Dave James

I noticed in the most recent Mosaic brochure that the Eldridge set is one of those that will be made available over the counter. The insert said it would be released to retail shortly after its initial issue in November of 2003. Was wondering if anyone had come across this. If so, how was it priced? Up over and out.

I've become a shaving switch hitter. For Christmas, I was given a Braun electric, the kind that dispenses lotion as you shave. My S.O. got if for me because she was tired of me complaining about razor cuts. The Braun does a passable job but it doesn't get as close as I like. So now, after I'm done, I wait about a half an hour and then do a light once over with a bit of shaving cream and the old Gillette triple track. Cuts appear to be a thing of the past and it makes for the closest shave I've ever had. Up over and out.

The Mary Fields Trio at a long gone little spot in Portland called Fricasso's Prima Donna. First "name" artist I ever saw? Hmmm. Either Stan Kenton or Buddy Rich. Up over and out.

I guess you could send yourself around the bend trying to decide if Blue Note is still Blue Note. Here's my rationale. If it weren't for Norah Jones, maybe "Passing Ships" (or other obscure recordings) never see the light of day. Didn't Blue Note go through the same thing years ago with Lee Morgan? Only then it was "The Sidewinder" instead of "Come Away With Me." Point being, one you don't care about may very well beget others that you do. That's all I need to know to sleep well at night. Up over and out.

Should be interesting now that Clemens is in the National League, i.e. no DH. I'll bet there are more than a few guys out there right now who are salivating at the opportunity they will soon have to pitch to or at The Rocket. Up over and out.

Quincy and Ghost of Miles --- Right on with Roger Angell. He is a gifted writer. His article in the New Yorker a couple of months ago about the Red Sox collapse is a classic. Sometimes when I'm reading a piece in the New Yorker, I'll page ahead to see how much is left. This time I didn't because I didn't want to know when it ended. I don't thing anyone has mentioned Jim Brosnan. He's an ex-big league pitcher turned author. Something of an intellectual. The two books of his I'm familiar with are "The Long Season" and "Pennant Race". I'm also curious about what became of Joe Charbonneau. I can't recall this specifically, but I think one of the things he was famous for was opening a bottle of beer with his teeth and drinking it though his nose. He was about the only bright spot in Cleveland baseball for a couple of decades. Up over and out.

I guess someone has to swim against the current. Don't get me wrong, as individual artists, Getz and Barron have to be at the very top of anyone's list as they are at the very top of mine. Two giants...no if's and's or but's. I guess with "People Time" it probably doesn't have as much to do with Getz and Barron as it does my inability to warm to saxophone / piano duos. I wish I could put my finger more precisely on what it is that doesn't get it done for me, something about not enough bottom end or, I guess, rhythm instrumentation. BTW, I will sing the praises of both Verve volumes of Getz and Barron at the Montmarte with Rufus Reid and Victor Lewis, but it's the inclusion of bass and drums that help pull these together and make them more memorable outings for me. Up over and out.

Ever since Santana hit it big with Supernatural, it seems that the inclusion of other "name brand" performers on pop oriented albums has become more profligate. While it certainly worked for Santana, I'm not sure it's all that viable for someone like Norah, at least at this point in her career. I think she would have been better served to insist on something that more firmly establishes her own performing personna before starting to fall back on others for support. One more album that focuses the attention entirely on her. I was actually kind of looking forward to that, just to see what she'd come up with. So, either Blue Note doesn't have that much confidence in a Norah based sophomore effort, or they think by including performers like Dolly Parton, it will guarantee big time results. Frankly, I would not be at all surprised to see these expectations fall short, although I hope I'm wrong. I kind of like Norah...at least in small, manageble doses. I'll be interested to see what kind of legs the new album has. Sure, it will sell by the bushel basket when it first hits the streets, but what will happen a month or two down the road. Up over and out.

Any State slogan is better than the one we just spent over $400,000 in taxpayer money to develop here in Oregon. Thanks to an advertising outfit called Weiden & Kennedy, the same firm that handles Nike and ESPN, our new slogan is" "Oregon, We Like Dreamers." How lame is that? Up over and out.

