JSngry

In his next life, he came back as a box of Depends.

The weekend brings us these new warriors, noble souls all: 24 - danasgoodstuff 25 - Durium 26 - Chuckyd4 27 - jazzmoose 28 - dutchmanx Boomchakkalakkalakka Boomchakkalakka Boom!

Sid.

Kinda glad it was started and finished before I bought a ticket.

Yeah, and it was called ....."Ah Ah Yawa Em Ekat Ot Gnimoc Eryeht" Square business.

For those who find Dizzy a revelation here, I strongly recommend the live big bamd sets on GNP & Vogue, and an airshot from Birdland (1952?), also with Bird (and Bud Powell and Roy Haynes). The convivial Dizzymusic that most of use have come to know and love is not necessarily the same Dizzymusic heard on these recordings. THAT Dizzymusic is freakin' dangerous.

See, there you have it - friendly, literate, ongoing disagreement. TURN BACK THE CLOCK!

Alexander and Kilpatrick were/are both throwbacks to a time when the "public" liberal/conservative divide was usually along the lines of methodology, not fundamental human values. It was a time when it was easy for all but the most reactionary on either side to feel genuine warmth towards those with whom they had political disagreement. It's still possible, of course, but not nearly as easy. It was a better time, I think. Here's one liberal who says, at least in this regard, "TURN BACK THE CLOCK!"

Diana Ross - "Touch Me In The Morning".

Remember how Earl Klugh was once George Benson's protege? This was pre-Breezin' There was one Klugh album where he did a straight-ahead version of "Bewithched", the TV theme. Nothing special other than it shows that he had those type of chops, and also shows why Benson took him under his wing. Sometimes I think there's not enough music, but too many people to play it. Or vice versa.

Goodman' specialty (hell, it might've been the only thing he did!) was the "interview" record, where tfe answers were song excerpts. I remember them popping up in (very) light rotation on Top-40 radios every few years, usually whenever there was a big national fad or something. But the only one I have a distinct memory of is the one about the UFO. See if he's on AMG. Everybody else is!

Dickie Goodman had "many" records of this ilk. It was sorta his thing, actually.

Took her for granted in the glory days. mainly due to the slick productions. But time has proven the error of that. This woman was truly one of the great singers of her time and genre. Still may be for all I know. Probably is. Next time you hear one of those old hits on the radio, block out everything else and just listen to her. Pretty damn amazing shit vocally, and not one drop of phoniness in it. Even on a piece of schlock like "Midnight Train To Georgia", she's singing at a very high level, both technically and emotionally. If it ain't the song, but the singer, then Gladys Knight IS. So yeah - Gladys Knight. There you go.

Good section playing (hearing it or doing it) is one of the great joys in life, but one that is sadly overlooked, un/underappreciated, and/or all but lost these days. Maybe the Spurs/Pistons series will get people to thinking!

Great, GREAT series. What a pleasure it was to watch two highest-level teams battle it out, with the last two games literally being moment-to-moment competitions. Watching the ebb and flow of the momentum, and how each team played off of it, was a rare treat. The "spectacle" might have been missing, but the art and science of the game itself was on full display. Liking both teams equally, I'd have been happy whoever won. And as Is aid elsewhere, if the series was 100 games, it could very likely end up 50-50. They're both champions, imo. As for Duncan - hey, besides his game, he brings what us old farts like to call "the intangibles". He sets the vibe for his team, and that vibe is a no-bullshit, stay focused and play or else get the hell out one that can't help but succeed. Even when his game is off, he always contributes something. The intangibles. If I'm building a team from scratch, I'm wanting Tim Duncan on it, no questions asked. Even if he is a turtlehead. Again, congrats to both teams, and I only hope that that their models of team basketball that emphasizes skill over show and focus over folly takes root and spreads throughout the league. For the first time in quite a while, I felt like I was watching two mature teams with nothing on their minds except the task at hand. These were men, dammit, not adolescents masquerading as adults. It felt like a championship series should feel. It felt damn good.

This just in - Big Al's address!

Check your scorecards - 22 - indigo 23 - fent99

This is the better value, I think.

Oh, definitely with. SOMEBODY needs to park the cars!

Also that Griffin was the guy who played the Honeymooner's theme with that gorgeous tone. Helluva career!

OTOH, if you had been born at the right time, you'd have only gotten to have heard it once, at most, and might well be dead by now.

Momma's Pizza on Parker in Plano, for nine years running. A video game in their restaurant malfunctioned for my daughter, and the punkass podhead behind the counter refused, steadfastly refused, to refund her quarter, even after a calm & reasoned parental pleading. She was five at the time! So F-U-C-K, FUCK Mamma's Pizza on Parker in Plano. They'll shaft a kid for 25 cents and have an attitude while doing it. Let them go suck on a dead dog's rotten cock and gag on their own puke while doing it. Forever. I can, sometimes, be quickly angered about certain customer service faux-pas(s), but I can be just as, if not more, easily assuaged, You fuck with my kids, though, and you are dead to me.

Just got to hear this myself, and it wasn't at all what I was expecting. I agree that the Miles comparisons are off-base. The music is somewaht "cinematic" in both intent and execution, I think. The electronic colors and "contemporary" grooves are used to evoke and create a specific aura/visual "space" rather than as mere effects/hooks. Given Blanchard's experiences in film scoring, this seems perfectly natural to me. Factor in Herbie's long-standing (if not always to the fore) position as one of the music's most provocative colorists, and I think you have grounds to say that this music is at least every bit as "organic" relative to its creators as any "straight ahead" work that they could do. Another thing - I hear nobody playing or writing anything on this album that couldn't also be played or written for a "traditional" jazz quintet. Change the underpinning to a Neo-Con Accoustifest ca. 1985, and you got basically the same record, just played with a more constant and predictable pallate. The fact that the underpinning isn't like that is to this record's credit, I think, because the musical use of these expanded tonal/textural resources brings the music further away from pure retro-ism, and more into continuum-ism. That's fine with me! OTOH, though, the core music that everybody makes here is still more in line with 1975 (or even 1965) than 2005, so it's hardly pointing the way to the future, or anything like that. Still, it's a very engaging set on its own terms, and if it points the way towards anything, I hope it's towards getting the more rigid/anal adherants of the "ACCOUSTIC OR DIE!!!" crowd to realize how idiotic their dogma really is. On a scale of 1-5, this record gets a solid 3.5 from me, which is almst twice what I was expecting. Kudos to all involved, and somewhat "recommended" as well.

If you have to ask...

Yeah, everybody digs The 1910 Fruitgum Company & The Ohio Express, but anybody who knows anything about anything knows that the REAL action was with The Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus.