skeith

I wanted to say one more thing and perhaps pose a question about Compulsion. I notice that on 3 of the 4 tracks the end is rather abruptly faded out when the band was clearly not intending to end the piece. I know that this release comes from the vinyl era, so does that indicate that the producer cut the track to fit on the LP or does this indicate that the producer felt the track wasn't going anywhere and made a decision to end it by fading out?

I picked up Compulsion!!! and this, in my opinion, is not as good as the previous recordings Hill made for Blue Note. I like the second half of this cd better than the first.

thanks Rachel and Hot Ptah for your helpful comments!

Well, I finally saw this film and as I suspected, I sometimes wonder whether I saw the same film as Alexander. I found the film very moving and of course, given the point of view of the film, the viewer has some empathy for the japanese soldiers. The overwhelming sense is the tragedy of war for all of those involved. However, I have a couple of rebuttals to Alexander's view that this was a shameful US operation. 1) First as to Alex's shame over the US's overwhelming superiority in numbers for this battle, the film made it clear that the massive amounts of men and machinery brought to Iwo Jima were not intended just for that battle, but for many of other battles yet to come. It was a foothold and a base to launch to war against the Japanese mainland. 2) Yes, there was a ugly incident where american soldiers murder two prisoners- that was indeed shameful. But what Alex forgot to mention was there was also a scene where a japanese soldier was surrounded and wildly swinging a shovel at US troops (and that could potentially kill or severely wound you), the americans could have shot that soldier but did not. Alex also neglects to inform us that there is a scene where an American soldier who gets into one of the japanese tunnels is savagely bayoneted by Japanese troops and that American soldier could have quite easily been made into a prisoner. There is also a scene in the film where before the American soldiers land, the japanese soldiers are instructed to particularly aim to kill American medics. Seems to me that there is nothing moral about that and is it possibly against the rules of war.

$25.00 insured and delivered to a US address.

thanks 7/4 do you know if she got the single or multi-focal lens?

apparently what they do now is replace the lens inside your eye with an artificial "intraocular" lens. YOu have the option of a single focus lens which may replicate your near or far sightedness or you can get a multi-focal lens which apparently gives a full range of sight. Has anyone had any experience with this? I would appreciate any comments on your experiences..

Well I disagree about the session with Brownie because I like it all - the band, the tunes, everything. and there is no question that Sarah is THE star on that session, Brownie's solos are generally quite short and there are no tracks where Brownie is given the exclusive spotlight so to speak, that is there are no tracks featuring just Brownie. I agree that many of the orchestral dates are duds and in general I am less inclined towards her later years when she became more "operatic".

I would suggest either the one that is the self titled on Verve and includes Clifford Brown or else that one on Columbia (maybe it is called In Hi -Fi) that features Miles Davis. Both of these are great.

If anyone is interested, I am negotiable on the price.

I hope you had a great one!!!

I take it Larry that you don't think much of the Hajdu bio, at least as far as the music goes?

If you are saying that if Duke hadn't hired him, he wouldn't have accomplished much and might have died alone in PA, well, that's impossible to dispute. Obviously no one would know him if Duke hadn't hired him. The bigger question is, what would the Ellington-Strayhorn songs sound like if Duke hadn't hired him? Obviously we would still celebrate Duke - but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't celebrate Strayhorn as well. Strayhorn is fine and I celebrate him. Ellington's reputation was established earlier. But its not as if Ellington's reputation iis based solely on that pre-collaboration period. It was for me. So Chuck, are you saying that you find Ellington's work with Strayhorn to be inferior to Ellington's work without him?

I have a number of Lps I would like to sell by various South American and Spanish artists including: Mercedes Sosa - Interpreta a Atahualpa Yupanqui Mercedes Sosa - La Mamancy Mercedes Sosa - Grandes de America Jorge Ben - A Banda do Ze Pretinho Jorge Ben - Samba Nova Paco de Lucia - Interpreta a Manuel da Falla Juan Manuel Serrat - Mediteraneo Juan Manuel Serrat - Cada Loco con su Tema Victor Jara- Vientos del Pueblo Los Calchakis - Live on Stage (plus many more) All of these lps are in very good shape. These are not on cd, although individual tracks do appear on some compilations. Most are South American pressings and I have no idea how the sound quality compares to Us or European pressings except to say that they sound good. I would like to get about $10.00 us per lp., but may be negotiable. better deal if you take them all.

I was giggling too, because it reminded me of THIS IS SPINAL TAP. I liked this act better when it was called the Jimi Hendrix Experience!!

was it only in NYC? I found it interesting and the interviews with Hadju, his biographer, and Gunther Schuller as well as with Mercer and Mercedes Ellington were good. Interesting paradox in that Ellington is shown to both have helped Strayhorn and yet perhaps ultimately hindered his career. anyone else see this?

I like the Sarah Vaughan version with Clifford Brown the best!

No need for Americans to buy it in Europe. The store has an extra copy here that I can pick up for somebody. Conn, are you talking about Miles Plays it Cool or the one originally mentioned in this thread? It seems there has been some confusion.

Does anyone know where the DVD can be obtained that was the subject of the initial post?

Conn, what place is that? I have called the JazzLoft and the guy is very coy about whether he is selling it- he seems to think I am the cops.

Never liked Elton that much, but Rod I have loved, until he went over to the disco side.

Back to the original topic, I guess one example of the records that diisappointed me was anything by Herbie Nichols - I just don't get it.

"Soulville." And I agree, was disappointed when I got it at the time it came out. Just compare it to the way Webster sounds on Harry Edison's "Sweets," from about the same time. Uh oh... I am planning to order Soulville and Meets Oscar Peterson from yourmusic -- should I avoid? Guy Meets OP is the better date and I wouldn't avoid either. I am with Chuck on this I guess, I like them both very much and don't prefer either one - but I guess I just like Ben Webster.

I wanted to post drunk, but tonight the bottle let me down.

Are there any really good films about the Japanese occupation? I'd love to see one! Look, I'm not saying "Japanese: Good; Americans: Baaaaad." I'm saying that the film offers a very unique perspective, and that it calls for a little HUMILITY in our assessment of America's victory in this battle. I'm not saying we were wrong to fight and try to win, just that THIS particular victory should stir some sober reflection. We seem to have this attitude that war is like a football game. It's not. There are human beings on both sides who lost their lives. Frankly, I don't understand how anybody can live through that and keep their sanity. Actually I have seen one film about the Japanese occupation that is from the Chinese perspective and it is called "Red Sorghum" by the acclaimed Chinese director Zhang Yimou. I don't think it is on DVD and that is a shame. Japanese are portrayed as bloodthirsty killers who delight in torturing the civilian population.