Jim Alfredson

Totally. No Chauncy? No RIP!?

Mark, Just a heads up. Your earthlink address is refusing to accept emails from the board, which is why you don't get any with regards to PMs and such. You need to add the forum email address (forum@organissimo.org) to your safe list or whatever. I keep getting a ton of emails back from you that the board is trying to send.

On our first date, I took Alison back to my apartment and we just talked on the couch. I put on Cannonball with Nancy Wilson and she loved it. I knew I'd found a keeper. I will say, however, that she had no idea who Jimmy Smith was or what a Hammond organ was until meeting me!

Maren, the extrapolations are yours. Hagiographical inferences did not refer to Roach specifically - he became a springboard for a general "discussion" with regard to "liberal in theory" but not in practice tendencies, particularly pertaining to the jazz world's defensive attitude to criticism, as evidenced by your post. If you examine my texts, when they are presented generally it is for purely rhetorical effect in order to emphasis the subject(s) and provoke debate (seige mentality kills that at birth, however). Otherwise I qualify my statements. If I was on a conservative board and presented criticism of right-wing shibboleths I imagine I wouild receive the same response. It's dichotomous reasoning that get's people so tribalistic, territorial, and worked up in the first place. Forget allegiences and just think. Sometimes it's better to forget thinking and just LISTEN.

Although that's a little early for Carn.

Actually, that's not a bad guess.

Reliable compared to what? Macs have their problems too. The guy I do freelance video editing for just had his Mac G5 go belly up... not the harddrive, the actual machine itself. POOF! No more Mac. I like Macs, but they are just like any other computer and have problems.

Hey ss1, you have a cell phone? Watch out... http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/n...ech_security_dc

It's snowing here in Michigan. It's big fluffy flakes... very pretty!

Magic is old, my friend. I saw some of it on TV while I was playing. Pretty silly.

Ah great! Nice to have you here!

I don't know... there is something about the lines he/she is playing that make me think, "Oh, that's a Larry Young line...", kinda like when I hear a guitarist play a Grant line, but then it doesn't finish right or it goes into a line that's not really Larry Young or Grant Green, you know? I could definitely be wrong. Larry Young is a much better guess than Jimmy Smith.

I think people are getting thrown off by the tone of the organ. It's very Jimmy Smith ala 1965 Verve in timbre, but it's not Jimmy Smith. The sound of the organ makes sense since this was recorded by RVG. The organist is playing more like Larry Young, but I don't think it's him. There is something "hesitant" about his/her playing. I could be wrong, but in 1965 Larry Young's playing was on fire. He was totally confident in the style he had created and if you listen to his records, he's holding nothing back. Even on Grant's "Iron City" which is poorly recorded (and again, can fool people into thinking it's not Young because the tone of the organ doesn't sound like the tone we associate with Young) he's not pulling any punches. Then again, it could be what the producer of the date wanted and there was some trepidation there. My guess is it's a local player that nobody really knows.

Could be, but I don't think so.... not slick enough... a little disjointed. Gotta keep listening.

I'm listening to the first track... that's not Jimmy.

We're going to ask for a raise and if they won't provide it, we'll walk. We should add a $15 "carting fee" for hauling in our instruments as well. That would be sweet.

Well, here's the thing about that: The only reason people come to this club is to hear good live music. It ain't for the ambiance, let me tell you. We had people begging us to keep playing when we were taking breaks, begging us for encores, etc. They want to dance and that's why they come. Half the place was filled with people who came just to see us. And the manager knows it. The management also decided that I can't play music during the breaks... they play the music now. I had lots people complaining to me, "Why aren't you playing the dance music?" because I play disco/funk stuff inbetween to keep people dancing. I said, "Go complain to the manager. It's his call." We're a frickin' R&B, soul band and people came out to see us and the house jukebox was playing stupid Pat Benatar and country tunes. Makes a lot of sense.

The tone of your post is aggressive and I shall not respond to it. I shall not point out the fact that you responded to his post when you said you wouldn't.

I like that one! Man, we had the place jammin' tonight... packed to the rafters. They are charging $4 cover at the door and it was standing room only. I guarantee they made at least $1000 off the door tonight. And they are paying us $650 and nickle and diming us? It pisses me off the more I think about it. I told our manager that the next time we play there we get $800. If they want to tack on the stupid $15 fee, our fee is $815. If they won't give us the raise, we'll go play one of their competitors. I took the notice off the wall so I could type it up here for your enjoyment: And then it goes on about comp drinks and guests lists and bullshit like that. All I can say to the above is, YP! Your problem, buddy. Not mine. Is it just me or is this some jive shit? It infuriates me the more I think about it. I should also add they already raised all the drink prices by at least $1.00 when he took over in late summer. So what the hell!?

That's too bad. I take it you're from Detroit, JamesJazz. Are you a musician?

Do I need the gig? Of course... I need every gig I can get these days, but that doesn't mean I'm going to take it up the ass from some newbie club owner who changes the rules. I don't care if my band keeps their gigs there, I'm not playing there again. They can get a sub. And I'm going to make a stink about why.

Nice "Fear of a Black Hat" reference!

Jim, your post reminds me of stories I've heard about Groove Holmes concealing a 44 Magnum in his organ bench! I think I'm going to try and organize a boycott. I'm going to call all the band leaders of the groups that play there, which represent most of the Lansing music scene, and discuss it with them. It's total shit. I know that I personally will not play there again after this weekend if this is how the guy is going to run his business. I'm tired of getting taken advantage of. I mean, we get $650 a night, which we've been getting for years (we're long overdue for a raise, since we pull people in like mad). They charge $5 cover at the door and we pack the place every night. I bet they are making at least $1000 off the door alone. Then you have the overpriced food and drinks.

So I get to my gig at the local smokey bar here in Lansing, that has been around for as long as anyone can remember. It was recently bought by a new owner who has made some good changes (better smoke-eaters, new furniture, actual windows on the front on the building) but has also instituted some rules that hurt the bands that play there. The most recent is the following: Up on the wall was some new rules about ASCAP and BMI licensing and using the sound system and the lights. Basically the management is taking $15 per night from the band's money to pay for these things. Ok, first and foremost I have never heard of this in my 10 years on the gig scene. The whole ASCAP and BMI thing is ridiculous in my opinion. I realize it's not a lot of money, but we're underpaid as is and it's the principle of the thing. Secondly, the sound system has been there for decades, with the addition of two new speakers and a new mixer (totaling maybe $2k in upgrades... not bad considering it's been the same system for over a decade, maybe even two). And we don't even use the sound system because it's a piece of crap... we haul our own in. In the new rules, the management claims they know that most bands don't use the sound system, but 90% of this fee is supposedly for the lights. Ok, the lights have been there even longer than the sound system. What is the cost for them? The occassional blown bulb every two years? They work fine, but they have not updated them, so what's the big cost? Personally, this is really pissing me off. Have you ever heard of this??!?

This is Mrs. B3er here...I just wanted to add a little too. This was my 5th trip to NYC. Each time I go I visit with wonderful people and make new friends. Thank you Chris and Maren for being so gracious. You both went out of your way to show Jim and I a great time. Since I don't read all the posts like so many of you, I had no idea who I would be meeting. But if Jim says its a good idea, I believe him. He was right. The Gates were beautiful and very impressive. The whole idea of conceptual art and installation is completely out of my artistic territory. I admire those that have such vision and dedication to make their dream a reality. The size and scope of the Christo project rivals anything I've ever seen. The trip was worth every penny and every moment I was away from Zora. (Sorry, Kid) Plus, Jim and I haven't had time like that together in a while. Though, now that I think about it, we weren't alone very long after visiting with 4 different groups of friends in 48 hours! I will be going back to the City again. Each trip I feel more and more at ease. I think my years in Philly broke my City legs in a little. I'm very glad I was able to share Jim's first NYC experience with him. Alison