JSngry

Dude, the whole Major "Wholley" thing just about had me in stiches!

You ask fair questions, Dan & Jim. I will attempt to address them as civily and respectfully to your sincere intent as possible. I am not offended because of the context of being fooled in a blindfold test. I am offended for reasons having to do with what I know, both through personal experience and through conversing with many other players, goes into developing a totally personal sound. Without getting too dramatic about it, let's just say that for some people, there is what, for better or worse, can be called a "spiritual" element to that pursuit. I would strongly suspect that Getz was one of those people for whom music was more than just a means to a paycheck, a way to get laid, or an inside move to the best drugs. I'm fully aware that there are many in this forum who scoff at such notions as "spirituality" in general and especially in music. Whatever - make your own music in your own way for your own reasons. And if you're not a player, feel free to adopt your own perspective of what those who play it are up to. To each his/her own. Knowing that Allen doesn't always play like this, well, ok, that's a relief. Still, it strikes me as a "clever" notion that betrays a certain cluelessness about certain things (no, I'll not elaborate. Sorry.) that tells me that this kid is of the "new school" that feels that playing "jazz" is more important (not more fun, but more important) than playing music. Big difference. I know that might sound cryptic and/or pompous, but it's going to have to do. But, yeah, I think it's evil, and that it defiles everything I hold sacred about the human spirit. That brings us back to the "spiritual" angle again, so we're back to the to each his/her own thing. Again. Yeah, I read that bio on AMG, and the one word that came to mind was "programmed". Like the son ofa football coach who never has a chance to be exposed to anything but football. The AMG bio doesn't say this though, so that's no doubt my cruel projection of the distaste I'm feeling at this item coming into play. But I gotta think that Allen thinks it cool to be able to do what he does. I don't. As for Hyman, I've heard him do his "imitation" thing in person, and it's harmless. He's a gifted player who may or may not have a deeply personal voice of his own, but the bottom line is that he does it as a schtick of sorts, as a novelty act. He's up front about that, and frankly, he although he captures the stylistic essences of the various pianists quite expertly, that's as far as he goes. He makes no attempt to capture (steal?) their souls (again, to each their own as to how "real" a concept this may or may not be). It's a carnival sideshow, Hyman's trip is, good clean fun, nothing more. The whole imitation thing is not nearly as simplistic as my gut reaction to this item might make it seem that I feel it is. Liek I said earlier, there always more to something than meets the eye or ear. For instance, there's an album where Lee Konitz & Jackie McLean play together, and for some reason, in the middle of a ballad. Lee all of a sudden goes off and starts speaking Jackie's language, and quite convincingly, with an intensity that is kinda spooky. But that's Lee Konitz, somebody who you know understands the nature and value of a personal sound more than most. So there's gotta be a reason why he's doing this other than he thinks it's cool or some other juvenile assumption. Which, if Allen doesn't play this way elsewhere, is what I think he had in mind - that it would be "cool" to do an album where he totally co-opted Getz' sound down to the finest, most personal (hint, hint) nuances (hint, hint), not because he knew Getz well and wanted to express his feeling of deep loss or something like that, but just because GAWRSH, MICKEY, LOOK WHAT I CAN DO. AIN'T I CLEVER? No, it ain't clever. You're in WAAAAY over your head, Dude. But you seem to be enjoying it quite a bit anyway. That's...the way that kinda thing usually works. You're getting the "rewards" up front, payment due at an undetermined later date. But DEFINITELY due. Always read the fine print before you sign.

Can you imagine a doobie in your funk?

#1 - Definitely. Whether they HAVE been or not remains to be seen, but certainly enough time has passed for a clearheaded evaluation of the music. Unfortunately, so many people felt "betrayed" by this music (which was entirely THEIR problem if you ask me) that it's gotten all these labels on it that do the cause of an objective musical anaylsis much harm. But the tide is turning, and now that musically astute people without the baggage of that sense of betrayal, the HORROR that it wasn't about "ching ching-a ching" (no matter HOW abstracted) any more (and Chambers falls into this camp so hard that the floor is indented where he landed), the real content of this music is now being appreciated and critiqued on its own terms. "Bout time, if you ask me. #2 - People usually credit IN A SILENT WAY or BITCHES BREW, but I tend to give FILLES DE KILLAMANJARO the nod as to where the esthetic crossed the "point of no return". I suppose the case for MILES IN THE SKY could be made, but that sounds more like a testing of the waters to me, like nobody's REALLY convinced yet. But by FILLES, all hands are on board. Now if you're talking pure electricity as far as overall sound, BREW is actually a surprisingly ACCOUSTIC sounding album to me. FILLMORE is where the electric-ness of it all comes to the fore, but that album is very much an extension of the "Lost Quintet" musically. LIVE-EVIL, even though Michael Henderson is on board, still sounds like the aesthetic is "solocentric" to some degree, so the electification of the instuments is towards THAT end, rather than that of creating an entire unified GROUP sound. Truthfully, I think that ON THE CORNER was the first album that got that groove where you felt like you were in an alternative, electric universe, and the following albums and live gigs went from there, abeit in a somewhat more conspicuously "groove" oriented manner. This is the final "electronic jungle" period, and those recordings bear, demand almost, very close listening and, perhaps, an adjustment of the listener's expectations and foci. It truly is GROUP music, and in some ways, the most "radical" music of Miles' career. #3 - From what I can gather, Miles, for reasons both within his personal control and outside of it, got sick. And tired. And sick and tired. So he chilled for a while, and just sorta went with that. Apparently Sly Stone was a role model for Miles in things other than music, but true to form, Miles got off the mat before the 10 count, and answered the bell for the next round.

I just noticed my new level, and was curious at which point it transpired. Is 7 up?

The joint was remodeled while we slept a few days ago. They did good work.

Tell Thelma to get her fine ass in here!

The Series WAS originally a best-of-9 thing, so with a little lobbying from George...

WAHOO!!! Happy Birthday

What's a "sultana"?

Chris - was Hugh Downs still hosting "Concentration" in 1965, and if so, were you ever a contestant?

I think he's asking if Arizona's not-participation in DST occurs every yeay, or if this year was an anamoly, To be honest, I don't know.

Moose, you have a different set of RCA airshots than I do,

...

Yep.

MORE DOOKIE THAN YOU CAN SHAKE A STICK AT!!!

Oh, OBSCURE! Sorry, shoulda read the fine print... Brownie's mention of hodges reminds me of his '60s Verve THE ELEVENTH HOUR, with arrangements by Oliver Nelson. Ostensibly an "easy listening" date, the listening is anything BUT easy if you pay close attention to some of Nelson's delightfully subversive perversions of what an "easy listening' date is supposed to sound like. And this one totally obscure Bill Watrous album on the totally obscure MTA label (can't remember the name, but it's a typically lenghty and silly 60s type thing) has strings, voices, vibes, and heavy reverb in conjunction with something/somebody called The Walter Rain Concept that can best (only?) be described as "avant garde muzak", keeping in mind that by "muzak" I am referring to a generic description of a certain type of music, not the specific output of a specific company. Whatever, it's a trip of an album.

Is either "Big Fun" or "Holly-Wood" the slightly "poppy" tune that shows up in the just-prior-to-retirement live shows that's not heard on any album nor is even remotely similar to anything on any of the albums? I've been wondering what that thing was.

"Mother Wit" on IMPACT.

I like Wynton's HOT HOUSE FLOWERS. Wynton plays rather nicely, if Wyntony, but with arrangements like those that Robert Freedman provides, that's enough to make for a good album.

There will be no argument. What Harry Allen does on this cut is so deeply and fundamentally offensive to everything that I believe in as a human in general and as a musician in particular that I will be unable to discuss it in anything even remotely resembling a civil or "reasonable" tone, so I will refrain from saying anymore than I am going to say here. Hopefully. I don't expect anybody else to understand where I'm coming from about this, not the depth of my feeling on this matter, nor do I want to be perceieved as attacking anybody who doesn't and/or finds the performance harmless. After all, it IS a personal offense that I feel. Strictly. I neither expect nor desire for my personal morailty about life/music to hold for everybody, or even ANYBODY else. That would be obscenely wrong in so many ways, as obscenely wrong as I feel that Harry Allen is here. I'll just say this and quit - Eric Alexander's strong George Coleman influence merely bugs me. But I totally understand it, and actually sympathize with him. Really, I do. Thank God he DOESN'T get it exactly right! That means he's still got something of his own inside himself that he's trying to find, to get to, to nurture. God bless him on his way, because it don't come easy for ANYBODY, outward appearances to the contrary. But if this performance is indicative of how ALL of Harry Allen's work sounds, he is unequivocally evil. Purely and simply evil. Forget about Marilyn Manson and all that cartoon stuff. This is TRUE evil in action right here. If he's just doing this for this "tribute" album, well, then he's not purely evil, but he's got more in him than I care to think about. But that's his business. Just keep him away from me. Permanently. Totally. If you don't believe in evil, cool. But I do, and this is it. On the grand scale of evil that has occured in the history of the world, this one won't even register. Of course not. But that doesn't alter what it is. As serious as your life? Damn straight it is. Let the laughter begin. But that is how I feel, put extremely politely and briefly.

WEll, what I want to know is, does Harry Allen ALWAYS sound like this, or is this his idea of cute or something equally revolting but not nearly as intrinsically evil? Either way, it's wrong, but one is a LOT more vile than the other. Good thing I got a gig to go to, because I'm about THIS far from unloading on this vampiric stooge of the deepest darkness in a seriously major way. People have been justifiably executed for less...

That's the scary part - what if you don't? But you'd almost have to. Sometime. Somehow. Doesn't Hollywood make movies about creepy stuff like this?

I dunno man. It's kinda like some wacko chick wants your stuff so badly that she goes off and has years of plastic surgery to perfectly duplicate your wife and spends those same years learning her life history and how to perfectly duplicate her every mannerism. Then one day, your wife goes out to the mall, this psycho kidnaps her, puts her clothes on, comes into you house, fucks your brains out for a month or two, leaves, goes back to your wife gives her her stuff back, and goes away, never to be heard from again. Or maybe she kills your wife, moves in, and takes over. What happens when you inevitably realize that it's not really your wife? So, are you supposed to feel good about enjoying having your brains fucked out by a total stranger when you think it's your wife? And how messed up is somebody to go to all that trouble to be that perfect an imitation of somebody else? (and that's the REAL issue I have here) I mean, I enjoyed the piece for the same reason you did, Mike, but you gotta admit, there's something really perverse about somebody sounding THAT much like Getz (and fwiw, I never had a problem differentiating the Prez from the Vice-Prez). It's a mindfuck fersure, and although some mindfucks are good for you, I'm not so sure about this one. I'm not adulterous by nature, and this one seems to be aiming in that direction...

Hey - I'm a tenor geek. I've got perntneer the whole past present and future of the music therein, and that's good enough for me.