JSngry

Mr. Sandman Sweets Edison Edison Lighthouse

Got my discs from Big Al (gracias, amigo!) early last week. Just now having some free time to listen. The usual thanks and disclaimers are, as always, firmly in place. TRACK ONE - My, what an eclectic melange of influences. "All The Things You Are" modified in a less than totally traditional way by the "Giant Steps" formula over a (one-of-many) Mingusian groove, with a little vintage 78 sampling thrown in. Good enough, but in the end I was more impressed by the "on paper" aspect of the music than how the music reached me. Still, certainly not a straightforward regurgitation. I gotta conclude that the reason I wasn't particularly moved by this was that the players and I are probably occupying parallel (i.e. - non-intersecting) zones of interest/inspiration at this moment. No problem. TRACK TWO - Certainly got a Giuffre thing going on. Might be him, but I don't think so. I hear trombone bari, bass, and cello. Very nice playing by all, very free in feeling while staying in the zone of the composition. that ain't no small feat, let me tell you... No idea as to who it is, and once again, I'm appreciating it more than really feeling it, but I've been going through some pretty strong attitudinal changes the last few months, so that means nothing as far as whether or not I thinkthe music's good. Hell yeah it's good! TRACK THREE - Well, everytime I counted, it was in 7, which is how I was feeling it, so I guess I'm finally getting more intuitive about odd meters. Nice trio, nice chamber feel. Would this be Louis Sclavis? I like the way they attacked the music, keeping it quiet dynamically, but not so in intensity. Quiet fire, that's how it feels to me. A little less quiet wouldn't have offended me, but that's cool. They said what they had to say the way they wanted to say it, and that's all that counts. TRACK FOUR - Nice, but the whole "Second Line Beat Under Modern Content" thing's become a little cliched for me anymore. I also hear some more Mingus influence, like on the first cut. Cool, but Mingus' shit always had an emotional passion that I just don't feel here. Drummer seems a little stiff, and that's a drag. Stuff like this needs to have a dance compulsion going on in order for me to feel it. This one makes me feel like I should sit down and listen to some people playing dance music for the purpose of not dancing to it. Sorry, but I'm not that advanced a human... Dug the trumpeter, though. Things loosen up a bit during the trombone solo, but not enough to convince me that these guys maybe oughta get outta the house more... TRACK FIVE - All right, now this one has that dance propulsion going on. The tune itself doesn't really do too much for me, but oh well. Pianist is travelling once fresh but by now well trod roads, staying on the trail and going where the trail always leads. Bassist seems a little more in the moment. Good for him. Drummer really seems to be the real heart of the trio. Ultimately a little light in the content, but it's got a good beat and I can dance to it. I'll give it an 86, Dick. TRACK SIX - Oh! A dissonant voicing of a traditional line. Now that's a new idea... Fortunately, he/she let go of that pretty quicly. No harm, no foul. Now we're getting into a conspicuously "African" use of cross-rhythms. That feels good, but dammit, here comes the dissonance again. Just can't let a good feeling exist w/o throwing in a little angst, eh? Too bad... Here come the drums....and it's more using of good feelings to express something other. Ok, it's good playing, and I know where they're coming from musically and emotionally, but it's just so not what I'm hearing and feeling these days. Not their fault, and not their problem. TRACK SEVEN - not all that dissimilar to the previous cut in terms of macrotools being used, but this one feels a lot better to me. Altoist sounds very familiar. I should be able to call the name. This might well be Steve Coleman, who always delivers the goods for me. Yeah, this is good shit here! Jack on drums? Gimme som more of this, please! TRACK EIGHT On my last BFT, one of the selections that didn't make the final cut was the title track from Richard Davis' Song For Wounded Knee, a trio of Davis, DeJohnette, and Joe Beck, that was very similar to this one. I really like this vibe, relaxed and "bluesy" w/o being all blatant and shit. Very "conversational", individually and collectively. Good stuff. TRACK NINE - GREAT soprano tone! Started out thinking that this was going to be another one of those "too busy thinking about what you're trying to do to actually do it" cuts like #s 4 & 6, but dammit, they caught the groove and made it work throughout. Short & sweet too. More good stuff. TRACK TEN - Sorta M-Base-y, might actually be from that orb. Loved the altoist, wasn't too crazy about the arrangement. Wasn't too bummed by it either, just seemed like early on the electronics were grafted on, and that the accoustic sound/texture of the ensemble would've been more effective if done at least partially electronically, as they were later on into it. Go figure... But yeah, this is nice, and I think that it's probably some players whose names I know and respect. The whole thing gains momentum and interest as it goes along too. This one's a keeper, all things considered. TRACK ELEVEN - Very nice. Nothing at all "new" in the tune or the soloing, but the context negates that, maybe even makes that work in its favor. Of course, this basic format is the blueprint of The Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, but this is not them. Again, very nice. TRACK TWELVE - "Nuages", of course. Really could do w/o the electic bassist's string noise... Good playing other than that, but, uh... I'm not sure what difference it makes other than that it's two people who play well. TRACK THIRTEEN - Good cello playing, better than most, but again, not sure what difference it makes. Been there, done that, and w/o a rhythm section that's a little too enthusiastic. Sorry. TRACK FOURTEEN - OOOH, NICE writing and blend! "The Meaning Of The Blues", of course, a tune that Gil immortalized w/Miles and then, a few decades later, in a ElectroTechnicolor version featuring George Adams. The recording of the bass positions this as a post-60s version, and the vibist has a very Bags-ish tone, but it doesn't feel like Bags, not at all. He's much less nuanced and much less rhytmically subtle (Bag's rhythmic sense was one of the most fluid of all time, quiet as it's kept...). The arrrangement's the strong point of this one for me. Very nice. TRACK FIFTEEN - Interesting drummer, seems to be bringing some subtle Brazillian touches to an otherwise run-of-the-mill jazz waltz. Appreciated the fade, and the surprise ending insert even more! Thanks to Mike for a very diverse, (mostly) non-cliched collection (and for a few other surprises!). Didn't get a hardon for some of it, but I'd rather be non-moved by people trying something new than by people doing the same old same old. Kudos!

