JSngry

Those people need to decaf, detox, decompress, or something. That level of manic energy and gleeful precision does not occur naturally in nature without chemical inducement!

I've always found making and hearing music that's "better" than it has to be - but still is what it has to be - one of the more amusing/uplifting/joyously defiant acts in the whole arsenal of musical choices, be it as a performer or a writer or a listener. You think I keep coming back to Nelson Riddle Conducts 101 Strings because I like hearing 101 strings? No SIR! It's not just May (or Riddle), it's lots of people, and it's not just in the realm of "adult pop". The world is full (well, ok, far from full, but present enough to reward the effort of looking, if one is so inclined to look) of people making commercial music and making more "meaty" choices than they had to. Just little things here and there, things that tell you that somebody somewhere cared enough to do what they did, knowing full well that only a handful of a handful of people would ever get it. To me, that's character, and I'm all for it. And, really, it's not just music - everywhere you go in life, you can sometimes find people doing mundane, soul-sucking, even, work and throwing in a liting something extra, something that makes no difference whatsoever in the outcome of their job, but something that speaks to the spirit of their being, lets maybe nobody but themself know that, hey, I'm here, I don't want to succumb, I don't want to be so beat down that I can't rise up, even if it's only for a moment that might not be noticed by anybody, ever. Whe I run across those people, I make it a point to leave a bigger tip, say an extra-friendly word or two, give them a big smile, something to let them know that they're not living in the vaccumn of inanity and mediocrity that "the sytem" is designed to encourage and perpetrate, at least not always. We shouldn't be afraid to let them know this, because at root, they are "one of us", and if we don't take care of our own, you can be guran-damn-teed that nobody else will. You might also enjoy (and there's a tribute to the back of how many albums?) anther Nancy album on Capitol with May's chart, Tender Loving Care. Ask for it by name.

Belated wishes to ALL!

I have neither (yet) but will not let either escape, unless I die first. Wilton Felder is a part my heart, but so is Bird. Still, a heart is a heart, one organ, not two. Buy one now, the other six months from now.

A drum machine doesn't let the tempo gain momentum (which is not the same as speeding up, just as Charlie Rouse playing on top of the pitch is not the same as playing sharp) as the tune goes along. Not like this.

I would like to give that one a shot, then.

The Honeymooners Ed Norton John McAfee

I've only hear Time & Love. Well, only heard the first song and a half, couldn't dig that particular chilli at that particualar time. Is this one better and/or different than that one?

Octavia Butler Butter Jackson Maria Schneider

That'a good tune, once widely covred, now all but forgotten by "jazz players". Thanks for not forgetting! And besides me, Clifton Davis thanks you as well! Like the synth overdub as well, very much. Tasty! What's the deal at 2:16? Sounds like it's about to go into Confirmation changes but then warps out before it does. Nutty! You ever looked at any other J5 tunes? "I Wanna Be Where You Are" is another one that works. Anyway, Onward!

George Foreman The Dave Clark Five The New Colony Six

My liberated name since 1981 is Jimbobwe Okomo. My ersatz white-blues name is Tall Boy Horn. But my real name is still Mister Earl. btw - those are consistenly engaging phots on your blog, Aloc. Very nice work. Were you a pro photographer before you retired?

Parker Stephenson Tom House Crescent City Kings

Greedy Pigs Captians of Industry Tenille

Brown Eyed Girl The Brownskin Girl In The Calico Coat The Man In the Green Shirt

If you really dig the specifics of Bird's playing, the answer is an unqualified yes.

Tom Vandergriff, the mayor of Arlington who was instrumental in bringing the Rangers to Arlington has died: http://texas.rangers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20101230&content_id=16376690&vkey=news_tex&c_id=tex Interesting piece here about Vandergriff's efforts eventually succeeded in spite of political pressure at both the Texas and national level: Presidents Were No Match For Tom Vandergriff

Why not?

I'm definitely a fan of the non-buttoned-down approach to liner notes. Ever read the ones to Bennie Green's The Swinginest on Vee-Jay (don't remember who wrote them, maybe Sid McCoy?). Decidedly non "formal", but you'll not find a better summation of the appeal that players like Green & Gene Ammons had to the then-blue collar African-American audience anywhere. They should be in a book somewhere, required reading for all jazz "scholars", but good luck on that one... Chewy Effron speaks his own language with his own syntax (well, it's not really uniquely his, but it's significantly, uh...more....youthful than the "jazz world" is accustomed to these days...) but his perspective is clearly felt, and a liner note by him would beat the hell out of one more dry, dull, by the book play-by-play writings of Bob Blumenthal (or whatever his name is) and his ilk. This part in particular almost made me laugh out loud: Reminds me of a conversation I recently had with a younger-ish co-worker who said that there was this chick he really dug but he didn't want to get too serious with her because she had a jacked-up grill and he didn't want no babies with jacked-up grills because them braces are too damn expensive! He really dug her, but that jacked-up grill was a problem, a dealbreaker even, and he was looking for a way to respectfully break it off with her before it got too complicated. Time and place, it's all about creating a clear picture of time and place. And people. Real people in real time having real experiences with whatever reality they see themselves as living in. Gotta love it, at least I do.

Joyce Bulifant Clyde Fant Dudley Guglielmo

A smiling celebrity panel?

Can anyone comment on these two? I do realise the Scott is off-topic here, but they're both on Candid and from Les Tompkins archives (or so they say) hence I though I'd ask about it here as well. I've got the Tubby. It consists of several long jams, and the sound is good. The tracks with Sal Nistico are excellent, and it's interesting to hear Cat Anderson in this context. The "interview" at the end of disc two is casual, to say the least, but it's nice to hear Tubby and Sal's conversational voices. Recommended. Started into this one this morning, beginning with the Sal side (of course!), and so far, WHOEEEE! Both tenorists are in zones not usually represented in their commercial recordings, Tubby a rhythmic one & Sal a harmonic one. Fascinating listening, and a visceral delight just 'cause it swings so damn hard!

Dude, you should write liner notes, just like this. I would buy every album made with Chewy Effron liner notes, I would promise and swear. David Himmelstein, move over!

This will be of little satisfaction to those who have already acted on their impulse to give their left nut to be able to hear Jarrett play w/o the groaning.

Or even better, an artist/producer who realized that you can do this type thing in a way that doesn't painfully suck. I don't know if such things result from ignorance, cynicism, condescension, a genuine lack of simpatico with "the popular impulse", too much trusting of an insecure artist in a bad producer, or what, but it interests me to hear how many ways people go about it and how widely varied the results are. Blythe failed here, but got it (more) right the next time. I wonder what he learned to be able to do so.