robviti

i just got a copy of autumn leaves by the great jazz trio featuring hank and elvin. it's quite beautiful, and elvin's understated excellence serves as a reminder that he could do it all.

count me as another fan of charles davis. i'd like to recommend his most recent solo outing: blue gardenia

you could've asked him if he was chinese. that question has been buggin' me for years.

for various reasons, i think a good many of the polls on this board are rather inane. actually, this is the only one i've ever voted in. B)

the online magazine inmotion has two interviews with jon jang you might enjoy reading. here's a link to the magazine's interview page: interviews with jon jang/james newton and jon jang/francis wong

jackie may "on" or he may not. i'd be very surprised if anyone can honestly say the same for moncur. he hasn't had the chops for many years (i don't think he was ever a very good improvisor). btw, don't ask jackie if he's white until the end of the show. you'll be disappointed if you're thrown out of the club before then.

given how long we've been waiting for the ervin date, i think this would be a fitting title!

Sometime prior to 1 million years ago early hominids exited Africa and dispersed into other parts of the Old World. Therefore, Jackie McLean is black, you are black, I am black, etc.

No!! Not you Lon!!! Buying an sacd player??? You've definately gone over to the dark side!!!

just to let you know, i did get the 521BEE and i like it just fine. while it might not be every bit as good as the models i originally considered, it's definately an improvement over what i had. in the end, i applied Bjorn Erik Edvardsen’s “10/10 Rule” (BEE, get it?). it states that the ideal for high value products is achieved when it costs 10 times more money to get only a 10% increase in performance. thanks to all of you that took interest in my search.

i'll be in nyc at the end of the jvc festival in june. i want to catch the lew tabackin/randy brecker tribute to coleman hawkins at birdland. i also plan to check out shows in the city featuring harold mabern's trio, the anthony wonsey quintet, and maybe buster williams' group at the jazz standard. later this summer i plan to take in the day-long fesitivities in newport, r.i. on saturday, august 14th. quite a lineup they have there. finally, real jazz returns to newport!

why is that?

my friend kevin and i have conducted many a/b comparisons (and quite a few a/b/c ones too!). most often we don't have the luxury of separate components, and frankly i'm not sure why that kind of a setup would be an advantage. more important, i think, is to have more than one person involved in the testing. i'll put the cd on and have kevin listen to it. then i'll put on the other cd and have him compare it to the first. we usually compare mutliple tracks, and sometimes we go back and forth. it ry my best to confuse him at times, so that only real differences in the sound will be readily apparent. also, i try to adjust for volume differences before the music is played. if this whole process isn't followed, then: a) i'd know which cd is being put in the player because i put it in there myself, or b) i'd know which one it is because i hear a distinct change in volume. Either way, confounding factors like anticipation and bias will play a role in my perceptions of the differences I think I hear. This whole thing might sound unnecessary or too involved for some (hey, I'm a psychologist that does testing for a living!). But I assure you, it can be fun to do and the results will amaze you sometimes.

Francesca Tanksley appears on a 1989 Candid disc called Dreamer by another female artist that has largely gone unnoticed: saxophonist Erica Lindsay. I first became aware of Lindsay from her work on Bakida Carrol's Door of the Cage. I think Dreamer is her only date as a leader, but she's also performed with Oliver Lake's Big Band. Forget the stereotypes about female reed players, this woman has plenty of strength and chops, and she doesn't veer toward smooth or easy-listening crap. If you see Dreamer, grab it! It also features Howard Johnson playing some great tuba, baritone sax, flugelhorn, and on one tune - penny whistle! There currently are some used copies of this disc on Amazon.com for less than $9. BTW, Johnson had a gig at Birdland a couple of months ago with an all-female band that included bassist Melissa Slocum, another artist deserving of recognition. Anyone catch that show? P.S. The next female artist I plan to check out is trumpeter Igrid Jensen.

Hello friends! I will soon be saying goodbye to a therapist I've been supervising for the past two years. As a parting gift, I plan to give her what I think are five classic and representative cds of great jazz (she has expressed an interest in learning about the music and I don't think she has any recordings yet). When I give her this present, I will tell her that if she does own any of these discs, I will replace that cd with another title. Here are the five I've purchased for her: Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue Bill Evans Trio - At The Village Vanguard (compilation of the original two lps without alts.) Ella Fitzgerald - The Best Of The Song Books Stan Getz/Joao Gilberto - Getz/Gilberto Kenny Burrell - Midnight Blue Now here's the question/challenge (if you're interested): What cd do you think would make an appropriate substitution for one of these discs? For instance, if she has KOB, I'd probably get her Cannonball's Something Else. Of course, you don't have to "play by the rules." If there's a title that I should have chosen (and should be pistol-whipped with a Kenny G disc for having neglected it), feel free to mention it. One caveat: I prefer not to give compilations (I know, I know. The Ella and Evans cds are comps.) Anyway, thanks for reading, and for particpating if you choose to do so. B) Bye-ya, Rob

eric's a very consistent player. here's one of my favorites:

