JSngry

Some constructive criticism, Geoff, if I may... A more accurate way to say this might be that Nichols wrote music that called for the drummer and bassist to contribute equal weight to the structure and direction of the music rather than to function in a purely supporting role, not that "Nichols was happy enough to be the equal member of a trio, rather than the specific leader". Herbie wrote all the music and put it together, both on paper and in the studio, and that includes the "concept" of the drummer and bassist being more up-front as integral parts of the compositions themselves. He was very much the leader, the leader of trios that featured a more equal distribution of roles than the traditional "solo plus support" piano trio. Which is, I think(?) what you're meaning to say, but not what you actually DO say. You make it sound like Nichols' trios were co-op affairs, that everybody set their own roles, and nothing could be further from the truth. It was HIS music, HIS concepts, and these were defintiely HIS groups. Not busting your chops, dig what you have to say, but I know you want to improve as a writer, so I'm here to be a prick whenever I think it'll help, ok?

AND Don Knotts!

Ya' know, it's not like I WANT to be a lesbian...

One thing Steverino COULD do was pick a good fruitcake! http://inet3.collinstreetbakery.com/multi/...d=csb2&t=fam_cs Look for Mr. & Mrs. Dave Brubeck on the list too!

Oh yeah, these films raise two questions of the "What the hell..." variety: What the hell kind of mouthpiece is Bill Harris playing? It looks like a glass doorknob! and... What the hell was George Duvivier wearing to Ben's gig? Looks like he just got back from a pool party! BTW, having never seen actual footage of Harris before, all the comments I've heard about him looking like a dork but really being a wild child are MORE than borne out by what's seen here. OUT-standing!

Just remember, voting with your pocketbook is like...

Oh, I bet he gave her the "deep-six" more than once, even if "deep-six" is a SERIOUS oxymoron...

Depends on who does the laundry...

How 'bout adding the vocal album he did w/Gerald Wilson?

Any idea how Clay got called for this date?

Just got finished watching the 2-DVD set, and all I can say is "WOW". The "JATP" footage MUST have a story behind it. I can see why it was never released in its time, a LOT of goofing going on by the musicians, who are obviously pantomining to a pre-recorded track (Buddy Rich plays a kit with no ride cymbal!) and generally seem to be having a laugh about the whole thing. Still - priceless, PRICELESS footage, seemingly released here in raw form, complete w/slatings (Buddy's change of countenance in one segment between where the take is being slated and "actual" filming begins is one of the many priceless moments). The whole thing seems like an attempt at something that was doomed from jump street as far as getting a commercially viable product goes. Flip in particular looks a bit loaded. But to see Lester seemingly unaware and/or unconcerned that he's supposed to be "performing" for the camera...wow... Plus. we get to see his shoes! Up close! Maybe a minor detail of concern only to the fetishist, but when it comes to Prez, I plead guilty in that regard. No regrets about it, either. The question is - where the hell has this stuff been all these years? Has it been circulating amongst "deep" collectors, or has it just been unearthed? The film quality is incredibly good either way. Easily worth the 30 bucks I gave to Dusty Groove (the bastards!) for it just for this footage alone! But...so much more, including the unused music recorded for "Jammin' The Blues" (audio only, of course). Having never befores seen JTB, I was initially disappointed by the total lack of belivabilty in the pantomiming, but I got over that REAL quickly. A visual feat, this one is. The Miles stuff I had seen only once before in toto, and the same goes for "The Sound Of Jazz", which appears here in, I think, more complete form than the VHS copy I once saw. All are about as good as quality, audio & video, as I think is possible unless pristine original source material is found. Who knows if that will happen? The CBS vaults must have some dusty nooks and crannies that remain uncharted, but I'm not holding my breath. An essential set for most of us, I'd think, but again out of stock at da'Groove. However, go HERE and fill in the request for e-mail notification of its return, and JUMP when it comes. This one may be around forever, or just a short time (and that JATP footage may or may not be the determining factor), but once you have it, you don't have to worry about that kind of thing anymore, do you.

Yeah, but if he's wearing shades like this, you WILL go home a winner!

Slated for a Mars-only release. The import price is going to be--you guessed it--astronomical. Are those going to have a red tinge to the cover?

Re: some of us "not taking Brubeck seriously". I went the other route, and have come back, almost full circle. At first, I thought he was hipper than shit. Then I thought he was kinda corny (him, not Desmond. A mantra, that should be, it seems...). Now, I have come to realize the integrety of most all of his work, and although he is still lower on the "totem pole" as far as personal enjoyment goes than many, I have tremendous respect for him and his work. I think that every one of these "phases" was rooted in the fact that Brubeck uses traditional jazz "means" w/o using much traditional jazz "specifics", and that my view of him was/is related to how much importance I put in the relative weight of those two things. Anymore, hey, what the hell! This EURASIA album, though, is one that I've always dug, no matter what my personal take on Brubeck was at the time. Just seems like it's all where it needs to be, no muss, no fuss, just pure goodness from start to finish.(Although "Brandenburg Gate" flirts w/prissyness QUITE a bit, it never succumbs). Glad to hear that some dig it, and that some others have had theire interest piqued. I think it's a keeper!

Wore you out, eh? JUST KIDDING!!!!

Indeed, which is why I said I'd be thrilled if either one of these hypothetical guys showed signs of sounding like a young themselves, emphasis added ex posto facto. I agree that imitation is part of the growth process, and I'll even go so far as to say that "growth" and "innovation" are two terms that only occasionally intersect, popular perception to the contrary. To me, "NEW!!!!" is as much a shibboleth as "UPHOLDER OF THE TRADITION!!!" I don't spend much time listening to Hamilton (personal preference, nothing more), but I hear him having developed into a pretty personal and effective, within the paramaters of the idiom in which he chooses to work, player these last few years. More than that, you cannot ask of anybody. Nearly everybody works within parameters. Even "NO RULES!!!" is a rule, albeit one which gives me a deeply cynical, "yeah, ok, go ahead on with your bad self" smirk these days. Many have tried to run, but none have been able to hide. Some things you just got to find out ofr yourself, I suppose... I like "new" and I like "the tradition", but by themselves, what have you got besides so much so what? Making and keeping it real (another term that really means nothing, but what's a mutha to do?) is the name of the game in my book, and there's any number of ways to do that. I just hate to see some of those ways automatically assumed to be more real than others, regardless of the agenda being pushed, neo-, retro-, or huevo ranchero. Real is real, and bogus is bogus, period. How's that for absolutist relativism?

Hell, half the time it wouldn't even be HIS sax you'd take...

Art Pepper - the lights go out in the room EVERY time...

BTW - are you familar with the non-Ellingtonian writings of Stanley Dance? He takes a position similar to yours, only in regard to the deleterious effects of all things be-bop and beyond. However, he's THOROUGHLY grounded in the music he champions, and in his weaker moments admits to, if not exactly a liking of, at least a respect and personal affection for things and people outside the realm he champions. A great writer, one of my favorites, actually, and a great champion of some great music, proof that "limited" tastes and genuine aethetic perispacity are not exclusive qualities, which is a point I sense you trying to make here.

I smell a new thread a-brewin' here...

Damn, is there anything that that Steve Allen COULDN'T do? (sorry, mid-60s suburbia flashback...)

Dude, that Material item I cited is home of the Archie Shepp/Whitney Houston collaboration. Worth it for that cut alone!

Art Tatum - never sit down at a table with a man who has more than two arms. etc...

With this, I have NO argument, so long as it is not used to attempt to "turn back the clock", which is what a lot of people try to do. Hey - it (the "avant-garde" - a term that ha absolutely no true musical meaning, btw, which is why I don't particul;arly care for it. It's a "badge", pro or con, nothing more) happened, and a lot of it was good, a lot of it no so-good, some of it outright terrible, and some of it truly great. Just like any other era. For sure, it's time to move on. Has been for quite a while now, if you ask me. But let's not bring along just a part of the past when we do (whichever part(s) that may be). Let's bring it ALL along. Doing otherwise ain't reality, it's wishful thinking. Actually, I think that jazz is dead, whether or not we realize it. Fortunately, "jazz" is just a word....