Dave James

Just stumbled across this guy today. If you like this kind of music, I'm not sure anyone does it better than this guy. He does a harmonic at about the 1:40 mark that's just plain sick.

My experience with overseas delivery is that it's a crap shoot. It took so long to get a KIndle cover that I was in the process of getting another one from the same seller when it finally arrived. I'd say the whole process took about a month. On the other side of the coin, I ordered a gig bag and it was here in a week. Both were sent from England. Go figure.

My understanding is that he put down the alto and switched to piano as his preferred instrument before dropping out altogether. Agree. Big loss. His two VeeJay recordings, Cloudy and Cool and, especially, The Fantastic Frank Strozier, are really well done. Sure wish someone had recorded his brief dalliance with Miles.

Former Penn State QB, Todd Blackledge said on ESPN today that Paterno died of a broken heart. Probably not too far from the truth.

Any discussion of Hank without reference to his writing, is incomplete. He was prolific and extraordinarily talented. Considering his entire body of work, I'm not sure there are many who operated at his level. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of his playing, but I'm even a bigger fan of his writing.

The $60 million dollar man. (Actually, the $111 million dollar man if you take the transfer fee into account). Here's ESPN's Buster Olney on the signing and Darvish's prospects for making an impact this season. http://espn.go.com/dallas/mlb/story/_/id/7476104/texas-rangers-sign-japanese-pitcher-yu-darvish-deal-player-option-sixth-season

That's a busy little 9-iron. As I recall, she took Tiger down with the same club.

ESPN is reporting that the Yankees have traded Jesus Montero and Hector Noesi to the Mariners for MIchael Pineda and Jose Campo. http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/7460297/new-york-yankees-deal-jesus-montero-seattle-mariners-michael-pineda-source-says

According to this report, Prince Fielder and his represetatives are in Texas talking with the Rangers. http://espn.go.com/dallas/mlb/story/_/id/7459914/reports-prince-fielder-dallas-talking-texas-rangers

Repent now, sinners. The end is near. http://www.taketimefortoys.com/servlet/the-2904/2011-Barbie-Collector-Barbie/Detail

The interviews with Dex were also one of the highlights of the Gordon Blue Note box. He was a very interesting and intelligent man.

Stopped by one of my many local Starbucks this afternoon to nosh on a free sample of their new blonde roast. Turns out they have two varieties, Veranda and Willow. I sampled both. Nothing special. IMO, the Veranda was too strong to pass as a light roast and the other was sort of acidic. On the infrequent occasions I do go to Starbucks, I think I'll just stick with my Grande Americano. BTW, thought you might enjoy the company's own description of their two new blends. And I thought wine geeks were bad. Veranda has a touch of cereal, a little bit of grain, a little bit of milk chocolate. Willow has a touch of crisp acidity, light bodied, light intensity, but flavorful and very approachable. Not sure about you, but I can't even stay in the same room with a cup of coffee that's not "approachable." And, just for the record, what is "a touch of cereal" and how does it differ from "a little bit of grain".

Looks like a lot of people found last night's match-up to be something less than must-see TV. The game generated the lowest ratings in the 17-year history of the BCS. Hopefully, when the good old boys who run this thing get together today to discuss the future of their operation, this little bit of bad news will be at the top of their agenda. What would be great is if people are starting to register their unhappiness with the current system by simply not watching. That's about the only thing I can think of that will get these guy's attention. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2012/01/bcs-championship-game-draws-lowest-ratings-ever.html

'bout time. Hope this works. The current coffee selection at Starbucks is, IMO, undrinkable. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-starbucks-lighter-blonde-roasts-debut-in-us-20120110,0,6880757.story

Looks like the 5th season of Mad Men will begin on March 25th.

Marc Myers at JazzWax is beginning a four part interview with Anthony Ortega today. Thought folks might be interested.

Hope the morons who run the BCS are happy about their championship game last night. You know, the one that redefined the term boredom. There were quite a number of really exciting bowl games played this year, topped off, IMO, by Oregon's win in Pasadena. Too bad the showcase game was such a dog it did everything but bark.

When I first read this thread, I thought 7/4 was having trouble with his sums. I didn't realize it was eight years old until you pointed it out. Yikes. I realized that since I started the thread I could correct that...so I just did. You da man!

When I first read this thread, I thought 7/4 was having trouble with his sums. I didn't realize it was eight years old until you pointed it out. Yikes.

I used to be indecisive. Now, I'm not so sure.

A couple of months back, I traded fours with several folks on the board about New Orleans drummer James Black. I'd see an LCJO program of his music several years ago and had posted to that effect to see if anyone here knew where I could find either the program or some good examples of his music. Today in my internet travels, I came across an Ellis Marsalis release called "The Classic Ellis" that includes 11 songs, seven of which were penned by Mr. Black. Some interesting stuff here made more so by the presence of tenor player Nat Perrilliat with respect to whom I am blissfully ignorant. Anyhow, the album is available on iTunes. Worth checking out I think.

Gotta go with Rudresh Mahanthappa.

For those who are so inclined, iTunes has a 35 song Fruscella set for just $5.99. Some alternate takes. They also have a collection of live recordings for $9.99. Some overlap among the two sets, but between them, you can score a pretty sizable chunk of his commercially released material.

VT got seriously jobbed on that call in OT. No way that guy didn't have possession and a foot in bounds.