Dave James

Randy - My brother tells me there's a movie out about Scrabble players and their obsession with the game. It's called Word Wars. Have you seen it? I guess it focuses on four guys who are so deeply immersed in the game that it's really all they do. My brother says it's absolutely fascinating. BTW, how did you do? Hope the tiles were with you. Up over and out.

While I certainly prefer instrumental Chet to vocal Chet, I think his early vocal efforts are nicely turned. Listen to tunes like "Look For The Silver Lining" or "Let's Get Lost" and you'll hear, at least IMO, an evocation of innocence conveyed with a clearness and clarity that are really quite appealing. Later period Chet is a bit more of an acquired taste, but even that has its own particular, peculiar allure. Of course, you're talking to someone who thinks the world of Chet Baker, so I'm admittedly biased. BTW, if you don't have the two disc set "The Last Great Concert", I see that it's recently been reissued. That one is a keeper, late period Chet or not. Up over and out.

I've said it before, but I really don't understand how anyone can stay a Mariner fan. With the exception of the Yankees, they have to make more money than anyone else in baseball, so you know the revenues are there to pull the trigger on the kind of "dog days" moves that can make the difference between going to the World Series or going home. Over the last 4-5 years, when the addition of another bat and/or arm could have made all the difference in the world, they just sat on their hands and watched the window close. Well, probably not on their hands cuz they need them to count all the money, but you know what I mean. Bottom line, if I was a fan of the M's, I would be righteously indignant. It'll be interesting to see what happens to their attendance over the next couple of years. I know Safeco is a great place to see a ballgame, but this team is going to be struggling for awhile and whether the crowds continue to come out has to be a major concern. Seattle fans are used to winning and it's hard to say how they'll react to losing. I don't think their farm system can be relied on for any immediate help (they've already milked their AAA affiliate in Tacoma dry) so the only hope is that they tap into the river of money they have to have available and start buying their way back into contention. Up over and out.

Chuck, Take it from someone who hasn't had one in awhile, there's no such thing as a bad vacation. Hope you guys enjoy your time off. We need you to recharge your batteries so you can get that flea market Parker material out. Not sure about everyone else, but I'm tired of drooling on myself. Up over and out.

Hope you have a special day today. Have always appreciated your contributions, knowlege and insights all the way back to the halcyon days of the early BNBB. Remember what Albert Ayler said, "Music is the Healing Force of the Universe." Up over and out.

It will be interesting to see in the Unit goes into pout mode for the next few weeks in an attempt to get the Backs to put him on waivers. The Yankees are about the only team that could afford picking up his salary, so that would get him where he wants to go. Of course, the Backs would still have to explain how they went about getting nothing for something, but if Johnson gets randy enough, they may find themselves with no choice but to move him out. I like the Loaiza deal. The key is for him to find his cutter again. With a cutter specialist like Mariano Rivera on staff and a pitching coach who can work miracles in Billy Connor, I'm optimistic. Even if he struggles, I'd still take him over Contreras. Up over and out.

mikeweil - here's the information you wanted on the Hendrix disc. It's called simply, "Jimi Hendrix - The Studio Outtakes - 1966 - 1970." It's on the Radioactive label (www.radioactiverecords.com). The three tunes with Larry Young are: "It's Too Bad" (6:36) Hendrix, Larry Young and Buddy Miles. February 1969. "World Traveler" (8:01) Hendrix, Larry Young and Buddy Miles. February 1969. "Larry Young Jam" (10:24) Hendrix, Larry Young and Billy Cox. May 1969. I picked this up at my local Borders. Up over and out.

I've always found DG's use of the word "spiritual" interesting. I don't believe I've ever purchased anything from them that was described as being spiritual, so I'm not in a position to assess exactly what this means. I've long believed that the person who writes Dusty Groove reviews also mans the "snow phone" for every ski area in the country. Point being, one must be able to read between the lines to determine the reality of the situation. When everything is uniformly great, you have to know you're being spun. Note to Jim about the porno soundtrack. When "Big Swing Face" appeared in the movie, was there any particular type of activity underway? I can think of seveal scenarios that might lend themselves to its inclusion. Makes me wonder if the guy who did the soundtrack had a sense of humor in addition to a fair knowledge of music. Up over and out.

