JSngry

Does that go good with a traditional Italian cuisine? But of course!

Saxophonists.

How about a 1956 Ed Norton instead?

otoh. something like learnlicks.com could be viewed as just an extension of the "community of musicians", a place where players get together and trade/explore ideas in an unfettered environment. Kind of like a cyber-Minton's. Why not? That's the way most of the world is now - connected and global. What it "is" will be entirely dependent on who's "there" and what they do with it. In that regard, no change at all.

I suppose it's also worth pondering how the various means of "performance preservation", from notation to recording have altered/evolved the need/motivation for "replication". To be blunt about it, if we have recordings of Charlie Parker, what is the "need" for playing bebop in 2006? Sure, there's any number of cases to be made, but I think they essentially all come down to "preservation" instead of "real time informational transfer" a lot more than they would if there had been no recordings. Which is almost comically ironic, becuase what you're then trying to "preserve" is something that most of us now (or soon will) only know in "preserved" form! We have the original in as best a form as can be had. And let's go back to, say, Bach & notation. If history is to be believed, improvisation was highly valued in Bach's time. But what's survived? The notation, the idea and means of replication. You can buy that shit damn near anywhere, right? Bach in a book, Bach on a record, Bock on an iPod. hey, if you want it, you got it. And if you want to learn how to play it, what do you do? You buy the notation, which is in itself a replication, and learn to replicate it further. Or you learn to program it. Either way... What is learnlicks.com? A repository of replications made available for further replication. Other than it not being Bach or Bird or somebody like that, I say it's the cycle continuing. Look elsewhere for "real music", no matter where else the "elsewhere" might end up being.

Work with them as the say, and see what happens. I've had an order or two similarly delayed, and they always showed up eventually, and within the time-frame of consideration they requested. I've got no reason to believe that if your stuff doesn't hit by then that they'll not honor their word.

Of seeing music as being something that's made by using a set of codified "tools", including theory, notation, and written compositions meant to be re-played. All of these things are geared at least as much towards standardized replication of one kind/thing or another as they are to spontaneous creation of the spirit. Which is not to say that they haven't been without use. Obviously they have. But eventually, the tools too often have become an end to themselves. And things like those mentioned in the opening post are the inevitable result. After all, what are they if not just another set of "tools" meant to facilitate replication? "End" of a cycle might not be the best way to put it. "Inevitable next step" in that cycle might be better. Goes to do more with mindset than anything else. But I will say this - when "real musicians" stop making "real music", it might be time to see what the "non-musicians" can come/are coming up with. Because the spirit of "real music" doesn't give a damn who it channels through. It doesn't look at resumes and pedigrees. It just goes where it wants to go. And it won't ever die.

They oughta call the team the Crazylittlewomen.

