Jim Alfredson

I think the Mavs are definitely stronger than the Heat, but it doesn't matter because neither will get to the Finals. It's going to be Spurs/Pistons again and this time the championship is coming back to D-town!

It's kind of hard to say Gene is derivative, since he was a part of the original scene. I've always enjoyed his playing and would love to meet the man and pick his brain one of these days. Thanks for the heads-up. Since I'm no longer buying re-issues, this looks like the perfect purchase! This and "Hands-On" should make a nice pair... despite the horrible blurb on Amazon: "Gene Ludwig has been called one of the country’s most passionate exponents of the jazz organ; in fact, Jazziz called him "the finest mainstream jazz organ player alive." Hands On, the follow-up to his critically acclaimed The Groove ORGANization, teams him up with some of Pittsburgh’s finest jazz musicians. This CD confirms the fact that Gene Ludwig does indeed keep his "hands on" his organ at all times!"

They are pretty much the worst team in the NBA right now.

Hacks in the Lansing area? You jest.

HB, JP!

I was concerned about them trading Arroyo as well, with no real backup for Chauncey. I still can't believe they got rid of Mike James. But they picked up Tony Delk today, so that will relieve some of the pressure on Chauncey and Lindsey. Still, they should've kept Mike James two years ago...

Don't even think about it...

Oregon!

But can he really PLAY that Bad Boy??? There's nothin' worse than hearin' some teeth-smackin' during a Jaw Harp solo. You better believe it.

Take THAT Carl Palmer. Actually, that's an even better name for the album: organissimo - Take THAT, Carl Palmer

Our next record is going to be called "Cowbell Madness" and feature Randy on a drumset comprised of only cowbells, including a huge 1/2 ton monster cowbell for a bass drum. It's going to be AWESOME.

Sounds like Ted Nugent bought that baby. Hey, you never know. It could be Uncle Ted. He's definitely got the $$$.

I'm kinda disappointed that Amazon allows people to sell copies of stuff themselves. You're right, it turns the site into a sort of pseudo-eBay, rampant with potential fraud. I was very excited to get our disc on Amazon, but now that it is up, people are allowed to sell their copies used. There are 23 "new and used" copies up there now, competing with discs being sold by us. In the description for one, I noticed it said "barcode has a punch out", which means it was a promotional copy for a radio station (and it also means it is a CD-R, not a real CD... long story...) so if someone buys that, they are not getting a truly "legit" copy. Oh well. I guess this is karma for me buying so many used CDs. At least the music is getting out there. I can't blame people for wanting something cheaper and unfortunately I cannot set the price at Amazon.

Thanks, Jeff! We really appreciate it!

I got this Mel Brown disc off CDBaby and it's a goodun. Louis Pain is a very nice cat and plays the hell out of the Hammond! Good stuff!

A little googling found that Region 2 is Europe, including France, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Arabia, Japan and South Africa. The funny thing is, Japan is NTSC, whereas the rest are PAL. Basically, the difference between NTSC and PAL is output resolution and frames per second. PAL does 25 frames per second and has a higher vertical resolution image (not sure how much), whereas NTSC is 30 frames per second (about... actually something like 29.95) with a slightly lower resolution.

It means it won't play on your DVD player. PAL is the European standard for TV. The North American standard is NTSC. The two are not compatable, meaning you can't play a PAL dvd or vhs in your machine and vice versa. There are ways to convert the two, but you have to take it to a videographer. I don't think the guy I sometimes work for in Ann Arbor has a PAL DVD player, but I could ask.

Holy crap. Dat's a lotta money! That's an understatement. And to spend that kind of cheese on an instrument you can't even see until you get it is a little silly.

This just in from my good friend Duncan McMillan: For those unfamilair with Leon, he was a staple on the Toledo scene (which is pretty rough these days) and played and recorded with Jimmy McGriff, Groove Holmes, and others during the 70s. One of my favorite records is the Giants of the Jazz Organ live at Paul's Mall record on Groove Merchant with McGriff, Holmes, three guitarists (including Leon) and a drummer. Wild stuff and Leon plays great. I had the pleasure of sitting in with his band once at Rusty's in Toledo. He played in the style of Wes Montgomery, all thumb. He could sing his ass off, too. His son Damon is a fine, fine drummer as well. Leon was a very soulful, generous, and light-hearted musician who's presence will sorely be missed. RIP Leon.

Another thing that always gets me out of a rut (continuing a thought of Soul Stream's) is to go see a player, on any instrument, that really kicks ass. Listening to records is one thing: Seeing it done live is another. Every time I see Dr. Lonnie Smith play, I get inspired. But for me, it can be any musician, any style, as long as they are damn good. I was watching clips of SRV last night on youtube.com and that inspired me because he was such a visceral player (despite his obvious mastering of technique).

Hmm, I always enjoy seeing them. Of course, I've always seen them as part of festivals on the bill with many other bands and they usually only play for an hour, so maybe 2 hours would get a little old after awhile. The last time I saw them was probably close to 10 years ago, too... so things may have changed.

Wow. That's news to me! Thank you for the heads-up and YES I would love a copy!!!

Uh, he's pretty bad. He looks totally lost out there to me.

Damn, Sangrey, you should've learned your lesson from this thread: http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=11613 I bet you'll never leave that cake out in the rain again.