Jim Alfredson

Pistons stinking up the joint lately. 8 losses in a row. I've watched about two games this year. Lots more free time!

Is the guy in the picture the Russian Donald Trump?

Yeah, I have it. Some nice moments. If you can find it cheap pick it up.

Plank, check your email.

The phum phum's are actually implied; there's a subtle bass line that starts a few minutes in underneath the main swash of chords.

Never heard of them before. Cool stuff!

Al is on the money! I knew someone would pick up on that eventually.

30 copies left. Thanks for all the kind words, folks.

Last night I was reflecting on the last 10 years and how they've been, in almost every way, the best 10 years of my life and the most productive by far. Some seriously bad times but thankfully the bulk was dominated by amazingly good times. Just briefly: 2000 - In early 2000, my dad had a triple bypass. This was a good thing in that it made him realize he had a lot to live for and he started taking better care of himself. He had been seriously depressed since my mom's passing in 1997 and the heart surgery was a wake-up call of the highest magnitude. In many ways the next 8 years of his life were some of his best; he quit drinking, he quit smoking weed, he re-married, he saw the birth of his first grandchildren, and he was happier than he had been in years. It was a great transformation to witness. He and I also became much closer, if that was possible. Also in late 2000 we formed organissimo! What can I say about that!? It's been a wonderful experience creating music with Joe and Randy. Can't wait to start writing again for the next studio disc! 2001 - I moved back to Lansing and met my soon-to-be wife at a wedding. She was a bridesmaid, I was playing in the band (Root Doctor). We moved in together six weeks later. 2002 - Married my wife a year to the day we met. To say it was life-changing is an understatement. I love her more every day. 2003 - Released the first organissimo record in March, which was a big step for us. Also started these forums about the same time! In August of 2003, we bought our home. organissimo also played its first big festival, the Clearwater Jazz Holiday in October. 2004 - Zora came into our lives! What an incredible experience. My children... words fail me. Having children changes you in such a profound way. Unfortunately this is also the year that Alison became sick with a still unexplained and unsolved neurological condition. Thankfully her neurologist has been able to mostly suppress it but we still have no answers as to what or why. My sister also had her first child, the second grandchild of the family. 2005 - organissimo released "This Is The Place" which helped put us on the map for sure. My dad re-married on Zora's first birthday. A lot of great gigs! Also met Greg Nagy who has become a dear friend, a valuable collaborator, and someone who pushes me. We all need someone like that in our lives. 2006 - Root Doctor released "Been A Long Time Coming". I'm proud of that record. Had a slew of wonderful gigs with both bands. 2007 - Thanks to Barack, we play the Tel Aviv Jazz Festival! High point of our gigging career! Thank you, Barack! Root Doctor released "Change Our Ways", our best recording imo and it gets nominated for a BMA. I'm extremely proud of that record, my arrangements, my writing, and my playing. My younger sister has her first child, the third grandbaby. Unfortunately Alison's grandfather passes late in the year. My dad begins teaching me the piano business during the summer and I really enjoy our time together. I play a really cool gig with drummer Danny Gottlieb and guitarist Corey Christiansen in Park City, Utah. 2008 - Stella arrives! She is something else. What an amazing child. I love her dearly. I can't wait to see where she goes. Alison's grandmother dies early in the year. My father dies in May having only seen Stella once. organissimo releases Groovadelphia, our best record yet (imo). Root Doctor releases Live At The Cadillac Club. Lot of really fun gigs this year, too. I nervously take over my dad's piano business. 2009 - The year starts slow but I engineer Greg's solo disc, released in May, which is currently nominated for a BMA. We finally get the grant money for restoration of our house. Scarlett shows up in October (sweetie petey!) I released my solo disc as a tribute to my father, In Memorandom. I also bow out of Root Doctor after 10 years to focus solely on organissimo. Good things are afoot. I'm finally feeling comfortable tuning pianos and work is steady. So, the decade in brief. Pretty amazing. I firmly believe 2010 is going to be the best year yet. Bring it on! Life is good! Hope everyone else is excited for the future!

Christmas with young children. Zora was in our room at 5:30am. Better than last year when she came in at 3am upset because she had already broken one of her toys. I was up until 2am backing pies. I'm a bit baked myself. Is this what's known as payback?

Merry Christmas, everyone! Thanks for making this THE place to hang out and talk about jazz, be it real or imaginary!

So sorry to hear about your troubles but very happy to see you posting again! Merry Christmas!

Mike, glad you like it. Your wife can use the music for whatever she likes. Some of the tracks could certainly be used for massage therapy; why not? Quincy, yes headphones are a different experience. Hope you get the chance to do that soon. It's fun!

Welcome to Lions Fan World, dude.

What if I totally erased my signature?

An olive burger is a burger with a sauce on top comprised usually of chopped green olives, mayonnaise, and various spices. Yum!

It sounds like you're having Java issues. I'm not sure of the solution but I believe it has something to do with allowing javascript within your browser's security controls.

I'm always up for a good burger. Locally, there's a joint called The Peanut Barrel that makes an absolutely killer olive burger. One of the best burgers I've had recently though was from a relatively new organic breakfast joint called Sawyer's Gourmet Pancake House. The burger had blue cheese in the middle of the patty, bacon, and a red onion tapanade along with a special sauce. Man... that is an awesome burger. So delicious. I had them put some jalapenos on it one time and that just put it totally over the top. At home I like to make mine with buffalo or lean ground beef, cooked in a pan with pepper, salt, and garlic and onion powder. Lettuce, stone ground mustard, ketchup, relish, cheese, and possibly bacon (if I have it). Yum.

Allen, I hear what you're saying but the term "nazi" has almost become as meaningless as "hero" due to its over-use. And if it is simultaneously offensive to some of our European brethren, then why use it? As for the Marsalis thing, I have to wonder whether someone is pulling the Guardian's leg.

I thought about taking them out but I'd have to edit people's posts which I'm not very keen on doing. Besides, it stands as a testament to how dumb internet arguments can be.

Don't you mean Olga?

The upload limit per post is 2mb. So you should be able to do it.

Thanks, Al. I appreciate your comments. I honestly don't know what I'm thinking sometimes; I just do these things because I have to. Its the way I am. I use to spend hours upon hours under headphones creating music instead of chasing after girls, studying, hanging with friends (or my family), etc. Thankfully school came easy to me and I rarely had to study until I got to college and by then I didn't give a shit anymore and just wanted to play music. So that's what I'm doing, come hell or highwater! It can be hard and sometimes I question whether I'm doing the right thing, especially on a day like today when my wife starts crying because we're flat broke. But hey... as my dad always said, "The Lord will provide". I don't necessarily believe in "the Lord" as he did, but I do believe that positive thoughts bequeath positive actions and things will work out for the best. Somehow there was always food on the table when I was a kid. And sure enough, today I picked up $180 worth of piano work and got another two calls requesting tunings next week. The Lord will provide, indeed. As for this project, I am thankful for having people around me that believe in what I'm doing including my wife and friends. I was not going to release this "commercially", but some good friends convinced me to do so and I'm happy I did. This is the tip of the iceberg. I have a lot of ideas for projects, some suggested by good friends; a solo organ record, an all-improvised extremely mellow ambient jazz record (with synths galore), organissimo with horns, organissimo with a vocalist, a John Patton tribute record, a prog record, a bluesy / Americana record of my own songs (with lyrics and me singing), a recording of works for 16-piece mixed choir, another electronic record that also has "real" instruments (such as a choir!), etc. The great thing about music is that it never ends! This project was sort of a "test piece" to see if I had support to make these kinds of jumps stylistically. I made enough money to pay for the duplication; that's all I can ask for. That means I can keep going. So thanks to everyone who bought the disc!

Enough with the Nazis. I'm not changing the title back. End of story. The comparison of debating what is and isn't jazz and a nation state that murders people is, to say the least, a stretch. Enough.

Fixed.