact these agencies and the investment houses that supported them were in the same bed together was a bit fishy. They were all too busy making money. On the PBS show Now last Friday, they spoke with two guys who were involved in the rating scam, both of whom used to be with Moodys. In the course of the expose, they cited several e-mails that made it pretty clear there was at least an internal recognition that they had crossed the line. One of these messages said that if a group of cows put together a bond issue, they would find a way to rate it Triple A. Yikes! The question I have is why no one is being prosecuted. Is this kind of chicanery not a crime? Up over and out.

The Krauss clip is brutal. Nonetheless, I'm sure it has sold and will sell well each and every holiday season. The more maudlin the tune, the more clueless people it will appeal to. Folks just seem to cotton to schlock whenever Christmas is involved. Maybe she could do an album of favorite Christmas tunes with Robert Plant. That's got million seller written all over it. Up over and out.

That's an insult to car salesmen. My mom had a Merrill Lynch financial advisor years ago. She had inherited a substantial position in blue chip stocks when my grandfather passed away. Her broker convinced her when the market was at 1,500 that it couldn't go any higher and she sold everything. I sure wish I'd known what she was doing. She clearly didn't and all the ML guy did was get paid a whole lot of money for churning a portfolio. I've never thought you should trust anyone who can make money when you're buying or when you're selling. That's always struck me as a conflict of interest that can only be exploited to the detriment of the customer. Up over and out.

Al, Here's the information you were after on the OJC Christmas Album. It's available from Amazon and, I would imagine, eMusic. The Christmas Collection (Original Jazz Classics 6011) 1. The Christmas Song, Dexter Gordon 2. Greensleeves, Bill Smith Quartet 3. Santa Clause is Coming to Town, Paul Bley Trio 4. Merry Christmas Baby, Don Patterson 5. The Christmas Song, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis 6. The Christmas Song, Gene Ammons 7. White Christmas, Bobby Timmons 8. Santa Clause is Coming to Town, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis 9. Winter Wonderland, Bobby Timmons 10. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, Don Patterson Up over and out.

My God...I can't believe what passes for entertainment on this board. Up over and out.

Little League, Babe Ruth, High School baseball. Intramural softball and basketball in college. 25 years of slo-pitch, everything from fully sponsored traveling teams to beer league mushball on Sundays. Once played 150 games in a Summer when I was on four different teams and had no life outside of ball. 10 years of ice hockey in the Portland City League. Played mostly defense. Scored 17 goals one season and had a hat trick, but that was as good as it got. In the last few games of my final season I had five teeth knocked out and 70 stitches. That was enough. In my teens, I also played hockey on roller skates. In 1966, when I was 17, the team I was on from the Oaks Park Roller Rink took third place in the country in Lincoln, Nebraska. I was the goalie. Also played tennis pretty seriously for about six years. I miss team sports a bunch. I'm retiring at the start of next year, so I've been thinking a little about playing some over 60 slo-pitch come next Spring. Up over and out.

I've always kind of liked John Fahey's Christmas album, A New Possibility. Pretty sparse...the antithesis of something like Mannheim Steamroller, steamroller being the operative word. The only jazz based Christmas CD I can actually say I enjoyed was the OJC album. Lockjaw, Don Patterson, Dexter Gordon and more. Up over and out.

Brownie, you're killing me. My bruised and battered bank account has just taken another hit. I can't see something like this and not have it. I'm so terribly weak. On the upside, though, it's nice to be reminded how much fun it is to navigate a website in another country, in this case, Poland. Thank God for icons, or I'd be SOL. After several stops and starts, I seem to have successfully negotiated the procurement process and I'm pleased to report that the Arnvid Meyers box will be on its way shortly. I shall report back once it arrives. Total cost including air fare was $78.00. Interestingly enough, within mere moments of completing the transaction, I received a call from my bank asking me to verify some "unusual activity". I must say, that's comforting. Up over and out.

RDK, I've been on the Marion Brown bandwagon for some time, although I don't have the CD you mention. With regard to Burrell on the inside, any recommendations? Thanks. Up over and out.

