JSngry

Thanks, will do.

Well, I'm actually a Grumpy Middle-Aged Man, but part of that deal is feeling old before your time...

Free-form radio, when it works, is a very personal experience for the DJ and the listener alike, and very much an "in the moment" kind of thing. You can't make a go of it in the larger marketplace (at least not in America...) over the long haul for precisely that reason, but it's still a nice experience to have had.

Well, no, but when Miles Davis was playing international playboy and superstar in the 1970s, he was riding on the success of . . . his Prestige Recordings? ← No, a combination of the 1950s Columbia sides and Bitches Brew and the accumulation of a lot of press hype in between. Truthfully, Miles was already considered an innovator before his Prestige sides, thanks to what's come to be known as The Birth Of The Cool. He could've died in 1952 and still been considered an innovator. Probably not a world famous one, though. I think the point is that McDonough's assertation that it's the Avakian-produced Miles sides are the ones on which Davis's reputation as an innovator rests is more than a little overstated. The "legend" was created over the long haul, not with one or two albums. Avakian helped create the star, but that's only a portion of the legend. How many stars become legends and don't just stay stars? Some and none, mostly the latter. Well, again - if they don't know anything coming in, and are likely to know not too much more on the way out, you might as well, give'em the facts, not the half-truths or convinient-but-innacurate soundbites. To say that Avakian's productions went a long way towards creating the reputation is accurate. To say that they ARE the reputation, isn't, and you don't have to delve into the minutiae of jazz history to delinitate that. I don't know if McDonough's choice of words was an intentional statement of his well-known "agenda" or if it was just a throwaway line meant to flatter the subject of his article in the eyes of the readership. Either way, it's just not good writing, because it's A) not accurate, and B) the great George Avakian has enough other accomplishments that equally qualify as legendary, so there's no need to create the impression that. "Hey y'all, this is the guy that made Miles Davis a STAR!" and let it go at that. Again, no need to go into minutiae - a single sentence could get the point across just dandily. Seems like everywhere I go these days, I'm surrounded by slop, people who know better not doing better, and people who don't know better (but should) not caring to do so when presented with the opportunity and the means. Fuck that shit. It's official - I'm now a Grumpy Old Man.

From 1996: AMG give is 4.5 stars. I'd give it 4 (if I gave stars...), but no matter. You're gonna have to try real hard (and perhaps have an agenda/personal issues/whatever) to be a Rollins fan and not find this one pretty damn enjoyable. 1989 ain't recent (neither is 1996 for that matter...), but this recent AOW selection ain't too shabby either. Of course, there's this 9/11 Concert thing that the new Milestone/Concord labe has slated for release, so who knows?

← KNON lives, and lives reasonably well, all things considered. Home to Gospel, Redneck, Blues, Indian, and all other types of music, all presented from within the community for the community. And, as noted above, they do have some jazz action. ACORN is one of theose "public advocacy" groups that'll drive you nuts with their whining and finger-pointing, but for every red herring they throw up, they're just as likely to hit on a legitimate issue. Better to have'em around than not, I say. What KNON is that KCHU never was is structured. Sometimes on KCHU, it would be totally free-form - you'd have no idea what you'd hear next, it could literally be anything followed by anything else, all day/night long. I know that's a recipie for limited appeal, but dammit, I dug it. I think that everybody should experience exposure to free-form radio at least once in their life. You got until your dying days to live in the regimented world, and you probably will. Might as well do so with a twinkle in your eye from knowing that somewhere, at some time, if only for a moment, it didn't have to be that way. People who don't have that twinkle are dangerous.

Actually, I wasn't in the least bit angry while talking to Mark, since a position such as his is what I've come to expect from the whole UNT/Jazz Ed. I've had over 30 years of dealing with them and the fallout they create over the whole DFW "jazz scene". I was disappointed, though, and that's my fault for expecting something other than the same old same old from the "usual suspects". But hope springs eternal, as they say, even if it is the hope of a fool. You know, the school bought Sam Rivers in as guest lecturer/performer a few years ago, so I thought that maybe, just maybe, things were opening up a little bit. But other than a few cuts from Fuschia Swing Song played the days that he was here, I've not heard any more Sam Rivers on KNTU. At least he got a better deal than Gerry Hemmingway - he came to lecture & perform abd didn't get any airplay, then or since. But you can hear all the Marvin Stamm you want. Or in my case, more than you want... I'm a long-time advocate of the parallel universe concept, and I should've followed it here. No sense in expecting people to be anything other than what they are, doncha' know...

My gift to you. Becuase I care.

Thoughts/prayers/etc. to all involved. This ain't cool.