Pepper HQ'd here in Portand for awhile. Used to play at a long since closed club called The Jazz Quarry. His pianist for a time was none other than Mr. Smooth Jazz himself, Tom Grant. This is long before Grant went over to the dark side. Up over and out.

Those two DB's on the Vikings ought to have a whole lot of trouble getting to sleep between now and the beginning of training camp. Unfortunately for Viking's fans, they didn't seem to have any trouble at all nodding off when it most mattered yesterday. My God, at the very least, you take a pass interference penalty if it keeps the guy from catching the ball. Neither of those yahoos laid a hand on Poole until he was pushed out of bounds. And neither of them even jumped to try to knock the ball away or screw up his sight lines. I think you could watch the NFL for a long time and never see anthing quite like that again. Immaculate Reception II? Just goes to show you it's never over 'til it's over. Now on to more pressing issues. My Eagles are as well positioned as they've ever been in the post-season. Even more so than last year cuz there isn't the kind of scary-good team like Tampa Bay lurking in the shadows. Home field advantage is going to be huge, assuming the Rams and Eagles wind up playing for the NFC title. Turf, playing outdoors and playing in the cold does not a good match make for the men of Martz. Green Bay does fuss me some. Emotion is such an important part of football and right now, they're running on a full tank. Hopefully, some of that will have been drained off if they do make it to Philadelphia. I'll tell you one thing...no way do the HeeHawks have a prayer next Sunday at Lambeau Field. You can bet the house on that. Up over and out.

I don't have much Guaraldi in my collection, but of the two I do have, I would call one of them essential. That would be the aforementioned "Cast Your Fate to the Wind." I know a number of people who consider this a "desert island disc". The other is "Vince Guaraldi at Grace Cathedral." It's a live recording of a "Mass" Guaraldi composed that incorporates the church's rather large choir into his trio's music. Not obstrusively I might add, but in a very listenable and coherent manner. I find the whole thing a very interesting piece of music, especially the 12 minute rendition of "Holy Communion Blues." That tune is one of my all-time favorite live recordings. Nothing overwhelming, just a nice comfortable jaunt that draws you further and further into the music as it plays itself out. Well worth having and, because it's on the Fantasy label, readily available. Up over and out.

I don't have the Ellington Reprise, so I can't comment on that one. Of the Wilson and Kenton sets, I'd have go with the Wilson. Not that it's without flaws. As I've said in other places at other times, this one would have been a terrific 4 CD set. Clandy44 got it right when he said you've got to exercise caution if you're to avoid the godawful renditions of pop songs like "Sunshine of Your Love" or "Light My Fire." What does knock me out about the jazz sides are the choices Wilson makes, like putting Richard "Groove" Holmes' B-3 out in front of the big band on a handful of cuts on the first disc. IMO, that's inspired musical decision making. The Kenton just disappointed me. I'm no East Coast snob when it comes to jazz. As a matter of fact some of my favorite jazz artists are West Coast guys. I do enjoy the Rosolino cuts on this one, but there are just too many performances that sound to me like they're mailed in. Maybe I'll put this one back in rotation and see if I change my mind. Lord knows, the guys that play on this one are top notch. Up over and out.

Another one gone. Seems like every time you turn around these days, you're crossing another name off the list. In this case, though, I guess I'm not surprised. I heard an interview with Mr. Young several months ago on our local jazz station here in Portland, KMHD. He did not sound well. I'm with Mike on "For Lady". A nice one all around. Sure makes you wonder why someone with his talent was so under-recorded. Up over and out.

BFrank - Thanks for the props. I didn't think anyone else would remember Blodwyn Pig. Does Augur's "Streetnoise" include the tune "Ellis Island"? Man, I sure remember that one. Up over and out.

