Dave James

Jim, Congrats on the gig. Chuck's chicken wire comment made me wonder if boning up on Rawhide might not be a bad idea. Good luck to you guys. Up over and out.

BW, Thanks for the explanation. I understand what you're saying, and it makes sense from a technical standpoint, but I still think it discounts the listener. And, perhaps more importantly, it distracts from the music. Certainly, Peterson isn't in Jarrett's league when it comes to vocalizing, so it's not quite as offputting. Jarrett sounds like Jerry Lewis on Benzedrine. Up over and out.

Two things bother me about O.P. First, there's no such thing as space. He has a note ready for any and every occasion. The antithesis of a more taseful pianist, like an Ahmad Jamal. Second, and althouth he's not nearly as aggregious in this regard as Keith Jarrett, he vocalizes. I can't even put into words how annoying that is. Not to mention ego-centric. I'm gonna be like Mike. I have one O.P. led date in my entire collection. Night Train. I doubt I'll ever feel compelled to add another. Up over and out.

JM, Actually, no. It's exactly the kind of thing I would do. Turnabout is fair play. Up over and out.

Jazzmoose, Nice catch on "damed" instead of "damned". Something Freudian no doubt. I edited this stupid message about three times and never saw that. Hmmmm. Up over and out.

Bertrand, I'm jumping in here at the 11th hour, but that's never stopped me before. This strikes me as something of a damed if you do and damed if you don't scenario. Given that there doesn't seem to be any deeper connection between the two of you other than the fact that at one time you were pretty good friends, I'm not sure there's really anything wrong with calling her back. I'm sure you'd probably at least like to do some catching up. For sure, no matter what she suggests or where the conversation leads, you still have the right of first refusal. For instance, if I was in your shoes and she did surface the idea getting together with the old crowd, I'd have a lot less difficulty telling her how I really felt about that group of people now when you're years removed from any direct involvement. But, that's just me. Bottom line for me is that I'm afraid my curiosity would get the better of me. I'm like a lot of other people in that I don't tend to worry much about former friends and acquaintances...what was was and what is is. Point being, I would never initiate contact with someone who used to be a friend, but if they called me, I'd have a hard time not talking to them for at least awhile just to see what kind of hand life had dealt them. Also, and the last thing I want to do is pry, but I have to ask anyway; now that you've been x-rayed by all the "Board" certified psychologists around here, are you going to give us some idea of the outcome? Up over and out.

I mentioned "The Greatest Jazz Films Ever" DVD the other day on the Ahmad Jamal thread. This is an absolute must have for any serious listener. Two discs chock full of great tunes and great players. The Sound of Jazz segment is worth the price of adminssion by itself (for that matter, just Lester's all too brief but incredibly bluesy solo on Billie's "Fine and Mellow" is worth the entire cost) but that's only a small slice of the total package. Buy with confidence. As George Zimmer from the Men's Warehouse says, "I guarantee it." Up over and out.

Che, I don't know that much about David Ware, but if, as you say, he "started as a sideman with with Cecil Taylor and from this moved into the arena of progressive jazz", I dare say that would've been a cute trick. Cecil has pretty much owned the outer edges of that genre since day one. Also, I'm not sure how you can ask the question, "Coltrane, Rollins etc. so why not Ware?" If you weren't aware of Ware, then I really don't see how can question why you weren't hip to him. I've got a couple of Ware's CD's, but his music can be pretty intense. I dumped the "Flight of I" after one listen, but I've hung onto one called "Surrendered" simply because of the last track called "African Drums". In my limited exposure to him, that's about as close to mainstream as I've heard him get. I wish he'd do some straight up stuff just to balance the scales. He's the owner of a monster tone. At times, almost like he's playing something pitched lower than a tenor. That "knee in the bell" low end sound. Up over and out.

A couple of thoughts on this one. With regard to the audience reaction in Paris, I think it's important to consider this in the context of the time. I'm sure people showed up expecting to hear of Davis and Coltrane what they'd heard on their records. When that didn't happen, the reaction on the part of some of the crowd was predictable. Weren't there other instances of Miles getting the raspberry in France? I thought I read someplace that the material he chose to perform at times in Montreaux was not well received. And I know for a fact, that Stevie Ray Vaughn was almost booed off the stage the first time he appeared at that festival. France can be a tough room to play. With regard to the Stockholm sessions on Dragon, let's not overlook the contributions of Wynton Kelly. I personally think this is some of his very best playing. Up over and out.

Hey Dan...nice going. You must've dropped your sox when you saw this one, being the Gene Harris Fanatic we all know you to be. Needless to say, I'm as anxious as everyone else for a full report on this one as soon as you cue it up. Up over and out.

Jackie Gleason? Music To Change Her Mind? Wow. How cool is that? My folks used to have tons of Gleason's stuff. Never listened to it. Maybe I should have. Sounds like it might have come in handy from time to time, especially if you were trying to break out of a slump. Up over and out.

Does Forest Whitaker count? Seriously though, I gotta go with Stitt. I've never heard Davy Schildkraut, so I'll have to check to the power on that one. Another guy who had a fair amount of Bird in his sound, at least early on, is Anthony Ortega. I've got a Bethlehem CD called "Jazz for Young Moderns" where he's all over the horn. It's a Japanese release, so I can't tell when it was recorded. I'd guess in the late '50's. Up over and out.

