JSngry

I don't hate (or even dislike!) all these Very Good Players. No way that what they do is easily accomplished. It's just that if this is where the top of the ladder is, do we really need a ladder? Can't we just jump over it ourselves?

You know who else is A Very Good Player? Joe Lovano!

That fee sounds nuts to me, unless the disease is pretty far gone. Ask around, or take a drive to the country and stop in at a local vet.

If they don't change the oil often enough, it won't taste good.

Is that a BAD thing?

OUCH!

They had no problems w/McCoy. It was just Sonny that they couldn't figure out. Most of those cats were into Trane and/or the "Elvin School" of tenors. To them, Sonny was "over" in '59 (and that stuff was looked at as "old fashioned" by them, "bebop"). Of course, none of the RCA material was in-print, the Impulse! sides were (and still are) in Trane's shadow, and the Milestone stuff was...not of interest as a result. The landscape of availability has dramatically changed the landscape of perception, believe me!

No shit... It's like I said about Wayne in another thread, there's certain players that I get "friendly" with, and for them, I dig checking out wherever they decide to go, because that's what most people I dig do - they move around, always curious, not in a "I Can't Decide Who I Am" type way, but in an "Let Me See What THIS Is All About, It Might Appeal To Me In Some Form Or Fashion, Some Of It". And sometimes where they go ends up being a dead end, sometimes they end up looking but not touching, and sometimes they actually find somethings that open them up a little more to be somebody a little different than they were before. As that pertains to Sonny, well, I remember Larry saying in one of our periodic Sonny Spats a few years ago that he didn't hear any joy in any of Sonny's later work (that's a paraphrase, iirc). And sorry, but that's just....not plausible in my mind. But ok, what can I say other than I hear it, he doesn't. It's just that I find the notion that something like this marks "the beginning of the end" for Rollins is something that I find nothing short of absurd, true only if it's your definition of what "the end" is, and true only if that definition is formed entirely from what you think the world is. Otherwise, there's been a lot of good-to-great music made by the man, and the end is nowhere in sight. Even if it ain't "like it was", it's still good-to-great (and yeah, some duds, too, like you say , you pays your money...) in the "like it is" world, and can't nobody do what Sonny Rollins does in that world but Sonny Rollins.

I love that tone, and I love the pocket he's in. It's like "Alfie's Them" taken at face value by somebody who knows both what its face and other values are/could be. He'd already (brilliantly) looked at the others, and now here's the face. As for the duet, time constraints are constraining him somewhat, but good god, what he gets out is so much....more than...just something.

Joshua Redman is A Very Good Player.

Not bad for the beginning of the end...

:g :g :g :g :g Y'all just don't get it. Which is cool and all, don't get me wrong, and there's really no point "arguing" what are obviously irretrievably fixed positions, but... y'all just don't get it. Somebody let me know when evolution is supposed to stop, ok? Lest I face it in my own life and decide to keep going instead of just....stopping...

Down Beat 6-16-77

Always did dig the cat... Hit Parader, April 1968

There is such a thing?

The shirt is indeed nice, but the hat... the hat is forever.

I don't want to sound like (and definitely don't want to be) an old fart trapped in his 50 and/or anything else like that, but... yeah. I think so. Say what we will about "commercialism", it expands the playing field overall, which means that everybody is more likely to have at least some room to run and play instead of getting squeezed into some janitor's closet and then out into nowhere. If that - having room to run and play - don't make for fun, I don't know what does...