Blodwyn Pig - Be-Bop Deluxe - Lynn County - Keef Hartley - Pink Fairies - Nick Drake - Batdorf & Rodney - Lonnie Liston Smith & the Cosmic Echoes - The Who Live at Leeds - Blue Cheer - Iron Butterfly - Vanilla Fudge - John Martyn - Upp - Sad Cafe - Dan Hicks & the Hot Licks - Sons of Champlin - the very first ZZ Top album - pre-soft rock Fleetwood Mac - Nazz...I could go on and on. Up over and out.

Among my Mosaics, there are a handful that don't move the needle. Those would include the Jacquet (too much honkin' R&B), the Shank (it may be possible to be too laid back musically and it is definitely possible to play too much flute), the Kenton Presents (I just find that one boring), the Mildred Bailey (as hard as I try, I can't seem to get into her little girl voice), the Berigan (my word, some of the songs on the first few discs are so corny and sung so poorly, I'm too overwhelmed to enjoy Berigan's trumpet), the Jimmy Smith (I think I was just expecting a lot more than this one was able to deliver) and last but not least - drum roll please - the Ellington Capitol (it simply pales in comparison to his '40's material and, trumpet- wise, there's too many examples of Ferguson-esque excess). While there is some excellent music on all of these sets, I think if I had to do it over again, I might have passed them by. Up over and out.

I'm kind of surprised they would sell Mosaics over the counter. Euclid Records in St. Louis used to sell them OTC or by phone, but they have long since gone to listing them on e-Bay to maximize the return on their investment. Maybe JRM is more altruistic than Euclid, but if I owned that business and it was my decision, they'd all be up for auction, especially if they're OOP and in good condition. Up over and out.

It's official. Kevin Brown is a Yankee. He went for Weaver and two unidentified minor leaguers. With regard to the next Yankee manager, word is they may be grooming Donnie Baseball for that role. That can't make either Randolf or Bucky Dent too happy. Up over and out.

Question for AfricaBrass. How did you go about becoming a listener again? I fear that sometimes I'm way too much the collector and not nearly enough the listener. I also seem to be "acquisitionally" hardwired. Don't get me wrong, I love to listen, but when I think about the number of unlistened to or just listened to once items in my collection, I get a little concerned that I've gotten upside down with the music. Up over and out.

I think the Dodgers would be positioning themselves for a run at Nomar if they move Brown for Jeff Weaver. Up over and out.

If they caught me in a moment of weakness, I might just do this for free. Unless of course, the coke turned out to be of pharmaceutical quality. Then I'd have to charge them. Up over and out.

We're on Comcast cable with AT&T. There's a station called GTV (Goodtime Television) that shows F-Troop fairly regularly along with all those brutal Warner Brothers private eye and cowboy programs from the late '50's and early '60's. Shows like 77 Sunset Strip, Surfside 6, Sugarfoot and Bronco. They also ran Ozzie & Harriet (which I dearly love) for awhile. We don't get this channel in our package but you can still see what's on. F-Troop sure brings back some memories. Forrest Tucker, Larry Storch and Ken Berry. I think the indian tribe was the Hikowies or something like that. Bruce mentioned Leave It to Beaver. That's my all time favorite. Eddie Haskell has to be one of the most memorable TV characters ever. Speaking of Beaver, the guy who played Whitey (Stanley Fafara) lived here in Portland. He was recovering from a lifetime of drug and alcohol abuse when he died a few weeks ago. Big story in the local newspaper, The Oregonian. Up over and out.

One word when it comes to tamales: raisins. Up over and out.

Dan, Well the timing couldn't be worse, that's for sure. I think if Pettite had made the call a couple of days ago, Bartolo Colon might still have been in play. I'm very surprised that the Yanks didn't counter the Astros' offer with one of their own that he couldn't refuse. I'm thinking he must've told them not to bother, that playing close to his home and family was more important than money. There's no doubt he'll be missed. While he'd stub his toe every now and then in the post-season, there hasn't been a more reliable guy during this run than him. I agree with you about Brown. No one better when he's healthy, but how many years has it been since he's pitched a whole season without being on the DL? Given the slim pitching pickin's that remain on the table, though, he's probably the cream of the crop. I'm guessing The Boss is not a very happy camper today. Up over and out.