Looking at that possible set list, I'd think that any qualms about this being a "compromised" date are probably not too well-founded! If that's in fact what's on there, which we admittedly don't know. But hey - pretty straight ahead set list, and other live recordings from the period show that a tune like "Fiddler" was treated, unlike the studio recording, as an all-out, no holds barred, blowing vehicle. So I for one am looking forward to checking this one out. Hearing Herbie Lewis with this band holds more than a little allure for me as well!

I was being totally calm and respectful when the cat hung up on me. I can play that card at least as well as I can the raving lunatic one. I figure the cat either knew that he was being called upon to defend the indefensible and decided to cut his losses and fold the hand immediately, or else that he's one of those types whose go-to when faced with confrontation, even simple and courteous disagreement is to run and hide. I think the common term for that type is "pussy". Works for me! And no, I'm not even attempting to be calm and respectful in this thread.

"Show & Tell" is a great record!

Hey man, screwing 16 year olds is what Rock Stars are supposed to do, so let's not get too offended. I myself am more offended that a schmuck like Gary Puckett got to be a Rock Star in the first place!

Freestyle is to commercial rap what Duke Ellington is to The Moms and Dads. More info on this documentary, please?!?!?

KCHU was the greatest radio station in the history of the WORLD!

No harm whatsoever (although, if a Rock DJ pronounced a band's anme "Metal-EEK-a", don't you think that said DJ would be counselled immediately, if not sooner?), and, yeah, at least partof the reason I listen to KNTU is to hear the DJs mangle the names. It often happens when you least expect it, and the implications are amusing, to put it mildly. I mean, we're in a region where Hispanicity is one of the main cultural flavors, to the point where Onaje Alan Gumbs finds his Afro-Centric chosen name pronounced "o=NA-hey" on KNTU, like it's Spanish! Yet, Arturo Sandoval ends up getting called "sand-Oval", like an egg on the beach. It's freakin' hilarious! And then there's Hank Mobberly"... So yeah, I don't see the harm in teaching the broadcasters of the future how to read, or how to pronounce people's names correctly, especially names that are somewhat "familiar" to the world at large, but I know, that's a 20th Century notion, and it's a 21st Century world, so I view it all with the amusement of A MAn From Another Time. I'm less amused, though, by the notion of some fuckwad hiding records that people want to hear and people want to play just because in his little dick-tater head they're records that somehow, in some way, are not welcome at "his" station. Hey - it might be his job, but it sure as hell ain't his station. He's got jazz records that a portion of his jazz audience wants to hear, and he's hiding the shit like it poses some threat to national security or something. Plus, he's no doubt filling the minds of the young, clueless, and gullible in his midst with the notion, that people don't really want to hear this stuff, even though they say they do, so don't even think about it, because it's just a bunch of "fringe" shit anyways, and who cares about that, let's just play some real jazz he says without as much as a trace of irony?!?!?!?!!? ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Choo-Choo Coleman Chi-Chi Rodriguez Mary Poppins

As the Prophets T-birds so aptly put it, one's too many and a hundred ain't enough...

It got airplay on KNTU for about a week or so, and the cuts they played were indeed intriguing.

No. You've got Sonny & Philly doing "Surrey", and before that, the Bird/Max break on "Koko". Probably some others that I'm not thinking of right now. And I believe that Bud Freeman & Ray McKinley did a whole duet 78 side back in the 1940s(?).

← Both, actually, for Byas, but for the thing with Getz, yes.

All packages have been sent as of this morning. Postal services of the world, it's on you now!

"Take Me to the Next Phase" by The Isley Brothers wouldn't hurt none. Might even help!

Then again, if you don't like the Eldridge Mosaic, you kinda deserve to be stuck with it so you can come to your senses!

They're not universally loved, but the Black Lion/1201/whatever 1963 dates from Montmartre show Byas playing very assertively and non-sentimentally, as does the 1961 Columbia date w/Bud Powell, A Tribute To Cannonball. There are those who find this phase of Byas' career less than satisfying, and I can see their point quite well. But still, the man was firing on all cylinders creatively and technically, and if he sometimes sounds as if he's trying a tad too hard to be "modern", it's still some hellaceous tenor playing nevertheless. I'd not be without it, just as I would not be without Byas' earlier work. Don Byas was BAAAAD! Also in much the same vein, but on LP only, at least in the US, to the best of my knowledge, are Americans In Europe on Impulse!. which is rougly contiguous to the aforemetnioned Columbia date, and Verve's Jazz At The Philharmonic In Europe where Byas goes head-to-head with Coleman Hawkins & Stan Getz. The latter in particular exemplifies, neigh, veritably defines, the phrase "no bullshit"!