Shades of Brown PAPA'S GOT A BRAND NEW PLAY The Godfather of Soul goes for his first Obie. James Brown once claimed to have written 5,500 songs -- more than Mozart, Beethoven, and Berlin. (According to researchers at BMI, the number is closer to 600.) In any case, The Hardest Working Man in Show Business has written a hell of a lot of tunes. When we examined his discography, we noticed that he had given many of his songs titles that appear to be clipped from conversation -- so many, in fact, that we were able to arrange an entire one-act play using only song titles (written or produced by Brown) as dialogue. Even the play's title and the characters' names have been taken from the discography. Look for the debut somewhere off-off-Broadway soon. WHERE THE SOUL TREES GROW A play by James Brown Arranged by Alex Gregory and Peter Huyck SCENE: STEVE SOUL (1969) and his wife, CALDONIA, (1964) are sitting on their porch on a hot Georgia afternoon. They are seated side-by-side in a swing chair, facing the street. CALDONIA is fanning herself and STEVE is gazing across his lawn. Caldonia: There's Something on Your Mind. (1965) Steve: No, No, No. (1956) Caldonia: Tell Me What I Did Wrong. (1958) Steve [turning away]: It Hurts to Tell You. (1959) Caldonia: Gimme Your Hand. Come On Wit' It. Maybe I'll Understand. (1972, 1968, 1968) Steve [pulls hand away]: I Can't Stand Myself (When You Touch Me). (1967) Caldonia: I Won't Plead No More. I'm Not Demanding. (1957, 1969) Steve [explodes]: Baby, Don't You Know?! Papa Left Mama Holding the Bag! (1968, 1965) Caldonia: Slowdown. Unwind Yourself. (1960, 1967) Steve [takes a deep breath]: I Found Out ... Annie Had a Baby. Sweet Little Baby Boy. (1963, 1971, 1966) Caldonia [leaps to her feet]: It Was You?! (1959) Steve: Shhhhhhhh! Tell the Whole World! (1968, 1967) Caldonia: Again! [breaks into tears] Tell Me Why! Why Does Everything Happen to Me? (1964, 1962, 1962) Steve: Oh Baby, Don't You Weep. I Can't Help It (I Just Do-Do-Do). (1964, 1965) Caldonia: There Must Be a Reason -- What Kind of Man ... Keep On Doin' What You're Doin'? (1959, 1968, 1971) Steve: Got No Excuse. I'm a Greedy Man. And I Do Just What I Want. [looks off wistfully into the distance] Sometimes That's All There Is. (1965, 1971, 1960, 1980) Caldonia: I'll Never Let You Break My Heart Again. [she gets up, goes inside the house, and comes back out, carrying a suitcase.] I Won't Be Back. (1972, 1964) Steve: Baby Baby Baby. Hold It. [jumps to his feet and takes her arm.] You Don't Have to Go. Stay with Me. I've Got to Change. I'll Work It Out. Stop and Think It Over. (1964, 1961, 1962, 1981, 1963, 1968, 1965) Caldonia: Tell Me What You're Gonna Do. (1964) Steve: I Need Your Love So Bad. [caresses her cheek.] I'll Be Sweeter Tomorrow. (1975, 1969) Caldonia [pushing him away]: Sayin' It and Doin' It Is Two Different Things. If You Want Me, You've Got to Have a Job. (1972, 1961, 1969) Steve: I'll Lose My Mind! (1969) Caldonia: I Don't Care. How You Gonna Get Respect? (1964, 1968) Steve: I've Got Money, Woman. (1966, 1973) Caldonia: Money Won't Change You. I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing. (1966, 1969) Steve: Baby, You're Right. I Love You, Yes I Do. [gets down on one knee and takes her hand.] Just You and Me, Darling. (1961, 1961, 1961) Caldonia: No More Heartaches, No More Pain? (1970) Steve: What Do I Have to Do to Prove My Love to You? The Brother's Under Pressure. (1968, 1974) Caldonia: Respect ... The Truth. Make Up Your Mind. (1969, 1973, 1964) Steve: Try Me. You're in Real Good Hands. [he smiles lovingly at her.] You're So Sexy. (1958, 1967, 1969) Caldonia: My Man. I'm Back to Stay. (1964, 1968) [They embrace. He is looking over her shoulder in the direction of the sidewalk. At that very moment, a stunningly voluptuous woman walks by. STEVE's eyes bulge.] Steve: For Goodness Sakes, Look at Those Cakes! (1978) Caldonia [slaps him]: Get Out of My Life! (1969) Steve: Girl, Girl, Girl. Please, Please, Please. (1970, 1956) Caldonia: You Can't Love Me, If You Don't Respect Me. [she picks up her bags.] When Loneliness Knocks at Your Door, Can Your Heart Stand It? [she starts down the steps.] So Long. Write Me a Letter. (1975, 1964, 1981, 1964, 1964) Steve [laughs mockingly]: Talkin' Loud and Sayin' Nothing, Hot Pants. It's a Man's Man's Man's World. You Know It. Only You ... Never Find a Love Like Mine. (1970, 1971, 1966, 1968, 1965, 1969) Caldonia [pauses]: I Know It's True. (1960) Steve: That's the Spirit. Come Over Here. (n/a, 1960) Caldonia: Your Love Was Good for Me. What a Feeling. [she drops her bags and runs back to him.] (1967, 1968) Steve: Get Up, I Feel Like Being A Sex Machine. (1970) Caldonia: [They start to unbutton each other's clothes.] Bring It On ... Bring It On. I Feel That Old Feeling Coming On. (1983, 1956) Steve: I Got Ants in My Pants, I Want You So Bad. (1973, 1959) Caldonia: Release the Pressure! Let the Boogie Do the Rest. [Lights dim and spotlights focus on their faces as they fall to the floor of the porch.] (1976, 1979) Steve: Rock Me Again and Again and Again and Again and Again and Again. Make It Funky. (1974, 1971) Caldonia: The Spank, Mr. Big Stuff? (1978, 1976) Steve: Please, Please, Please ... Gimme Some More. (1956, 1971) Caldonia: Finger Poppin' Time! (1972) Steve: I Need Help (I Can't Do It Alone). (1970) Caldonia: Hang Ups We Don't Need -- Keep on Bumping Before You Give Out of Gas! (1970, 1974) Steve: Hot Pants, I'm Coming, I'm Coming, I'm Coming! Here I Go! (1971, 1968) Caldonia: Let the Funk Flow ... [They collapse in a panting heap. Eventually, Caldonia stands up and buttons her blouse. Lights come back on.] Sticky ... Cold Sweat ... Let's Go Get Stoned. (1980, 1961, 1967, 1967) Steve: Sho' Nuff. Papa's Got a Brand New Bag. (1973, 1965) Caldonia: I've Got a Bag of My Own. Come On In This House... [she enters the house and reappears, holding up a bag of unpopped microwave popcorn.] Butter Your Popcorn? (1972, 1968, 1969) Steve: [Gets to his feet and struts into the house.] Let a Man Come In and Do the Popcorn. (1969) [CURTAIN]

