Jim Alfredson

Cool stuff. I know who "notme" is, but I ain't telling. Scott Kinsey is the man. I can't believe he's from Owosso, MI. Why doesn't he sport a mullet?

Why shouldn't they be? They are creating new music, they are doing it honestly, and they incorporate the spirit of jazz. They are not trying to sound like jazz circa 1950. As for your question of why I choose to record, because I'm foolish enough to believe that I have something to say that will add to the overall discourse of the music. Despite choosing a difficult instrument, the format that I work in (the organ led combo) is actually probably in itself easier to achieve the goal of adding to the discourse because the of the lack of much innovation within the genre. And because it's fun!

We would love to. We're going to Israel in February, which will be our first trip abroad. Germany is on my short-list of places to play in Europe.

Just some off the top of my head: MMW (avant funk) Ben Monder Kurt Rosenwinkle some of Scofield's recent stuff Charlie Hunter

I'm just trying to put things in perspective. We sometimes forget how blessed we actually are and get caught up in our own little worlds. Not to say that problems aren't real or aren't serious, but hey... if you're healthy and your loved ones are healthy, then that's all you can really ask for, imo.

Hey, a guys gotta do something to get noticed among all that fine femininity. I swear, PappyStuckey has the best videos on YouTube.

As long as you and your loved ones have their health, you ain't got nothing to complain about.

Jazz is being killed by its listeners.

Man, the Basie is fantastic as well! Thad Jones! Sonny Payne! Watch out!

There's a new version of the board software out. Hopefully it'll solve the search engine problems. The problem seems to stem from turning "full text searching" on in the software, which greatly increases the speed of the board and is supposed to support searching with quotations, searching with "and", "or", and other variables, etc. But it obviously doesn't work on this board. I've emailed Invision several times about this and their answer is always, "Well, it should work." Yeah, well.. it doesn't. Anyway, I'll probably update once I can sit in a chair for more than 10 minutes. In the meantime, don't forget your favorite forum board this holiday season. The monthly payments on the server have been kicking my butt lately (the CDuniverse purchases have slowed down for y'all, haven't they?)

Recovery is going as well as expected, thanks. I'm waiting for my doctor to get back to me because my pain level seems to be a bit more than what they said it would be. Anyway, at the end of the Jazz Messengers DVD, Blakey is doing a solo on Night In Tunesia and he's wanging on his cymbal so hard the damn stand drops! YEAH! Kill that thing! This is a great series. Any word on any other videos besides the current nine?

My drummer from Root Doctor loaned me four of the Jazz Icons DVDs while I recover from back surgery. I'm watching the Art Blakey right now. Wow! This is fantastic stuff. The sound and video are excellent! Lee Morgan is tearing it up and Blakey is, of course, just a huge presence... so powerful and yet nimble and plays the perfect accompianment every time. Amazing find! The others he loaned me are the Monk, Count Basie, and the Dizzy. So this 1958 concert was sent instead of the 1965 one? Is that one going to be released?

That was never on vinyl, was it?

Ouch. "NEW YORK -- The Denver Nuggets were the bigger losers Monday after the NBA handed out penalties in the fight that broke out near the end of Saturday night's game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Denver's Carmelo Anthony, the NBA's leading scorer, was suspended 15 games for sucker-punching the Knicks' Mardy Collins. Denver teammate J.R. Smith and New York's Nate Robinson also received the stiffest of penalties issued by the league -- 10-game suspensions. Both franchises were fined $500,000 each. Collins, whose hard foul of Smith was the tipping point to the fight, was suspended for six games. Knicks forward Jared Jeffries was suspended for four games, and New York's Jerome James and Denver's Nene were hit with one-game penalties for leaving their respective benches during an on-court altercation."

I like Kobe's quote: "You tip your hat and say, 'See you next time.' I don't think he has a conscience. I really don't. He was chucking out there. He took some horrible shots and he made some big ones. I don't get a chance to play him much. I'll be ready next time." C'mon Kobe, give the man some credit. You played no D on him! Jason Maxiell had his official NBA coming out party last night, scoring 17 points and pulling in 12 rebounds. He is the real replacement for Ben with the added bonus that he can SCORE. Everytime he got the ball, the only thing the Sonics could do was foul him, or he'd have a lay-up or a slam dunk. He's going to be a great player.

Alan, is it possible to get a high-res version of that top shot? Thanks!

Does that mean only people like him are person of the year, or do forum posters qualify too? I'm sorry. I can't let this drop. WTF?

Is that the "Diarrhea Special"?

My old (read ancient) grill got left behind when we moved. I haven't bought another yet.

That is true. It stayed pretty much on the court. It will be interesting to see what punishment the league hands down. Overall, it was completely un-called for and a case of extreme over-reaction, especially in a game that was already won. In fact, that same night, in the Pistons/Nets game, Dale Davis got tired of Krstic bullying him and putting elbows in his face under the basket and threw Krstic down like a rag doll to the floor. I'm surprised they didn't eject Davis, but they called a foul and that was that. The situation was resolved, the game went on, no big deal. That game was a lot closer score-wise and that one situation could've easily led into something bigger, but it didn't.

Does that mean only people like him are person of the year, or do forum posters qualify too? Uh...

Dan, tradition is great and all, but why have the exact same thing for Christmas that you had for Thanksgiving just a month ago? Besides, we're hosting so we get to choose. I remember one Christmas as a young man when my dad decided to have a Chinese Christmas and made a whole bunch of Chinese food (he got pretty good at making Chinese from scratch). That was great, because it was different. I should also add that my family always has basically the same meal for Easter, too. I think its just a lack of really knowing what else to cook. Hopefully we can start a new tradition. I love ham, too but my wife doesn't, so that's out. The lamb just sounds so tasty. As far as rack of lamb is concerned, I don't have a grill, so there goes that option.

Cool! Thanks, Alan. Nice shots!

Hey y'all, My family has always done basically the same dinner that we do for Thanksgiving for Christmas. You know, turkey, stuffing, mashed taters, green bean caserole, etc. Its getting a little old. Since Alison and I are hosting Christmas dinner this year for the Alfredson clan (and there's a bunch of us... I have 6 siblings, 3 sibling-in-laws, my dad and my step-mother, 1 significant other of my sis, and one neice, plus some of Alison's family will be attending) we're trying to change things up a bit. I've been thinking about lamb. I've never cooked it, but I love the taste of it. We'll probably do a small turkey as well, just so there isn't a mutiny. I found the following recipe on the web: http://www.trefethen.com/recipes/lamb_cs_2.html Anyone have experience with cooking lamb? What side dishes go best? Any tips, secrets? How expensive is it compared to the bird? Thanks!

I actually have one or two of their albums. I was trying to find some new things after gleaning everything I could out of 70s prog as a teenager. Then I got into jazz and lost interest. They were good at what they did.