JSngry

Jimmy Harrison George Harrison Rex Harrison

And make Vada Pinson a charter member!

Bust Wooshes!

I'm getting the Chu no matter what. That's the kind of stuff you just don't dick around with.

What's cool is where, in Forces In Motion, Braxton analyzes Warne Marsh's melodic contours.

Bob Thiele... Late in his career, with his own labels, he crossed the line. Yeah, that Theresa Brewer/Ellington thing damn near had me forgetting the entire Impulse! catalog.

Only slightly more grand in scope than the one time I saw him (Jazz Showcase, Chicago, 1981). He was only an hour-and-a-half late, there were no false starts by the band, and he didn't give us an explanation (now I feel cheated!). But you're right - that presence, that charisma, was damn near overpowering from the second that he walked into the room. If he'd have played even half as fucked up as he looked and acted (and probably was), I'd have felt cheated and been pissed. But he didn't - he was on, playing long, hard, never coasting. It was one of the most uplifiting gigs I've ever had the blessing of experiencing. And I wasn't the only one - damn near the entire room left out of there on a high. Dex's lifestyle was definitely not one I'd recommend to amateurs (and to none but the most trained professionals, if you know what I mean...), but he was who he was and he did what he did. When he did it like he did it that night, it's all the proof that I need that sometimes gettting what you want, need, even, doesn't always come on your terms. If it's good enough (and that night it was more than good enough), you put up with whatever it is that you gotta put up with to get it. Those who ain't willing to do that are well within their rights, but when the night is over, what matters is where you end up, not what you had to go through to get there.

Indeed it does. Wasn't aware that Lancaster had ever been in McCoy's road band. Would've loved to have heard that!

Andre Dawson was one of the most complete players I've ever had the pleasure of watching. Nothing he didn't/couldn't do (although it's ususally not a "glamor" thing for outfielders, his defense - ground covered, arm strength, situational instinct, etc. - was every bit as strong as his offense), and he did it all exceptionally well - and consistently. He easily gets my vote.

Yes, between my ears. It's all I got right now, but hey...

The Smooth Ones The Wild Bunch John Bunch

Nothing but the blest to you!

Tom Haller Juan Marichal John Roseboro

I thought that maybe he produced the Eddie Baccus date, but that was Jack Tracy.

It's the Tristano "ego vs id" thing. To which I say, be true to yourself either way.

Rumor has it that the team is going to change their name to Las Panochas de Dallas. Nobody here seems to be opposed...

I'll second that emotion. I'm particularly fond of Open Your Eyes You Can Fly.

Paul Revere Mark Lindsay Freddie Weller

Mr. Clean Weldon Irvine Washington Irving

I've never heard an overtly "commercial" Hermeto album in my life. That guy's too damn nuts to be commercial even if he wanted to be. As for the rest of it, yeah, there's definitely a "veneer" of one kind or another on a lot of it, but how much that bugs me depends on the degree that that veneer is designed to appeal to a broader market and how much of it is a legitimate attempt to bring one "flavor" into legitimate contact/interaction with another/others.

Jack Bailey Freddy Mercury Graham Parker

Ron Guidry Lou Boudreau Bucky Harris

This Jim has been similarly charged as well. Somewhat regularly, in fact, although now that all of our gray hairs are becoming visible from afar, it's become less of an issue...

I don't need any convincing that African retentions are very real or prevalent (I grew up in the rural American South, remember, and once I "discovered" real African music, culture, etc., a lot of things from my youth came into focus, and a lot of things I was to encounter had a much clearer context). My point is that these retentions are in place in spite of attempts to destroy them by the dominant culture, and that that "in spite of" makes for a different way of "being" than having a conscious knowledge of the links would, both in terms of how the retentions are executed and how the "new world" is percieved. Neither one is exactly "crystal clear", if you know what I mean. How could they be? And Cary's comments on the "rural"-ness of it all, for both black and white, are spot on, although ever since satellite TV and the internet became more common, the number of people who remain in that type of total isolation seems to be shrinking dramatically (and rapidly). The "old way" is no longer the only way, and you know that's going have an effect. However, if you seek hard enough, you can still find...

DWB is still a crime in many communities...