Dave James

As has been discussed in other threads, AMG's ratings are based on a comparison of this artist's entire body of work with the recording under advisement. The reviewer simply felt that Rollins' solo effort didn't compare very favorably with the balance of his oeuvre. Up oeuvre and out.

I tend to enjoy Tom Cruise as an actor. While he'll never be mistaken for Laurence Olivier, in the right role, e.g. "A Few Good Men", he's more than servicable. I also know that we live in a celebrity obsessed culture. Nonetheless, why is it that someone like Cruise can't just shut up. I don't care who he's interested in/dating/marrying/leaving, I don't care if he's gay or straight and I sure as hell don't care to know any more than I know right now about his eating habits. What scares me are those who think this kind of stuff is in some way newsworthy or even interesting. Are people's lives really so bereft of substance that this is what fills the void? Up over and out.

Recuerdo is available on e-music. I downloaded it a couple of months ago. It's a solid, straightahead date. Up over and out.

In the context of several posts on this thread, I came across an interesting quote in the April 10th issue of The New Yorker. It's from a piece in "The Talk of the Town" section called "Pinup Dept. Whipped Again". In it, Herb Alpert is talking about what he calls the "scarcity of restraint and feeling in jazz playing". He refers to a phone conversation he once had with Gerry Mulligan who had called Alpert upon his return from the first Clinton innaugural where he'd been asked to perform along with nine other saxophonists. Mulligan says: "Man you know, these young guys, they know all the modes, they know all the chords, they can play high and low and fast, and they can do amazing things, but the one thing they don't know how to do is leave the bone alone." Up over and out.

I would highly recommend the recently released Mosaic Select. Not only to you get the Tokyo gig with some previously unreleased material, but you get both volumes of "Live at Slug's". My only exposure to Tolliver prior to this was the McLean Mosaic. I'd kind of forgottem about him until recently, but he is a very underrated player/writer. Up over and out.

I'm pretty sure "Layin' in the Cut" and "Chasin' the Gypsy" are the only two Carter CD's I own. Very different, but I like 'em both. My only complaint is that they could have used a keyboard of some kind (preferably acoustic piano) on the former. I saw Carter's LitC band doing a couple of these tunes on BET with a piano and just one guitar and, at least IMO, it was a big improvement over the CD. Carter is a prodigious talent. Sleldonm is right on the mark...there are few things he can't do. Why then, do people with his ability (and I'm not talking just about JC) feel they have to prove themselves to their audience every time they perform live? I mean, anyone with their head screwed half way on can see that they are the proud owners of monstrous and ungodly chops. Less fireworks and more subtlety says me. Up over and out.

Elementry, my dear (your name here). A case where 7% is clearly not the solution. Up over and out.

First of all, let me say I agree 100% with akanalog. You're competing with many other online businesses, all of which are trying to move product. To appear to be anything less than professional, be it in the context of spelling, grammar, the "flow' of your site... whatever...does not inspire confidence on the part of your potential customer. I am an absolute stickler when it comes to this. I'm the guy who will write and re-write my posts, post them and then go right to the edit button cuz I'm sure I can express myself more clearly or more concisely. Even the folks at Dusty Groove, with their rather unique approach to product description, express themselves very clearly. With regard to the shopping cart issue, I would echo what others have said. Many times, I'll use this as a means of isolating in one spot, all the CD's I might be interested in purchasing, thereby getting a handle on what's it's going to cost me if I do pull the trigger. More than a few times, though, I've been ready to hit the submit button on a Dusty Groove order when guilt overcomes me and I decide against it. Call it pre-sale buyer's remorse. I'm guessing that happens as much as 25% of the time. One thing I like about Amazon that Dusty doesn't do as well, is the way they retain the items you placed in your cart even after you've logged off. That way, every time you put something else in your cart, you're reminded of what you wanted before. That's a "what can it hurt" kind of approach that may from time to time result in a sale you would otherwise not have made. One last thought, although this may be stating the obvious. Online retail sites are a perfect example of the K.I.S.S. principle (keep it simple, stupid). The less user-friendly they are, the less likely I am to use them. Up over and out.

Heys guys, I agree that it would be great if Concord would consider giving the multiple disc "Miles" treatment to some other equally deserving artitst's blocks of work. Packaging up the Manne Blackhawks (although I'd be surprised if the existing sound could be much improved upon) or the Hawes ANS 1-3 would be great (as a matter of fact that's what I'm listening to right now at work). It's also fun to speculate about what other sets they might choose to reissue. Nonetheless, and call me Doubting Dave if you like, I fear that if one's first name isn't Miles or their last name Coltrane, the likelihood of anything we'd all like to see happen happening is pretty slim. Now more than ever this is a bottom line business and some of these artists, in spite of their extraordinarily gifts, just aren't going to move enough units to make repackaging along these lines worthwhile, i.e. profitable. BTW, I hope I turn out to be dead wrong on this. Up over and out.

