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I bought Eraserhead a couple of months ago, but not the signed version. I wish I had sprung for that one.... Anyways, for Xmas I treated myself to: The Lord of the Rings: Extended Edition Trilogy Box The Battle of Algiers (Criterion Collection)

Just getting around to posting after being on vacation for the past 10 days.....Congrats Chuck! I really enjoyed this album.

Thanks brownie!

Anyone know where I can get this...either online or retail? Thank you very much.

In my mind, in terms of the sheer volume of records made combined with consistancy of quality, Jackie McLean was at or near the top. Pretty much everything that I've heard(with the exception of "Bout Soul" IMO) are must haves. He really was a cut above the rest in those days. His albums are so exciting and musically strong, yet so varied. To think that he didn't even have a working band, yet was still able to make so many great albums, is scary. Although they didn't record as prolificly as Jackie Mac, other names in terms of consistancy that come to mind are Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, and Dexter Gordon. Lee Morgan had lots of really good albums, but quite a few duds as well.

I've never liked James Spaulding much, but for some reason I've always had a hard time describing exactly why I don't like him. I think chris' quote above hits the nail right on the head. Thanks chris!

Try to listen to a double album of the same trio live. I actually heard them live 4 years ago. Yeah, "Trio Live" is a real good one.

If I wasn't leaving for Mexico this Friday, I'd be there with ya. Be sure to let us know how it was!

Being a resident of Chicago I have been blessed with the opportunity to see him perform many times. Let me say this.....Fred is one of the greatest tenor saxophone players of all time, bar none. He has the ability to take those with open minds & ears to places that no other horn player can. I can recall so many times just closing my eyes during one of his 40+ chorus solos and feeling like I was having some sort of religious experience. His sound, his notes, his runs...just his musical presence is a humbling experience. You would never guess that the short old man serving drinks at that run down little bar could shake the earth like that. I hope that everyone on this board who has never seen him play before, gets the chance to at some point in their lives. We are privileged to be alive at the same time as Fred Anderson. He is a treasure to Chicago, to music, and to the world. May he live many, many more years. Cheers.

I agree about "Hub Cap". An underrated album....many fine performances on there.

I also believe he's on some of the Blue Note JJ Johnson sides.

jhoots - is that Subtextures? What's it like? Yes it is. Great quartet CD (Kimbrough, Ben Allison, Matt Wilson). Starts with Andrew Hill's Cantarnos. Includes 4 Horton originals & one by Frank Kimbrough. 2 classical interpretations (Messiaen & Chopin). Fine playing by all. Its a damn good album. I really like Horton's concepts.

This is so true. Thankfully, I finally realized this recently, and my buying has greatly decreased. The real gems are already in the collection. Remember, we're in this for the music, not the collecting.

NEW(ER) RELEASES: Danilo Perez - "Live at the Jazz Showcase" - best piano trio album I've heard in years Ben Allison - "Riding the Nuclear Tiger" - I discovered the greatness of the Jazz Composers Collective, possibly the most exciting group of young musicians in jazz right now. Kurt Rosenwinkel - "The Next Step" - had never heard Kurt or Mark Turner before purchasing this date. Proof that jazz is as alive as its ever been. OLDIES Andrew Hill - "Passing Ships" - One of my favorite albums in my 1000+ CD collection. As of this year, Andrew Hill has become one of my top 5 favorite jazz artists, (also picked up the wonderful "Black Fire", "Dusk" and "Dance with Death" discs this year) and this album is what started it all. Fred Anderson - "The Missing Link" - Fred Anderson is a giant of the tenor saxophone and of this music we love. This album was a revelation. Charles Mingus - "The Great Concert of Charles Mingus" - this group is approaching the Classic Coltrane quartet and the 60's Miles quintet in my book of favorites. And finally, the classical music discovery that made me weep with joy: Gustav Mahler - Symphony No. 1, Chicago Symphony Orch., c. Solti

To be honest, I don't even care if they both crash and burn. Less money for us to shell out!

It's a great set, Eric....you should just ask for it and see what happens! As for myself, I'm thinking about giving myself the following Christmas gifts: Dexter Gordon Select Don Pullen Select Dizzy Reece Select Considered buying the Gerald Wilson or Horace Parlan sets, but decided to hold off and go for the variety offered in the purchase of 3 Selects.