Ok, let's do this thing! TRACK ONE - More from the Opera House. This is a fine tune, one of Tony's latter-day best, I think, beautifully constructed bridge (and damn near anybody can write a good A-Section, it's the motherfuckers who deal with bridges that get my most enthusiastic songwriting props. In other words, it's a hell of a lot harder to take a song on a trip than it is to just stand it on a corner in sharp looking clothes, although there's something to be said for doing the latter if you do it really well and make it really sharp. Sometimes it's just as cool to be the destination as it is to take the trip. But anyway, I digress...) but this rendition is a little bit light. This trumpeter recorded it again, and I prefer that version, even to Tony's own. Wayne's playing in Weather Report mode here, serving more to frame the ensemble than to lead it, but the rest of the ensemble ain't thinking like that, so the whole thing is just a little unfocused. But it's all good, and this side still needs reissuing. TRACK TWO - It have been a while, but I believe this to be from Knucklebean. This one shoulda been reissued a loooooooooooooooooooooooooong time ago. TRACK THREE - a cut from The Age Of Steam that I had loooooooooooooooooooooooooong forgottten about. I know this is out on CD again, and I keep forgetting that it is. Stupid me! Damn fine record, and a document of a moment in L.A. when jazz and pop/rock were intermingling in overtly commercial yet intrinsically naturally musical ways that was a logical extension of what was going on in the studios. How that differed from the "West Coast Jazz" of 20 years earlier is a point I've not yet heard made, convincingly or otherwise, so I gotta think that it's true. Let people be who they are, let them go where they'll go, and good, if not necessarily "deep", music will get made. Besides, deep people will make deep music, regardless of "style". So why all the fuss? TRACK FOUR - Harold Land on Muse. I dig Harold Land, all the way thru. Harold never stopped growing and evolving. In his own quiet way, he needed to be continually relevant to himself, and god bless him for that, even if it lead to some awkward-ish moments along the way. Oh well. The price you gotta pay, and all that. This ain't earth-shattering, but I can feel the soul. Good enough. TRACK FIVE - Oh my! This is not good! And yet....I enjoyed it. Dan's liable to hurl a blunt object with a shapr projectile on the end of it thru cyberspace , but I swear this sounds like Gene Harris! I know he made some early 70s BN sides where he used "keyboards". I've never heard any of those, but I could hear this being something like that. TRACK SIX - Oh my! AGAIN! What is this, Esquivel arranging for Enoch Light masquerading as a 70s Ted Heath album on Project Command 4 London? Thing is...it's a really interesting -and difficult - arrangement (even the gimmicks are interesting), and it's really well played. That band ain't fukkin' around, and when it comes time to play "regular", they're there. I could almost go Mancini on this, but Mancini never played it this wack. Whover it is, it's fun, it's goofy, it's goofy fun, and it ain't no bullshit. Big props. TRACK SEVEN - The step-father of greatness! Previous comments about Lew already made. Took me a while to fully appreciate him. Still not one of my "desert island" players, but if he washed up on the shore after a sunami, he'd certainly be welcome. Cat can play, that's for sure! And tenor trio, hey.... TRACK EIGHT - Kind of an early-70s Crusaders thing, but I don't think it's them, no horns. It's pretty lite, but it doesn't sound fake, so let's party. I like how the drummer's playing ride most of the way. That wouldn't last for too much longer. Wild guess - is this the Cool Aid Chemists? TRACK NINE - Hmmmm....sounds like a Steve Miller song... TRACK TEN - Johnny Hartman, obviously, but I don't know the album. Sonds pretty good. Oh shit...I just found it on AMG, and this is one of those LPs I've bought in the last two or so years but just haven't got around to listening to yet. Isn't that special... TRACK ELEVEN - Land/Hutch, I think. Maybe from one of Harold's Mainstream sides. Production is loose, almost ragged, but flaws and all, I'll take it. Not too much of it, but I'll take it. Call me easy. Live, I bet this shit was a groove. But the drummer needs...to relax. A little. That would have worked wonders. TRACK TWELVE - No idea, sounds familiar. Good stuff. Cat's speaking the language. Sounds somewhat Moody-influenced, but not Moody, I don't think (therefore I ain't). Everybody sounds comfortable, if a tad agoraphobic. But no biggie. Probably from a different time than today, and that matters. Sounds like good peoples. TRACK THIRTEEN - Tonight! At Noon! Damn, this is some badass shit here. No wonder they kept it in the can for a few years, this would've killed some motherfuckers. Shafi Hadi, y'all! You know, I rail against stuff like fear, complacency, living in a cave, easy acquiesesnce to "style", stuff like that, and geez Jim, do you still even LIKE jazz? Well, hell. Here it is - life, pure life, and it sure sounds like jazz to me. So yeah, I still LIKE jazz. But I like life more. Great when you get both in the same package, ain't it? TRACK FOURTEEN - How are things in your town? TRACK FIFTEEN - Well, ok. I was thinking some Carla Bley bit of wryness I'd not yet heard, got to detectivizing, and found out the real deal. At least they were both on ECM! Knowing who this is, I wonder if the humor I feel is as much as was intended. Who knows? Great way to end a side, that's all I know for sure. Thanks, Ray. I think this disc was my favorite of the two. All in all, a most pleasurable 2-CD excursion!

Did somebody say, "WAKE UP!"? I believe they did...

Or just the inevitable end of a centuries long cycle?

