Dave James

Mike - I got my copy of Song Everlasting from a guy in England. The information about this being a Capital release came from the AMG website. I'll have to check my copy when I get home tonight. Seems to me at one point, there were some joint releases. Up over and out.

FIrst of all, I'm assuming that the criteria for inclusion in any Select release is Blue Note first, Pacific Jazz second and United Artists third. I don't think any other labels have been represented thusfar in that catalog. Don Pullen recorded no less than eight different Blue Notes if you count the Capital release, Song Everlasting, as a BN. Titles were Breakthrough, Song Everlasting, Kele Mu Bana, Sacred Common Ground, Ode to Life, New Beginnings, Random Thoughts and Live...Again. Adams recorded three Blue Notes, Nightengale, America and Old Feeling. None of these included Pullen. George Adams appeared on just two of the Pullen dates, Breakthrough and Song Everlasting. So, if the criteria for the Select is just Don Pullen, there should be plenty to choose from. Or if it includes "solo" Adams on BN, then all the more so. If it's Pullen and Adams together, then it looks like they'll have to go outside the BN/PJ/UA box to populate this new set. As long as Breakthrough and Song Everlasting are included, everyone should be happy. I went "cost be damned" nutso a couple of years ago and hunted down six of the Pullen BN's on e-bay, so I'm probably not as jazzed as others about this upcoming Select, unless, of course, it includes some non-BN material. I will say, though, that there are some tunes on these outings that will flat blow you away. Not the least of which, as Shrugs so aptly pointed out, is We've Been Here All Along. That one is at the very top of this heap...or, for that matter, any other heap. Up over and out.

Impulse, Atlantic, Europe, Vanguard, Miles & Trane and, as of last Friday afternoon, the Prestige. Got it used for a pretty good if not great price. I've listened to about 4 of the discs and I have to say "Soul Eyes" on "Interplay for Two Trumpets" is as good a tune as I've heard in awhile. Up over and out.

When I was working in jazz radio, I had access to the station's rather substantial collection of vinyl recordings. I admit to spiriting a few out of the studio from time to time to dub onto cassettes. For whatever reason, the station has a nice selection of Marshall Royal led small group sessions. I think I must've taped at least 4-5 of these....all uniformly good. Nothing fancy, just the sort of thing you'd expect from a Basie acolyte. Jim's post reminded me of how much I enjoyed his recordings as a leader and how much I'd like to see them issued on CD. But, most of all, I wish I still had the tapes. Unfortunately, all the obscure stuff from the station that I recorded got ripped off in a car break in. Guess it was some sort of pay back for borrowing things I shouldn't have borrowed. Seems to me Royal led one iteration of the Basie band after Basie passed away. Didn't he have a brother, Ernie, who was also a musician of some repute? The book sounds very interesting. Carpe Diem indeed. Up over and out.

Late - Thanks a bunch. That is indeed the one. Up over and out.

There's a DVD that came out a couple of months ago, or at least that's when I first noticed it, that's a collection of famous jazz films. Included among them are a Lester Young short from the '40's, Miles Davis & Gil Evans, Davis and Coltrane, and the CBS show "The Sound of Jazz." I saw it at Dusty Groove once and it was in the last Collector's Choice catalog, but for the the life of me, I can't remember the name of the DVD. Can someone help me out with this? Thanks. Up over and out.

I think in smaller doses, strings are good. As Chris A. points out, there are a handful of jazz with strings recordings that are classics in every sense of the word. What I find amusing are the liner notes that almost always accompany recordings within this genre. Invariably, whomever pens the notes goes out of their way to differentiate the recording at hand from the hoards of jazz with strings efforts that feature overblown, maudlin, cloying or pretentious string arrangments. So endemic is this kind of commentary, that one wonders where the "with strings" CD's are that are truly rotten or if. in fact, any really exist. Up over and out.

It's official. The Eagles will get Owens. Great news for Eagle fans everywhere. In return, they give up Brandon Whiting to the Niners. I hate to lose him, especially since they play defensive line by committee, but with the addition of Jevon Kearse, he was probably not as much in their plans as he would have been otherwise. All the Ravens get is their draft pick back from San Francisco. If I was a Ravens fan (which I'm not) I'd be pissed. Didn't they give up one of their up and coming wideouts to free agency while this Owens thing was percolating? Now if the Eagles can just figure out how they'll put a secondary on the field, everything will be fine. Up over and out.