CDHut... now that's interesting. While I said I'd never had a bad experience on eBay, as close as it's come is with this seller. About six weeks ago I purchased two Archie Shepp CD's, "Blue Ballads" and "True Ballads", from CDHut under the eBay store buy it now option. About a week later, I got a package from them, but it contained just one Shepp CD called "True Blue Ballads". Although I wasn't sure what happened to the second CD, I gave this seller the benefit of the doubt, assuming that they'd somehow mixed up "True" with "Blue" and sent me "True Blue" instead. As it turned out, I liked "True Blue", so I kept it and wrote the seller about the mix-up, but I told him I still wanted to two CD's that I'd originally purchased. I did not hear back from him, so I sent him another e-mail. About a week later, I got "Blue Ballads". I told him I still wanted "True Ballads" but that I was going to keep the first CD they sent so I'd need to pay him for three CD's and not just two. Just a few days ago, he wrote to tell me "he'd just gotten back" (whatever that means) and that anything else I wanted could be purchased using the link provided in his note. I don't plan to do business with this guy again. I don't think he has what he says he has. This is especially eggregious when one is selling under the buy it now option. To me, it's implicit in this type of transaction that the item you want is in stock and available for immediate delivery. With CDHut, I don't think that's the case. Up over and out.

Personally, I've never had a bad experience on eBay, but I do think that the weakest part of the their game is adjudicating disputes between buyers and sellers. They claim that they are just a broker who's role begins and ends with hooking up those who want to sell with those who want to buy. Still, I think they ought to take more seriously their role in seeing to it that transactions go smoothly. To do otherwise, strikes me as an abrogation of their authority. I mean, c'mon, when deals go South, who else is there to turn to? So, how do they go about getting more involved? With the kind of money they're making, is it too much to ask that they consider setting up a mediation department that's responsible for settling disputes? Barring this, at the very least, they could do a better job of policing deadbeat sellers who, as in akanalog's case, don't even have merchandise in stock that they imply is available. Those guys ought to be tossed. Up over and out.

Just finished "Praying for Gil Hodges", the focus of which is the Dodgers World Series victory in 1955, but is as much, a story about growing up in the Borough of Brooklyn in the '50's. Just started "An Instance of the Fingerpost", a medieval mystery supposably along the lines of Umberto Eco's "The Name of the Rose." If it's half as good as "Name", I'll be very pleased. One I read awhile back that I'd highly recommend is "Father Joe, the Man Who Saved My Soul" by Tony Hendra. It's the story of the author's life long relatioship with a Benedictine monk, Father Joseph Warrilow. Some of you may recall Mr. Hendra as one of the original editors of The National Lampoon or as the writer of the Broadway play, "Lemmings" with Chevy Chase and John Belushi. He was also in the movie "Spinal Tap." If you need a lift, look no futher than this book. Up over and out.

Well I guess you can quibble about grammatical issues or the fact that there was too much focus on drugs (although I would argue that this is the kind of thing that tends to shape both a man and his music) or that he's too hung up on the concept of minstrelsy, but all in all, I thought this was a nice, and if I may say so, heartfelt tribute to one of the genuine greats in the history the music. Crouch with an agenda is one thing, but on the rare occasion when he's able to put that aside, he can be quite another. Up over and out.

I buy almost completely on impulse. Occasionally, I'll see an upcoming release on Alan's website and note same on my calendar, but that's about the extent of it. Dusty Groove is probably the worst thing that's ever happened to me. I go on their website and wind up getting stuff I had no intention of buying. The problem with impulsiveness is that it knows no bounds. At least a list is finite. Up over and out.

Agreed 100%. I'm also quite addicted to the McLaughlin Group on Friday nights. Up over and out.

What in the world is CBS thinking? They have to have been completely blinded by star power. I don't watch The Today Show, but I've seen Katie Couric on a number of occasions. She's fine for what she does, but at least IMO, she lacks the gravitas and the hard news background to anchor a network newscast. Perky and cute isn't gonna get this one done. I'd guess that inside a year, CBS will long for the days when they had Bob Schieffer behind the wheel. Interestingly enough, I just watched "Good Night and Good Luck" last night. Paley, Friendly, Murrow and that bunch must be collectively spinning in their graves. Up over and out.

