JSngry

Davis hails from Pittsburgh and expatriated pretty early in the game. I think he's a fine player, actually, although his earlier recordings show him to be a "work in progress". I'm ok with that. Da' Bastids are currently offering two of his 70s albums. One's kind of a "fusion" type thing coming from the funk tip, and it's ok, but the other is a suite in memory of Dr. King that is very good, and unlike the typically optimistic hue these things tend to take, more than a little pessimistic in its overall attitude. A very provocative liste, actually. I had the pleasure of seeing Nathan Davis while I was still in high school. He appeared at a clinic along with Clark Terry, and he played just fine. I might even have a cassette of the performance stashed away in the closet somewhere. I consider him one of the "infantry soldiers" of the music, somebody who works hard at their craft and is constantly trying (and usually succeeding) to improve. Nothing glamorous or grippingly innovative about his playing, but that's not the point with players like this. The point is that they're out there trying to do what they do as best (and most importantly, sincerely) as they can do it, and they always seem to find someplace in which to do it. I have a lot of respect for that.

No such suggestion was ever made. Please, read closer and more carefully.

Suzy Chapstick Linda Lovelace Jimmy Lovelace

Yeah, to get the full Rachel Ray Intoxication Infusion, you gotta see her in motion. Her beauty is magnified by the action which accompanies it, and diminished by the omission of same. That's why I'm a little bugged by her seemingly sudden omnipresence on book shelvs and magazine racks. That same mug with that same smile is not a good thing, imo. This is one person whose beauty can not be "captured". I guess what I'm saying is - is there video from that photo shoot?

I'm not at all sure that playing what is already known isn't more of a "dumbing down" than trying to play what isn't. In a way t's like I'm being told that the most I'm capable of is having a Pavlovian reaction. Gee, thanks... NOT. Comfort food has its place, but let's call it what it is and enjoy it likewise.

Won't disagree with any of that Paul! Look, all I'm saying is that after years of hearing young(er) players making album after album of ching-chinga-ching-chinga-ching and variations thereof, as if it's not just their moral imperative to do so but also their only option, it's refreshing to hear something else delivered seriously and unapologetically. It's a big world, and there's a lot of different ways to swing. If you've had exposure to those different ways as part of your life, you're crazy (or musically xenophobic) not to use them in your music, I think. Of course "traditional" swing is the root of it all, and you'd be just as crazy to intentionally deny yourself the pleasure of using it, too. That's the roots. But otoh, what good are the roots if they don't grow into a full-bodied plant? And really - how is any different fo a young(er) guy (& really Potter's not "young" any more by any definiton) to stay focused on 1966 in 2006 than it would have been for a young(er) guy to focus on 1926 in 1966? 40 years is 40 years, and 2006 is as different to 1966 as 1966 was to 1926. Yet there's also certain constants that were present in 1926 that are still present in 2006. It's not so much that people have changed as it is that the world they live in has (and lord knows there's more than enough fodder for a navel-gazing thread contemplating how much of whiich is which. Not today, thanks). When you get more concerned with trying to keep "things" the same than with enjoying the evolution and trying to direct it in a positive direction (whatever you perceive that to be), or with being so concerned with remaining "pure" that you can't let yourself get sullied by the world in which, like it or not, for better or worse, you do live, then you got a problem. This I do believe. And I do hear Potter enjoyng himself on ths album in a way that I haven't heard before. Right on to that. Explore your world, that's all I'm saying, and report back on what you find, whatever it is. No need to "discard" anything in the process either. The basics are not going to "evaporate" or anything like that. They can't - they're too deeply ingrained in the collective psyche. But they can, and do, morph and evolve. Those morphings and evolutions can and should be exciting turf for a jazz musician, not something to fear and recoil from. Change is inevitable, but accepting it isn't. The world can pass you by, dig? Keep it open, not closed. That's all I'm saying.

Ooh Poop A Do!

