JSngry

Omar Sharif Cy Coleman Bjorn Borg

Ezra Pound Two Tons Of Fun The Wissard of Oz.

Speaking of Fred Katz, has anybody heard this one?

Best wishes. Stay strong, and know that we're all pulling for you. If there's strength in numbers, hey...

Colonel Tom Major Tom Uncle Tom

Gordon Elliot Gordon Cooper Gordon Jump

Duke could pull that maniacal "you're gonna think I'm not "here" and am therefore harmless, but I'm really more here than any of you motherfuckers, and you'll never figure that out" grin thing pretty much any time he wanted/needed to, couldn't he.

Snurdy got it like that.

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3719692569/

Hey, I've played at those type places before...

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&a...wxqrgld6e~T20BC Trumpet - Pete Candoli, Buddy Childers, Jack Sheldon Trombone - Herbie Harper Valve Trombone & Clarinet - Bob Enevoldsen French Horn - Vincent DeRosa Saxophones - Herb Geller, Bob Cooper, Bill Perkins, Marty Berman Piano - Marty Paich Bass - Joe Mondragon Drums - Mel Lewis

Tell us more? Did you know Stepney at all? Did the session musicians have any comments about him? Seems like showing up to play of his sessions would require a well-developed sense of "be ready for anything". For that matter, what kind of a cat was Marshall Chess?

Minnie Riperton's blood. Figuratively speaking, of course...

It only seems proper...

It have been the week for the good tracks, from which there are too many to choose just the one that would be the best.

I mean, I'm in no way a "fan" of Tommy Dorsey, band or trombonist, but objectively, you look at the assemblage of talent that was in that organization during the time that Stafford was associated with it, and you gotta think that after that experience that it would be all but impossible to settle for less than the very best out of yourself or those you associate with musically. I thought of that while watching her during the band break on that "Gentleman Is A Dope" video, the way she nonchalantly steps back from the mike, kicks her foot at just the right spot, and then steps back in, as if, by god, she could do this in her sleep if she wanted to, and yeah, it's swingin' like a mofo, but why shouldn't it be, right, that's the gig, this is what we do. And you can't get that attitude at that level of inconspicuous but superior strength & confidence unless it's real, unless you've been there and done that often enough to know it to be The Truth. Thank God for The Truth. It comes damn near everywhere damn near any way, but only in a handful of instances in any of those places and ways. And when it's there, you know it (or else you're a goddamned idiot). It was there for Jo Stafford.

This is one of the most equally bizarre and beautiful R&B (or any kind of pop) songs/records I've ever heard... Once/if you get over the lyrics, check out the arrangement underneath, perhaps especially (but by no means exclusively) the drumming. Charles Stepney....wow....I had no idea...Charles Stepney was a baaaaaad man.

Nothing wrong with that when youdo it as well as she did. Everything right about it, in fact. And, as always: http://2.upload.dailymotion.com/tag/big/vi...eman-is-a-dope1

Yeah, coming at the end of the album as it does, that sorta seals the deal that this really is music from another universe, and even if you know you can't live there, aren't you glad you got to came, and, oh well, ok, maybe we don't have to leave just yet... Square bizness, this side has just gone on on my Desert Island list, Adult Pop Vocal subsection. I'm a sucker for thick, soaring layered vocal harmony and really hip, subversive string writing, and this side is sort of the epitome of both at once, so hey. Also got a chance o check out A Capella 3 last night, and think I'm gonna spring for the complete A Capella Sessions set I've seen. Nothing's less than very good (at least on this one), and often enough it's pretty dazzling in terms of both writing & performance. The thing I most appreciate about it is that there's no "silliness", even when, as on "Anything Goes", you almost don't see how it can't help but be. That focus on sobriety really enhances what has got to be some of the best vocal writing ever done, by anybody. I mean, it takes some real mojo to have freakin' Singers Unlimited tackle "Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child" and not only not have it sound insultingly "white", but to also get so much shit happening with the layering and the harmony that it actually becomes "something else" entirely, something that still addresses the issue of feeling like a speck in a void, only this time the void is alive and intimidating by its mass and color, not cold and full of emptiness and bleakness. Of course, they also do "The Way We Were", so it's not exactly a consistently perfect album. But I can deal with that.

The opening cut of the National Lampoon's Radio Dinner LP. We (meaning about 4-5 people) laughed our ass of at it in high school...which is about right... Bob Rusch, eh? The voice, the content, or both?

Hmmm...

EVERYBODY sing along!

I found the union to be useless as far as getting gigs goes, but invaluable when handling breached contracts and such, provided they were union contracts, which is your responsibility to provide. But that's fair, really, they shouldn't be expected to pursue a course of action that's outside their own purview. If the dues are at all affordable, I'd definitely join, if for no other reason than getting the Trust Fund gigs, which pay scale, but are often for community "arts fairs" and stuff and which can potentially provide great exposure. But if that scene is all tied up (and you might need to schmooze a little bit to get in), then, no, probably not, not until most of the club bands and such are also in, because the amount of undercutting & self-inflicted screwings that goes on out of desperation and such will continue with or without you, so if that's all you got, hey, hold on to it for now and work for a better day.

Thanks, Glenn. I think I'll hit the A Capella things for a taste. Sounds like that's what I'm most looking for, unless there's another side with Farnon...