This is much better told than written, but here goes anyway: Why does Michael Jackson like 23 year olds? Because there's 20 of them. Up over and out.

I think I recall Michael referring to this session as a "plane wreck". Up over and out.

Well good luck to you no matter where you wind up. Start posting again as soon as you're settled. Ad to re-lo possibilities, I don't think you really know if anyplace is a good fit until you actually try it out. I'm sure when you moved before, you always thought it would work out, but it didn't. All you can do is give it your best shot and hope it winds up being the right call. Can I have your bottlecap? Up over and out.

According to the reports I've seen, this is another loner kid who was teased and taunted unmercifully by his peers. His father committed suicide four years ago and his mother has lived in a nursing home since she sustained brain injuries in an automobile accident. I wouldn't exactly call that the recipe for a healthy and happy childhood. Not that this in any way relieves him of responsibility for his actions. It's just an incredibly sad state of affairs. With regard to gun control, if anyone saw the 60 minutes piece last Sunday night about the Russian guy who basically outfitted a small army by buying guns and ammunition in this country and then exporting back home, then you have a pretty good idea of how far out of control this whole thing really is. Up over and out.

There's some old B&W Jamal footage on the DVD, "The Greatest Jazz Films Ever", that features his trio w/Crosby & Fournier playing some of the smoothest, most listenable piano jazz I can recall running into. The two tunes they do are "Darn That Dream" and "Amhad's Blues". That segment of the film also features a collection of luminaries including Ben Webster, Vic Dickenson, George Duvivier, Buck Clayton and Jo Jones who do a nice version of Chelsea Bridge. Hank Jones is part of that group too. After they're done, they all gather around the piano while Jamal is playing and they are obviously digging what he's doing. Can't say as I blame 'em...there's some mighty fine stuff going on there. Up over and out.

At my age, there isn't much I would run away from. But if it was JLo, whatever she was doing, I'd only give her 30 minutes to quit. Up over and out.

Cool. The greazzzze will be runnin' in the aisles. Up over and out.

SS, I just keep the music on my i-Pod. My intention at this point would be to eventually fill up the Pod with nothing but Fantasy albums that I don't have in my collection. That way storage, which has always been a problem, becomes a non-issue. I guess at times it might be nice to have the kind of information you get on a tray card, but I can always look up the players on e-music or in my Fantasy Jazz catalogue. As to cover art, not anything I have an overwhelming need to have. I'm more interested in the music than the accouterments. Up over and out.

If I had the 14 and the 20, I think I'd be setting my sights a lot higher than JLo. Up over and out.

I have one Garzone in my collection and it's the one mikeweil was asking about, called "Alone". More a less a tribute to Stan Getz as nine of the 11 tunes are ones that Getz recorded at one time or another. Everything from "Night and Day" to "How Insensitive". According to the liner notes, Getz was Garzone's original influence when he took up the tenor as a child. This is a nice album. Different combinations of supporting players on different tunes. Everything from duets to trios to quartets to quintets. The line up includes, Mike Manieri, Dave Kikoski, Chuck Loeb, Eddie Gomez and Lenny White, and there are two vocal tracks featuring Louciana Souza. This is on NYC Records. Garzone is as much a teacher as he is a performing musician. He has taught at Berklee, The New England Conservatory of Music and Manne's College in Manhattan. Bob Blumenthal wrote the line notes and shares an interesting story involving Garzone and his hero: Emilio Lyons, the famous "Sax Doctor" of Boston's Rayburn Music, saw to it that Garzone met his idol. "I walked in to Rayburn one day", Garzone recalls, "and Stan was there visiting Emilio. As soon as Emilio saw me, he said, "George, take out your horn and play for Stan." You can imagine how nervous I was, but Stan must have like what he heard, because he asked to try my horn , then offered to swap his gold plated tenor for it. It was hard to tun him down, but my mother bought me my horn when I stared playing tenor and I couldn't give it up." You can see on the tray insert that his horn has been played to death. Not a patch of lacquer to be found. I'm guessing it's a Mark VI. Sure nice of his Mom to pick one of those up for him when he started playing. Up over and out.

I understand Wolfowitz plays a mean rhythm guitar. It's all about the music. Up over and out.

In terms of more mainstream bad movie making, I always thought "Popeye" with Robin Williams had to be near the top of anyone's list. All the spinach in the world wouldn't have helped that one. Up over and out.

A couple of weeks ago, there was a discussion about shutting down the Political Forum. If (and I emphasize if) there are board related behavioral issues that warrant steps being taken, that may be the place to start. First of all, let me say that I'm not sure I've ever really understood why a political forum needs to be part of any board that is, at least in theory, devoted to the appreciation of music. Lord knows, there are hundreds of other bulletin boards that exist exclusively to promote political discussion, so it's not like there aren't places to scratch that itch. Besides, who ever said Organissimo needs to be all things to all people? Secondly, political discussion is, by it's very nature, polarizing. When incivility rears it's ugly head, which it inevitably does, my sense is that it can have a deliterious or enabling effect that has little to do with politics per se. Put more simply, it emboldens people to expand their confrontational attitudes beyond the confines of political debate. Maybe that's all a bunch of hogwash, but maybe it's worth revisiting the need for this forum that's devoted to politics. I for one can live very easily with a board that's focused solely on music. Isn't that really why we're here? Up over and out.