Don't rely on The Oregonian. Willamette Week has the most comprehensive listing of upcoming performances. Plus, it's free and readily available. Any coffee shop (and there are hundreds if not thousands of these) worth its salt should have them available. As far as venues go, Jimmy Mak's is a good bet. Check their website at jimmymaks.com. That will give you a listing of upcoming gigs, location etc. Or if your nostalgic for the Brasserie, their website is brasseriemontmartre.com. Unfortunatley, Jazz de Opus closed their doors several months ago. Much is the pity. Up over and out.

Even though he's pretty well represented in my collection, I would not call myself a big Jimmy Smith fan. Nonetheless, I voted for his "Standards" BN. I chose to approach this like AMG approaches their CD ratings, i.e. stars are granted and relative worth measured only in the context of a given performer's body of work. I know I may pinch a lot of nerves by saying this, but outside of "Crazy, Baby", I'd rather listen to "Standards" than just about anything else Jimmy Smith has done. I really think it's one of his better efforts. Up over and out.

Gotta go with the Davis Evans collaboration. I could listen to this stuff for days on end and never tire of it. It's absolutely unique music. There was never anything quite like it before and there hasn't been anything quite like it since. The quintessential "motive meets opportunity" pairing. Even the lesser lights in the box shine like a new dime. Up over and out.

I probably have a couple of dozen Swedish jazz CD's in my collection, mostly on the Dragon label. This is real deal...these guys can play with the best. Lars Gullin and Arne Domnerus are probably the two most recognizable names, but there are all kinds of lesser known guys who are top of the line players. If you want to take the plunge into Swedish jazz, I dare say you will not be disappointed. Up over and out.

Quincy - If I'm not mistaken, your avatar is none other than Reddy Kilowatt. Wow, does that take me back. He was the "personification" of PP&L. I know him well cuz my dad was an HR Manager with PGE for over 30 years. My brother and I always liked Reddy better that the lightening bolt PGE used. Up over and out.

Led Zeppelin. I had the pleasure of seeing them live three different times and, I might add, in three distinctly different states of consciousness. I still think their first album is among the top two or three rock albums ever made. They were the model for so much that was yet to come. To coin a phrase, "never were so many influenced by so few." Have a look at their recent live DVD release if you have any doubt about the power they brought to the stage. One of the few bands that could just flat blow you away. Up over and out.

The only Wynton I have is the Village Vanguard set. I think there's some awfully good music included among these CD's but I doubt I'll ever feel the need to add anything more of his to my collection. Up over and out.

Interesting question. I agree the best way to determine a reasonable value for OOP Mosaics is the somehow incorporate E-bay. It's just too bad there's no way to access an all inclusive "completed items" database that would show you what certain sets sold for for longer than just one month. That would let you average the costs over a longer period and come up with an "all things considered" price. As others have pointed out, the problem with only having access to recently closed auctions is that you have to deal with some bidders who get the "I wants" and will bid things up beyond any reasonable level. For instance, the recent prices the Basie sets are commanding are as high as I've seen in awhile. A couple of other thoughts. Once you've finally arrived at what you believe to be a fair price for your sets, protect yourself by establishing a reserve for each auction. I'd also recommend bleeding these into the system a few at a time. That way you give collectors a chance to recover and bid again for other sets. Otherwise, you'll minimize your potential buyer base. Timing is everything. Problem is there's no way to anticipate a bull market. Up over and out.

I'm not at all adverse to banning fighting altogether. I agree that it detracts from the sport in a major way. Like Patricia said, there's a beauty in the European style of play that you rarely see on this side of the pond. Unfortunately, fighting has been always woven into the fabric of the game, for better or for worse. You can't even begin to discuss hockey history without discussing the great and memorable fights and fighters...Fontinato/Laycoe; Howe/Fontinato, the bench clearing brawls, the Broad Street Bullies, Eddie "Clear the Track" Shack, Howie Young, Ty Domi...it goes on and on. I'm not endorsing this, I'm just saying it's hard to separate the game from this unfortunate aspect of the game. And, let's face it, just like a lot of people watch car racing for the accidents, a lot of people watch hockey for the fights. When you have the kind of limited fan base that hockey has, the powers that be have to be careful about alienating anyone. As outrageous as that might sound on its face, it's just smart business. Up over and out.

