JSngry

Well hell, this team can't get this stomach virus out of the clubhouse... Josh Hamilton hospitalized, Leonys Martin called up http://www.lonestarball.com/2012/6/15/3090064/leonys-martin-called-up-koji-uehara-to-the-disabled-list#comments

I'm going to have to stop listening to this record now, but just because the new Henry Threadgill arrived yesterday. That's the only reason. And the more I listen, the more I like the dryness of the recording. The detail is amazing, and so is the music whose details are revealed.

It's not bad as either, it's just lukewarm and indifferent, and that's not what the object was, I'm sure.

The covers are right. You can't argue with right.

I took a nap with this playing, and it was better than opium, the sensation that resulted.

Right about opinions, wrong about the covers. The covers are right!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdWgfr6Dqk0&feature=related

Wrong!

The template was a budgetary concern, of that I have no illusions. But the choice of photographs? Evocative, yes, definitely... Dead end, night, sinister looking bigass blackcat head, nobody's looking except that evil thing, go ahead and do whatever it is you're gonna do...whatever that is...

Eye-catching indeed...and always a little mysterious... Is this The Creeper coming or going, or is this somebody coming or going to/from a visit to the Creeper? Either way, I smell sex...or murder...or...both?

Greatest non-Reid Miles BN cover ever. That and this: I remain steadfast in my unqualified admiration of the LT artwork. Every picture tells a story.

I said I'd prefer a little wetter recording, and, yeah, maybe do, but the sound as is really allows to hear all the details of the voicings in a most precise/unambiguous manner. Good god, could that man put some notes together...what a treat this album is!

Jam Session Leader Peter Peter, Pumpkin Eater Sadistic Egg Beater

Was May Day related to Ike Day? If so, how? If not, how not?

Damn Yankees Rebel Without A Cause Soldier Of Fortune

Fine, fine fine record.

I gotta get me some of that Swiss Kriss.

Madeline Peyroux (or whatever her name is) must've listened to this album, or one like it, if there is one. Could've been better, but could've been far, far worse. Besides, is there anybody else of Peggy Lee's general "type" that you'd want to hear sing "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight"?

Where was Don Schlitten?

As awesome as that game was, might I be allowed to say that the pitch that landed Mr. Cain Mrs. Matt Cain must have been his best pitch ever! She's PURDY!!!

Listening to it now. Often reminds me of Oscar Peterson in some unpleasant ways..but not always. Must have been an interesting personality, though, to have the OP thing and that other thing going on at the same time. INTERIOR CONFLICTS!!!! :g

Matt Cain indeed!

Having a first listen right now...would have liked a slightly "wetter" recording, not sure about the vocals (the first two, anyway, getting to "Look To The Rainbow" now, and that sounds fine), not really feeling the interpretations of the earlier, Thornhill material, but they have a good feel for the later work, and on the whole, it's a very impressive project, some fine readings of some incredibly difficult (and substantial) music, and Joe Locke is firing on all cylinders on every cut he's on. The cut I had the biggest worries about was "The Barbara Son", for reasons both technical (in tempo and voicings both, it's just...beyond difficult, what Gil wrote and how he had it played) and personal (the original has been a long-time obsession - almost literally, at times - of mine, because of both the chart and Wayne's solo). Hearing another version of this was something I approached with severe trepidation, and...I got a few seconds into it and was frozen. Yeah, they got it. They got it, and they held it. Getting it would be hard enough, but holding it, resisting all kinds of temptations, that hit me good. In fact, all the later material is where the real shining occurs for me. That's not unexpected, because players of (mostly) this general age where Evan's later bands were "real time" experiences. Sometimes sloppy, sometimes transcendental, but always uniquely Gil in concept. But those later bands seldom played charts with this much ongoing detail, so it's a real treat to hear those charts played like this. Recommended. Gil Evans was a brilliant arranger (yeah, I'd say "genius"), and this project strongly reinforces that. Mission accomplished, I'd say!

I liked the "European quartet", actually. Nothing to complain about in an opportunity to hear more. That was a good band playing at a very high level. If I'm going to complain about anything, it's about thinking that all complaints about all things ECM are all the same. I'll call bullshit on that one, and pay for the call myself.

None of these are bebop alto players in the 1970s and beyond. Whole 'nother world, that one is.