The Shampoo Girl At The Salon The Bird In A Gilded Cade A Fish Named Wanda

I like a Miami fan who doesn't resort to pussyphonics. Word!

Phil Donahue Oprah Orca

I like a Miami fan who doesn't resort to pussyphonics.

Not really a shot a Shocked, just a relative comparison in terms of being signed to BN. Vega's had some tangentally "jazz" related elements in her music over the years, and, to my knowledge, Shocked hasn't.

Nah, it'd be "Thank You...Falettinme...Be Mice Elf...Agin"

They'd better.

Now that was a good record! Is Rodney still in France? He's a cat I felt was just starting to get into something really exciting when he booked.

Their moniker is rightfully earned.

This afternoon, Avery announced on the local ESPN radio (the Randy Galloway show to be specific, for the locals) that he had been notified that Stack was getting a one game suspension. Un-be-liev-a-BULL. Otoh, Benga's back for Game 5, so that's 6 more fouls we can take in the middle. Who knows?

The NBA had three highly qualified officials on the floor who reviewed the foul before making the call. Would the NBA dare say that those officials are not as qualified as they're made out to be? I think not. Not even that little weaselsquirt Stern is that transparent.

Tony the Tiger Great Ceasar's Ghost The Green Goddess

Oh boo hoo. The Daddy said afterwards that his daughter hits him harder than that. Does The Daddy now need a nursemaid to look after him?

Ah yes, the classic story of how the crafty fox convinced everybody that the grapes were no good, only to come back with a ladder aqt night when nobody was looking and devour them whole. I LOVE that story!

Exactly. I don't buy into the NBA Conspiracy theories (Stern hates Cuban, sure, but big deal. EVERYBODY hates stern, so that's a wash), but geez, if this goes down, you gotta wonder just what the hell is going on.

