JSngry

Call me old school, but...Albert Mangelsdorff. The original liner notes to Tension are a freakin' manifesto.

Well, if they wanted a truly "accurate" picture, that would be what they would have to do. Impractical, obviously, but it ought to serve as a reminder that "history" is never complete, that it's always going to be an interpretation of what's left behind, not a true representation of things as they really were. Nor should it be anything else. As long as everybody recognizes that and proceeds accordingly, everything's cool. But that's not alwyas the case, is it...

Thanks, David. Now to get the thread back on topic... Shrdlu, you're a player, so I gotta think you know why Russell didn't do the more "mainstream" arranging gigs. Listen to the standards on NYNY, do you hear anything remotely "mainstream" about the handling of them therein? Melodies are morphed and harmonies extended to the breaking point. Sure, it sounds normal enough in terms of instrumentation, but dude, ain't no way that stuff would get into the mainstream of its day. No way!

Sorry, didn't meant to be a downer. Hey, this (jazz) is music that can change your soul, change your mind, change everything about your life. I oughta know. It's done that for me, and I will forever be grateful to it for doing so. It's in me, and it ain't never leaving. It's just that...how long can it be there by itself before the thing itself becomes a stationary object of admiration and not a moving vehicle of transport? Sometimes you need a fresh perspective on the elements of music, what they are, how they can work together to communicate with the mind, body, and spirit, and how what some people think of as one or some might well reach others as being the other or some others. Certainly the best "older" jazz was all about communication through highly specific conveyances of spirit through tone, rhythm, and texture (notice I'm leaving out harmony, because harmony all by itself really conveys nothing without tone, rhythm, and texture), less so (for me) the overwhelming majority of "current" jazz. The best house (or more precisely, the best house mixes) I've been hearing displays an incredibly acute awareness of the power inherent in rhytmic manipulation, building tension and release through using conscious repitition & quite specific variations within to get into the subconscious. I'm hearing a "message" there that strikes me as profoundly more relevant to life today than listening to some cats playing tunes & running changes, or doing some abstract "conceptual" thing that you have to think about in order to be able to "feel". That's backasswards to me - first you should feel it, then you should think about it. Of course, there's always exceptions to that, but in my experience, that's the sequence of events that pays off best over the long haul. Feel, then think. I've said this countless times, but I'll say it again - life today is fundamentally different than it was even 15-20 years ago, and it ain't going back to the way it was any time soon. Time is compressed, "space" & "quiet" as we once knew it has all but been destroyed, and "place" has come to mean not just where you are physically, but also where you are with the assistance of the digital/cyber device of your choice. What I'm liking about house is that it doesn't try to deny any of this. It's built upon it in fact. But the stuff I'm hearing and responding to uses that acknowledgement and turns it on its heels by creating a world of seemingly infinite possibilities of tone, rhythm, and texture (and therefore, emotional/spiritual "space") on top of it all, just as jazz used to "rise above" the horrors and mundanities of its time by confronting them head on and beating them at their own game by finding the weak spots in the logic and plowing through them on the way to the glory of the other side. Do the people/minds/spirits of house music have what it takes to do for their music to do what jazz did? Well, that will depend on who those people/minds/spirits are, won't it? Over the long haul, I remain skeptical, but what has been done by some people ought to leave hints as to the possibilities for anybody so inclined who's coming along. And since the best of this stuff is still "underground" (although in a pretty large, global underground), untouched for the most part by "mass media" concerns, hey, one never knows, do one? I will say this though - any young, creative musical spirit ought to be paying attention to this stuff, because there's more truth/reality going on there than damn near anywhere else in music today. And just as much bullshit. But what else is ne about that? Can I burn out on it? Sure, I would think so, given the root functionality of it, and my non-organic relation to same. But one can burn out on the specifics and still learn broader lessons to carry on/out long after the debris is cleared away. If you can't do that with anything, hey, what's life for, then? Now, what does any of this have to do with George Russell? Well, nothing, but then again, everything. Time, place, space, tone, rhythm, texture, harmony as a means of spirit rather than a tool of functionality, and above all, refusing to become trapped by pre-ordained notions of what all those things "are" that have been handed down by forces ranging in spirit from cluelessly maladroit to venally malevolent and rising above it all by beating the bastards at thier own game, hey, you tell me.

Not if you don't start now!

And full of singing that brings home what a waste most of the last quarter century of Sinatra's recordings were.

No problems here.