Crispell's work with Anthony Braxton puts me in mind of a female Cecil Taylor. Very out and very percussive. It is interesting to see her "softer" side on ECM. I would also recommend these recordings for Paul Motian's drumming. I just wonder to what extent the ECM stuff she does is subsistance based. If you've read "Forces in Motion", the chronicle of the Braxton group's tour through England, you get some sense of the hardscrabble existance forced upon musicians like Crispell. One must follow one's muse, but one must also eat and have a roof over one's head. Up over and out.

I think the Young Mosaic is one of their better efforts. Most Mosaics pretty much color inside the lines when it comes to stylistic coherence, but the Young box runs the gamut from inside to outside and all points inbetween. I think it provides an almost unprecedented opportunity to view the development of an artist and his music. Indespensible IMO. Speaking of Larry Young, I picked up an interesting Jimi Hendrix recording the other day. It's a 2 CD British release consisting of studio outtakes from 1966-1970. Three of the tunes, one of which runs over 10 minutes and is called "Larry Young Jam", feature our man on the Hammond. I think these are from a rare session called "Nine for the Universe" or something like that. Interesting stuff and very good sound. They claim it's 48 bit remastered. Can't say I've heard of that before. Up over and out.

Dan, I saw that comment. Thought it was great. I think the D-backs owe it to the fans of theirs that remain to try and milk something of value out of Johnson. Problem is the feeding frenzy for a 40 year old with a huge contract will die down in the off season when pennants and possible trips to the World Series aren't at stake and cooler heads prevail. I would not want to be Garigiola or Coangelo right now. Up over and out.

I had never seen these album covers before. What a hoot! Someone has way too much time on their hands and that's just fine with me. Up over and out.

According to ESPN news, Johnson has vetoed a trade to the Dodgers. It's going to be the Yankees or no one. As much as I'd like to see him in Yankee pinstripes, I'm guessing at this point he stays in Arizona. That will make for an unhappy Unit, but so it goes. If they do work something out with New York and Boston and the Yankees hook up in the post season, how great would it be if Johnson faced off against Shilling? Now that would be fun. Up over and out.

Personally, I'm holding out for the JRVG's. Howver, I understand if you order the domestic pressing and use a credit card, you get a bonus CD that includes all of Aric Effron's original BNBB messages and the responses from board members. This includes the famous Tom Evered post that rendered Mr. Effron tactically inert. Up over and out.

Dan, No way. This is sticks and stones stuff. Varitek initiated the physical part of the confrontation. If anyone gets popped it'll be him. And if Ortiz only gets five games for that display last week, then no one involved in this latest dust up gets more than three. Up over and out.

Unless the Yankees are willing to trade some of their front line guys, the Unit will not being going to New York. The Yanks farm system is devoid of anyone that might possibly help the D-backs for at least three years, and not even a team as desperate as Arizona would be willing to stick their collective necks out that far. Anaheim has the most to offer, but I'm hearing that Johnson is really only interesed in going to New York. Stay tuned. I think it was a major mistake for Torre to start Contreras yesterday. The Red Sox have beaten him like a rented mule every time they've squared off and what with Contreras just starting to resemble the pitcher they thought they had signed for $32 mil, I'd have held him out to avoid any damage to his psyche-on-the-mend. They're going to need him in the post season and what happened Sunday isn't going to do squick for his confidence. I just hope A-Rod hasn't inadvertantly pumped new life into what was, up to Saturday, one of the most moribund franchises in the AL. Francona was talking after the game like it was exactly the kind of cathartic event that they needed to bring them together. Hey, Tito...Booby...news flash for you...that's your job. Up over and out.

I picked up this 5 CD set a week or so ago with a 20% off deal at Border's. Like most of us, I have a few Brubecks in my collection, but only Time Out from among he CD's in this box. I pretty much live, breathe, eat, drink and sleep in 4/4 time, but I'll have to admit that there's something very catchy about the oddball time signatures represented by most of the tunes in this set. I guess when you color outside the lines like this, it demands your attention. Probably because you're just not all that used to hearing much of what you hear here. Anyhow, I'm enjoying this one a lot, so I thought I'd put in a plug. Up over and out.

I think we've all done this before, but it never hurts to reiterate: Georgie Auld Al Cohn I also second, or third, the earlier Earl Bostic suggestion. A Mosaic treatment of the jazz side of Mr. B would be the realization of a long standing dream. Up over and out.

1 was just another example of Hollywood's predeliction with style over substance. Sounds like 2 may get beyond that. 1 can only hope. Up over and out.

I listened to Buzz at my local Border's a week or so ago. Even though I didn't buy it (I was in Orignal Jazz Classics mode that day) it was very tempting. As relyles said earlier, some very interesting stuff going on here. Up over and out.

I came to the Dead pretty late in my musical journey. I'd seen them a couple of times in the '70's when they blew through the Northwest, but they never quite clicked with me. I think getting seriously into jazz as I did maybe 15 years ago made me more able to appreciate what the Dead was about when I started listening to them again about two years ago. There are still aspects of their approach that I don't care for...most notably their vocal work...but there is no way you cannot appreciate their musicianship and their ability to improvise. That comes straight out of the jazz tradition and, given the fact they were all big fans of Coltrane, I guess that shouldn't be too surprising. I am firmly convinced that the only way to listen to the Dead is live. For me, their studio efforts come across as flat and uninspired. There's something about getting them on stage in front of their fans, though, that just seems to push them to a higher level. I'm sure that phenomena was somewhat chemical in nature, but performing live also provided the band an extremely broad canvas upon which to paint their musical pictures, unemcumbered as it were by durational limitations and playing for an audience that was completely willing to embrace either their brilliance or their mediocrity on a given evening. BTW, while were on the subject of The Dead, if any of you haven't read "A Long Strange Trip" by Dennis McNally, I would highly recommend it. Up over and out.

I get to Vancouver once a year. I've pretty much limited my browsing to either the Virgin Megastore or A&B Sound. The first time I ever went to A&B, I was blown away by how much jazz they had in stock. It took me a couple of hours just to get my arms around it. Sad to say, they've gone the way of a lot of other stores. The last time I was there in January, they hardly had anything worth getting and their stock was next to non-existant. Virgin has a lot more to choose from. They used to stock a fair number of Japanese recordings. They still have some of those and an occasional oddity, but it's not what it once was either. Price-wise, A&B is less across the board than Virgin. Can't help you much with the funky, out of the way places, although for sure they are there. Good luck. Up over and out.

Wow, that is way cool. I assume you've done radio before. I'll never forget the first time I went "live". I'm told it sounded like I'd been sucking on the world's largest helium filled balloon for several days. It took awhile to get ahead of the open mike jitters. I even used to write out my break patter. Then I just decided one day to just talk and it worked out fine. Do you do your own engineering or is there someone to do that for you. Hopefully at the NPR level, that won't be your responsibility. For what it's worth, remember what I used to call the sine wave. Has to do with varying the tempo of your musical "attack". I also made it a point never to play a tune that featured the same instrument twice in a row, but that's my own personal idiosyncracy. I also never did more that two vocals in an hour. Anyhow, good luck. You are going to have some serious fun. Up over and out.

There used to be a guy in the Portland, Oregon phone directory whose name was Oral Love. When I was in college at Lewis & Clark, I used to delight in sending away for magazine subscriptions under the name of Hugh Jardon. Seems I had way too much time on my hands at that point in my life. Up over and out.

We played something called Prison Ball when I was in grade school. It was a little like the game Berigan describes except that if someone threw the ball at you and you didn't catch it, you didn't go to the sidelines but to "prison". That was a lined off area at either end of the court. The ball could be thrown over the top by one team to those on their side who were in prison and if they got the ball, threw it at someone on the other side and they missed it, then they went to their prison and you got out. That made for some interesting back and forth play. Like Dodgeball and Bombardment, the older, bigger guys - usually the 7th of 8th grade boys - held sway on one team and anyone else who wanted to play was on the other. That pretty much guaranteed the outcome. Not much fun when you weren't in those grades. Lots of fun when you finally were. Up over and out.