JSngry

Don Ellis is one of those guys who I'll listen to as much of it as possible (when I'm in the mood for it), not because it's always "good" (because a lot of times it's not, not even), but it's always real, one way or the other. And when it is good, it's damn good! And if you're into Strozier doing West Coast Big Band Bird Tributes, then you also gotta get this one (if you don't already have it): Very nice feature fr him on "I Remember Bird", and hell...it's just a fine album in general. Not "great", but definitely fine, if you know what I mean. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMfTPzCHSP8 Frank Strozier and Mel Brown featured on the same gig. And Ed Thigpen driving the bus. And Bobby Bryant loud and proud all over the place. Might not have been a perfect world, but it was a damn fine imperfect one. People made that world go 'round. Nowadays it's just gravity and shit.

Well hell, I had no idea about the history of that album, nor that the Koch CD "made it whole again", so that's another reed you guys can't borrow thanks to 1-click. There will be no scourn towards anybody looking into that Don Ellis guy, not from these parts.

And what was so badass about that was that he would always fuck with it yet keep it intact & whole, like squaring the circle and then back again, all in one longass fell swoop, like it was always the same thing even when it wasn't. Monk was a master, not just of music but of...whatever "it" is...being, I guess. He got where "there" was, it was everywhere, but each everywhere was its own place. Like the man said - think about that. You think about that.

I had no idea that Tony Bennett did two albums for "MGM Verve" after leaving Columbia. Shows you how much I cared then (and then kept on caring). One's with Don Costa, and so much "eh" for that, but the other one is with Robert Farnon? I might have to go looking for that one?

Don't know if I'd go along with that...his tunes are pretty hardcore in their changes, not a lot of room for "interpretation" there, and if you do, it usually ends up sounding/being just flat out wrong...but I would agree that Monk was all about fusing sound, rhythm, and changes into a singular mindset. Playing Monk Music means dealing with all of it, not just parts of it.

HA! Sad/funny...and true!

Righteous Brothers!

Dude - it's data. On somebody else's servers. Even in a perfectly impenetrable world, you're still at the mercy of somebody else's plug. Keeping a local copy of everything is the only way to totally ensure that you'll always have it.

Preordered, hell yeah. Weston/Harper going back to Carnival, that combination always works!

Swedish Radio Show is pretty hot. That shit rocks. I'd not give you 50 cents for the rest of them, though, not now, not with the internets and all. As time goes by, it gets more amazing how much of the band at this stage was really/mostly just Ringo, Paul, and vocals. The guitars were along for the ride, best as they could (and sometimes better than others). But geez, any gazillion people/bands cover Beatles songs, and if they don't hook up at the bass/drums level, they ain't gonna get it, and most don't because they all go for the guitar sound(s), which ok, studio records, yeah, they made that work, they got that in there. But in real time, hey, Paul & Ringo had it, Jack. The session tapes show that, as do the decently-recorded live shows. But you know what? If I was gonna be that kind of band at that time, I would definitely want Paul McCartney & Ringo Starr in my band. Hell yeah. I mean, it's a freakin' bar band fer crissakes, just starting to realize that they can be more than that. The confidence in Paul's and Ringo's pocket, that's what kept the shit going. Not great musicians, just some guys who had the propulsion and the confidence to dare to keep going. I guarantee you that any bar band today who could play those songs with that pocket would die happy. At least in the immediate afterglow.

That should go directly into the Down Beat Blindfold Test Hall Of Fame.

As far as I know United Artists acquired the Transition catalogue in 1958, at least those recordings that hadn't been acquired by other labels or by the artists yet. So the real movement would have been Transition to UA, and then to BN once they were both owned by UA, correct? In which case, Aric, the answer to your question is "no".

The first BN reissues of Transition materials was in the 1970s, as part of the 2-LP Blue Note Reissue Series. The Cecil Taylor & Coltrane/Chambers sets included Transition material. Not sure what the trek from Transition to United Artists entailed.

the Nazarine Tangerine Joseph Orange

I've always dug Edie Adams. Such a spirit!

I've long wondered how this came to be: or, edited, but in cool clean color:

If everybody knew about it, everybody would buy it. And then there wouldn't be any left for everybody else.

Thanks, Moms. Much appreciated. (Had to alter the link ever so slightly to keep it within the "letter of the law" but a person should be able to have a little ingenuity and figure it out.)

