Eric

I don't mean to argue with Claude. Music is a personal thing. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There is no right or wrong opinion. However, The Cookers has created much discussion and debate for being only an average session. It is definitely the line-up ... one wishes for a hard-bop version of Abbey Road ... yet is left with:

I believe, if Cookers was only an obscure live session, we wouldn't discuss it because we wouldn't be aware of it. It is a Blue Note session, however. It is known, available, and perfomed by some of the best. Obscure or not, there are some big jazz names involved with this recording. To my ears, they are playing in a most excellent, live, raw format. Gives me the tingles. Claude couldn't be more right about this session. This one is a dog and not one with fleas either. Just because it's on BN doesn't make it good. They took a flier on it and it didn't work. They figured it would sell. Maybe it did but it's a bad bad session. Should have stayed in the vaults. I have bought and sold this thing at least three times in the last 20+ years. RVG-treatment notwithstanding, I am through. There is way too much worthwhile music out there to listen to. Even Rudy can't polish this proverbial turd

That is a great one - I had the TOCJ for years - it really is unique, but in a very good way. My top five: Donald Byrd - Kofi Donald Byrd - Fancy Free Moon Rappin' Lou Donaldson - Mr. Shing-a-Ling All of the Pattons

24/7 baby ... seriously, unless I am dragging butt in the evening, try to call it quits at the end of the work day ...

OK, OK, I did get several of these: The Phil Ranelin - I did like it - wooly, but in a good way. I love the overall vibe of the music ... reminds me of later period Trane. I also liked the liner notes ... kind of an artifact of the times, but nice to see the sincereity, a la Trane or something. Thanks for the rec, Rooster! Fela Kuti - Expensive Shit - this was in heavy rotation for a while, passed it around the office too I can't imagine anyone disliking this music - good beat, you can dance to it Jameel Moondoc - Revolt ... - nice stuff, although I only listened one/twice so far ... Thomas Chapin - Insomnia - I *love* this one - the little brass section is very cool, the compositions were fun and I really enjoy the overall spirit the Chapin brings to the music - probably my favorite of the recs Fred Anderson - Missing Link - great stuff, although I was hoping he would get a little freakier I subsequently bought one of his Delmark (?) live CDs which is also strong - glad to have discovered this guy!! Etta Baker - One Dime Blues - this is the finger-pick guitarist from North Carolina. This is very nice stuff, my 12 year old, who is a budding guitar player, thought it was very cool too. Sun Ra - Singles Collection - wow - this thing is all over the place, as one would expect from a Sun Ra singles comp, I suppose. I do not have a lot of Sun Ra and this was a good sampler as much as anything else. Some of it was great, some just so-so ... but it did lead me to more Sun Ra ... William Parker - O'Neal's Porch - just did not resonate with me - nuthin' wrong with it, just did not click Anyway, thanks to all for the recommendations. I discovered some great stuff - the Chapin in particular (followed by the Anderson, the Fela and the Ranelin). Always a pleasure doing business with you boys!!!

LOL

Rooster - sad to say, I can't remember the last time a bought a new-release CD from a KC retail establishment. These days, it's all CD Universe through Alan's site. So, my new release day becomes Thur or Fri. I can live with that, although I would like to support local retailers. It really is a sad state of affairs ... the only mom-n-pop is that Streetside/Pennylane and anymore, their jazz selection is spotty at best. Oh well, all hail the internet (I think ... )

perhaps this is what Lewis Carroll originally had in mind

ah yes - there it is - thanks Claude

One of the features I really miss is the ability to view "sideman" dates. For example, I was checking out Greg Skaff, a guiatrist who has played with Bobby Watson. In the *old* AMG, you could see which albums of Bobby's he played on. I can't seem to find that here. Perhaps this feature will re-emerge in the paid site ???

Thanks Mike - mystery solved! I have never heard this material, although I know it gets horrible reviews. I snagged it on GEMM for a whopping $2.88 - what the hey ...

a couple of sellers on GEMM have it listed as Columbia 37035 ...

Mike, Saw it in an "ebay store": http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...4019400132&rd=1 Eric

yeah, and I don't see the "appears on" listings - i.e. sideman dates - that is a handy feature ...

I don't like the color contrast on their "stars" - blue on blue - very hard to read. Verve must have a hand in this

saw this used online somewhere - not a peep from AMG - it is on Columbia and I am guessing it is not strong, but was wondering if anyone knew it?

Is it twenty dollars great? That's half a Select. Yes - it is a great set.

yes - honestly, I gave it one listen and took it out of "rotation" - I am not sound a sound freak by any stretch - probably should pull it out again though ...

Got it, the sound quality really blows - sadly, I have not gotten past that to focus on content yet.

Johnny - Do you have Liars? Think my favorite is Wizard followed by Todd. For some reason, I didn't enjoy Something as much ... maybe I like the weirdness on the latter (chronilogically speaking) two ...

up ...

a favorite Midwestern species ... Seriously, I have a striped owl and his mate living in my back yard ... it is quite amazing to watch them come and go

For whatever it's worth, I check their site fairly frequently. I like some of the interviews and feature articles. I find most of the reviews to be rather fluffy, so I don't put much stock in them. Re: their forum, I *much* prefer this one. This one seems like a bunch of good friends hanging around a bar swapping stories (and talking a little trash) and that one just seems a little sterile and forced at times (hey, what shall we discuss today?).

Agree - I have a couple of them. I like the inclusion of "Theme for Kareem" and "Take it to the Ozone", both very good tracks from Superblue, which was on Columbia and to my knowledge, has never been out on CD.

Chris - ever seen "The Big Lebowski"? "Sometimes you get the bear, and well, sometimes the bear get's you"