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Joe Christmas

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Posts posted by Joe Christmas

  1. anyone have an iPod?

    in Audio Talk

    Posted

    Peter, thanks. As someone who swore they'd never go digital, I can vouch for the quality of the iPod's sound. The convenience is huge. You simply won't know until you have one.

    re: noise-cancelling headphones, I received the Shure E3c earbuds in the mail today. I'll report back when I've spent some time with them.

  2. anyone have an iPod?

    in Audio Talk

    Posted

    Hi folks, long time no see.

    Great thread, just happened upon it and read the whole thing. I'm always looking for different applications and opinions about the iPod. I bought a 4th gen 40GB about a month or so ago, after my cd wallet was stolen out of my car.

    Prior to my cds getting stolen I was anti-digital music, for the most part. I'm deploying soon for six months so the decision came also as a result of that. On submarines you have maybe 6-8 square feet of storage space, including clothes, etc, and sometimes less than that. I was faced with lugging a ton of cds and a cd player or taking this thing that's roughly the size of a deck of cards. Easy choice. I also bought a 120GB external hard drive, just so I have plenty of music to choose from while I'm underway. I'll listen to only a fraction of that for sure, but it'll be nice to have all that music to choose from.

    Something I haven't seen discussed here re: the iPod: SMART PLAYLISTS. Please share any handy ideas you have about programming smart playlists. I don't have many yet, but the one I use most frequently is an "unheard" list. Needless to say, all of my music has been imported in the last month, so I don't have a need to sort the tunes by date. For now, it's just a random generator of 30 songs, all under 10 minutes each, that have a playcount of less than 1. I'd like to go crazy and make some really sophisticated playlists using the comments feature, but that seems like a lot of work. Share your playlists!

  3. The Arrangers

    in Artists

    Posted

    Yeah, Barry Guy is so much more than a composer of his own material. Those large LJCO pieces are epic. Rumor has it that he's written again for his New Orchestra and an Intakt disc may follow. Not that it counts as "jazz" arranging, but in Europe he and his wife are very respected interpreters of Bach's music and other Baroque stuff.

    Gigi Gryce had some really nice arrangements under his belt.

    Who's the arranger for the Mingus Big Band?

  4. The Arrangers

    in Artists

    Posted

    Late, you started this thread with my favorite record from my favorite arranger, Mr. Bill Holman. And you're the one who turned me further on to him, after my exposure through the Kenton Mosaic set, if I'm not mistaken. There are several band directors here in the Pacific NW who play old Kenton tunes, West Coast stuff, etc etc. I've asked on several occasions and the reply is always that they're using Holman's arrangements.

    Staying in the pocket, I also really respect the music that Butch Morris and Gerald Wilson get their hands on.

    Also Barry Guy and George Lewis for more avant/out stuff.

  5. Joe McPhee

    in Artists

    Posted

    Alejandro, Joe will be playing with Michael Bisio at Brad's Swingside Cafe on August 8th. You should definitely make a reservation now if you intend to go. It's a small place (40 seats, I think) but the bonus is whatever Brad has on the menu for that night. Joe tries to play a set there whenever he gets the opportunity. It's intimate and gives him the chance to hang with old friends and acquaintances. Let me know if you decide to go.

  6. Joe McPhee

    in Artists

    Posted

    Late, you're overdue on Black Magic Man, natch! PM me.

    No mention of the post-Ayler continuum here? J/K, Jim. Raymond Boni's silly?? He's one of the true virtuosos and a hell of a performer. To be honest though I'm hot and cold on his work with the Po Music too. But you should, if you ever see it, snatch a copy of VOICES AND DREAMS, a fairly recent Boni/McPhee reunion. Amazing stuff and simply beautiful. I agree that those CJR's are more fun than anything else, but Underground Railroad gives you a glimpse of why Joe's so special. For "finger playing", though I'm uncertain what level you're looking for, I'd definitely check out some that Nate mentioned, the duets with EP and Trio X's JOURNEY. Also, my favorite of Joe's of the last many years, GRAND MARQUIS, a sax/drum duo record with the incredibly underrated and underemployed Johnny McClellan.

    For those that are unawares (Chris?), Craig Johnson of CJR records has re-entered the music biz after lord knows how many years, co-producing one of McPhee's latest on the Usine label, a duo with French reed player Jerome Bourdellon. There are others in the works too.

    Joe will be in town soon for a visit and a set or two. We're getting together to discuss his new discography that I'm working on, so I'll be sure to ask him about anything he'd like to see reissued.

  9. Eric Clapton - Me and Mr Johnson

    in New Releases

    Posted

    Clem, no argument from me about Clapton, but what's your beef with Doyle II? When he's not doing his SRV rehash stuff I find him to be an amazing player and an exciting performer. Good voice too. What was that band he had in the early 90's with Charlie Sexton?

    At any rate, I wonder if he'll be consigned to anything beyond a rhythm spot on this new Clapton thing. What is it about Robert Johnson that makes his music so prone to capitalization? Gotta be the mystique.

  15. Bagatellen back online

    in Miscellaneous Music

    Posted

    FYI, after some nasty fallout from a webhost screw job, bagatellen is back up and ready for reading/posting. Some interesting content coming up, including, as far as I know at this point, some stream-of-conscious reminiscing and musing from Butch Morris.

    Any of you guys read this site? Just curious. I don't see it discussed much around here, but then a lot of the music we focus on isn't everybody's bag.

  23. Jazz Guitar Instruction

    in Musician's Forum

    Posted

    Trying to play 6 string "complete" chords at a rate of 2-4 per measure is out my ability but I don't think too many people actually play this way and if they do then I will just continue playing blues and rock and forget jazz (as far as playing goes of course.)

    Tal Farlow was a bitch with chords and could play this way like it was nothing. Unbelievable. Cut corners where you can, and when your speed builds up try adding that missing note.

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