One of the few Turrentines of this era that I have. Long story as to why. It's....Turrentine for People Who Frighten Easily, let me put it that way. Very pop-oriented (Wade Marcus charts, always a red flag for me), and nothing to get excited about. No real need to buy it unless you're a stone Turrentine completist, or unless you meet a woman who knows absolutely nothing about jazz and you want to break her in as gently as possible. But be careful - if you end up marrying her, she'll eventually hear the real stuff anyways, and you'll still have the damn album 25 years later.

I was at times reminded of those old Stone Alliance albums, which ain't a bad thing. I just like the fact that there's electricity and non-"swing" rhythms involved. The absence of the former and the presence of the latter are highly overvalued by younger players, I think. Play your world, not your father's and grandfather's. Potter still sounds a little too "close to the vest" for me personally, but I do hear less of it here than before. I'm encouraged by that.

Very nice side, but recorded (or mixed) with a "far away" quality that hides some of the energy.

Yes. I like it more than I usually like Chris Potter, who's nother one of those players about whom there's nothing really "wrong", but with whom I just don't connect. There's more than a few moments here where a connection is established, even if it's not an overpowering one.

WHOA!

After you made love in your Chevy van?

As soon as Dean Friedman lets me go. (glad a few people got it, btw!)

The up side to all this is that what was in its time one of the most reviled songs ever has not survived to be even a blip on the cultural radar of our younger people, and might well have been forgotten by those who were probably in a froth over it at the time (Moose?). "The Pina Colada song" is now VAPOR, as is, perhaps "Ariel". Gone and forgotten. Perhaps something to keep in mind when railing against today's crap, eh?

http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/dean_friedman/ariel.html

Sorry dude, that's a misunderstanding entirely of my own making. See the thread for an explanation. Some day, though. Maybe!

Keep doing it, then. Do LOTS of it in fact (if you have that option). The "novelty" will eventually wear off, and so will the nerves. Familiarity may not always breed contempt, but it definitely breeds familiarity, dig?

Sorry, Chuck. I was responding to your e-mail while you were posting. Full explanation included. Hey, now I know I'm old. I like to occasionally play a game of taking really bad song lyrics and presenting them at face value as real-life situations, and then go about crackin' on them in the same way. I just assumed that most everybody would recognize the opening post as a goof on Rupert Holmes' 70s cheese classic "The Pina Colada Song" and start cracking wise. Didn't expect anybody to take it seriously. My bad, and sincerest apologies to all who did. Rest assured, LTB & I are doing great! If it makes it any better, though, I've long had Seattle & Chicago on my short list of places to move to should Texas become truly unliveable. Again, sorry for the mixup.

To complicate matters further, she's got a sister on the East Coast named Ariel who likes musicians. Don't know if I'd have to worry about getting caught in the rain or drinking pina coladas with her, so that's a plus. But I hear she also like to wear peasant blouses with nothing on underneath. Peasant blouses????

But pina coladas are so...sexy!

It's just the getting caught in the rain thing. I'm afraid that that's a deal breaker.

Easy now... http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=17357

Don't be so sure...

I don't mind pina coladas. Not my favorite by a long shot, but hey, a buzz is a buzz. Hold the umbrella and serve it w/a Jack chaser, if that's alright, and I'm cool. But I really can't handle getting caught in the rain. Fuck that. Not really into yoga either, although I have a lot of respect for the discipline. But me personally, at this juncture? Nah, But the getting caught in the rain thing? Uh.......no. Again - fuck that. I've got half a brain, hopefully, and thoroughly enjoy making love at midnight, be it by my time zone or somebody/anybody else's. No problem there. And sure, wearing a cape to The Dunes is fine by me, especially if there's nothing underneath. But dammit, when I get caught in the rain, I get royally pissed and want to hurt somebody. Bad. Do I need to say it again? Didn't think so. So anyway, she sounds nice enough, but she wants me to come to Seattle. And I know it rains a lot there. And if she's one of these crazy bitches who like to get you into situations they know you don't like just to to try and get you to laugh at yourself and prove how "non-threatening" you really are, then I'm afraid there might be a problem. So... In summation: Yes - Pina coladas, not into yoga, half a brain, and making love at midnight. No - getting caught in the rain. One last time, to remove any and all uncertainty - fuck that. So, that's 4 out of 5. Should I chance it? As always, thanks in advance!