Well, yeah, I was a bit strong in my reaction, but sincere neverhteless. For any number of reasons, I've been becoming increasingly revulsed (yeah, revulsed) by the all-too-common mindset of all-too-many "jazz people" that you prove your hipness by belittling the un-hip. I mean, yeah, ok, some folks are totally un-hip and can make make life a drag for the rest of us, but unless they're doing it intentionally/maliciously, I can't hate them just for being who they are. It takes all types, and those folks got lives and souls just the same as anybody else. So how "hip" is it to belittle them, especially if it's in the spirit of thinking that you somehow get built up by tearing down? If anything, I think it's terribly unhip... Now. "tweaking" I can certainly understand. And outright anger I can also relate too. But those are both actions rooted in love, I think. The notion of picking on somebody "smaller" (perceived or otherwise) than yourself, though, that's just old-fashioned bullying, and I think we all know what's inside the psyche of a bully. It sure ain't love. And a jazz bully? Hey - look around, Mr. & Mrs. Hip, it ain't exactly your world anymore, is it? Not even the hip parts, unless you consider dead or near-dead excursions to a mid-20th Century esthetic to be "hip". Is the world passing you by? Quite possibly. So who the phuck are you to be making fun of other people who the world's passed by? You're one of them now. Maybe that's not what the intent of this piece was, and maybe I just took it too personal, projecting onto it a lot of shit I've been examining in my world lately. Entirely possible. But right or wrong, that's how it hit me anyways.

Nah. I'm just old enough to have heard some of it when it was new, and some more of it when I was new...

#10 is #5 from this CD.

Yes I did, and yes he did.

Butch Morris?

And so it is! I missed the "yippee-aye-ay" part and thought it was "When Johnny Comes Marching Home". Wow.

