Jim Alfredson

Are the artists signed off on these recordings?

SUCCESS!!! Everything is there except set three of the Green Mill (because that's when the harddrive died, in the middle of the gig, as I suspected) and the Green Mill stuff sounds good! I hadn't even had a chance to listen to it yet! Off to the computer store to get a replacement drive. I'm buying a Seagate.

By the way, Chuck... I tried the screwdriver method to no avail yesterday while trying to get Davory to work! But thankfully the drive is mechanically sound, otherwise the data would've been truly lost.

UPDATE: I have had luck recovering files in the past with a piece of software called Davory, but it could not even see the drive this time around. So after some intense googling, I found this site: http://www.runtime.org/ Like most recovery software, it allows you to do a search first before buying the program. That way you're not stuck with paying for something that doesn't work. Unlike most recovery software I've tried, however, it also saves that data, allows you to register the software, and continue on where you left off. This is very very handy, since scanning for files on a large harddrive that is damaged usually takes 6 to 8 hours. Anyway, it looks like my files are intact. As I suspected, the boot sector and FAT32 table fell apart for some reason. Right now I am copying the Baker's gig files off the drive onto another harddrive and they all seem to be there. Next I'll try the Green Mill files. I highly recommend this piece of software if you ever need it. $69 is reasonable, considering how easy it is to use and how effective it is. I am very impressed that it was able to even see the drive, since Windows and every other piece of software could not find it.

JamesJazz, please introduce yourself! Anyone else going to make the show?

No, I've seen harddrives do this too many times. It's gone. The Acomdata cost me $160 and when I opened it and found a Western Digital Caviar drive in there (the cheapest model they make), I was very pissed. I took the drive out, hooked it up directly (via IDE) in my desktop and still no luck accessing it. It's dead. Right now I'm looking at something like this: http://www.firewiredirect.com/product/323/ Just the case is $289, but it has RAID 1 and I could put some nice Seagates in there. And RAID 1 is redundant, so if one drive fails, the data is still there, on the other drive.

Well, I've been using a portable recording rig to capture most of the gigs organissimo has been doing lately, including our hit at The Green Mill this Friday. The system consists of an HP laptop computer, a Presonus Firepod audio interface, and an Acomdata 250gb firewire harddrive. After the last set, I noticed the computer had a weird error on the screen saying that the harddrive had stopped responding. I didn't think much of it, since it looked like it had gotten most of the third set and the club was trying to clear the stage for the late-night jam session to start, so I just packed everything away. Well, tonight Joe comes over so we can listen to what we got from the Mill and I plug the harddrive in and guess what? Totally dead. The computer won't recognize it by name, won't access it, nada nothing zip. So I take apart the case to find... ... a Western Digital harddrive inside. I HATE WESTERN DIGITAL! Unfortunately, the Baker's gig from October we recorded was on there as well. I used it to record the HotHouse in November, but I transfered that one off. I don't know why I didn't transfer the Baker's hit. I'm kicking myself now. So, anyone know of any portable RAID firewire drives? I was looking at the G-Raids, but they are only RAID 0, which means no redundancy (so what's the point?)

Oh yeah, and Jim Wilke of "Jazz After Hours": http://jazzafterhours.org/bestcds.html

We were also named on of the Top 20 releases of 2005 by WBEZ in Chicago: http://www.wbez.org/programs/jazz/jz_best2005.asp And in the Top Ten at WHRV in Virginia Beach: And in the Top Ten at WLNZ here in Lansing: http://www.lansingcitypulse.com/051228/music/index2.asp I'm sure there are others... oh yeah... Dick Crockett on KXJS 88.7FM in Sacramento gave us a "Twirlie Nomination" (not sure I want to know what that is!) and WYCE has nominated our record for Best Jazz Record at the 2006 Jammies this year. So, I think people like it!

Staples. No joke.

We had a blast! Great room, great folks, very professional staff, and the house organ was very very nice! Jazzypaul was in the house, so hopefully he'll check in... it was a treat to meet the man in person. I hope we can do it again soon. I think we went over well.

Heck yes.

You know a lot, but in this case, believe me when I tell you that he had a dramatic impact. Again, not his music per se, but his dogma. There were plenty of people (many/most of them musically under-qualified) waiting to "reclaim the tradition" or some such rot, and with all the hype generated by Wynton, they carpe-diemed like a big dog. They were also assisted by like-minded non-musicians who played any number of "cards" to gain positions of authority in the local festival/concert arena. Bebop was it, no matter how poorly it was played, and everything (and everybody) else found themselves shut out of the action. I will take your word for it since I was not even close to being on the scene back then. I did, however, witness first hand the same thing happen during the big blues revival of the mid to late 1990s, so it would not surprise me, although I don't think blues had the same Wynton figurehead. Just a lot of little whiny non-musician wanna-be's setting the "rules".

Ok, so who's gonna finance the next organissimo studio date to be recorded at RVG's?

No, there is no sound difference between a B3 and a C3. They have the same internals. That said, all Hammond organs sound different from each other. Even two identical B3s from the same year will sound different due to parts aging different (due to the conditions/atmosphere/environment they were kept in), which tech at the factory set it up, how hard it's been played, how often it's been moved, etc. etc. And yes, all those records on BN and Prestige that were recorded at RVG's are the same organ. It's amazing to hear a Patton record next to a Jimmy Smith and think that it's the same organ, and yet it sounds like a different instrument.

Yes, he still has the same one. Any album with organ on it that was recorded in that studio is that Hammond C3. I'd love to make a prilgrimage there just to look at that piece of history. I don't think I could make myself play it.

We're still working on it. We'd love to get to DC soon. I'm looking forward to Chi-town tomorrow, though! Hope to see some board members there!

I did not know that. Did RVG have his C3 at that time, or did he buy that later? I've always wondered what organ Jimmy was using for recording before Rudy's C3.

I like how everyone ignored this post. So... what's the answer to the question? I think we all know.

UP, because it's COOL!

Today was the happy day! Yes, and now today it's back to clouds, clouds, clouds!!!

Ghuck is going to be in Buffalo Friday night. What's in Buffalo?

Although this came out before "Home cookin'", it was recorded later. "Home cookin'" is where the bluesy funky stuff started, I think. I like this album very much, particularly "Johnny" and "Tunisia", too. But I really prefer the "Home cookin'" style. I've played "Home cookin'" a LOT more than "Crazy baby". MG It is interesting that although Crazy Baby! was recorded earlier, it was released after Home Cookin'. I wonder if Home Cookin' sold better and led to Jimmy's shift his focus from post-bop into soul-jazz?

I heard he was quite daring, there was a lot of talk about sex and bodily functions. I haven't verified this yet, but I think he might have also said "fucking." Sheer genius! Did he talk about penises and vaginas too, only using extremely crude slang? That would be over the top.

The way Smith builds his extended solo on "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" is a prime example of someone in total control of their instrument. Crazy Baby! seems to be a turning point in his sound... the last record before he settles into the funky-bluesy down home style playing that defined the rest of his career (for the most part). It has always been a favorite of mine.