Joe Christmas

Joe Maneri's music in a mainstream American movie? Get out!! That's great news for many reasons but mostly because I'm such a big fan. I haven't heard the Paniots Nine stuff so I couldn't draw a recommendation from there. The Leo dates (Get Ready... and Let the Horse Go) are the most abrasive to my ears but not at all unenjoyable. Joe's music never becomes a screamfest anyway. I'd have to agree with my man Hans on the Dahabenzapple rec, a beautiful, beautiful concert where Joe and Mat are like a single musician throughout. REALLY cool to hear a young guy like Randy Peterson, an absolutely exceptional drummer, keeping time and pulse with Cecil McBee. I love that record. The ECM records are cool too, highly experimental but somewhat brooding. There's more life in some than others, but the constant on any Maneri record is his technique. The man wrote the book (literally) on the use of microtones in contemporary music and his methods are always present in his music. The attention he gives to just a handful of notes are detectably complex. Another fantastic Maneri disc is the AUM Fidelity one mentioned above, Going to Church. Joe (and Mat) are well worth a little inspection.

Wow, this is powerful software. How's Sustain treating you, mayn?

Hey now, I KNOW I posted in this thread a few days ago but can't find it! The abridged post: - my favorite record by this group - Shorter *owns* Nefertiti

You dog! Have fun, man.

Me too. Impossible kept hounding me earlier with pop-ups but every time I tried to tell him to go shit in his hat I'd get a mail failure.

I was immediately surprised at the direction Maneri took with this record. Most of his projects prior are acoustic to the Nth degree, with no leanings toward equilibrium among the instruments (at their own expense). This on the other hand, like David said, is an electric album before anything else, but one that works incredibly well without Mat losing any of the tricks and tones that are his signature. Some thoughts: This is the first recording in ages that I've found myself hanging on William Parker's playing. He was clearly inspired here to break out of the patterns that have, IMO, made him so FUCKING predictable in recent years. He has some truly beautiful moments. When SUSTAIN first came out I remember someone telling me that McPhee had recorded separately with overdubs weeks after the original was put to tape. Allow me to call bullshit on that. McPhee is in the zone in ways that can only be produced through direct group interaction. The first notes of his on the second track are evidence to that, as are the responses to him from the strings. Is his soprano playing not beautiful here? Taborn and Cleaver are two of the few members that comprise the "good side of the force" in New York's current improv scene. Taborn had me convinced when I heard him on Maneri's BLUE DECCO a few years back that he would be a critical component in any group, on any recording, as long as the chemistry was right and he had room to move. It's one of those personal long bets that has played itself out over and over during the last couple of years. There is zero campiness or tendency to wax whimsical in his keyboard playing and SUSTAIN shows a huge, beautiful advance in his vocabulary on the instrument, even beyond his stuff on Berne's SHELL GAME, though the latter is a quite more energetic. Cleaver is just the shit. Improv doesn't need any more show-stopping technicians, no dry mechanics, no predictable time-keeping; Cleaver's a remedy to all of those things in modern percussion, someone who brings (what sounds like) a lot of himself to the fore. I can't say I understand the "intent" behind the music on SUSTAIN, but what I hear is a fully engaging suite of music that gives me exactly what I want to hear from a group of exceptionally talented and stimulating musicians. It's great to hear McPhee wax reflective on his horns right here at home, away from his Euro buddies. Really nice too to hear him play with a group of young guys who know what the hell they're doing, even with the somber sketches provided by Maneri. If there's any strike for me against SUSTAIN it is the super-heavy treatment in the production. The electric stuff must be accounted for in the balance, but I found myself anyway wanting some of the rawness heard on other Mat records. But it's probably not too big a deal as this record gets a shitload of play here at Christmas headquarters. David, are you going anywhere for your vacation?

I intended to complete the Snopes Trilogy in a straight sweep. Not gonna happen as I'm too swept up in Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton's Moon Shot. On deck: Intruder in the Dust - Bill F.

Schools grading obesity get results August 12, 2003 BY LINDSEY TANNER A school program that sends home report cards with student weight information has helped get parents of fat children involved in fighting the problem, a study found. While the program studied at Boston area schools did not change some unhealthful behaviors, the researchers say their results show health report cards might be a promising tool in the battle against the childhood obesity epidemic. ''Parents who received health and fitness report cards were almost twice as likely to know or acknowledge that their child was actually overweight than those parents who did not get a report card,'' said Robert McGowan, physical education program leader at Cambridge (Mass.) Public Schools. They also ''were over twice as likely to plan weight-control activities for their overweight child,'' said McGowan, a study co-author. The report appears in August's edition of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, its first issue devoted exclusively to obesity research. August's Archives, published Monday, aims to get more doctors involved in obesity prevention, treatment and research, said journal editor Dr. Frederick Rivara, a Seattle pediatrician. ''It is the first time we've done it because it's pretty clear to everyone now that obesity is a huge national epidemic,'' he said. ''We really need to think about interventions during childhood and adolescence not only to prevent childhood obesity but also to prevent adult obesity.'' The reports come a week after the American Academy of Pediatrics urged doctors to measure all youngsters' body-mass index in its first policy dealing solely with identifying and preventing childhood obesity. The study involved 1,396 students at four Cambridge elementary schools in 2001-02. Health report cards were sent at the school year's end to 481 parents, including those with normal-weight children. Afterward, 42 percent of parents of overweight kids reported initiating or planning physical activities, 25 percent planned medical help, and 19 percent planned dieting activities. Among parents of overweight children who didn't get cards, 13 percent or fewer reported doing any of those activities. AP

