JSngry

Todd Barkan seems to be emerging as an inveterate taper, so...

I'd blame kook.

"Dear Sir" is one of the baddest things anybody's ever done, period.

Half the clutter of mine, but twice the space!

Way to go! Keep an eye on your escrow account - mortgage companies can legally put you through some changes about it. Don't necessarily believe the numbers you were quoted at closing - it's not unheard of for the "estimates" for taxes and insurance (mostly taxes, since you probably lined up your own insurance) to be lower so the monthly payment looks more appealing. Do some reserach ASAP to find out what your REAL tax bill will be, and get the momey into your escrow account so you can avoid a surprise escrow shortage next year. Mortgage companies are allowed by law to have a full years + two months worth of tax and insurance calculated into your monthly payment. They are also legally allowed to "estimate" future increases for same. If you overpay, you get a refund at the end of the annual cycle, but if your escrow account is "underfunded" at the time of the annual analysis, they give you the option of paying in a lump sum or spreading the increase out over the next twelve months. This catches a LOT of people off guard, because if the mortgage company underestimated to a significant enough degree, your monthly payment can increase quite a bit. And it's all legal. Also, if you haven't signed up for some sort of automatic payment plan (a wise idea if practical, I think. Eliminates the chances of those pesky late fees), make sure you understand EXACTLY how your mortgage company (or, in all liklihood, the company that will soon assume your loan, either outright or through servicing rights) handles their payment processing in regard to coupons, automatic distribution of any excess funds paid, etc. I've been working in the payment processing department of a major mortgage company, and the problems I see created by the combination of an uninformed customer meeting an automated distribution system are seemingly infinite. Every company has a procedeure, as well as a way to override it, but unless you know how their system works, you can end up spending hours on the phone w/the customer servive department trying to straighten things out, and knowing your, uh, "low tolerance" for apathy and ineptitude, I'd think that that would be something you'd want to avoid for the sake of everybody concerned. A bit of a hassle sure, but that's just the cost of doing business. Home ownership is a beautiful thing, no matter how much hassle is involved. Forty acres and a mule it ain't, but it's the next best thing. Congratulations again!

Any indication what that might be?

http://www.woodyshaw.com/index.htm Not fully construcred yet, but hey...

No, although I do prefer not doing laundry, but that's a different matter altogether... This is a serious inquiry. Really!

No, I'm not gathering anecdotal evidence for a class-action suit or anything like that. I'm just curious. Over the years, we buy Tide for a while, and every time, we have to stop after a month or so because it the laundry we wash with it irritates my son's skin as well as mine. We switch to a different detergent, and the problems clear up almost immediately. We have this problem even with Tide Free. Obviously, there's something in Tide that does not agree with our skin, and it's equally obvious that it's not something that intereferes with most other people, given the detergent's popularity. But like I said, I'm just curious - does Tide irritate YOUR skin?

Does Steve Beresford have a history as a student/protege/whatever of Stan Tracey?

They gotcha' hooked, don't they... Face it: Dusty Groove = the BASTARDS!

Oh yeah, Milt Grayson. as well.

Jimmy Grissom! Rock City Rock, baby!

I found OMAHA BBQ in the cutout bins about 20 years ago, and it's a trip. Most of it has the "Sea Hunt" sound, which is what I call it when the vibes play sustained chords with the tremelo/vibtato/whatever turned ALL the way up. But the last 2-3 cuts are good ol' jump blues. Emmenintly satisfying, they are.

The Queen Bea!

What's cracking me up is that I bought the Absolute Beginners ST on secondhand cassette about 3 years ago because I'm an aspiring Gil Evans completist and that was the only way I could find it, but was so unmotivated to actually listen to it due to all the pans it's received that this is the firsttime I've heard anything from it! But that defintiely explains my enthusiasm for the intro, before it gets silly. THAT'S writing!

Can't forget this one! Seems like the 1949 session w/Getz, Zoot, & Brew Moore is the more "famous", but for my money, the 1952 date w/Zoot, Kai Winding, George Wallington, Percy Heath, & Art Blakey (it's hard to imagine putting a rhythm section like that together today, and not just because 2/3 of them are dead) is infintiely more satisfying. One of my favorite albums of the "Brothers" ilk.

Well, hey. I dig her very much. I like her audaciousness and her willingness to not be a "singer of songs" as much as a "vocal interpreter" who took somewhat the same approach to the material that a horn player might. Not for nothing did she title one of her albums "It's Not About The Melody". Nor, apparently, was it about the words. What and where does that leave a singer to work with? It leaves them working without a net and just with their imagination. I can see how Carter's approach is off-putting to some, and I don't doubt that she could safely be classified as an "accquired taste". But it's definitely a taste that I have accquired. And seeing her live, sitting off to the side of the bandstand and behind her was one of the most intense listening experiences I've ever had. The only time I got to see her face was when she turned around to face the band, and she only turned around to face the band when she wanted them to go somewhere other than where they were. I tell you, if I was working that gig, I'd be ready for ANYTHING at any time, and if I missed picking up on her direction, I think I'd sleep with one eye open that night. Hell, I kinda got nervous just WATCHING it. That's how focused and intense she was. But the looks nad the demenor paid off - the band swung their ass of, and followed Betty to some pretty wild places. Like I said, not for everybody, no doubt, that kind of thng, but I sure dug it. Different strokes for different fokes!

Mingus worked in Rey's band. I remember the King Family show, and it was as described above. The only cool thing was that Alvino had his console guitar hooked up to run his voice through it or something. It was called a "talking guitar". Pretty nifty.

Same here!

The Xanadu stuff is PRIME!

I just contacted him through the Mosaic site. Anybody can do it! It's a small operation, staffwise, so just specify in the body of your message that it's for Mike. Odds are pretty godd that he'll be the one to read it first anyway. I've sent occasional mail, postal and e-, for about 20 years now and have never failed to get a response in kind.

Y'all are just plain WRONG!

I JUST GOT AN E-MAIL FROM MICHAEL CUSCUNA!!!!!!!!!!! I'm influencing reissue policy!!!!!!

"I Wanna Be Like You" ROCKS!