sal

Has anyone heard "Meaning and Mystery", the new quintet studio album?

Overall, it was a fine show. Four sets of music, each one about 30-40 minutes long! Set 1 - Jimmy Heath, Tootie Heath, Jeb Patton, and their bass player (forgot his name). An EXCELLENT set! Jimmy and Tootie sounded fantastic and Jeb Patton was just tearing it up. They played a heart-wrenching Round Midnight and finished off with a really hot version of Gingerbread Man. Jimmy in particular was in fine form. What a beautiful tone! Set 2 - Ira Sullivan, Art Hoyle, Eric Schneider, Junior Mance, Larry Gray, Robert Shy. The best set of the night in my opinion. The contrasting styles of the horns really added to the excitement of this set. They did a five ballad medley that was incredible....the highlight of the evening. Lots of old school, cutting contest style blowing, with great support by the rhythm section. Eric Schneider came in at the last minute to sub for Lou Donaldson, who couldn't make the gig, and he did a stellar job, especially when he took out his clarinet. But Junior Mance was just stealing every chorus he got! What a player!! Set 3 - Yusef Lateef, Von Freeman, Junior Mance, Rufus Reid, Tootie Heath. Another great set. Started out as a quartet without Vonski, with Yusef and the trio doing a very spiritual, intense Middle Eastern-styled piece. Just beautiful. Yusef played 4 different instruments. Vonski then came out for a very free, Ornette-styled jam. It was really getting into some intense territory by the end of what must have been Von's 20th chorus, when Joe "I hate avant garde jazz" Segal walked out to the stage and made them stop. Lots of people were laughing, but I was a bit pissed because the music was really getting really interesting. They finished off with a short, slow blues with Yusef on the oboe. It was really cool sounding, but obviously rushed as Joe was standing there on the side of the stage pressuring them to get off. What was really impressive about the set (jazzkrow brought this to my attention) was how Mance and Tootie, normally straight ahead styled players, adapted impressively to the more "free" context of the music. They are both true masters of their craft. Despite Joe's interruption (it was his party, so I guess he had the right to do whatever he wanted), it was strong set. Definitely the most interesting set of the night. Set 4 - James Moody, Willie Pickens, Larry Gray, Robert Shy. I may be the wrong person to comment on this set, but I thought it was lame. Same jokes, same songs, same stupid rap performance, same dancing. Joe Segal came out and sang some of "Moody's Mood for Love" with Moody, which was entertaining. But over all it was just a boring set. I'm sorry, but Moody just doesn't do it for me anymore. I was having a hard time staying awake by that point. The entire ensemble came out for a final performance of "Straight, No Chaser", which each player taking two choruses and the drummers and piano players rotating. Very cool to see. Mark (sheldonm) got some amazing shots that I hope he'll post when he gets back from NY. It was a very memorable evening filled with lots of great music. Despite my complaints about Joe in my words above, I have nothing but respect and admiration for him, as he's brought so much joy to my life through the Jazz Showcase. May he have many more Happy Birthdays!

Can't wait for tonight!

LOVE volumes 1 and 2. I'll be getting this one.

WOW!!! I am going to try and make this show.

Its all good, Shawn. I'm a few years younger than you, but I'm the same way....if the "real thing" doesn't come around, a bachelor for life I will be.....because I'll never settle. Being single the rest of my life may not be the ideal scenario, but its a HELL of alot better than being stuck in an unhappy relationship.

Indeed! That's a great gig. Good job guys!

I like it. Not my favorite Harrell disc but still quite good nonetheless. That was a really good band he fronted for this recording!

Mosaic order just placed - the JJ, along with the Dizzy & Chambers Selects. <sigh> No need to sigh....once you listen to that JJ set, you'll be kicking yourself for waiting so long to get it! Still my favorite Mosaic set.

By the way, great pics, Mark!

Last Saturday was one of the saddest experiences I've had at a jazz show....Tom was just falling apart. Couldn't play for more than 5 seconds without getting distracted, and you could tell it was really upseting him. I'm a big fan of Tom's, so it really hit me hard. The other times I've seen him have been incredible experiences. As mentioned, he's not really a technical player, but a conveyor of some really unique and beautiful ideas. I've heard him play some solos that are among the best I've heard.

Great news! Loved the first one.

Thanks for the feedback, guys. I appreciate it. The name of the place is the Chelsea Inn. Typical one star joint, but again, I'm there for the location and not much else. I'm definitely not gay, but have never had any problems with any gay people, so if I'm in that part of town, it won't bother me.