I can't imagine how I've been able to overlook such an obvious resemblance. Why, they're practically dead ringers. I guess I need to pay more attention. Up over and out.

Ed, Nice deal. I got both of these sets from Mosaic for full boat. By the way, I'm really liking the Nelson. He had a nice way with a chart. And, IMO, he's quite underrated as a musician. Up over and out.

Hands down, one of my top five Mosaics. Up over and out.

Apparently this is some sort of autobiographical trilogy. Morph being the third of three parts. Up over and out

Brad, I thought about The Lost Sessions while I was putting up my post. You know, some of LS wasn't pretty good (Ike Quebec) and some of it was excellent (Hubbard/Rouse). But, as you say, there was some that was pretty bad (Gordon/Stitt). One thing a Select would do for sure is give people the opportunity to hear what they've only heard about. No matter how you slice it, whether that turns out to be a good thing or truly unlistenable, you've silenced the "why can't we have this" crowd once and for all. Up over and out.

MG, I hear you about Pugs. At one time I had three of them, Benny, Roy and Sissy. When they'd go to bed in their chair at night and get to snoring one right after another...that was something. I miss those little guys a lot. Health problems for sure, but they are still great dogs. Up over and out.

We have a 190 pound Mastiff named Cookie. Don't ask me how this started, but she sleeps with us. We have a California King, so there's a fair amount of room, but fitting a dog this big and two people into a finite space can be a struggle. Manys the night I've gone witout covers when Cookie decides to reposition herself. Over the last year or so, she's also began "running" in her sleep. I kid you not, there have been a couple of times she's almost pushed me off the bed and onto the floor. Cookie's other endearing quality is drooling. I like to say if I had a nickel for every time I've cleaned up after her, I could have retired several years ago. When she has a drink of water and then decides to shake her head, you best be getting out of the way. I've cleaned spit off the ceiling on more than on occasion. But, as we like to say, "drool is cool" or "spit happens". The very best thing about dogs, as Free for All has said, is their sensitivity. I've always had dogs in my life and I continue to marvel at their ability to "read" their human partners. It's just remarkable. The other great thing, of course, is their unflinchingly upbeat attitude. Have you ever come home and not had your dog glad to see you? Can you say that about your wife or your kids? Don't think so. Dogs rule! Up over and out.

Considering there is virtually no unreleased material left in the Blue Note vaults, and considering how fanatical most jazz people are about the label, how could you lose by putting out some sessions that that were originally deemed unreleasable. At the time, when the future seemed unlimited, you had the luxury of saying "that doesn't measure up." Now that the turnip has all but been bled dry, it might be easier to view this in a different light. How about a Select called Blue Note Oddities or something like that. I'd buy it in a heart beat just to see what all the fuss was about. Up over and out.

Just got this one on Thursday so as of right now, I've made my way through the first two discs. All I can say at this point is one enthusiastic thumb up. I'm an unabashed fan of Buddy Rich, the musician. As I've IMO'd many times before, he's without peer as a jazz drummer. Nonetheless, I confess to having nothing of his in my collection up until now. I'm just not a huge fan of his big band stuff...too many flat out, full speed, over the top charts for my taste. This smaller group stuff just seemed like it might be right up my alley, so I took the plunge. Yeah, there's a fair amount of solo work, not terribly surprising on a box devoted to a drummer, but if you really sit back and listen to what Rich is doing, it's mind boggling. His solo on a cut from the first disc called "The Monster" is absolutely massive. He jumps right in, quickly builds up a head of steam and then just explodes like a runaway freight train. This thing goes on for 4 1/2 minutes and never lets up, not even for a second. All I can say is "Wow"! Additional props to him for his more subdued work as an accompanist, especially when he breaks out the brushes. Man, that does make for some sweet sounding stuff. In addition to some prime time Rich, there's a nice helping of Jimmy Rowles and Sonny Criss. Rowles in a most Basie-like "why play three notes when one will do" econo-Count mode and Criss, who's a bit more Parker-esque than you might expect considering the gig, but who fits in quite nicely nonetheless. Lots of tasty Harry Edison as well. I must also mention the ballad medley on disc one. No one ever played a ballad like Ben Webster, so there's no point in commenting on his contribution. Oscar Peterson, on the other hand, has never done much of anything for me, but his take on "Time After Time" is, in a word, sublime. Just two discs in, this one is has already made its mark. Up over and out.