DVD developers set for format war Sunday, November 14, 2004 Posted: 6:29 PM EST (2329 GMT) (CNN) -- The electronics and entertainment industries are shaping up for the biggest format battle since the "video wars" between VHS and Betamax to decide the future of DVD. Two rival "next generation" DVD formats look set to be launched onto the marketplace next year. Both are backed by powerful and well-known Japanese manufacturers, with each staking their claim to an industry worth billions of dollars. And with the DVD market unlikely to support parallel formats, the loser faces the prospect of squandering millions spent on research, development and marketing costs. Both "Blu-ray", principally backed by Sony, and "HD DVD", which has been developed by Toshiba, are based on the same basic technology. Both replace the red lasers found in current DVD machines with blue lasers, utilizing their shorter wavelength to store data at the higher densities needed to record high-definition movies and television. But with both parties determined to prove the superiority of their product, a protracted dispute could be damaging to the industry as a whole, increasing production costs for DVD manufacturers and making buyers nervous about investing in a format that could quickly become obsolete. Buena Vista Home Entertainment president Bob Chaprek recently told the DVD Forum, an industry association of 220 electronics and media companies, that launching two formats simultaneously risked "potentially crippling the next generation format" and "utterly confusing or aggravating the customer." With Blu-ray recorders already on sale in Japan, Toshiba looks set to enter the fray with HD DVD models early in 2005. But the real battle looks set for next Christmas, when both major players plan to have DVD players in the shops. By that point the entertainment industry, and particularly Hollywood, will likely have chosen sides; and history suggests that the format with the greater selection of movies will prevail. Sony has been stung before by that scenario, having seen its groundbreaking Betamax format starved out of the video market by the wider selection of titles made available in VHS format. This time, however, Sony seems to have learnt its lesson. Not only does it now have VHS pioneers Matsushita, better known for its Panasonic brand, on side but its success with the Playstation games console provides a template for a successful marketing campaign. Despite its limited previous experience in the gaming industry, Sony was able to corner the market despite competition from Sega and Nintendo because of the depth and quality of its games range. Sony is already maneuvering for the fight. In September it announced that it was adopting Blu-ray as the format for Playstation 3, currently scheduled for release in 2006. And with Sony Pictures already in the Blu-ray camp, a Sony-led consortium also recently acquired MGM, along with their back catalogue. Furthermore, Blu-ray has the backing of Hewlett Packard and Dell, which together control around 30 percent of the global PC market. "In terms of technology, we have no weak points. Our format is superior on all counts," Sony executive officer Kiyoshi Nishitani said recently. Toshiba however has not been cowered by Sony's efforts, retaliating to Sony's Playstation-Blu-ray collaboration by announcing that it would introduce notebook computers with HD DVD in the last quarter of 2005. HD DVD is also backed by rival manufacturers Sanyo and NEC while last year it was also approved by the influential DVD Forum, which has said it will finally endorse just one format. Toshiba also claims the support of Time Warner, in which it owns a small stake and with which it worked closely to establish the current DVD standard in the mid-1990s. It has also had senior engineer Hisashi Yamada commuting between Japan and the U.S. in an effort to court the support of undecided studios such as Paramount, Disney and Universal. "If Sony is so sure it is winning the battle, it wouldn't have felt the need to buy MGM," says Yamada. Toshiba claims HD DVD's biggest advantage is the format's low transitional costs. Because the discs are physically the same as existing DVDs many of the existing components used by DVD manufacturers will still function. But the monumental task faced by Toshiba and its allies was summed up by the gadgets weblog Gizmodo, which declared in a recent feature that "Blu-ray has already won." "Blu-ray is not only technically superior to HD DVD, it has a far stronger corporate backing, and has demonstrated the ability to have more content available to push the format," said Gizmodo. While a dual layer HD DVD can hold 30GB, a dual layer Blu-ray disc already has a 50GB capacity, and Sony claim the format could eventually hold as much as 200GB on an eight-layered disc. Sony is also working hard to bring costs down, announcing earlier this year that it had developed paper Blu-ray discs. "I don't think Toshiba will back down," says analyst Carlos Dimas. "Sony is unlikely to give up either. Inevitably there is going to be some confusion in the market and there's going to be another standard war. "In the initial phase the consumer will probably lose. It is a big risk for people who actually buy products for either format without knowing who the winner is." But, in case you've only recently made the switch from video to DVD and are already sweating over the cost of replacing all your favorite films, don't worry. Both Blu-ray and HD DVD will still play your old DVDs.

I've been hearing that Blu-Ray has better hopes of emerging the winner. More technology companies are backing it. Also, Sony is planning on using this technology in Playstation 3.

I think alot of the earlier DVD's had the pan n scan on one side and the widescreen on the other. Not as common anymore though. As for the two sided DVDs that had to be turned over to watch the whole movie, the only one in recent memory that came like that is the Schindler's List, but its a really long movie. The new DVD of Goodfellas is on one side of one disc...plus has much better sound and picture.

Count me in as an admirer of these guys. "Riding the Nuclear Tiger" is an amazing album. I hope to pick up more CDs by these guys. Kimbrough's "Lullabluebye" and Horton's "Subtextures" are recent purchases that I can wholeheartedly recommend.

Give it a listen and find me a recently-recorded trumpet solo better than this one. I'm not particularly big Wynton fan, and don't own anything he recorded after the mid 1980's. But I do acknowledge that he has alot of ability, even though it is rarely displayed. This solo isn't even all that "pyrotechnic". In fact, it doesn't even really sound like anything I've heard by him before. Obviously, playing with progressive musicians like Kimbrough, Allison, and Wilson was inspiring to him, and he unleased a monster of a solo on this particular track. No Stanley Crouch essays, and no commentary by Wynton, just a fantastic good ol' fashioned trumpet solo with lots harmonic and rhythmic variation that paints a beautiful picture. You don't have to agree with me about it being one of the best...but give it a listen and try not to be so close-minded. You sound like Hardbop when he's talking about a Fender Rhodes.

Check his trumpet solo on "Shooting Star" from Ted Nash's "Still Evolved". It might be the best recorded trumpet solo of the new millenium so far.

Post some pics whenever you can, Mark!

DO NOT MISS THIS SHOW.....NO MATTER WHAT!!!!!!! Anyone within 300 miles should try to be there.