Anybody know of a source for items such as this (link is to a former sharity block that has since been neutered)? http://nealshistorical.wordpress.com/2008/09/03/leos-janacek-first-recordings-of-the-diary-of-one-who-disappeared-mladi/ Any compilation/collection/etc of "such things" that one can purchase through reasonably legitimate channels? Curious as to the “flavor” such recordings might have. Janacek is the immediate object of curiosity, but not necessarily the only one...

Upon further reflection...yes, the "So?" does sound harsh, insensitive, whatever. But not meant that way, except that these are the choices that anybody with creative ambitions have always been faced with. This is not a new situation, although it might be as stark a reality as we've seen in our lifetimes, outside of living in some totalitarian regime and literally having to choose between your life and you art. Now that's hardcore. Otherwise...decisions have to be made, and all decisions have consequences. Oliver Nelson is another guy who worked himself into an early grave, and he didn't do it for lack of opportunity. Quite the opposite. So yeah, maybe had he slowed down, he might have lived longer, and he'd have done a lot more, better work. But maybe not. It's a moot point now, as it is with Ives, and as it is with Bird, and for so many others. There's always infinite "what if"s, and "if only"s. Always. Point being just this - "making a living" and "making a living from your art" are not the same thing, and the only real cost/benefit ratio is the one that you can figure when the life and the work are both done. Me personally, I'll lament everybody not living in a perfect world (or even a good one) far less than I will me not figuring out how to survive in it without getting totally punked. And how i do that...if I was Charles Ives, I'd probably make/take his deal. Me most assuredly not being Charles Ives, probably not. At least not all of it. But that's between Charles Ives & Charles Ives, and between me and me.

Well, on the one hand we have concern for "artists", which I assume means their "art", because otherwise, hey, we're just looking at somebody/anybody, and no way you can be sorry about everything for everybody. I'm good with that. On the other hand, we have the concern for "making a living", which is not the same as "making a living from one's art". And that's where some problems arise. It's abundantly clear that the "system" as it is currently constructed does not have as even a tangential interest in providing "artists" an opportunity to "make a living" from their art. Hell, it's barely set up to allow for the making of a living from one's craft. It may or may not be "fair", but it definitely is what it is. So instead of worrying about "why does the system do what it does instead of what I want it to do"?, perhaps the better question is "how am I going to get my shit down and done and not let these bloodsuckers drain me dry?". That's the question where there's multiple answers. And ok, if not Charles Ives (I still say people die, and at least he died having gotten it down and done, so the win is still his), how about Roy Haynes? You think he made a living all these just years playing drums? No - for years he was a rep for a liquor distributorship, or some such. Or let's talk about all the guys who have had essential (if invisible) support assistance from their wives/girlfriends/etc. Or the folks who make livings as teachers, repair technicians, computer programmers, all sorts of other things. some of them give up and fade out, but some still keep it going and keep getting it down and done (yes, you, Allen Lowe, yes, you!). They survive instead of allowing themselves to get held prisoner by a system that is not in their best life interests. Hell, in the old days, you wanted to make a living, you were either itinerant, or else you had a patron (and most recently, advertising/film music/etc. was the patron). Failing the inclination to be the former and the absence of the latter, what is one left to do? You either quit altogether, or else you find a way top do what you can do when you do it, and then let life do its thing. That's nobody's first choice, but it's quite often one's best option.

So? He got his work done, it was damn good, and it survived to be heard. See, this whole "I wanna be heard NOW" thing is what's feeding the current state of affairs. Supply is exceeding demand like, a gazzillion-fold. People are NOT gonna get paid in an environment like that/this. People just gonna get slaved while they try to "live the dream" or some such. Everybody dies, and nobody knows when. So, what do you leave behind, when do you start making it, and who do you let have it?

That, sir, was the song coming to life. Not very pretty is it, somebody demanding that they have rainbows made for them (by whom? Somebody? Something" Life its very self? AAAAAARRRRRGGHHHH!!!!!). Kind of a pathetically naive clueless, Liza-ish fuzzygoo-fest, eh? Not a dreamer-song, but an ode to candy-coated infantile delusionality. Good changes are not enough. and when a dude sings it, god, that's ever worse. Rat Pack with neither rats nor packs, so then what?