Well I'm shocked. The Bennick I referred to above is actually Bennink as in Han Bennink. I thought he was on the absolute fringes of the jazz universe along with guys like Dave Burrell and Peter Brotzman, but this is fine and mellow stuff. Jazz never ceases to amaze. Up over and out.

I've always thought of Mulligan as something of an acquired taste, but I love this set. Up over and out.

Another for The 27th Man. With regard to Like Someone In Love, Marc Myers from the JazzWax blog had an interesting piece on this last week. All the tunes from this and A Night In Tunisia we're cut at the same time. When Alfred Lion realized they had enough material for two full Messenger LP's, they were deliberately broken up into softer (LSIL) and harder (ANIT) releases. Marc has good things to say about both, but especially about Bobby Timmons. Interestingly enough, when he put these on his iPod, he created a playlist and randomly collated all the tunes. He said that made for a very interesting and satisfying audio experience. I thought that was a pretty cool idea. The only one on this list I'm tempted to get is the Leo Parker. I have Rollin' With Leo already, so it would make for a nice set of baritone bookends. Up over and out.

With regard to Mark Clark, he's clearly in the throes of something that was fairly common among the upper echelon of the American general staff at the time , a George Patton flashback. I'm way more curious about what that dude is up to in front of the bandstand in the Clora Bryant photograph. Up over and out.

One I downloaded awhile back that I seem to keep returning to is by a pianist named Bennick. The album is Home Safely. Piano trio. Kind of Bill Evans-ish. Up over and out.

It's hard for me to shell out significant money - for me - for something that doesn't have the original artwork. Think of it as less competition for limited edition releases. No offense, and I know this has been said before, but isn't it about the music? Last time I checked, you can't listen to artwork. Up over and out.

I've been on something of a Brian Auger kick of late. I think his name has come up on the board before, but only in passing. I'm quite a big fan of his music and have been since I was originally captured in the late '60's by Ellis Island from the album Streetnoise. Julie Driscoll (Tippets) is much underrated as a singer and even though she wasn't part of the Trinity or Oblivion bands, her stuff is generally very tasty. Check out No Time To Live or Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood for a nice slice of the aforementioned Ms. Driscoll. She and Auger first teamed up in a band called Steam Hammer that featured Rod Stewart. I'll be pulling that off eMusic the next time my account refreshes. Anyone else? Up over and out.

Sure would be nice to see Dusty start carrying labels like Dragon, Heptagon and Phontastic. They have maybe a dozen Dragons listed, most of which are out of stock, but maybe that's a start. Up over and out.

If I recall correctly, there was a pretty lengthly flute thread a year or so ago. I remember it well because it afforded me the opportunity to express my deep dislike of that instrument in jazz. Something along the lines of the only good flute is a dead flute. The one exception being the seldom heard, nether worldly sound of the bass flute which I dearly love. To each his own. Anyhow, I'm sure there was quite a bit of discussion of jazz flute recordings on this thread. A quick search using that function would probably uncover this. Up over and out.

I've always loved this guy's work. Off the wall and totally unique. Up over and out.

Kind of spendy, but functional. Solution for broken digipaks! Package of 5 for only $4.00 Do you have any digipak CDs where the teeth on the spindle have broken so that the package can no longer hold the CD? Here's your solution. These are clear adhesive CD hubs that will renew your broken digipaks. Just peel the backing and stick the hub in the center of your jewel case over the original spindle. Your digipak can now hold the CD securely again! Up over and out.

What kind of abbrevations do you have??? Are they worth a lot of money??? I know a woman that might buy them from you, over a few years I had a woman once tell me that something near and dear to me reminded her of an abbreviation. Up over and out.

Looks like Chuck was right. If I'm reading the tea leaves correctly, the Quincy Jones box has shipped from Deep Discount. Should be here in a few days. Nice. Up over and out.

Maybe the difference between burning out on hard bop and not on swing is as simple as, it's got a good beat, I think I can dance to it. Up over and out.

What's a hoot is the part of the video where the TV interviewer says "...but you're not a sucker", like the woman isn't a sucker. The woman, strangely enough, says she isn't. I've got 400 large that says that's the wrong answer. Up over and out.