Diana Ross Ross Perot Mon Ami Pierrot

NICE!!! Got me to remembering how NEW so much of this music (not just WR, but all the "new directions" the people were going in, as well as all the older ones that people were still finding fresh, surprising, invigorating things in) seemed then...what a rush, what a feeling of pure, unfettered JOY at being alive in a world where all this greatness was being created seemingly every day. Yeah, I was still young, but still... Some folks wanna know why you always looking for something new? For the same reason I get out of bed every day, that's why. Beginning to ramble. Forgive me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9atfIUCHic This "BeautyIsArareThing " cat is putting some pretty interesting stuff out there...

Yep. The music's been out on Fresh Sound, so there might be a video of this band doing "Sidewinder", which, when Billy starts to play, really goes off somewhere else...

Dude, I distinctly remember watching this show in my college dorm when it was first aired, and then again at home as a summer rerun. A lot might have "gone wrong" in the 70s (but maybe not as much as some people want to claim), but ain't none of it here ... Funny memory - I was living in the "musician's dorm", and of course, plenty of people were gathered around the community TV for this show. Hardly any of them had heard any Sonny past 1959 or so, and when they saw the duet w/McCoy, they were....CONFUSED! Finally, one guy said, "Sounds like he's been listening to Archie Shepp..." and not in a complimentary way.

Interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCc0WKU7cq0 Performances: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGDB1GMKy5o...feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGDB1GMKy5o...feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNfFPFCdqJk