JSngry

I understand your point, but don't you think there are people out there who "use" jazz functionally, for better or worse? Unless you know what you're doing (aka how to listen), I don't think you can use Jazz functionally - just because you can't penetrate beneath the surface. So, yes, there are people who use Jazz functionally, but they'd have to be a subset of the Jazz as art crew - i.e. not the general public. But... There was a time when jazz (of several types) was highly functional as "bar music", meaning that people used it functionally to hustle chicks, score substances of their choice, drink up and party, all that good stuff. Having spent a fair amount of time as both player and customer in such environments, I'll say that it was a drag as far as "serious" listening (and sometimes playing) went, but otoh it led to there being a lot more performance outlets than currently exist. A mixed blessing indeed.

Another Captain Obvious moment from Captain Obvious himself. Thanks, Bob Blumenthal, you're one of the reasons I no longer make reading liner notes a priority... Look, I know it's strictly a "technical" thing, but Duke Pearson was a very skillful & resourceful arranger, especially for smaller groups. Not everybody could write a chart for, say, 5 horns and have it "speak" the way he did. AFAIC, that skill bumps him up past being merely "functional", no matter how "fine" the results are. Pearson's arrangements may not be "innovative" or anything like that. But believe me when I tell you that they're not simply "by the books" either. Anybody studying arranging who wants/needs to learn how to make a small-ish group sound like a bigger one can benefit greatly from taking his shit apart, just as they can with Ray Charles'. It's not quite "art", but it's more than mere "craft". The only problem I have with this "fine and functional" business is that it seems to convey the sentiment that Pearson was somebody who simply "followed the rules" in a tasteful manner. Well, no. There was more to it than that.

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&a...10:kb6jtr7qklox The bottom of the two here: Funny in small doses, but Redd Foxx did it better. Eddies comedy on A Tale Of Two Cities, however, is priceless.

Shaving the love has its place too...

I'm still kinda trippin' that Lester Young died on March 15 & I saw Lester Young "collecting his papers and checking out" on March 14... That's......weird....

Let me bump it up a notch here - I'll go so far as to say that it's "irregular", "abnormal", etc. to not like "songs with words". Not stupid songs with stupid words, but to just have a negative reaction to the mere notion of hearing a song with words. There's people like that ya' know. And I don't trust 'em.

I'd be more concerned about all this if somebody could show me that there was a big market for lute instrumentals in the days of the troubadors, or if there was some notable "indigenous" culture where the folk music is entirely instrumental and nobody sings. There's a reason why "most people" prefer songs with words and the like, and its got little if anything to do with the "dumbing down" of our "culture". It would appear to be somewhat of an eternal, universal human trait. Now, if you want to argue against the evolving dumbing down of the lyrics and the increasingly narrow emotional scope of so much popular music, be my guest. But that's a whole 'nother thing.

Oh, ok. I like a Shank more as a cut of lamb or veal than as a beer.

This is the one for me: That and his early sides w/Benny More, of which I've only heard a couple. As far as "hardcore" Latin music goes, Prado descended into self-parody/cliche once he became "known", but there's some good stuff to be found early on.

That Rose thing was from a movie of the same name.

Looks like it's from the SwingTime label: http://www.tuffcity.com/html/bluesjazz.asp...;AvailOpt=Avail

Now damn...that is spooky...

Why wouldn't he?

I'll agree that Pearson offered no real "surprises" when it came to lines or chord choices, but his voicings are actually very interesting. He had a real knack for voicings small-ish horn sections in such a way that they sounded fuller & richer than most writers. And his big band writing, although again not containing anything particularly "forward thinking" (at least not relative to the really forward thinkers of his time) still spoke in a unique and personal voice. Again, it was in his voicings. He had his own thing happening in that regard. As an "artist", hey, that's an individual call all the way. But as a "craftsman", he was definitely one of the very best.

No, but there was a little kid in his way and he called him half a motherfucker...

The tweed jacket spoke volumes...

No, but he held his upper body at a 45-degree angle...

LTB had foot surgery last week, and today was her first follow-up visit w/the surgeon. So we're sitting in the waiting room, and this old, OLD white guy with a walker and a tweed sport coat comes up to the receptionist's desk and says, "I'm Lester Young & I'm here for my papers." Well, I nearly shit a brick. The receptionist got up to get his papers, came back and said, "You're Lester...", to which the old guy said "Young. Y-o-u-n-g." She gave him his papers and he's out of there. I'm looking at LTB and she's sporting a grin a mile wide. I look at the receptionist, and she's clueless and or indifferent. Oh well. So if anybody asks, Lester Young is alive and living in Dallas. I'll be your witness.

Try resizing that small window to the size you want it, then closing it, then reopening it. You do know how to resize a window, right? Just in case not, for what you're dealing with the quickest way is to go to any corner, get the diagonal two-pointed arrow, hold down the left mouse key, and pull/drag. Go to the opposite corner and do it for the other half of the window.

Hmmmm.... I have this album and very much enjoy it, but however "edgy" the playing by any and all concerned may or may not be, I can't help but feel that it's an edge whose impact (no pun intended) has been somewhat dulled by the passage of time. All these cats (including Billy Harper, who is - is - one of my True Tenor Heroes) had more "edge" in the 70s individually and collectively. It's still fine, worthy music, but it hardly stirs the "militant" in me like the older Strata-East stuff did (and still does on a good day). That inner militant still exists, but this ain't the stuff to stir it. What it does stir is a rememberance of militancies past, which is all well and good (and certainly welcome), but it's certainly nothing to get the job done on today's terms in today's world. Truthfully, it wasn't enough to get the job done back then either, because here we are, right? But hey - Billy Harper is a Voice Of God no matter what.

Does your turntable have adjustable speed and a strobe device to check it? If not, you used to be able to buy a cardboard strobe disc at Radio Shack for something like $0.99 to check the table's speed. Doubt you still can, but at least you know that such things have existed, which means that there's somebody somewhere who's got one or some.

Still a differnt Booker T. Try this Booker T. : http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/musician.php?id=13986 And this album: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&a...10:ex6uakok5m3l

Oops, guess you caught that already. Sorry.