Dave James

I heard something about this several years ago. At the time, the two people who were being considered for the Baker role were Matt Damon and Jim Carey. A movie based on Moody's "Looking for Chet Baker" would be interesting. I'm a big fan of his books. In addition to the Chet Baker book, "The Sound of the Trumpet" and "Death of a Tenor Man" are both pretty good reads. "Sound" focuses on Clifford Brown while "Death" deals with the passing of Wardell Gray. Up over and out.

All VSOP's: Art Pepper - Mucho Color Bill Holman - In a Jazz Orbit Conte Candoli - Conte Candoli 4 Dempsey Wright - Wright Approach Don Fagerquist - Eight by Eight Doris Drew - Delightful Doris Drew Howard Roberts - The Real Howard Roberts John Metzger - Spinner Lanny Morgan - The Lanny Morgan Quartet Laurie Allyn - Paradise Marth Paich - Jazz for Relaxation & The Marty Paich Quartet Modern Jazz Orchestra - The Modern Jazz Orchestra Paul Tagawa - The Paul Tagawa Quartet Pete Jolly - Pete Jolly Trio & Friends Up over and out.

Couldn't let this thread disappear without a quick comment. I guess as an actor, one of your goals would have to be doing something that will resonate with fans long after your career has ended. With "A Christmas Story" Darren McGavin "penned" a piece of work that fits comfortably into that category. This is a movie that will be watched years from now with the same level of enjoyment and "harken back to a simpler time" enthusiasm that it is watched right now. If that was all he'd ever done, he is to be commended. Fragile...the leg lamp...the Bumphus hounds...the furnace...the flat tire...and a Red Ryder Carbine Action 200 shot Range Model Air Rifle. Saddafinga, indeed. Up over and out.

Also interesting that while the team is called Great Britain, it's composed entirely of Scots. The women's gold medal match last night between Sweden and Switzerland was something to watch. I even got my S.O. interested and she thinks sports are a total waste of time. I felt badly for the Swiss gal, Mirjam Ott. She had played a terrific match, doing everything she could do for her team to win and you could really see how hard she took it when Sweden won on their final lag. Great stuff. That's what sports should all be about. Up over and out.

Sometimes when I have a few extra bucks, I'll take a flyer on something from Dusty Groove. Without having anything more to go on than their over-the-top thumbnail sketches, this can be a hit or miss proposition. The other day, I went for one called "Happy Girl" by Nathan Davis on the Saba/MPS label. Well, as hits or misses go, this is a definite hit. It hasn't been too far from the top of my rotation since I got it a couple of weeks ago. So, the question is...who dat man? From what I gather he was a European expat who delved at one time or another into many different forms of jazz, some good, some not so good. Needless to say, I'm a straight up kind of guy, so I'd be interested in any other Davis recommendations that fit within this parameter or just anyone's thoughts of, reactions to or ideas about Mr. Davis. Up over and out.

The sound on "Cornbread" is fine, but if you've been without it this long, there's probably no reason not to wait for the RVG. Of course, there are no guarantees that the RVG will make this a better sonic experience or that it won't be several years before BN gets around to redoing it. I guess the other thing to consider is that as time goes by, the McMaster will become harder to find. I doubt they're pressing any more of those, although I could be wrong. Up over and out.

"Cornbread" is essential if only for its inclusion of my all-time favorite Morgan tune, "Ceora". The first few notes of Herbie's piano break are as close as I've gotten to a religious experience when it comes to jazz. Up over and out.

WHEN DO WE LEAVE? Up over and out.

Jim, Are you talking about Seattle as a permanent gig? Have you ever been there? It's a georgeous city. Right on Puget Sound. People are nice, much like here in Portland. Dimitrio's Jazz Alley has national acts every weekend. Lucky Thompson is rumored to live there. Yes, it does rain. I hate the rain probably more than you do, but I've lived in Portland all my life and you just get used to it. For about five months out of the year - between May and September, there's no nicer place on the planet. It's those other seven months you must look our for. Traffic is horrible. One long jam going North from Tacoma to Everett every day. Marginal to non-existant urban planning. The real question, though, that which might cause one to choose the road less taken, is the girl. What say you to that? Could make a helluva difference. A nice gal can make you forget about being wet...and many other things...at least for awhile. Up over and out.

I ran my own personal A/B comparison of McMaster and RVG editions of The Gigolo when I got home from work this afternoon. I'm far from a professional audio analyst and the system I'm using isn't anything like what an audiophile might have at their disposal (Boston Acoustics - five speakers - three front - two back - and a subwoofer). It's the same system we use for our home theater. The first thing I did was put both discs in the CD player and then mix them up so I didn't know which one I was listening to. I tried to compare the two by toggling back and forth between the same tune on both CD's. Harder than it sounds, BTW. At any rate, nothing really jumped out at me. It was only when I put one in the DVD player and the other in the CD player that I could discern some fairly distinct differences. The RVG is definitely louder, its quite a bit brighter and there's more echo. A term popped in my head while I was listening...that the RVG sounded like it was recorded "hotter" than the McMaster. I don't know if that makes any sense given that both guys were probably working off the same set of original tapes, but that was my reaction. Just to validate my findings and make sure that the player wasn't making a difference, I swapped the discs. No change; the characteristics remained the same. Of the two, I'd have to go with the McMaster, although you'd never mistake either one for something from Venus Records. Just one man's opinion. Up over and out.

I'm swimming against the tide here, but to my ears, the new RVG sounds awful. The whole thing is really fuzzy, especially the drums. My local Border's has a copy of the old McMaster Gigolo. I'm going to go get that today and see if it's any better. I don't have any problem with the tunes...they're great. And I love Lee Morgan. Maybe I got a bum copy. Up over and out.

The two rarest of Gordon BN's, "Cluhouse" and "Landslide" are both in the Blue Note Box. IMO, that's the single biggest reason for getting/having this one. Up over and out.

As good as 24 is, I don't know how much longer it can last. The show has wargamed just about every possible terrorist scenario...assassination, nuclear, biological, nerve gas etc. I'm not sure what plot line is left to plumb that wouldn't wind up being like a "second verse, same as the first" situation. Kind of ironic to think that a TV show could tap itself out because there aren't enough combatible terrorist threats to go around. Up over and out.

Drums and vibes are an interesting and not all that rare double. Lionel Hampton and Victor Feldman come to mind. Up over and out.

Major casting faux pas; Sean Astin playing a character that is supposed to have at least a modicum of gravitas. Not even close...he is a friggin' Hobbit. However, that's one of the few missteps in what, otherwise, is as addictive a show as I've run into. This is getting close to the pedestal upon which currently rests Twin Peaks and the first few seasons of the X-Files. And Leave it to Beaver, but we won't get into that here. Up over and out.

Maybe it helps if you think of this as tavern shuffleboard. Major strategic similarities. Up over and out.

Yes, Mike, hope ya'll have a swell birthday. Up over and out.

My e-music account was recharged with 90 new tunes yesterday, so I began attacking the VSOP catalog. One session I downloaded that I'm particulatly happy with is Pete Jolly's "Pete Jolly Trio & Friends". Some mighty nice stuff on that one. The guy is a player. Up over and out.

I've actually done this. We have a group of guys here at work that travel together a couple of times a year. We were up in Vancouver B.C. to see some Canuck hockey games a year or so ago and decided to check out the local bonspiel (?). Turns out, it's a major hoot. Eight of us played for a couple of hours and it cost us less than $10.00 each. Quite the entertainment value. The weirdest thing about curling is the ice. It's pebbled. They actually have guys who's job is to make ice just for curling. The rules are pretty easy to pick up. Strategy, that's another issue altogether. Several good websites exist if anyone wants to explore this in greater detail. Hardest thing about the game is not falling on your ass. My S.O. and her daughter were out of town over the weekend, so I spent quite a bit of time watching the Olympics. Most often I found myself on MSNBC or CNBC watching the curling...didn't matter if it was men's or women's, although the women are a lot easier to look at. There's just something about this sport that's mesmerizing. I even watched this in lieu of ice hockey which, for me, is close to blasphemy. Bring it on! Up over and out.

For all you do, this day's for you. Hope you have (had) a good one. And thanks for the website. It is invaluable (if expensive) in every sense of the word. Up over and out.

I guess what this means is that Wilt may have been overly self-congratulatory when it comes to the number of women he slept with. I believe he'd pegged this at something in the neighborhood of 20,000. If this study is accurate, then he may really have only been with 5 or 10,000. Geez, what a whimp! Up over and out.

Even though it has not been proven that McGwire, Sosa and Bonds are juicers, one need look no further than their before and after pictures to know exactly what's going on. The fact that steriods were not illegal, at least IMO, offers little defense for their useage. Look, baseball is a game of numbers and records...it's sacrosanct in that respect. Anyone who does what any of these freaks did and who bastarized the game in the process should absolutely be shown the door when it comes to getting into Cooperstown. Yeah, I know all the arguments about Ty Cobb and what a moron he was and that there are other guys in the Hall who were far from princely people, but none of them denigrated the game itself and its history. That's what these guys did and they should be made examples of for their trouble. Having said that, I fully expect that all three will wind up in the Hall. The writers will "punish" them by not electing them in their first year of eligibility, but after that, you might as well start working on their plaques. I couldn't disagree more. Up over and out.

Just finished my second tour of the Curtis Amy Select. I was only familiar with him from Katanga, but these three discs are chock full of sassy, solid and swinging music. Well recommended. Up over and out.

Media Mail is nothing more than a guarantee of slow delivery. Unless it's the only option available, I avoid it like the plague. For sure the cost is less, but in the long run you'll be better served by electing another delivery option. Not only will that eliminate unnecessary delays but it will also alleviate any concerns one might otherwise have about a lost shipment. With regard to DP 36...what they said. Great stuff. Up over and out.

Sad news, indeed. If you've never had the pleasure, this guy could really play. RIP. Up over and out.