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Its a fine album, but IMO not really different from any other Lee Morgan or hard bop session coming out at the time. The longer I listen to jazz, the more I appreciate the more unique sessions, like "Search for the New Land" or "The Procrastinator". But still, for Blue Note hard bop, its a good one.

That's a great set!

Finally got through the discs. Thank you again, Noj, for doing this. I think that both discs are a very strong representative of how hip hop sounded during its golden age, and why it used to be a special kind of music. This stuff comes from the underground (yes, even Ice Cube was underground in 1990!), far before the days of the "pop music" aka fake hip hop that we are bombarded with these days. All these cats....Eric Sermon, De La Soul, Boogie Down Productions, Kool G Rap....were innovators. Many people say that hip hop stopped evolving after the late 1980's. This could not be further from the truth. The evolution of hip hop can be compared to a jazz musician. The 1980s were when the cat was young, fired up, and playing the shit out of his horn. But he didn't quite find his voice until the 1990s, and in the early to mid 1990s, made the most innovative and creative music of his career. True, his nineties music may not have been as radical or controversial as when he first surfaced in the 1980's, but nonetheless, his music is stronger. At the turn of the millennium, he sold out and became someone like Chris Botti. Whether people like, or approve, of what is being said in the songs or not, hip hop is here to stay. As long as there are neighborhoods with violence, poverty and little hope for a future, kids will continue to rap about it. It has become an important form American music, even if it has been reduced to assembly line pop. Like jazz and rock & roll before it, its time in the "pop" limelight will come to an end, but it will always be listened to and enjoyed by future generations. And you can bet that a good amount of the music on Noj's discs will be the stuff that's still being listened to 50 years from now. Plus, those beats are sick!!

I have a one word explanation to the question you pose, Soul Stream. Drugs. And you are absolutely right in your second statement. I was one of those kids. Had it not been for Phish, the Dead, String Cheese Incident, Soulive, etc.....I would not like jazz today. They introduced me to improvisation (perhaps on a lower level most of the time), and through them, I discovered jazz. Don't need drugs to enjoy jazz!

I'm still getting through the discs. Will post here again once I'm done. Looking forward to discussing!

My buddy got an advance copy, and I heard the first half of it. Its nice. Kanye West is the only reason I've bought a new hip hop CD in the last 5 years. I like "The College Dropout", as well as Common's new disc "Be". Kanye produced that album. Both MCs from Chicago!

Damn, I haven't seen that move in years. Used to love it. How does it hold up?

Love Fantasy as well. For someone such as myself who hasn't been into jazz for decades, digging through the Fantasy catalogue is like digging through a treasure chest. I've found so much that I absolutely love, and its equally exciting to know that there is so much left that I haven't heard. I expect to be working for another 30 years or so, so as my income (hopefully) increases over my lifetime, I hope to always be able to be a supporter of Fantasy records and their program.

Robert Rodriguez confirmed a 2 disc special edition for later this year. Hold off on the bare bones release in stores now.

I have and enjoy both albums.

I like em alot too. Its the first Mustang since the 5.0 's from the 1980's that I actually like.

So I'm all excited to buy the sixth season of the Simpsons at my local Best Buy for $29.99. I get there, and to my surprise the set is made out of this really flimsy, cheap plastic...similar to what the Disney VHS tapes came in during the 1980s. The set is sealed shut by tape (!) and opens like a clam using a cheap plastic hinge on the bottom. The disc holders are not sturdy, and all the enclosed materials fall out every time the box is opened. Not only this, but the first piece of information to fall out is a card saying that by dialing a 1-800 number, you can get a slipcase for your crappy, cheaply made box set from Fox Home Entertainment. So I dial the number, and they are trying to charge a $2.95 shipping charge for it!! To securely store a poor quality product I already paid for, they are trying to charge for a sturdy slipcase!!!! What a fucking jip......this is the last Simpsons box set I buy, and possibly the last product I ever buy from Fox. Thanks for listening.

For the first time in probably 4 years, I won't be buying any of the new RVG's.

I'm all about the metal spines as well. Much nicer.

The Cecil Taylor and Steve Lacy's "Morning Joy" are absolute must-haves if you consider yourself a fan of either artist. The Dave Douglas disc is also very good.

JJ Possibly the best set in the Mosaic catalogue.

Its doubtful. At least for Comedy Central. Rumor has it that the reason for the delay of the third season had to do with disputes about the content of the show between CC and Chappelle. The show didn't really become such a huge hit until the second season. Now that the show is so popular and well-known, and third season ratings were expected to be the highest of all the network's shows, supposedly CC wanted Chappelle to tone down the content a bit, being that so many more people were expected to tune in. Apparently Chappelle didn't approve of this, and this led to him just walking away. If this is true, we may not see Chappelle for a while. I'm sure that at some point he'll turn up on some other network. Hopefully it won't be a premium network like HBO. He's got the funniest show on on television, and it deserves to be seen by as wide of an audience as possible.

I did like their verison of "Una Mas", but I didn't like the album as a whole and ended up selling it. This was like 4 years ago though....maybe now things would be different.

"Bastion of Sanity" is one of my favorite releases of this year. The rhythm section blew my mind, and the horns sound great together. I don't have "Apparitions", but I plan on getting it sometime soon. I have "Allegory", which is Adam Rogers' previous release on Criss Cross featuring the same band. It smokes.

Couldn't have said it better. My favorite Mosaic as well.

I love Canada.

Garters are some mean fuckers. Can't count how many times I've been bitten while trying to catch them. They've drawn blood a couple of times.

I've always loved them. Used to own a 9 foot long boa constrictor.

Good one! Thanks.