RainyDay

i'll take steely dan, thanks. or, preferably, the minutemen, who have even BETTER lyrics. (their cover "doctor wu" is pretty great too.) tastes differ but really, i wanna hear a funny carlos story or joke. it'd make me resent him for filling up the .99 cent bins less. out, clem That's how Steely Dan got here. I never said SD couldn't play, I said that they play boring music. In the Bay Area, find SD on the smooth jazz channel and "soft" rock stations. In the Bay Area, find Santana on nearly every channel except classical and jazz. That's how much Santana stinks. I never said SD was only played on smooth stations. I wasn't the one who raised SD as an issue. I agree, the comparison is weird. Like I said, not liking someone's music is a person's perogative. But SOME of the comments here seem to be directed at him personally. Miles Davis was a little skinny wife beating asshole and I still like his music.

i'll take steely dan, thanks. or, preferably, the minutemen, who have even BETTER lyrics. (their cover "doctor wu" is pretty great too.) tastes differ but really, i wanna hear a funny carlos story or joke. it'd make me resent him for filling up the .99 cent bins less. out, clem That's how Steely Dan got here. I never said SD couldn't play, I said that they play boring music. In the Bay Area, find SD on the smooth jazz channel and "soft" rock stations. In the Bay Area, find Santana on nearly every channel except classical and jazz. That's how much Santana stinks.

I posted this at AAJ: Wow, what a slap in the face of people who participate on this board. Apparently membership with privileges is limited to "core" members? Everybody else can go to hell? For the record, I'm equally put off by the carping over at the other board that's directed at Mike and AAJ. But at the end of day, it seems that all parties in this mess deserve to be in the same festering sore together. There has to be a better way for a jazz fan to participate in the jazz community than this stuff. The jazz community is too small for this kind of pettiness. This is like sports or some other sort of team loyalty crap. ****************************************************************** I think the events of the past couple of days reflect poorly on the jazz community. With every thing else going on in the world, this just doesn't seem worth it.

I must be missing something here. I am a big, big fan of Steely Dan and I think Santana is great. I especially love his tone. So, where do I fit, if I like them both?? Where you fit in is that you have good taste some of the time. Nobody's perfect. (It's a joke, okay?) RE The superficial crap comment: How can you pre-judge a piece of work that hasn't even been created yet? Wouldn't you have to be a fortune teller to decide today that a piece of work that may still be in Carlos' head is going to be superficial crap? I just love it when people pre-judge something they haven't seen, heard or read. In this case, it doesn't even EXIST YET.

I must be missing something here. I am a big, big fan of Steely Dan and I think Santana is great. I especially love his tone. So, where do I fit, if I like them both?? Where you fit in is that you have good taste some of the time. Nobody's perfect. (It's a joke, okay?) RE The superficial crap comment: How can you pre-judge a piece of work that hasn't even been created yet? Wouldn't you have to be a fortune teller to decide today that a piece of work that may still be in Carlos' head is going to be superficial crap? I just love it when people pre-judge something they haven't seen, heard or read. In this case, it doesn't even EXIST YET.

I played Sacred Fire this morning. It is one of my favorite recods because it is such a showcase for his talent. Not only is Carlos a brilliant guitar player, he is versatile and has the ability to assemble the finest musicians in order to create a kick ass band. There are reggae beats, rock, Afro Cuban and African rythmns, jazz, solid vocal work and even some Yoruba chanting. I can see why folks who dig Steely Dan wouldn't necessarily like Santana. In these parts, Steely Dan is found on the Smooth Jazz station, and rightfully so. I don't dig SD. It doesn't mean they can't play, it just means I find their music boring. Some of the commentry aired here seems to be more personally directed at Santana. Just because you don't like someone's music doesn't mean they can't play. This he-peaked-in-the-1960's stuff is pretty funny. The man is still growing and exploring as an artist. Frankly, I'm glad he's not stuck in the 1960's.

Doesn't a piece of music become "reinvented" every time it is performed? Unless jazz belongs in a museum in which case no one should ever touch it and it should be kept in hermetically sealed display cases, why not turn it inside out?. The worst that can happen is that it will sound awful. It wouldn't mar Coltrane's original work. I wonder if Coltrane would be so hard on Santana if he were still alive. I thought Coltrane was all about breaking the rules.

Thanks for the tip. I'll add that to my buy list.

I almost bought a ticket but I shot my wad with Tyner again this year. Probably going to see Cobham later. Let me know how it goes with the "Project."