Well, the Mavs had all the momentum for 2 games and here we are. Momentum comes and momentum goes. I still have to believe that the Mavericks will get their shit together and come out on top. That's been the story of their season, teetering on the brink of falling back into their old ways only to pull it out and up at the last second. Hell, it was just in April that we were all getting worried that this team had lost its way and was going to be ripped by Memphis. These guys refuse to just go ahead and get it done in one fell swoop, damn them. But this year, they've always gotten it done, even if it was by the most gut-wrenching means imaginable. This series looks like it's going to be no different. Having said that, Wade really is a special talent, and if the Mavs can't find a way to slow him down (stopping him is going to be impossible), he can get into a groove that this bunch of head cases is going to have to dig extra deep inside be able to deal with. Do they have it in them? We'll see. Always the hard way with this bunch, always the hard way...

Local ESPN radio is quoting an unnamed NBA official that a suspension of Stackhouse for the Shaq foul is "currently under consideration". Give me a break...

63 titles carried, 25 currently in stock, for $12.98 at Da' Bastids: http://www.dustygroove.com/cgi-sys/cgiwrap...22&issearch=yes

The complexity for me is not just in the arrangements, or evenin the songs themselves, although that certainly is there. The real complexity, and the one that finally got in side my head and permanently messed it up, is the complexity of essence - the "unimusic" aspect of her work that I talked about earlier. Think about it - how many people are able to naturally bring all they are to their work? And how many people are so many things, not in an "either-or" way, but in a naturally oraganic way? Not that many, and even fewer over the last couple decades as societal and industrial changes have led to music getting more and more segregated, even as people are getting more and more culturally integrated. The global village is a reality, whether we realize it or not. You think about how special a person it takes to, not just "fuse" all these things, but to seemingly be all these things and still be an individual, much less what it takes to bring the nature of that individuality to a creative expression, and it makes one stop and take stock of exactly what it means to be a thinking, feeling, loving person in today's world. Not yesterday's world, but today's. It's easy living in yesterday's world, where identities (and therefore destinies) of all kinds are pretty much pre-defined. It's a lot harder to let go of all that, stand in the present, and look towards the future with all of the good things from the past along for the ride as tools of propulsion, not anchors of inertia. Monday seems to me to be the type of person for whom that more difficult way is the natural way, and for me, it's been a revelation to start thinking about my life in that way. I'd been getting old without realizing, and I'd been getting comfortable with that oldness. No more. I'm still more than willing to mature, gain whatever wisdom borne of experience I'm able to get, and to physically age. But I'll be damned if I'm going to get old. Old means saying "oh well" instead of "why not?" Old means only dreaming with your eyes closed, never with them open. Old means letting your lifeforce dwindle away and pretending that that's the way it's supposed to be. Old means losing the ability to distinguish between defeat and surrender. Old is the beginning of death. The body will die soon enough, regardless of the age of the spirit it contains, so why not keep the spirit alive, fresh, ready for surprises, and ever-growing? Why the hell not? Give me wisdom, give me maturity, and give me age. Those things I will accept with gratitude as the blessings of life that they are. But under no circumstances will I accept old.

Sorry, but the Mavs and Spurs played two rounds ago. Wade, otoh, is starting to have "one of those" series. Glad to see it, as he really is a special talent. The Heat are not a better team than either the Mavs or Spurs, not on paper, and not over the course of the regular season. But it ain't about who's a better team, it's about whether or not you can play up to your full potential and prove that you're a champion. Right now, the Mavericks are nowhere near playing like a champion. If they lose this series, there's going to be some serious head trips going on, and there damn well should be. This team can only lose by choking, and chokers suck.

Note to Avery: Have your tema get their hearing checked. What they needed to increase was their focus, not their fuckups... Riley called it right after the game - from here on out, it's as much about will as skill. And the Mavericks look to be sorely lacking in that right now. Gut check, motherfuckers, gut check.

Yep, it didn't jump out at me the first few times either. But when it finally did, it jumped out screaming. There's just so much "there" there...

Ok, bit-torrent the little ones then. That's the way to do it.