According to The World Factbook on www.cia.gov: "Andorra is a member of the EU Customs Union and is treated as an EU member for trade in manufactured goods (no tariffs) and as a non-EU member for agricultural products." Of course, you know how accurate the CIA's information-gathering has been in the past few years!

thanks for your input alan. on second thought, i think the players i was initially looking at are beyond my current system's capacity. so i placed an order for the NAD 521BEE for $219, and i think it will suit my needs quite nicely.

Maybe some of the material comes from the 1956 Birdland dates originally issued on Fanfare: Dizzy Gillespie and his Orchestra Talib Daawud, Dizzy Gillespie, Lee Morgan, Ermit V. Perry, Carl Warwick (tp) Al Grey, Rod Levitt, Melba Liston (tb) Ernie Henry, Jimmy Powell (as) Benny Golson, Billy Mitchell, Ernie Wilkins (ts) Billy Root (bars) Wynton Kelly (p) Paul West (b) Charlie Persip (d) Recorded at Birdland, NYC, November 4-December 2, 1956. Introduction Dizzy's Blues A Night in Tunisia Stella by Starlight Doodlin' Big Band Live in Hi-Fi from Birdland / Dizzy Gillespie (Fanfare LP N 46 146) Dizzy Gillespie and his Orchestra Talib Daawud, Dizzy Gillespie, Lee Morgan, Ermit V. Perry, Carl Warwick (tp) Al Grey, Rod Levitt, Melba Liston (tb) Ernie Henry, Jimmy Powell (as) Benny Golson, Billy Mitchell, Ernie Wilkins (ts) Billy Root (bars) Wynton Kelly (p) Paul West (b) Charlie Persip (d) Austin Cromer (vo -1) Recorded at Birdland, NYC, December 1, 1956 1. If You Could See Me Now 2. Groovin' for Nat 3. The Theme 4. Introduction / The Theme 5. Whisper Not 6. Tangerine 7. Dizzy's Business (inc.) Big Band Live in Hi-Fi from Birdland / Dizzy Gillespie (Fanfare LP N 46 146) Or else they could be tracks that were released on the Jazz Unlimited and Jazz Hour labels: Dizzy Gillespie and his Orchestra Talib Daawud, Dizzy Gillespie, Lee Morgan, Ermit V. Perry, Carl Warwick (tp) Ray Connor, Al Grey, Melba Liston (tb) Ernie Henry, Jimmy Powell (as) Benny Golson, Billy Mitchell (ts) Pee Wee Moore (bars) Wynton Kelly (p) Tommy Bryant (b) Charlie Persip (d) Austin Cromer (vo -23) Chester, PA, June 14, 1957 1. A Night in Tunisia 2. Doodlin' 3. Autumn Leaves 4. My Reverie 5. Dizzy's Business 6. I Remember Clifford 7. Jordu 8. Whisper Not 9. Birks' Works 10. Jessica's Day 11. Left Hand Corner 12. Yesterdays 13. Cool Breeze 14. A Night in Tunisia 15. Autumn Leaves 16. Dizzy's Business 17. Anitra's Dance 18. Begin the Beguine 19. Left Hand Corner 20. I Love You Much to Much 21. Yesterdays 22. Cool Breeze 23. Wonder Why Tracks 1-13 Dizzy Gillespie and his Orchestra "Live", Chester, Pennsylvania, June 14, 1957 (Jazz Unlimited [sw] JUCD 2040) Tracks 14-23 Dizzy Gillespie Big Band Live in Stereo at Chester PA (Jazz Hour JH 1029) Either way, the 50-year limit isn't up on this material.

the evolution of obi: in the beginning there was and this became which led to so now we have and unfortunately we end up with

i had a class with laporta at berklee back in the 70's. it was a joy to hear him talk about the music he obviously loved so much. i remember he'd demonstrate differrent things on his clarinet, and you really got the sense that he was reaching out to you rather than looking down at you. arrivederci insegnante.

there's a copy of what it be like on ebay: blackwell

thanks for the tip. i'll give them a call tomorrow. btw, i also checked out the rotel rcd-02, and it's a contender too.