BeBop

Back in the mid 90s, "In Walked Bud" was my ringtone. Obviously, we had less choice a dozen years ago.

I keep kicking myself for not picking up the Evans/Manne Hole disc with my old pal/teacher Chuck Isreals. Oh well, not like it's terribly scarce. But if someone ends up with an extra...

If anyone else stumbles across a reasonably priced copy - or has one - drop me a line.

I've never seen this as an us-versus-them situation, though I've made a decision to allocate my scarce time to one board over the other. It's worth noting that the contributors to AAJ include...Organissimo. http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/benefactors.php

I keep hitting the halfast reply button. And it shows.

Thank you. Well said. Mellowed? Matured? Wisened? The stuff with Parlan is very good. Each has a loose theme, i.e., spirituals. Pick one with song you know and like, sine they all have standards and most have blues. (There's also a disc with, I believe, Richard Davis, that's good.) I was beginning to get fired up about this; been meaning to have another go at Shepp. But does he really sing on these records? MG He certainly sings on the Mal Waldron duos. It' somewhere between James Moody and Clark Terry singing the blues, but he takes himself more seriously than either. Bad description, but the best I can muster.

I find most of Shepp's work to be blasé since his late 60s Affinity recordings. Those 60s Impulse recordings are classic, I find it hard to imagine that anything he's done in the past 10 years is essential and can stand up to his 60s work. I like his 60s stuff too. One might say he's turned from more-angry to more-deeply soulful. Both are alright. I pull out the older material when it suits my mood.

Thanks. Feeling every minute of it this morning. But I did get out of there.

I suppose I should have said "I see the pattern". But perhaps I was assuming too much. Logging off for a while. Perhaps I'll even get out of here.

Anyone seen a good price? Black Ballads is just $14.00 at Tower; Blue Ballads seems to be $22+ just about everywhere.

For a minute there, I thought I understood the game. My mistake.

I just really dig what Shepp does with 'standards' - broadly defined. Gospel stuff. Soulfully rendered. A reminder that IT'S ALL THE BLUES. "Make Me a Pallet on the Floor", "Goin' Home", "Trouble in Mind".

They just made an announcement - a positive in and of itself - that the flight is oversold by 35. 35! (This is only an A319.) You think I'm going to give up my seat? And with Diamond-Encrusted/Bling status (350,000 miles a year) with the airline, they sure as sh*t won't bump me. Compassionate type I that am, I do feel a little bad for those who do get bumped. Precisely this bad: -------> <------

When I was a kid, when I went to the airport, I always looked for spies. (Perhaps someone out there can relate? It was more fun than looking for Aunt Dora coming down the jetway.) Now, I guess I'm supposed to be looking for terrorists. Aunt Dora fits my terrorist 'profile'.

From the airline website, the official reason for my delay: "Catering" Shit, like they're going to feed us? And like catering could take more than 20 minutes? Call Dominos and let's go.

Re-reading, my earlier message came off too much like complaining. As Mr. Nessa points out, we all make choices. I choose to travel (and love it dearly); that's a good choice. Along the way, I get to make 'subsidiary' choices, like which airline to fly, and which airport to depart; here, I blew it. Still, I wouldn't give it up for anything. I never had kids.* Seems like that's another 'love' relationship with some short-term 'hate' hazard. Hell, music's like that too (as a career, anyway). * As if I could, with 365 days a year on the road.** ** Does anyone use notation asterisks in cyberspace? I suppose for credit card offers and baseball stats.

As some of you know, I travel constantly. Delays don't really bother me much, but this one has me spending far too much time hanging out here at the Organissimo boards (and wishing I could get the Live Chat to work). My thumbs are calloused from twiddling. Any ass from sitting. The omnipresent TVs have sapped my limited-to-begin-with intelligence, leading to a total post count today of one, as soon as I post this. I've enjoyed everyones' posts on their Concord orders. I failed to make any sense of Funny Rat. I know what ya'll have been listening to - and feeling like I'm part of some covert U.S. government operation in doing so. And way to go, Floyd. Oh look, another hour added to the estimated departure time. And so it goes, into Day Two. I suppose I'm posting this as a message to myself: Don't fret, BeBop, before long, you'll be on a turbulent flight, surrounded by foul-smelling tourists toting unhappy babies and enough luggage to armor a Humvee. (Rant for another day: taking babies and children on a plane is child abuse.) So, someone out there, hoist a beer for me and enjoy some of that fine cookin' that can't be found in TERMINAL two.

I've been on a Shepp 'kick'. Mostly the small group stuff: duos to quartets. These two (Black Ballads/Blue Ballads) look appealing, but they're relatively pricey, so I thought I solicit opinions...knowing full-well that SOMEONE is going to go out and tell me to buy IMMEDIATELY at ANY COST. Okay, maybe not.

Borders used to be the pretty reliable: a coupon every week or two. Some good, some others. Tower seems to have taken over that role. And with free U.S. shipping at $20... This week: Employee Discount Sale 15% Off Purchases of $40 or more USE COUPON CODE JS75EMP Online Only, thru July 24th

Happy birthday. Have a great one!

I'm with Lon 100%. I want a saxophone to sound like a saxophone, dammit. (Frankly, I don't care which component makes or breaks the system performance; I'm a results guy.) And I don't much care about soundstage. For what it's worth, I've probably spent more time on the bandstand than in the audience. For me, soundstage is the trombones right behind me, the drummer in the back right, the piano hard right... (or whatever the setup is that evening.)

...but not the Washington Nationals or Texas Rangers.

Kazakhstan is an amazingly non-former-Soviet-feeling place. Women seem to love black miniskirts there. Off topic, but that was my take-away impression. Actually, I'll take that back; it is on-topic. The reason it's relevant is that Kazakhs are predominantly Muslim (Sunni, I believe) but my impression was that they were not radically strict. If they had been, a gift of alcohol might have been a bad idea on its face. I'm not so sure. Perhaps an equally large hazard would be that the tastebuds of a former pseudo-Soviet government official would be so blunted by years of Russian Vodka, that it would be difficult to distinguish cabernet from sterno. You might want to pick something cheap, with a label that says California prominently and looks slick, regardless of actual quality. A bottle for the 'secretary' would also seem a good investment. (Hint: she'll be wearing a black miniskirt.) As for the broader question about giving gifts to a person in this position, I'm sure it is 'customary' on some level. I'm sorry that my answer is flip/offhand in many ways. There is an off chance that a gift of alcohol would offend, and there are certainly restrictions about bringing alcohol into the country (though not outright prohibitions). It's hard to imagine anyone being terribly offended. Alma Ata is FULL of bars and clubs. And casinos. But it might be prudent to consider an option like a nice photo book of San Francisco or New York, or a famous sports team logoed item. Something that couldn't be taken for a bribe.

365 nights a year in hotels. As for your spousal relationship, c'mon, in 43 years, she's forgiven you for worse transgressions than this.

We can't all afford perfect sound, so we make tradeoffs. I'm curious what people value most highly in their audio reproduction. I'd be interested in anyone' s comments, but if you're a musician or an audio engineer and wouldn't mind mentioning it, please do. (Not opinions I value more highly, just special interests.) By the way, I know I've left off many possible considerations: pace, VOLUME, aesthetics, spouse acceptance factor...