Jim Alfredson

Brief mention of "In Memorandom" in the Grand Rapids Press today. http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/01/local_spins_of_the_week_west_m.html

Just an update: I've successfully removed all dyes from my diet for the last few months. And to my astonishment, every symptom has cleared up. My scalp is back to normal, the red patches on my neck and forehead are gone, etc. I was reminded of this thread because tonight as I was talking to my wife, my eyelids started itching again. I thought back to what I had to eat tonight: Pork chops, potatoes, and some cheese. I checked the cheese and no dyes. Then I remembered I opened a jar of pickles for a snack. Sure enough, I checked the label and they have yellow dye in them. I had TWO pickles; small ones, too. Snackers. And that was enough to get my eyes going again. So it's definitely an allergy to dye. Yellow may be the worst, but I'm just avoiding them all. It's hard in this day and age. I was at the grocery just a moment ago and I could not find a jar of pickles without yellow dye in it.

Heard a discussion awhile back about whether we (the public) have a right to posthumously publish works of writers. The discussion turned to Salinger because it's assumed he's been writing this whole time. They started talking about if he had a will that stated for his wife to burn everything upon his death and whether he had a right to do that. I turned the radio off. Stupid discussion. RIP

They were bought by Discmakers and these are legitimate complaints. Have you sent them an email about this? The back-end (ie, artist user portal) of the website isn't much better. It takes a lot more clicks to do what you want. Still, they provide an invaluable service for independent artists like myself and many many others.

Nice!

CDBaby is currently donating $1 from every CD sold (and $1 from every full-album download) to the Haiti Relief effort. Now's as good of time as any to pick-up some independent music. Any other suggestions from folks here on great jazz to be had from CDBaby? Here's my latest acquisition, son of the legendary Jimmy Garrison: Matthew Garrison - Shapeshifter Gonna pick this up today:Larry Goldings - Long Story Short

Isn't the default format in Windows Media Player a .wmv file? That means you're ripping your CDs to a lossy compression format then burning them as CDs again. Not good.

My favorites: I like Hunter a lot. I think he's constantly pushing and I respect that. It doesn't always work, but when it does there is some fantastic music made.

I was jokin.

CGI

Mike, so sorry to hear about this. Keep your chin up; things will get better. Listen to some Stanley T! Hone your chops. Music is the one mistress that will never leave us.

The difference between this and Animusic is the Animusic stuff is CGI. It is not real acoustic instruments being played, it's all synths (actually probably just one synth; lot of Wavestation on there) and computer graphics. And no improvisation. I give him credit for successfully pulling off the concept.

We don't allow trading of bootlegs or copyrighted material on the forums.

Thank you!

Wow. http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/10/mechanical_reproduction_of_digitize.html

Not really. I apologize for the continual referencing of my father, but in the year and half since he's passed I've been reflecting on all the things he taught me. With the birth of my brother, number five of seven, he gave up performing and learned the piano business. He still wrote songs; in fact, he wrote hundreds of songs in all styles, with lyrics and the whole bit. And he recorded those and once he was done he moved on to ambient music and wrote hundreds of tunes, countless hours of pieces within that idiom. And for what? For himself. So yeah, it's only music. Its what I've been doing since I came out of the womb, and I'll never stop. But if it gets to the point where I just make it for myself and enjoy it myself because I need to take care of my kids... well, then that's what I'll do. It's only music. Whether Joshua Redman is a better player than Eric Alexander really doesn't matter when my newborn is fighting RSV and I have an empty refrigerator. You know what I mean?

Why am I reminded of my best friend's father, who still thinks anything even remotely resembling bebop is not jazz? Time moves on. Music is a language which changes constantly. Whether it is devolving or evolving is a matter of personal opinion and its never just one or the other. Joe and I listened to some inspiring stuff on the way to and from the gig this evening; some Adam Rogers, some Matthew Garrison (son of Jimmy Garrison) which was really wild and creative and inspiring, and some Metheny trio. All people working within the idiom and bringing some new and fresh ideas to it. It may not be your "jazz" but its still jazz. I think the stylists have their place. I hope that I am not one, but maybe I am. I would rather listen to the ones who are pushing things, but that's not for everyone. There is so much music I haven't heard, its overwhelming. I'm just starting to get into Chuck's extensive catalog and I'm blown away by what I hear. And there are so many things outside of jazz that inspire me. I totally understand what you're saying Sangry, but I'd like you to put the words into action! I've heard those Quartet Out recordings. You know what needs to be done. Take action, my friend. All I know for sure is that I need some fucking gigs.

It's only music, folks. Jazz has changed. Whether for better or worse... well, that's personal opinion. The spectrum is much wider now than it was; there are less "giants", but more workers doing good things. I think part of the problem with the "jazz is dead, it's been dead for a long time, all the new guys are posers" crowd is that they've been listening to the music for too long, in a relative vacuum. Time to step out, maybe get into a completely different bag. Like my ambient / electronic album! Only $25 for a limited edition signed copy! 100 copies printed! Get yours today! From Jim-co productions!!! Butt seriously, I can't see Art Blakey. So if I want to experience that kind of music live, I'll go see Eric Alexander's group. Is it the same? Of course not; but that's what I'm left with. Recordings were never meant to replace live performance, right? I would never replace my recordings of Blakey with those of Alexander, but I would certainly go see him if I could and enjoy his music. And I have seen him live and he and the band kick ass. I can't see Jimmy Smith. So if I want to experience that kind of music live, I'll go see Joey DeFrancesco. Is it the same? Of course not; but that's what I'm left with. He can be mighty impressive live and is obviously a monster on the B3. I'd never throw out my Jimmy Smith LPs in place of Joey's, but they each have their place. Otherwise, I guess I might as well hang it up right now because what's the fucking point? I've spent the last 16 years of my life learning this instrument, but it'll never be 1950 again and I'll never be Jimmy Smith so I guess that's the be-all end-all and there's no point in pretending I'm doing something valuable. I'd rather know now, since I'm already leaning that way and every month is a fucking struggle to feed my three kids. Lots of hard work for nothing. Sweet!

Awesome!

My condolences. Cherish the memories and her spirit and all she taught you.

Check yo' email.

Still trying to figure that one out but having up to date browsers would not be a bad idea.

Make sure you have javascript enabled on your browser and the most current version of your browser.

I love Fathead. We had the honor of playing on the same bill several times. He always sounded great and the HighNote CDs are all very good. I've probably related this story before but I once saw him with Mose Alison. I like Mose ok but I was there to see Fathead. Mose would do his thing and then give Fathead a solo and Fathead would play a chorus, maybe two at the most, and it was just absolutely beautiful what he was playing but he never did an extended solo. By the 6th or 7th time I couldn't stand it anymore and after another short solo yelled out "Don't stop, Fathead!" He just smiled. I spoke with him after the show and he was very gracious. A real beautiful person.

In any case, congrats to Nessa!