connoisseur series500

After checking online, it looks like the Hicks and Fambrough sessions have been lowered to 4.5 stars as well. Still overrated by a bunch. Maybe 4.5 stars is AMG's version of 5 stars now.

Here are another couple of examples of cds rated 5 stars which don't deserve it in my opinion: John Hicks, "Single Petal of a Rose" (yechhhh!) Charles Fambrough, "Blues at Bradleys" I love Charles Fambrough but "Blues" is not a 5 star cd and nowhere near the quality of "Proper Angle" or "The Charmer." Maybe AMG has since revised these opinions. I am going by AMG guide 3rd edition.

No problem, Jim, and it's a good idea on your part. BTW, you would be surprised how many insecure idiots there are out there who play on those online sites like ICC or KC before it went bankrupt. Met some great friends there, but there were a lot of insecure people as well who use powerful computers. Hey, Kitten has made a move; why not reply, Jim?

I did not like "Good Move" and sold the cd somewhere. There was one track on it I liked: think it was the third or fourth one; can't remember anymore. Haven't dared to try another cd by him since. Obviously, I missed something, especially with that ringing endorsement by Big John.

Wow, who says grandmasters can't get women? Of course, a boxer shows up and they're all over him!! Vishy Anand's wife is real cute too. I can't post pictures but perhaps someone can come up with one. On the other hand, Jan Timman married his wife for reasons other than looks evidently, but his daughter is real cute, if my memory is correct. Bobby Fischer has a Filipino girlfriend, but no one knows what she looks like. Basically he is married to himself! Bologan has been making waves even before the tournament in Dortmund. He won the Aeroflot Open which was no easy task. He is obviously on the way up. I was following the Dortmund games live over the past few weeks. He came up with a lot of opening novelties and had some good fortune to beat Peter Lecko who was in a better position. Vishy beat Bologan in a beautiful game. Nice rook sac.

I'm listening to "Lush Life" again as I write and I cannot revise my initial estimate. It's a 3-star in my book and no more. It is well recorded and has its moments but it's a big yawner. Mccoy Tyner tries to add a bit of punch to "It might as Well Be Spring," but basically everybody plays like they're asleep. Great linup and no one seems to be clicking. Lou's alto sounds treacly sweet. My impression is that some of these songs would have been great as add ons to other cds but to record and play them all on one cd is positively diabetic!! My blood sugar level has risen too high! I must point out that I've never been thrilled with altos playing ballads after Charlie Parker with Strings. Everything else is a big letdown after that. I can't take Frank Morgan's sickly sweet tones on ballads either. Jackie Mac can do it because he's got that tone with an edge. Sonny Stitt can do it as well cause he's aggressive even on ballads. Again, if mixed with uptempo stuff, many of these ballads would be fine, but to make a cd with the same tone song after song...too much sugar! Everyone on this cd plays solos like they're walking on eggshells. Such great musicians too! I guess it's just taste.

It just didn't "speak" to me, PJ, but maybe I got to give it another spin after reading Dan's post. Will be back later on that....

Let's hear your thoughts about which sessions are overrated by AMG. We often beef about ones which get little respect. Aren't they some which get greater respect than they should? Here's one to start: Lou Donaldson, "Lush Life." AMG gives it 5 stars. No way, Jose!!! It's a 3-star at best, in my opinion. I know there are others, but that's the one that springs to mind right now. What do you guys think?

Same here. Happy b-day Lon! Let's hope you've got another 50 or 60 ahead of you!

I didn't want to respond as I didn't think it right to "kick out" the Karim thread from the main board visibility. Now that JK has already done it then I can respond! I don't play online chess anymore. I used to and it badly damaged my game. Problem is that I became adept at quick moves and lost my ability to think deeply. I quit online chess and my results improved tremendously. There are other issues as well: people use computers and so on without revealing it. I'm sure JK is on the level. I will gladly watch the game but won't play. Sorry all but I save my playing for tournaments and my butt is always on the line. My games are published on websites for all to see, so I'm not hiding from anyone. I risk my rating whenever I play in tournaments and put my heart and soul into those games. Between tournaments I do not play chess but try to study and work on chess calculations. Online chess is detrimental to that.

Sadly this is so often the case with many jazz musicians. I would agree with you on this. I still like "Moodswing" because of Mehldau. (While Mehldau's stuff as a leader leaves me cold.)

There are so many sessions he was involved with as sideman. Perhaps choose something he did with Wayne Shorter. Those two worked so well together. I think the previously mentioned "Adam's Apple" cd has many great cuts.

Great post, Marcus! Viva a Bossa Nova!

Thanks Joe, I sincerely appreciate your support. Old fellahs like me need all the help we can get!