Chrome - There's just something about having a stick in your hands and the speed of the game that makes for a different dynamic. Not to mention the fact that in football, you're hitting someone on just about every play. I think that may tend to dampen aggressive tendencies that might otherwise manifest themselves in the absence of near constant contact. Up over and out.

I played ice hockey for 15 years, so I can relate to the statements that are being made about the emotion that's intrinsic to the game. I know it sounds silly, but if you haven't played it, then you really don't understand. However, that doesn't mean there aren't lines...and lines that shouldn't be crossed. Bertuzzi is a hard nosed player...I've seem him play at least 10 times...but he's not known to be a goon or a cement head. The fact of the matter is, he lost his head...he crossed the line and now he's paying the freight. While I think the suspension meted out by the NHL is fair (and probably more severe than I thought it would be) I think a better approach would have been to tie his return to Moore's. Suspend Bertuzzi for the lesser of one year of when Moore is able to play again. I love this game and I hate to see it besmirched by actions like those of a Todd Bertuzzi, a Marty McSorley or a Claude Lemieux. The League is doing the right thing by drawing down on this kind of behavior. With the game struggling like it is and the spectre of the CBA and a possible work stoppage on the horizon, they simply couldn't afford not to drop the shoe. Up over and out.

Was wondering if there's anyone else out there who enjoys the Bill Moody jazz themed mystery books as much as I do. I haven't read one since "Looking for Chet Baker", but I was reminded of him when I got the most recent issue of Jazz Times magazine. They did their monthly "up close and personal" feature with Ray Drummond and he mentioned that the last book he read was "The Sound of the Trumpet". That's the one about finding some unknown Clifford Brown recordings and it happens to be my favorite of the five books Moody has written, followed closely by "Death of a Tenor Man" about the murder of Wardell Gray and the aforementioned "Looking for Chet Baker" which fictionally examines the circumstance surrounding Baker's mysterious death Anyone else a fan? Up over and out.

I'm afraid Owen Wilson has become the poster boy for bad career choices. That's kind of unfortunate because in the right vehicle, he's pretty good. I thought he was fine in "Rushmore" and "Meet the Parents" and even better in "Shanghi Noon", but the movies he's done lately are just dreck. Maybe he's become like the late in life version of Lawrence Olivier, i.e. just put a movie deal in front of and tell me where to sign. I don't have to read the script cuz I'll do anything. I know the money is probably pretty good, but you'd think he might pay a little more attention to quality. Up over and out.

Kind of disappointing that Clint Eastwood didn't win. Call me a mouldy fig if you will, but I much prefer old time story telling over the computer generated, style over substance movie making that seems to dominate Hollywood these days. Mystic River the book and Mystic River the movie is that rara avis where one is as good as the other. I really thought Eastwood would win. He's been around a long time and while everything he's done viewed singly may not be overwhelmingly impressive, he has put together a nice body of work. In past years that has been known to influence the Academy. Plus, he's a jazz guy. Up over and out.

Dan, Welcome to the ranks of the heavily mortgaged. Congragulations. There's nothing quite like owning your own place. I don't think it should take you more than an afternoon to show the wife how to run the lawnmower. Up over and out.

I've used IMO's to pay Mr. Tanno on several occasions. Never a problem, but then again, he never asked for payment in Japanese currency. I think they have some fairly weird banking arrangements over there that can wind up costing sellers money if things are not handled correctly. There used to be several posters from the old BNBB who lived in Japan. Too bad they don't play in this pen. I recall several years ago buying Tina Brooks' "The Waiting Game" CD from Early Records for Victor Christensen who lived in Denmark (old timers will certainly remember Vic). Hiroshi sent it to him for me. I agree with what several other posters have said, if you're going ask Hiroshi to act in your behalf as an intermediary, it would be a good idea to offer him some sort of compensation. It would also help if you have done business with him in the past. Up over and out.

Last full set, Mulligan CJB. Last Select, Big John Patton. Up over and out.