JSngry

Dude, if you only knew how easy it was...

If you're talking pure musical complexity, things like orchestration, reharmonization, difficulty of proper execution, etc, Gil wins hands down. No contest. Although, Oliver's better arrangements are a lot tougher to play correctly than they sound on a casual listen. The guy's inner voicings were often quite unusual, and getting the right blend is a bitch. And sometimes, his lines took on some pretty tricky intervallic business. The guy did a lot of hack work, but don't be fooled - he was a heavyweight as an arranger. Duke's things aren't really difficult, but they are quite ingenious. He had a unique way of voicing, a very keen ear for color and texture, and could get more sound out of fewer instruments than most folks. A very talented man, whose arrangements, like Nelson's but in a different way, offer more than might first meet the ear. Dameron is an archetype. Nothing really "difficult" about his writing NOW, but that's because he's been copied so much that his innovations have become second nature for several generations of players and writers. We should all give thanks. Where's Thad? Look in the dictionary under "difficult", "insane", "off the wall", and "what the hell is THIS", and you'll see the same illustration everytime - a Thad Jones 2nd Tenor part.

What does "better" mean?

So how long has this "Atkins Physicians Council" been in business anyway, and who's backing them? I as because that diet's been around seemingly forever, and I thought it had been discounted as "risky" in mainstream consciousness, and then all of a sudden, a few months or so ago, it seems like everybody I know is talking Atkins, and then I start seeing the logo on foods, restraunts, etc., and now Subwy's pimping their Atkins Diet wraps and shit like that. I've never seen such a concerted effort to get a "name diet" burned into the collective consciousness. This is a propaganda blitz of the highest order. So, who's behind it, and why don't they give a damn that the diet is not necessarily a good choice for many people? I don't want to go "political" either. This is business, marketing, all that, and it seems to be incredibly effective so far. I'm just curious as to the hows and whys.

You ever seen Artis the Spoonman? Pretty amazing cat.

This label is news to me. In keeping with assertions that Bill Grauer played a bigger role in the success than given credit for, and that the same goes for Dick Katz in hte early days of Milestone, one is left wondering if Keepnews had a partner in Tuba, and if perhaps the lack of one explains the label's short life. Or not.

I always enjoyed and appreciated Mike's input.

Meet The Payroll? Isn't that Tim Russert's show?

Yeah, I know AMG doesn't list it, but that's not conclusive evidence by a long shot. Ask Michael Howell. I think I saw it on Dusty Groove once, or someplace. Maybe it was some other label and it just LOOKED like a Prestige side, same layout, same fonts, etc. But I'm pretty sure there's another Grasella Oliphant album besides the two Atlantics. Couldn't fine any mention of it online, but I did find this: http://www.libertyellman.com/dates.html Looks like the cat's got a weekly gig in Jersey, w/Harold Ousley on board, no less!

I dunno, really. A recurrent lyric in the big hit, "Don't Know why" is ""Don't know why I didn't come". I don't THINK it's about orgasm, but how do you not make the joke, except by exercising maturity and self-control?

Al, rooster's away from the board a lot these days due to personal business, but somewhere on this board, somebody said that if you click on the link in his post and start putting in different numbers at tthe end of the URL, that you'll get a different topic with each number. Tedious, yeah, but that's the best info I have to give.

Same thing, only different, if you know what I mean. Definitely not as "friendly" of an interaction as APOGEE, but plenty of good music gets played nevertheless. I wasn't surprised to hear of the tension.

Maybe I'm having a brain fart, but I remember seeing one with a solid black strip about 1/4 way across the top with his name and that of the album, and then a photo underneath. also seems like he went by his full name, Grasella XXXXXX Oliphant, or some such. Maybe I'm wrong...

Maybe that's why she didn't come.

Ain't that the truth!

Oh, I hear you. You mean how Warne vibed Tabackin about playing "the black way", meaning imitative. Funny, but he seemed to have gotten along great w/the every-bit-as-much "black"-rooted Christlieb. Go figure. You never know what kind of stuff goes on between personalities, or what kind of attitude they bring to the gig with them on any given day.

I think it was recorded with a Steely Dan-eque "cleanliness" in mind, but that's just a guess. What bugged me was all the compression (again, just a guess, I'm no engineer) they put on the horns. Just plain ol' butt-ugly. But it seems to be gone now. Jim, Levy sounds fine here, I think, and also contributes some short but nice reminiscences to the liner note addendum.

You ever heard Mat Mathews? http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&u...l=Bu2jv7ipjg74r

Yep.

Did Ra ever use Theramin?

Bad context for the instrument (I don't really like those Ray Draper sides either). As a solo instrument in a Dirty Dozen-type context it works quite well, and there are some awesome players in those bands. Leave us not forget Howard Johnson either. (and same here, Draper does nothing for me either)

I think SEVEN STEPS might be a "sleeper" of an album for some, based on some of the comments here. But I've always enjoyed it immensely - the very beginning of the Second Quintet coupled with some gorgeous ballads w/Victor Feldman (what they do to and with "Basin Street Blues" is nothing short of miraculous, imo). I've been burnt out on "Joshua" (the tune) for a while now, but this version still works for me, and I can't imagine how the title tune & "So Near, So Far" must have sounded the first time out of the box to contemporaneous ears (TONY!!!!!). Maybe not as "important" an album as what was to come, but deeply rewarding nevertheless, at least for me.

Controversial? How so, Ron? Haven't heard that, not yet anyway. And yeah, the sound has been REALLY improved. This one was a bit of a "sensation" in my circle of friends back in ye olde college days, because for most of them, it was their first exposure to Warne. Major label, etc. But DAMN did the sound bug me - it didn't sound like Warne at all, but more like a chariacture of him (that and the occasional Becker/Fagin (I assume) induced massive overdubbing on one cut that's just WAAAY over the top (even if it does take the Clare Fischer chart on "Lennie's Pennies" as inspiration, or so it seems to me)). WARNE OUT came out not too long after, and I played it for some of my same buds, and their reaction was "Oh, so that's what he REALLY sounds like". And trust me dude, those two bonus cuts I mentioned are BAAAAADDDD!!!

Was he gay when he fathered Graham? Or did the direction Graham took in his music make him swear off procreation? And do I care even the slightest one way or the other? Can't answer the first two (although I'd answer the second with "wouldn't blame him if he did"), but the answer to the third is "no". Sorry. How about Wilmer and the Dukes? I'm wondering if DEEP ever crossed paths with that organization (or its members) back in the late-60s?

Just out on WB. Sounds like they got rid of the godawful compression that made listening to the old LP a bit of a "challenge" for me. So that's one piece of good news. But the REAL news is w/the three bonus cuts, two of which are significantly "better", I think, than some of the things that made it to the original - "Love Me" & "How About You?". Great stuff, truly great. Warm, deep, and ferociously swinging. Between this one and Chuck's forthcoming reissue of ALL MUSIC, anybody looking to get into (or deeper) Warne is gonna be well-served.