Forgot to mention: I have won my last four tournaments and am undefeated in my last 15 rated games. How long will this last? I'm living a dream... Even if I'm suffering from a king-sized headache right now. Sure wish that other aspects of my life were going as good...

Played in a tournament yesterday and tied for first. It was arranged in quad fashion which means that there were four all-play-all player sections. I was paired in the top section and won 1 game and drew 2 for a total of 2 points. The fellow I beat won his last two games to tie me with 2 points for first. I am pleased because I played against the best guys in the city. I am now the best and pretty much proved it once again. Don't know how much longer that will last, but I'm pretty happry right now. Wasn't sure how well I would be playing as I didn't get much studying done over the last month or so and I didn't get that much sleep the night before. My play was pretty good though. I think I'm still getting better. Imagine that...an old fart like me! To all the middleaged people out there: we're not dead yet!! (I feel like George Foreman)

"Moodswing" is my favorite. Good work by Brad Meldau on piano. Some nice compositions.

Just found another. AMG gives Jimmy Smith, "Root Down: Live" only 2 stars, probably because it is electrified, but it's worth at least 3 stars.

Hi Ron and welcome! I believe we exchanged a few posts on AAJ. I no longer post over there so I'm happy you've decided to check us out over here.

Are we out of topics now or what? Now we are discussing weather? Are we all Englishmen or something?

I lived in Bangkok, Thailand as a young man between the age of 24-35. Had my share of adventures, and I could relate a lot about my various neighbors. I lived in the "penthouse" of a 13-story apartment for many years. When I went out on my balcony, I could see the roof of a whorehouse. This whorehouse was only about 4 stories tall, so I had to look down to see it. Those girls would be out there in semi-dressed states washing their clothes by hand and hanging them out to dry. Our apartment had a maintenance man who would spend the late afternoons on top of the apartment roof. I became friendly with him and I used to follow him as he unlocked the door which led to the roof. We used to chat as we surveyed the landscape of this great city. On one side of our apartment was this whorehouse, and the maintenance man would bring out his binoculars and pretend to scan around. It was clear the direction in which the binoculars tended to focus. He would put down the binoculars with a grin on his face and say, "pooying," and hand them to me to check out the whores. On the other side of the apartment was a small temple or wat crematorium. We would see the smoke come out of the chimney and would sometimes catch the smell of bodies burning. I lived on the thirteenth floor and shared it with only three other rooms. All of them were occupied by homosexuals. I used to stop by their rooms all the time and we would watch television or party. It was fun. I am not homosexual myself, but I learned to love socializing with them. They were great people. The apartment building itself was full of whores and drug addicts, and paedophile foreigners, and people of all races and sexes, as well as those who had changed their sex. There were also many interesting foreigners. It was fun. Glad I'm out of that madhouse now though. :rsmile:

Grant Green was one of those incredibly consistent musicians. My personal favorite is "Street of Dreams," but there are many others that are great as well. To name a few: "Solid," "I Wanna Hold your Hand," "Born to be Blue," "Complete quartets with Sonny Clark," "Matador," "Grantstand," "Talking Bout." The list is endless.

Name some jazz players who are instantly recognizable by their sound. To me, John Coltrane is instantly recognizable. So is Andrew Hill. Grant Green, as Soul Stream mentioned on his thread. Jackie Mclean has his own very identifiable sound. Louis Armstrong. Gene Harris is very recognizable. Let's hear some other names.

While I agree that Coltrane has been a HUGE influence on guys all through the 70's and 80's, I'm really looking for who is the biggest influence NOW, and over the last 10 or 15 years or so. All the guys you mention, Conn500, are all well over 40, and half of them are over 50. (I don't know how old Salim Washington is, afraid I'm not familiar with him.) But I looked up all the rest on AMG, and they're all older (or even "much older") than what I'm looking for. The cats who are 30 and under, or 35 and under --- those are the guys who I'm most currious about who their biggest influences are. I can only think of so many names, but Chris Potter turned 32 this year. There's Mark Shim, he's young enough. (Ravi Coltrane is creepin' on 40, so maybe he's outside of my range.) Joshua Redman is under 35. I'm not saying Coltrane isn't an influence still, but I think his influence is reduced somewhat from when it was THE dominant voice that everybody seemed to be reaching for in the 70's, and even the 80's. I voted for Joe Henderson. I hear him in Shim, Ravi, and even some in Potter (though less than the other two). I wish I could think of some other tenor players under the age of 35. There have to be some I'm totally forgetting. Oh, Mark Turner - he's another one who's got to be under 35, who I also hear some 'Joe' in, though I hear 'Wayne' in him too I think. I think you are right, RT. I guess the 40-50 year old ternormen are "young" to me. I am not familiar enough with the younger crowd. Have to go out into the old folks pasture and listen to my cds. At least I'm not as old as Catesta or Moose. Those guys are ancient!