Every year, McCoy Tyner does a two-week "residency" at Yoshi's in January/February. One week he plays with a trio and the other week he plays with a quartet or quintet. Last week he played with Jeff "Tain" Watts and Christian McBride. If was an inspired and very satisfying hour of music. Watts is a mutha on drums. A friend went to see this trio and the night he went, Watts sort of went "out." He started playing a solo and McCoy couldn't get him to come back. It was apparently a very long, very wonderful solo. At some point Watts "came to," and they finished the tune. At the beginning of the next song, McBride walked over to Watts and whispered something in his ear. My friend said Watts looked all over sheepish. As nice as that was, seeing McCoy this week with Pharoah Sanders, Ravi Coltrane, Charnett Moffett, and Eric Harland was just breathtaking. First off, I've been going to the "residency for the past four or five years. This run is as inspired as I think I've seen McCoy play in a while. Pharoah with McCoy is simply pure magic. Coltrane is a very fine player, but whenever Sanders would play, it was just on a whole other level. Sanders went "out" during the middle of one song and the further out he went, the better it got. They played one sentimental tune "Say It (Over and Over Again," which he had previosuly recorded with John Coltrane and one of my favorite Coltrane ballads, and the first few notes brought sighs of "ahhhh" and "ohhhhh" from the crowd. A crowd, I might add, that sat in rapt silence for the 75+ minutes they played. Typically McCoy plays a tight hour set but the crowd really connected with him and he just kept playing. They played one down and funky blues tune with Sanders doing his usual cut-up when he plays the blues. He'd blow one long note then bend over and scream, blow a note, scream, pretty cool. I see Pharoah just about every time he comes to Yoshi's and I'm amazed at his strength and control even after all these years. He is really amazing. Sanders plays more in this run than he does when he's playing with his own band. McCoy lets the others take the time to do long and intricate solos. McCoy's own playing is masterful. He is quick, powerful and soulful in his playing. My friend saw him on another night and we both agreed that we were incredibly lucky to see these two giants play together. McCoy remarked about how special it was to be playing with old friends and the offspring of old friends. It was a very touching moment. The other treat for me was Moffett. That man made the bass, walk, talk, cry and do the funky chicken. I appreciate McBride (and yes, it is really unfair to compare) but he's never moved me as a stand out player. Moffett is, again, on a whole other level. Moffett and Harland engaged in a dialogue on one tune that had everybody clapping and shouting. Man, what a night.

I saw them at Yoshi's this year also and thought Hutcherson overpowered Tyner. I enjoy both musicians a lot and see them often but that pairing didn't work well for me this time out. I saw them together a few years ago and don't recall having that reaction.

Yeah, I thought my job had blocked it.

Thanks. Bummer.

Has anyone been able to get on in the last hour or so?

Love this band. Just the best. Who was the vocalist on East Bay Grease? Rufus somebody or other? He was my favorite vocalist. A couple of weeks ago, I had a chance to see Lenny Williams perform in Oakland City Center at an after work free concert with a TOP-like band. The crowd was really in heaven as he sang some of the old TOP material.

Is there a way to get it to come sooner, say next week, and hit the White House during a cabinet briefing?

I grew up during the golden age of television and in those days, it was not uncommon to see jazz artists on the Jackie Gleason Show, Ed Sullivan, Nat King Cole, and probably a couple of others I cannot remember. I never saw Pops in person but I saw him on TV all the time. In addition to Pops, I recall seeing Duke, Count, Harry James, Dizzy Gillespie, one or the other of the Dorsey brothers, Gene Krupa, and Louis Prima. Ed Sullivan may seem like dated claptrap to the younger generation but that guy brought to us every little slice of Americana every Sunday night. It's too bad there is nothing like that anymore. One act would be a guy doing rope tricks followed by Duke Ellington. There is so no place to see jazz on television on a regular basis any longer unless you have digital cable or satellite. Rosie O'Donnell will always have a soft spot in my heart because the last time I saw Joe Henderson perform was with Chaka Kahn on O'Donnell's talk show.

Forgot Count Basie. I can't imagine listing everyone I ever saw. Just in the last year and a half I've seen (and this is just off the top of my head): Marilyn Crispell Paul Motian Yusfef Lateef Shirley Horn Ahmad Jamal Idris Muhammad Pharoah Sanders Roy Hargrove Kenny Garrett McCoy Tyner Los Hombres Calientes Nicholas Payton Gato Barbieri Pete Escovedo Diana Krall Ornette Coleman Wayne Shorter Branford Marsalis Dee Dee Bridgewater (Ray Brown died the week before I was to see him again at Yoshi's) Kenny Barron Ellis Marsallis Bobby Hutcherson (a few times) Christian McBride And I'm sure more that I can't remember. Next week I'll see Greg Osby.

What David said. Persons of note to mention: Miles Davis: Only saw him once. It was like going to church. Joe Henderson: Friends used to play in his band back in the 1970's and I saw him a lot. Charles Mingus: It was not long before he died but he was great. Sun Ra: Sigh. Just wonderful Betty Carter: She sang her butt off and I had the opportunity to talk to her as well. Very cool lady. Herbie Hancock: Too numerous to list but the Headhunters band played at the old Keystone Berkeley on several occasions. Freddie Hubbard: Reed College in 1970. My first jazz concert. Kenny Barron and Bobby Hutcherson Duo: This was a priceless event. The venue was a tiny little space in Oakland and those two played music and just played and had fun. What a great time. My first time seeing Barron. Bobby Hutcherson: This was at Joe Henderson's memorial. He made everyone laugh with his memories and feel good when he played. Weather Report: Monster musicians, every one. Ramsey Lewis: Closed the UC Berkeley Jazz Festival one year and the cops pulled the plug on him because he ran over the midnite curfew at the Greek Theater. There were only a few folks left in the audience and they just wouldn't let him go. Pete Escovedo with daughter Sheile E (at the tender age of 16): Any time I see Pete is a good time. All three of his kids are incredibly talented. Last but not least, Sarah Vaughan. I saw her three times and each time was like a gift. She was such an elegant woman with an incredible instrument.

Miles, Monk, Coltrane, and Kenny Garrett. Sometimes Tyner and Pharoah Sanders (who I'm going to see tonight).

I caught McBride doing the WR thing about a year ago at Yoshi's. In fact, it was being filmed/taped but I don't know whatever happened with that. Anyway, the band was just smoking. I don't remember who was in the band, just remember that I like it. It was the first time I saw him with his own band, and not with some other headliner. Saw McBride more recently with Diana Krall at Yoshi's and that was interesting. Honestly, it was.

Interesting thread. I especially appreciate comments by Jazzmouse and JSngry. Don't worry, I'm just lurking.