Downlaod/burn went off w/o a hitch. MP3 sound quality was not a problem, as a rule. A few non-dedicated listens is all I've had until now. The usual thanks and disclaimers are firmly in place. TRACK ONE - Wayne/Herbie @ The Opera House. Why the phuck this hasn't been reissued is beyond me. TRACK TWO - Don't know. Good, moody. vibe that conjure images of anywhere from ca. 1976 - ca. 1984 or so. Too much of this stuff gets me wanting to grow my beard back, find a bunch of corduroy jackets w/elbow patches, and choose to contemplate the meaning of all the leaves in the yard instead of raking them up. But as part of a well-balanced jazz buffet, it has its place, and a welcome place it is. All that moving up and around leaves one with the need to occasionally sit down. Cymbals sound ECM-ish to me, so maybe Art Lande? TRACK THREE - Burton, Times Square, "Como En Vietnam". I'm not a Burton fan generally, but this was a pretty good side. Hell, Roy Haynes! Overall, I find it lacking in a certain "swagger" (in soite of Roy), but Burton is who Burton is, and Burton does what Burton does, so hey. TRACK FOUR - Max/Odean, Chattahoochie Red "I Remember Clifford". Short but sweet (enough). This was from the time when Max started making band albums w/shorter "showcase" numbers instead of full-length excursions. Mileages may vary on how satisfying that concept was. I know mine does. But yeah, ok, Odean's the real deal, and if he's heard to better advantage elsewhere, at least he's heard here. TRACK FIVE - Ray Anderson? Kinda perverse, like Bill Harris w/o the winks... "The Nearness Of You" becomes a threat to get goosed... TRACK SIX - Well, Sam I recognize. Hard not to recognize Sam, god bless him. Don't readily recognize the altoist (might have at one time) who is probably a better player than he shows here. Bass/drums tandem is locked in nicely, even if that compunction to SWING is something that seems a little bit forced to me these days, although the source is probably subconscious instead of conscious. Ok, it's a blues, it SWINGS, and Sam is a true & genuine treasure (and he swings, pulling the bass/drums into his zone in the process, which is a good thing). Other than that, not too much to say. TRACK SEVEN - Jeez, this sounds familiar... Sounds like a Columbia thing, that studio sound is pretty distinctive. Well ok, there's Phil Woods... Lots of chartage...and a cast of character! Teddy Charles? Very much of its time in style and content, but it still sounds good, possibly for exactly that reason. TRACK EIGHT - Monty Alexander? I remember him doing this back in the day, but don't remember exactly what it sounded like. Don't think it was like this though, his was more of a "fantasia" as I remember. so... It's ok, but if it was me who was coming marching home again hooray hooray, I think I might want something a little different. But that's just me. TRACK NINE - Well now! Absolutely no idea, but it's a good tune, good, challenging changes, and everybody came to play. After a while, it gets kinda jazz-geeky, but that's gonna happen sometimes. Can't say that I "love" it, but in a club, it would be fun for a set or so. TRACK TEN - Clark Terry sat on my mother's birthday cake and did not offer restituion in a timely manner. Clark Terry put the wrong size tires on my car. Clark Terry.....oh wait, wrong thread... Well, that sounds like Sam Woodyard on the intro (but not once they get into the tune), and parts of the ensemble sound like some Ellingtonians are involved, but I think I hear Kenny Burrell, so it's probably some side project. Writing sounds more Duke-inspired than Dukish, so I don't know... Probably some Verve date (it's got that Verve vinyl sound to it) by somebody I should know. Might even be Oliver Nelson's writing, but I don't think so. It's good. TRACK ELEVEN - Again, no idea. Noticably in stereo! Geez, the drummer almsot reminds me of Elvin in his "undercover" bag... Boisterous trombone sections like this are thin ice for me. The ice doesn't crack, but not for lack of trying. Pianist is the most interesting player for me. Again w/the Duke influence! Wait - tell me this isn't the Randy Weston Destry Rides Again thing! Wow... TRACK TWELVE - C'mon in, we've been waiting for you! It's time for Art Linkletter's House Party! Thank you Muzzy Marcellino! Or not... Well, ok, it's good, no doubt about that, but life is short, even if studio time isn't. TRACK THIRTEEN - Ok, I'm nothing if not a wlaking contradiction. I like this. Pretty sure that's one of those Bud Shank World Pacific "easy listening" sides. Shank's actually pretty identifiable once you get to know him. Depending on shich system I'm listening on, the trumpeter has a Thad Jones flayor to his tone. Don't know if that at all plausible, but... Anyway, if you gotta make crap for the radio, make it good crap! And I think that this is good crap. Not great crap, miond you, but certainly good. I'd not switch the dial. TRACK FOURTEEN - Ok, I recognize "Mornin', Reverend", but this ain't the original. Is this from the Horizon side? I missed that one, unfortunately, sounds like a keeper. If that's it, this would be Gregory Herbert, somebody who may or may not have turned into somebody/something other than a "promising talent". But by all accounts, he was a big asshole, a big drug addict, and now he's dead. So we'll never know. Let that be a lesson to us all. TRACK FIFTEEN - The mother of greatness! Generally never dug her band too much, but damn, the woman can write. Like mother, like daughter. "Road Time Shuffle" is the tune. I've come to like Lew more and more over time, he reminds me of Shepp coming from the other side of the tracks (and all that implies). And time has deepened my appreciation for what a long strange trip it's had to have been for Toshiko, and what a strong spirit she's had to have had to have done all she's done. Again, like mother, like daughter, and in the end, that's what it's all about - spirit. Never mind if the band sounds hopelssly white, L.A. studio-ish, the spirit's in the writing, and the spirit ultimately is what somes through. Hell yeah. TRACK SIXTEEN - I'm guessing Sheila Jordan, and I don't like it. She herself is somebody I'm on a case-by-case basis with, and there have been any number of things by her that I've liked. But this is a stupid and smug song done stupidly and smugly. Look, I should be able to relate to this, it's certainly not that I think it's "unfair" or anything. It's certainly "fair". But this is not a beautiful spirit at play, at least not here. This is ugly and mean. They think it's "funny". It's not. It's the spirit of death, not life, and as such, I deny it's validity in my life. A pleasant ride, Ray. I'll get to Disc Two tomorrow, probably. That one was full of surprises too!

And thus did Trane die unfulfilled.

Oh, really? Hey, who wrote that? Clark Terry?

Was it by any chance a desert island? And if so, what 5 artists' work (or 10 BN albums) did he take with him? These things matter, doncha' know!

Oh, really?

Max Alvis Sudden Sam McDowell Quickdraw McGraw