Nah. Between drifting further off into the House, LTB having foot surgery that's requiring her to be non-weight-bearing for a 6-8 week minimum, and just getting tired of having the same conversations about the same old stuff year after year, there's not alot for me to add here. However... NYNY was my first exposure to Russell. Found the LP in the Treasure City cutout bin. It was under a buck (wasn't my first kill, so I didn't have to drink the blood, but I did anyway), and ironically was also found/purchased alongside Manny Albam's West Side Story side (also in mono & also on Decca). The Albam got dumped eventually, but the George remains, later to be autographed by Jon Hendricks (is this not his highest acheivement? I think so, and he hinted that he did too). Great side. As for "later" Russell, well hey. Some is not so good, some of it is very good. But none of it is "bad". I'd rather hear somebody like him seeking and not always finding than I would watching him continue to pull the same rabbit out of the same hat pretending that both are "new" when the rabbit's fur is turning grey & molty and the hat's crinkled beyond repair. Kudos to any man who refuses to surrender but instead fights with honor and integrety and wisdom, even if the defeats seem to come more readily than do the triumphs. In the later stages of anybody's game, 1 triumph against complacency and/or redundancy > 100 defeats. The object of the game is not to win cheaply, but to win well, dig? And at some point, it gets harder instead of easier to keep on moving. "Oh well" about that. But I/we have had this conversation before, and I got some fresh House mixes to explore, so. And yeah, a hearty welcome back Shrdlu! Something tells me that your absence has not been uninteresting for you. At some point, you maybe will want to fill us in on what's been going on?

Of course you are!

That footage is priceless. All of it.

This has confirmed from within the pipeline.

You know, I've gotten somewhat the same impression, although "geek" is not the word I'd use. She just seems to be so natural about who/all that she is, and that entails being a bit of a musical geek (ok, I said it ) as well as a really hip person. That she doesn't seem to even attempt to cover one up at the expense of the other is what makes her such an inspiring figure to me, and that carries over into her music, how she can put seemingly irreconcilable elements together in a way that ends up seeming inevitable and natural (and really, they should be). It's the way most of us really are, if we're honest with ourselves, and a lot of us try to be one "thing" instead of just going ahead and letting it all be. We're "afraid" of one or more of the "conflicting elements" that we see inside us and try to stifle what really doesn't need to be stifled. That usually leads to all kinds of inner conflicts, and so on and so on, blah blah blah. Let's just say that it's this level of "personal comfort" that she has & projects that has inspired me even more than her music. Sorry to hear that the band wasn't all it could/should be. It's gotta be tough not having a working unit together to play what is some difficult music. Working w/tapes just ups the ante. Good players can get into a groove playing like that, but it takes time to adjust and to grow into. There's some shows from a few years ago available from Artist Share of her with a working band that had played together for a while (but w/o the tapes) and this group had gelled like a mofo, especially Dave Kikoski, whose work w/Monday is, I think, the best he's done to date. But yeah, it's tough music to begin with, and she doesn't seem to feel the need to recreate the arrangements from the records live, so having an under-rehearsed band is living waaaay close to the edge. But you gotta go for it if that's all there is... And btw - having seen the tour footage that comes as a bonus from Artist Share, I can tell you that "golly" and "gee willickers" are not the extent of her expressive vocabulary. Monday can curse, and pretty damn well too!

Edwin Birdsong Edwin Starr Edwin

Well, the blurb implies that it's a 2CD set, so that explains the price. Still too much for me at this juncture, but DAMN!

The Chicago Eight Bobby Seale Dash Crofts

Paul Drake Hamilton Burger Della Street

Early, interventionist up.

Bananarama Wild Cherry Peaches & Herb

AFAIK, all Rhino Handmades are limited editions, and all can be purchased direct. You can also sign up for email notifications of new releases, which allows for preordering and/or immediate ordering. It's a good way to carpe diem on those "essential items".

Bruce Wayne

Count me as a fan of Percy as well. Anybody know if Rhino Handmade has the lock on the Tangerine catalog? I found an Al Grey side on the label that's pretty sweet, but I can't imagine them doing something that low-profile. Also have heard some Raelettes 45s on the label that are totally badass. Seems to me that a comprehensive box of the entire label's output would be a good thing, but RH doesn't do that kind of thing. If Mosaic has an in, that would be a good thing, I think.

Ma Cherie Amor Lovely Aisha Mary

Yeah, the second one's a live thing, and makes for an interesting comapnion/comparison to Royal Flush (personally my favorite DB album). The tempos are a lot faster on the live date, which befits the setting. The crowd seems to be really getting into the music, and the band responds accordingly. But I think the slower, studio versions hold up better for long-term listening. Another thing - I think this was one of Herbie's first gigs w/the band, if not the first. (I mean the gig @ Jorgie's not necessarily this particular recording). HE took Duke Pearson's place, and the live performances sound more in line w/what you'd expect from a band w/Pearson on board. So I'm thinking that Royal Flush is reflective of Herbie's influence on everybody's thinking in the interim.

http://www.dustygroove.com/item.php?id=nh9...p;ref=index.php About the movie itself: http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:116228 and http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/product.asp?sku=795557 Too expensive for me, but does anybody know about this soundtrack or this movie? I mean, Max, Abbey, Clifford, & Eddie without that Coleridge Perkinson cat...WAY cool!

I love this album. I love Abbey Lincoln. Coleman Hawkins!