Joe G

Yes. ← Yes, you have reservations?

Sounds serious. And lying around in a hospital is just about the worst.

That could be - I can't open this at work. Thanks, though.

Instead of going to bed at 10:30, I stayed up with this thing until after midnight. I've checked out almost all the playing examples/playalong sections, and they do indeed become more challenging and inspiring. The odd meter tracks are fun (one of them, in 11/4, is based on his tune "5 in the morning, 6 in the afternoon"). He also brings in three other compositions of his, one called Fallen Angels, and the other two I didn't catch the names of. I'll have to track them down. The latter two are very difficult, in fact quite a bit out of my reach at the moment. I'll have to work at those. There was at least one "a-HA" moment for me: in the discussion about odd meters, he said that the way to play fluently on them is to find a "transition point", by which he meant a beat or beats inside the bar that you can play towards the upcoming "one" from. This was something I figured out back when we were working up our tune "Meet Me @ 11". Nice to get confirmation that way. One thing I wish this set came with is a book containing all the exercises and chord charts. That would have been very helpful, though probably more expensive.

He did have an intense look about him. Sorry I never got to see him in person.

Comparing the size to the dollar bills, that would be quite a matchbook! Matches to light big Cheech and Chong size... uh,... cigarettes. I believe that is a napkin. Cool nonetheless. And it would be a cool matchbook also. ← Thanks a lot .:.impossible, now I like your matchbook idea better than my napkin idea. ← No shit; Smokin' Section and all that... :bwallace2: That's it, ship everything back.

Well, I've seen a little more, and I agree with you that this is not for beginners. The more music (and theory) you have under your belt, the better off you'll be. I saw the part about the "triads", and I thought the same as you, that he was pretty loose with his definitions, though I understood his point that 3 note structures can be constructed in many ways. I did find the chapters on chromatics a bit disappointing in that he didn't really give us much analysis of his approach ("There's a lot of notes in there - work at it!") But, if you've got some grounding in this, it's all there in the notated examples. Guess he's a do-it-yourself kinda guy. As I mentioned, he throws out some pretty difficult-looking exercises not too far into the chapters. Lots of cool stuff in harmonic and melodic minor modes.

This was in my mailbox today, and I've watched the first couple of chapters. So far, I think it's pretty well laid out. I look forward to working with this a bit at a time. Kinda cracked me up when he laid down some of his wicked 32nd note runs as "exercises". Sure - no problem.

Sure enough. And we panned the drums hard right.

While I've had dreams where I'm watching a concert and hearing magnificent music, usually when it's my turn to play, there's something all messed up about it. Either the guitar is all jacked up, or they want me to play the trombone, or I'm trying to make melodies by scratching two rocks together, or I'm in my underwear... In other words, I can identify with Randy's dream!

Um... she already knows who you are, dude. Seriously, glad to hear there were no fatalities.

Aquarian Dream

Oh, you slay yourself!

Right! Wasn't there talk about Grant "spreading his love through the medium of music"? Classic. The best part about that album is revealed when you put the cd on, and just listen to the first 5 seconds of each tune, skipping to the next on after that. Try it! A friend of mine has some hilarious stories about playing with that drummer.

BA-Dum-tsssss

...and one more.

Well, I could make it a long story, but the short version is: bad (very bad) power situation making it difficult to even power up the keyboard, lousy acoustics making all the instruments sound like shit, lots of ambient noise, and a fairly major hassle just to get into the place. I think we played all right, considering.

That was a good'n.

He showed up at a gig we did in Lansing on the 13th. First time I had met him actually. It turned out to be a horrible gig, but it was nice to chat with Bill.

Damn! You just never know what's up with the neighbors. Glad to hear it's over.

Carmine Appice has continued to rock!

All of the O. Nelson stuff is very provocative. Makes me want to hear it again with the knowledge of what it is. Well, at least I brought up that Shirly Horn album, which was also arranged by Mandel... So that's what a little moonlight can do! It's even more interesting now that I see that there are only three musicians. How cool. And re: the Weather Report; I couldn't believe that it was them! I haven't heard any of the albums from that period, so I thought for sure it was a pale imitation. But I generally agree with your assesment of it, Jim. I don't think I'll buy the album though, if that's okay with you.

Good point, Jim.

A bit late to the discussion here, which I haven't read much of. Not wanting to seem ungrateful, I gave a listen to Disc 2, and, working from my notes, here are my thoughts. I'll save time by saying up front that I was unable to identify virtually anyone. 1. I like it. Happy groove, happy singers, happy people. Cannonball pushing the harmony a bit in his solo. Keys made me think of Zawinal. Re: the cuixa (is that really how you spell it??), did someone say they hated that thing? Dig: we have it on one track of the new organissimo record. 2. Wow. I thought that was pretty cool. Strange mix of sounds up front, especially that cracklin' stuff - most unpleasant. The musical language in the next part sounds familiar. the Pat Metheny Group sometimes plays things like this to set stuff up, but I don't know where they got it from. The saxes were killing, and the length of this piece was just right IMO. 3. Big reverb, lush sound. I don't have much of this kind of thing, save for Shirley Horn's "Here's to Life", courtesy of a friend. I feel like I should know who the sax and piano are, but I don't. I like this for late at night. Has the saxman listened to Brecker? His control in the upper range reminded me of Mike, though here it's not overdone. 4. Again my ignorance is revealed. Nice track, though. Interesting moments in the piano solo where he pauses as if deciding where to go next. Ending on the #11 was a nice touch, too. I like the singer. 5. Bassist having a hard time finding the drummer, or is it the other way around? He's so on top of the beat (and wasn't he supposed to go back to the stop time after the bridge? )... I'm having trouble feeling the drummer's time, too, but it's not a problem for this trumpeter. He's just playing strong shit right down the middle. That was one nutty riff in the sax solo! Good energy, it's loose and fun... The pianist finally lost the downbeat (and so did I)... here's the trading section... STOP THE MADNESS! The bass player's on crack? But the ending was cool. Wild band you got there. 6. Piano duet - is this Jarrett/Corea? Ilike the major/minor polarity that occurs after the 4 minute mark. Other than that, this is the type of thing that does more for the players than the listeners - at least this listener. 7. Nice soprano tone. Surprised by the length of this piece - is it part of a larger work? Everyone's in tune. Kinda sultry, too. 8. Othello on steel drums? Don Alias on conga? Not Jaco. It's a cool sound, actually. Whoa! That key change after 3 minutes is wild! Some delicious intervals there. This sounds fairly recent, and now hearing the rest of the ensemble coming in (nice arrangement there), I feel like throwing out my guesses. But I like it. My cat is twitching in the midst of a dream while this plays on... maybe he's watching fish from a dock in the Carribean? 9. Ah - the dreaded synth band! The opening was like a predecessor to Tribal Tech, but then it quickly became more strange than that. Those synth sounds are hilarious. Very weather reportish in spots. Dude! I just glanced at my cat and I swear he was keeping time with his back paw for a sec. Guess I know what to post in the pet music thread. Vocals; heh heh. This is like second rate Zawinal, but not without entertainment value, and some chops here and there. Not to mention some unusual chordal choices, though whether they were made by man or machine... If this was some guys that I knew, I'd say, with a chuckle, COOL! 10. Strange mix w/regard to the levels, but this is pretty rippin'. Especially like the tenor and drums. "Name" players both? 11. The long journey begins and ends with an organ group. But wait - this one is fast being sucked into the heedious vortex of the black hole to parts unknown...... That was cute.

In the past, Jim has asked that people refrain from using profanity in topic headings.