I just found out that I might have to go out to Long Island next Wednesday/Thursday and was thinking about spending the weekend in New York City. I found a hotel that seems decently priced around 17th St. and Seventh Avenue, just a few blocks north of the west village. Is this a decent neighborhood to stay in (think its called Chelsea)? I don't plan on spending much time at the hotel, as I've never been to NYC before, so I was looking for a place in a convenient location. Or should I be looking somewhere else? It looked like a good spot since its fairly close to the bottom part of the island, as well as being accessible to the Midtown area. If anyone has any feedback, I'd really appreciate it! Also, I was thinking about checking out Bill Frisell at the VV on Friday night. If anyone else was planning on being there, shoot me a PM....it would be cool to meet other people from the board!

Another fine episode last night. As the story unravels, its really turning out to be one of the best seasons so far. The possibilities of what could happen seem more intense than ever before. By the way, Bobby Bakala shooting the rapper in the ass was one of the funniest things I've ever seen on television.

This is so terribly sad. He is one of the greatest musicians ever. Thank you so much for all you gave us, Jackie. RIP.

ditto

Hey, did anyone notice a strange scene in the hospital elevator near the end? There was a kind of a dark silhouette of a guy standing in the background when two of the guys in the crew got on? I think it was Carmela who noticed it. I can't remember who was getting on the elevator....just got off a 12 hour workday and my mind is not functioning right. Anyways, I didn't understand what that scene was.

No Coleman Hawkins or Lester Young as leaders.

The first disc was really cool.

SPOILERS BELOW I also think that the film was just so oversaturated with these intense moments of supposed drama that it just rendered itself ineffective. I mean, when you first see the cop feeling up Terrance Howard's wife, you get shocked. But the movie just continues to shove the "shocking" dramatic moments down your throat at such a breakneck pace without ever giving you a chance to breathe. The shooting, the car wreck, arguing....by the time Ryan Phillipe shoots Larenz Tate at the end, I found it difficult to give a damn. I found the pacing in that sense to be quite amateurish. Perhaps it would have worked better as a TV series. The film seemed to try to strike a cord in the viewer in a similar way "Do The Right Thing" did 17 years ago, while trying to appeal to the "artsy" crowd by mimicking a Robert Altman-esque multicharacter mosaic. Didn't work for me on either front.

