JSngry

Used to be that a good light bulb would last and last and last. Now it seems like they burn out if you so much as look at them funny (and I do...). What gives? The three leading brands suck. Phillips, the best of the batch, offers what what once would have been considered average life span. Plus, thier bulbs are not as widely carried as other brands in the usual outlets like grocery stores and harware emporiums. GE, well, let's just say they bring good things to life and then leave 'em there for somebody else to take home. Yuck. Sylvania? Might as well use candles and kerosene lanterns. The light may be dimmer, but it'll last longer. I know that there's genuine "long life" bulbs that really do provide a long and illuminatory life, but geez - all major brand light bulbs used to do that. Plus, these good bulbs are only available at specialty lighting stores (in this neck of the woods, anyway), and that means a "special trip" just to buy some freakin' light bulbs. Please, my time is too expensive, and I'm not your little boy. Anybody else fed up with the decline of the consumer light bulb in America? I tell you, I've just about had it up to here with this crap. Can't cost that much more to make a decent consumer-level light bulb. It just can't. Into the socket is not the only way that these sorry muthophukkin cheapass lightbulbs are participating in the screwing of the American consumer. Thank you for your time.

Thanks for the kind words. Not to appear obsessive or anything, but I did some fixing/rewriting of some portions of the review, and think it's now better. Thanks to Joe Milazzo for facilitating a second chance. It's still here: http://www.bagatellen.com/archives/reviews/000887.html and that, as they say, is that.

82 is a good run for anybody, and Percy HEath's run was a damn good one. So, although I will miss his presence as a still-great living link to a day gone by, I can't curse the inevitable, and will instead celebrate his legacy, which is indeed immense. R.I.P., Percy Heath, and much thanks!

From the "where have I heard that before?" file:

I'm on a roll, it seems. Time for somebody to step up and bitch-slap me back down to size!

The abiltiy to elicit a laugh and a wink can do wonderous things for a young man such as yourself Hear me now and believe me later!

I know. But the Seanfest link was too good not to use.

Tell Bill to say "hi" to his brother Whoodie for me, ok?

The smoke has yet to clear, apparently.

So, are you in Seanfest? And does Seanfest have another meaning besides this one: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=seanfest ? For your sake, I hope so!

Ok, here's another wild run... Do any discographies list a Gerald Wiggins session that matches what is, IIRC, the one on Crown CLP-5415? Here's why I ask - That album is listed as being by Stan Getz, even though Getz is nowhere to be heard on the album (he is, however, seen on the cover photo). The tenorist on that quartet date, however, does seem to be attemtoing to mimic Getz somewhat, although, as is the case w/the altiost on the George Nielsen quartet (and are there any discographical entries for George Nielsen?), with pretty "off" intonation and a relatively plodding tone (again, similar to the Nielsen altoist), It doesn't really sound like Buddy Collette, although I suppose it could be his on a day where he felt very "casual". So what we have is - A) a possible Getz imitator, B) a really poor Desmond imitator (gets the lines fairly right, but that's it), and C) a really good probable McLean imitator. What they all have in common is a heavy articulation, a tone that sounds like somebody overblowing their mouthpiece to varying degrees, and less than "perfect" intonation, none of which raise a red flag for the McLean-esque piece, but all of which do suggest that they might all be the same cat. Plus, all these qualities sound as if they might well be intentional, just by how they come out. Some things just don't happen by accident, at least not consistently, and to the same degree every time. So, the next question is - was there any saxophonist around back then who had an "inside" reputation as a musical mimicker, either as an insiode joke or as a career strategy? If the Wiggins/Collete date pans out as legit, that might shoot the theory down pretty quickly, unless Collette did some mimicking work for grins and a few extra bucks. Doesn't seem too plausible to me, but stranger things have happened. Maybe I'm crazy. But if I am, it's because I just woke up and haven't fully re-oxygenated my brain yet.

Hey - he's already "not Republican", so leave well enough alone!

Thanks, Mike, but... No way. That's definitely NOT WIllie Smith, and that's definitely NOT a recording from that particular concert. I've got other material from it, and A) the recording quality is totally different and B) the audience is very noisy, applauding after every solo and for most every "hot lick". The mystery medley in question is definitely a 50s studio recording. So - I'm as sure as sure can be that both Bruyninckx & Lord are dead wrong. You can make book on it. Although, the suggestion of Hamp (who might be the vibist, even though there's no soloing, which would seem to rule him out, just because of the nature of the beast...) leads to a wild free-association guess that does fit audibly probable time (early-mid 1950s) and place (Los Angeles, approximately) - Anthony Ortega, maybe? The mystery continues!

If I took an entire month off, I think I'd aim just a little bit lower...

Isn't it time that Leonard Nimoy received the Moe's Ache treatment?

Then dream about a Clare Fisher Mosaic that's only released on 78s. Voila - SYNERGY!

Well, as long as you're dreaming, dream of a Fisher Mosaic of the PJ and Revelation sides. Can't hurt nuthin'!

I've got a Crown Brubeck LP (Dave Brubeck Quartet Featuring Paul Desmond - Crown CLP-5470) that has the real "Perfume Counter" on one side (Side Two, actually), and three cuts on Side One - "Angel Eyes" by the George Nielsen Quartet (whoever he/they might be/have been), "Crazy Time" (as noted above aka "Crazy Chris", and "Purple Moon", which is actually "Sacre Blues" from a Paul Desmond quartet w/Don Elliot. Those last two are Fantasy items, obviously, but who the hell is George Nielsen and his quartet? The altoist sounds like he(?)'s attempting to ape Desmond's phraseology, but with a tone that ain't even close, and intonation that is wobbly at best. And no, I seriously don't think it's the McLean clone, unless there was a guy back then who was an "alto impressionist" of varying degrees of effectiveness.

I have that "Things" on a Crown "Getz" LP - (Crown CLP-5415), which is actually "Groovin' High" w/Wardell Grey, etc. from a Just Jazz Concert, "Things" (which is actually a medley combined w/"Embraceable You") on one side, and 4 cuts ("Evergreen", "Bye Bye" (based on "Gone With The Wind", "The Groove", & "Lucky Me" (based on "It Could Happen To You" ) by what I believe I once read in a discography long ago and far away was a Gerald Wiggins 4tet w/Buddy Collette, which would make sense, because the cover lists the album as being by Stan Getz, Errol Garner, Sonny Criss, and Buddy Collette. The altoist on the medley sounds a lot like McClean, but I don't think it is. Little stylistic/technical things here and there don't sound like McLean of the mid-50s (which is when that session would almost have to be from), and a very few don't sound like McLean at all, notably an "English Country Garden" tag at the end where the change in tone and articulation really betray that this is somebody besides J-Mac, I think. The distinguishing thing to this piece, besides the medley aspect, is that the rhythm section contains both piano & vibes. So if anybody can make a positive ID on a medley of "These Foolish Things/Embraceable You" from a session w/an alto/vibes/piano/bass/drums 5tet, I believe we'll have our man/men for "Wash Out".

That'll larn ya.

Not exactly a concept worth staying up past midnight for, but a set of Claire Fisher's PJ & Revelation albums wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.

Who is "Y'all"?

In case anybody's interested, the Bagatellen review is finally completed and online: http://www.bagatellen.com/archives/reviews/000887.html

That's a question where yes means no, no means yes, and maybe means nothing! You've been around them freakin' politicians too long, dude.

Not with your own money, no, I'd think not. Unless you're in the market for a cure to narcolepsy. But even then, the cure might be worse than the disease...