Lon, yeah I hear you. I don't think I'd wish the guy hell though - he was a friend, after all - just a strategically-placed quick release ninja kick to the clavicle.

Zork was the bomb. My parents bought me the C64 the same year the movie War Games came out. I whipped up some shit in Basic and had my computer saying: [: Hello Alan. Would you like to play a game? Ok this thread has turned into a full-on dorkfest. Let's cut the shit out.

man I used to love that game, but I don't think so. It's just some stick dude in a box.

My wife and I have these friends; "he" is in the military. He left for Spain just before the war to function in a Corpsman capacity and take care of the marginally wounded flown in from Iraq. "She" was 7 months pregnant when he left. They have two daughters and now a son. Just before the baby was born his command granted him leave to come home to Washington for the baby's birth. His command then decided to keep him abroad due to work-related circumstances. Then they reverted again and granted him 5 days of vacation, 2 of which would be travel days. The couple was broke and had little way to afford the last minute air fare. A bunch of us, including my parents and other family members put up money in small doses to take the bite out of the airfare and get him home for his child's birth. He made it, all was well. Two months later, his tour was up (now in Germany) and he is sent home to Washington. The FIRST thing he tells his wife is that he is not in love with her anymore and that he wants a divorce. There is another woman involved, a girl 6 years younger whom he met in Germany or Spain. The girl is also stationed here in Washington and is also sent back from overseas. He insists that nothing is currently going on, but perhaps will after the divorce is final. His wife begs him, his daughters are heartbroken, his newborn son hasn't a clue. He begins living in the barracks, only for his wife to find out that he is shacked up with this new chickie some place in town. To add insult to injury, the chickie is a newlywed whose husband is in technical school for the Navy in San Diego. The story gets much worse and I will spare you the details. She has begged him for counseling but he refuses, cold and stern, even to the point that he gives his daughters (who were previously the apples of his eye) absolutely no attention. All to make it easier on himself. The only harm that has been done is of the severest emotional type. I hurt for our friend and hope that she makes it through this life catastrophe strongly as I know she will. My feelings? I want to find "him" and sincerely explain how disappointed I am in his actions, think about your children, what are you doing to your wife, and then PUNCH HIM IN THE FUCKING MOUTH. You think you know someone.

Taking a cue from my close friend Ornette, I'll be issuing no license for release until 2025. Great record. First time I heard it, it was everything I'd imagined Henderson and Mal playing together would be.

god what a prude.

1) Who pulled Impossible's string? 2) David, thank you for the kind plug. Allow me to plug your plug with a plug for Milazzo: Tim Berne Interview

Big Wheel, your license has been revoked until you wish to prove you can handle the responsibility of holding AWESOME knowledge that could shake the foundations of our very existence. Really, you should be more careful.

In the spirit of Al(s), just lie down and take it.

Way to go, Focker!

Considering the dearth of West Coast selections and discussion around here, there's no one better to lead than Late. No pressure.

[url=http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=5349909&frm=lk_organissimo Hopefully a week's notice isn't TOO pressing. This disc can be found just about anywhere online, as well as Border's, Tower, etc. Great disc that has had me returning often throughout the year.

Jim, I've "hung" with Shelley several times myself, around 12 years ago, and remember him as a lively, funny, down-to-earth guy. But I'm talking about his playing. When I heard him play again, 3 years ago and again last year, the fiery young dude had been almost fully replaced by an exhibitionist, as you suggested. His sets were devoid of anything that resembled the shit he blew when he was fresh from UNT and his stint with the Ellington Orchestra. I just couldn't understand how the same Shelley could build a set of music with such slough. Hell, his climax was a schmaltzy take of "Just the Two of Us" on soprano (one that would make even George Howard uneasy), followed by "I Will Always Love You." I didn't mention "tradition" in my post, but since you bring it up, maybe you could explain the roots of the above?

The last two times I heard him play in Dallas say COMPLETELY otherwise. Please tell me you're joking, Jim. The Ellington record is infectious though.

Plainly, he needs his own action figure. J, I've never seen that Monk box go for more than around $100 on EBay. Maybe $120.

No LP's. Bah. Jim, love your avatar. That (those) video(s) had me rolling for days. Poor kid. I hear he's suing for $4000 Canadian. He should go higher.