Aside from Terrance Howard's performance, who I think is a fantastic actor, I absolutely despised this film. It didn't sit well with me at all from the opening shot, but the funny thing was that I had a really hard time putting into words why I felt this. It was very frustrating because it seems like everyone and their mothers likes this movie, and I got (and still get) alot of shit for not liking it. But then I came across this article, and after reading it, I feel like the author and I are kindred spirits. Its like he pulled the thoughts out of my head that I had such a hard time verbalizing, and gave them life. Enjoy! Oscar misfire: 'Crash' and burn Easy lessons for average people By Erik Lundegaard MSNBC contributor March 6, 2006 Talk about ruining a perfect evening. Jon Stewart was funny, George Clooney was sharp, Salma Hayek looked to-freakin'-die-for, Philip Seymour Hoffman won in humble-but-lovable fashion and Ang Lee, the director of one of the best movies of the year, became the first non-Caucasian to win the Academy Award for best director. Then Jack Nicholson, presenting the best picture winner, ruined everything. He didn't say "Brokeback Mountain"; he actually said..."Crash." No, he didn't. Did he? He did. My god. This is the worst best picture winner since "The Greatest Show on Earth" in 1952. It may be worse than that. "Greatest Show" was a dull, bloated romance set against the backdrop of a three-ring circus but at least it didn't pretend to be important. "Crash" thinks it's important. "Crash" thinks it's saying something bold about racism in America. But what is it saying? That we all bear some form of racism. That we all "stereotype" other races. That, when pressured, racist sentiments spill out of us as easily as escaped air. Here's my take. Yes, we all bear some form of racism - that's obvious. Yes, we all "stereotype" other races in some fashion - that's obvious. (Particularly obvious in the Los Angeles of "Crash," where so many characters are stereotypes.) But, no, we don't easily give voice to our racist sentiments. And that's why "Crash" rings so false. Last month I wrote an article on the best picture nominees (called "Anything But 'Crash'") in which I talked about how the most potent form of racism in this country is no longer overt but covert. Once upon a time, yes yes yes, it was overt, which is another reason why "Crash" sucks. It's doing what simple-minded generals do: It's fighting the last war. The "Crash" quiz Here, let's take a little quiz. Say you're an Asian woman who has just rear-ended the car in front of you. What do you do? Do you... Wait in your car until a police officer arrives Exchange licenses with the driver of the other car Notice that the driver of the other car is someone who looks like Jennifer Esposito, immediately assume she's Mexican-American (as opposed to, say, Italian-American), and then tell the African-American police officer that "Mexicans no know how to drive." How about this one? You're talking to a bureaucrat on the phone about getting extra care for your father who is having trouble urinating, and she is not helpful. You ask for her name and she tells you: Shaniqua Johnson. You still need her help. What do you say? "Shaniqua. That's a beautiful name." "Shaniqua. You could do a better job of helping my father, who is in pain. "Shaniqua. Big f---ing surprise that is." One last one. You've just been told by your hot, hot girlfriend, with whom you're lucky to be sleeping in the first place, that she is not Mexican as you presumed; that her mother is from Puerto Rico and her father is from El Salvador. What do you say? "I'm sorry, honey. I'm surprised I didn't know that. Now come back to bed." "Really? How did they meet?" "Who took [all Latinos] and taught them to park their cars on their lawns?" And on and on and on. Every scene. Put a little pressure on somebody and they blurt simplistic racist sentiments. Right in the face of someone of that race. Worse, none of it feels like sentiments these characters would actually say. It feels like sentiments writer/director Paul Haggis imposed upon them to make his grand, dull point about racism, when a more telling point about racism might have emerged if he'd just let them be. "Crash" is like a Creative Writing 101 demonstration of what not to do as a writer. To the Academy this meant two things: Best screenplay and best picture. The Sandra Bullock/Ludacris scene A few readers objected to my column last month - and will no doubt object to this one. They felt "Crash" taught them something important about race. More's the pity. They said they learned that even good people do bad things, and even bad people have moments of compassion. Sorry they didn't already know this. They felt like "Crash" was a movie the average person could support. "Average," I guess, is the key word here. Some agreed with me that the most potent form of racism today is covert rather than overt; but they added that this was a movie, after all, not a book, and in a movie you can't show characters thinking. Ah, but you can. Paul Haggis even did it in "Crash" - in the scene where Sandra Bullock's character grabs her husband's arm as two black men approach. Her move toward her husband is silent and instinctive, and Ludacris' character suspects she does what she does because he's black, and she's scared of him, but he has no evidence. We only get the evidence later, from her, when she argues with her husband about the Latino locksmith. And even this scene is handled ineptly. She should have argued with her husband upstairs, away from the help. But Haggis wanted her to complain about the Latino locksmith within earshot of the Latino locksmith - because apparently that's how we all do it. Lord knows if I don't trust someone because of their race and/or class I raise my objection within earshot of them. Doesn't everyone? The main point is that you can dramatize our more covert forms of racism. But here's how bad "Crash" is. Even though the Bullock/Ludacris scene is one of the more realistic scenes in the movie, it is still monumentally simplistic. I have a white female friend who lives close to the downtown area of her city. Usually she walks home from downtown. If she does this after dark, and two men are walking towards her, she'll cross to the other side of the street to avoid them. But if the two men are black? She won't do this, because she's afraid of appearing racist. That's how much of a conundrum race is in this country. "Crash" didn't begin to scratch that surface. Losing Jim So why did it win? There are rumors that older Academy members shied away from even viewing "Brokeback Mountain" for the usual homophobic reasons. Lionsgate also pushed "Crash" on Academy voters; it handed out a record number of DVDs and advertised heavily. I don't know which explanation bothers me more. All I know is I feel sick. It feels like the '72 Olympic basketball finals, when the Russians cheated and won; it feels like the '85 World Series when a blown call in game six tilted the balance towards the Royals. It feels like the good guys wuz robbed. My friend Jim is more interested in the Academy than anyone I know who isn't involved in the industry. (He's a chauffeur in Seattle.) By early summer he's already talking up possible nominees. The discussion reaches a fever pitch in November and December when the prestige pictures are rolled out and critics make their "best of" announcements. He goes to see these films. He talks about them. He actually cares. Not anymore. "Crash's" win did him in. The Academy, he said afterwards, "is not a serious body of voters who vote rationally. If they're influenced by a DVD sales pitch, they're not worth my time." Are they worth anyone's time? Once again, they showed themselves susceptible to something other than a legitimate search for "the best." Once again, marketing appears to have won. The Academy is 78 years old and acting every bit of it, and last night they took another doddering step towards irrelevancy.

I was just thinking the same thing.

Anyone get the new Larry Goldings disc? This is really a nice one. I've listened to it about three times now and it just gets better each time. It has a really diverse program of music. Larry plays alot of piano here and sounds great doing so, and he gets excellent support from Ben Allison and Matt Wilson. The fourth member of the quartet is a trumpet player named John Sneider, who I was unfamiliar with before this recording. He does a great job here. Almost every track here is strong. Madeline Peyroux even comes out singing on one track ("Hesitation Blues"). A fine gem of an album.

Thinking about it in that context, I can see/hear why you thought that. God, I hope that's not the case....