JSngry

1968 studio date produced by Milt Gabler, w/Budd Johnson, Buck Clayton, Bill Pemberton, & Oliver Jackson. Seems a little "reigned in" to me, but maybe in 1968 it was the kind of record they felt they(?) needed to make. Well, if it was, then they did. Any reservations I have would be about that. That, and wtf kind of album title is that, anyway?

John Benson Brooks John Cameron Swazey John Q. Public

Charlie Weaver Paul Lynde Rose Marie

Andy Williams Perry Como Bill Cosby

Kenneth Mars Barbara Hershey Don Ferrara

Of course...I guess I was thinking of him as leader. He never recorded as a leader on Blue Note, did he? Not that I know of.

Yes, I have some shame, just not this much. Funny, I've never noticed until now how this thing is basically mixed like an MOR record, which I guess in the end is what it is. Maybe it's one of those "you had to be there" things...and I was...file under Can't Shake, So Reposition.

Bo Dollis Eddie Bo Willie Bobo

w/Miles & Donald Byrd, at least...maybe more?

Social Climber Mountain Climber Z.Z. Hill

The man had either three hands or two brains. Or maybe both. That's the only explanation.

For big dicks. William Hung Dick Wellstood Bill Hardman

With Daniel Humair!

That one (in B&W) was included as 1/4 of the inner front cover of New York Is Now!.

See if they have this one too (NP). More stealth mad genius solo piano: Found a still-sealed cut-corner copy of this for a very good price, took it home, opened it up, and got a bit of a surprise -the plain white paper inner sleeve had yellowed, save for the underside of the corner that had been folded over at the factory, which remained its original virginal white. An inner sleeve with a reverse tan line? Who knew!

I found my copy of the Jubilee issue in 1987 at some off-brand thrift shop in suburban Little Rock (nothing else even remotely like it there, gotta wonder what the story there was...). It's one of those old LPs that was worn in such a way that there is a constant hiss of surface noise, but virtually no pops or crackles. I always thought it sounded kinda good like that, the music is wholly audible and well-balanced and from what y'all are saying, it's probably for the better that it's not a clean copy.

Part of why Rangers fans love Colby Lewis and are sad about the turn of events: http://www.lonestarball.com/2012/7/24/3182367/on-colby-lewis For me, it was during the 2010 WS, when they asked him about the pressure, and he said, no, this isn't real pressure. Real pressure is packing up your family and moving to a country where you don't speak the language in the hopes of having a job for a little while. God bless life perspective, and God bless Colby Lewis.

Taken as both a purgative of the previous LP and as a delight in its ownself: The more I listen to this guy, the more convinced I am that he was all the "madmen" of jazz pianists rolled into one minus any mental/behavioral baggage, which makes him the most dangerous kind of poker player, the kind that has all your money before you even play a hand. Jeez, what this guy played...crazymad BRILLIANT. BTW, my copy of this comes complete with a sticker on the front that says: From the Collection of SOCK HETTLER Winnetka, Illinois That's about as many "oh MY!"s as come with the music.

This record is fast pissing me off. I mean, for $2.99, I thought I'd just be mildly annoyed and maybe a little appreciative of the cleverness & professionalism involved. But no, this thing is PISSING ME OFF. I mean, Oscar Peterson couldn't help it, he was just being Oscar Peterson. But this motherfucker KNEW better and did it anyway. God bless Claire Fischer, that's all I can say.

Recently won a sealed copy on eBay for about the same price as a new one would've been back in the day. Gotta carpe diem on that deal. Hardly "definitive"...Thad's writing had pretty much maxed out (no pun intended re:the album's dedication) in terms of really new ideas (although there's a few spots where the thickness seems to be a newer, different type of thick), the whole thing is definitely entering "second generation" territory, but....eh...it's still the real Thad & the real Mel, ya' know? It don't suck. But the fold-out/fold-open liner notes...good LORD, even with glasses, I'll never be able to read these things...talk about cramming a lot of info into a limited amount of space...which, come to think of it, is kinda like Thad's writing. But I can hear a lot easier these days than I can read.

This year in baseball has not been kind to Scott Feldman, and in return, neither have Ranger fans. But tonight, when hearts were heavy in the aftermath of the Colby Lewis news (it's not just a baseball thing, either, with this guy there's a lot of "Everyman made good" love and respect for this guy from fans all the way up to front office), a night in which if Scot Feldman would have sucked donkey dicks (like his wont has been more often than not this year) there would have been like,,,a massive baseball bummer in Rangerland, tonight, Scott Feldman stepped up and out and said, hey, I got this. And indeed he did. You go with that from here on out, Scott Feldman, you go with that.

You don't. You just reposition it.

Nah, I think it's time now: Colby Lewis out for the year: http://espn.go.com/dallas/conversations/_/id/8192937/sources-texas-rangers-colby-lewis-expected-miss-rest-season-torn-ligament Meaning that whatever trade is made will now come at an extremely high cost...too high, I'm afraid. Oh well...shit happens and it's been - and still will be - a great team to watch.

One of my most favorite, perhaps the most favorite, Maynard Ferguson albums. Just like my old copy (which I still need to return to my high-school classmate's older brother, assuming that he's still alive and wants it back after 40 years, neither of which I am assuming) except that the vinyl is really clean, so the sound just POPS out of the speakers rather than frizzles out (and it was like that when I got it). This is my first experience with clean 1960s Mainstream vinyl. It ain't bad at all, I'll tell you that.

Oh by the way, they also are sending cash as well. Because, you know, the Yankees need cash.