JSngry

Those Hermeto tunes are gorgeous. Both as pure compositions and specific performances. Hermeto's one of those guys who takes totally incongruous harmonies and makes them work, gives them a logic. I love stuff like that because the simultaneous shock of the incongruity and the subliminal comfort of the logic is a real rush, like finding a way to violate a law of nature and have it not backfiring on you. I can definitely see why Miles did them.

I have it. Highly recommended. It's not a Denon date, thopugh. I have it on a Marge (France) LP, and I've since seen it issued on different labels. The Denon stuff was available in the US on LP ca. late/70s/very early 80s, and then again in the early CD days, but I don't know if the Harper stuff made it to CD or not. That was a pretty interesting, if uneven, series of releases. I think Reggie Workman was the A&R guy. Interesting trivia - Billy recorded the inaugural albums for the Black Saint & Soul Note labels both. BLACK SAINT has it's fans here obviously, but how about the Soul Note date, BILLY HARPER QUINTET IN EUROPE. That's another great one. Killer version of "Priestess".

Oh, I'm fine once I get woke up. It's getting there that is a challenge. All the sleep I thought I could do without the first half of my life is coming to stake a claim on the second, so it seems... As for REAL household chores, it's a no-brainer for me - doing windows and doors. My wife insists on doing'em every spring ("so the sunshine can come in" ), and I'm sorry, but it ain't me, babe. We got one of these "newer" houses (built in 1991) that's damn near all windows and they're all like 8-feet tall. The go damn near all the way around the house, and they're a major pain in the but to get truly clean, thich is how she likes'em. No, no, no. No.

You are of course correct as it pertains to the Red Sox season-long game plan. I was referring to the cliche of sticking with your "big guy" in critical championship situations, no matter that the immediate plain-as-the-nose-on-your-face reality clearly dictates otherwise. It's such a cliche and such a buying into of the whole Romantic notion of athletes as super-humans that it's doomed to fail far more often than it succeds (otherwise darn near EVERY great player would be wearing a championship ring). Little's post-game comment that Pedro was the best pitcher on the team leads me to believe that he bought into the cliche rather than confronting the reality. It doesn't matter who the "best" pitcher on your team is, what matters is who is the best pitcher (or quarterback, or point guard, or whatever) at that moment (hardly a unique observation at this point, eh? ) When face with a make-it-or-break-it moment, Little fell back on the cliche os Superstar as Superman, whereas Torre, wjo like I said learned his lesson the hard way in several seasons managing Atlanta, kept a clear head, saw Roger Clements for what he was, a future Hall of Famer who was having a crappy day, and got him the hell out of there before the game was beyond salvation. Hero worship is for kids. Making clear-headed decisions in clutch situations is not. I'm the type of sports fan who enjoys the action at least as much for the human drama as for the actual game. Competition can and does quite often create dramas worthy of Shakespeare (well, Mamet, anyway ), and this was no exception. We saw a man's mnanagerial mettle tested, and this time, he failed the test due to a "classic" character flaw - blind hero worship. (Which is not the same as Blind Hero worship, which would have resulted in a starting rotation of Charles, Wonder, Shearing, & Feliciano or some such ) It's this tendency to fall back on the cliche of an unrealistic (and probably unconscious) "hero worship" in a point-of-no return situation that I was referring to, not the regular season Red Sox game plan. I definitely think that Little deserves to keep his gig, IF he does the requisite soul-searching about how he handled this situation. Really, if he had pulled Pedro for the 8th and the bullpen still blew it, you KNOW he'd be getting heat for taking his ace out when the game was on the line. But the facts of the moment would support that call a LOT more than the one he made, which for all the world looks to me like he got into a big-time-crossroads situation, got stars in his eyes, and saw Pedro as a Saviour rather than a guy who was basically out of gas. In other words, the manager turned into a starry-eyed fan, and that, of course, is not his gig. So yeah, he screwed up, big time, and on a pretty fundamental level. But people can learn from their mistakes. I hope we have a chance to see if he has or not in next LCS, and then the World Series. Same for Baker, but he's been to the crossroads more than once, and from what I hear, this buffet is NOT all-you-can-eat...

Nor have I. Come to think of it, I don't know anybody who has, except for the cat who reviewed the album for down beat, and I never really "knew" him, doncha' know. In order to be TRULY complete, they could have included a DVD of the movie.

Count me in too. That's a GREAT record. His other Denon, KNOWLEDGE OF SELF, is also excellent, but SORAN-BUSHI just has a vibe to it that makes it EXTRA special.

Enjoy!

1. Max Roach Trio featuring The Legendary Hasaan - essential 2. Drums Unlimited - near essential 3. Speak Brother Speak -essential 4. Scott Free - save it for later 5. Streams Of Consciousness - don't know it, curious about it myself 6. Birth & Rebirth - essential 7. Live At Vielharmonie Munich - don't know it 8. 1 In 2, 2 In 1 - near essential 9. Long March - good, better get it while it's in print 10. Parisian Sketches - part of the Mosaic, which you'll want to get eventually I see you don't have MEMBERS DON'T GET WEARY & HISTORIC CONCERT on your list. They should be. Essential. Also essential, but so far available only on old vinyl: THE LOADSTAR, LIVE IN TOKYO, & FORCE. Keep in mind this is all just my opinion.

Waking up.

Sorry, but you either read the vibe right or you don't. Little didn't. That's not to say that if he had pulled Pedro that whoever he brought in would have aced it, because there's no way to say that. But he obviously stuck to the changes on the chart rather than listening to the what the rhythm section was feeding him. Baseball requires improvisation, not studio work. Wanna be a bureaucrat? Fine. Just don't do it and expect to win pennants.

I hated the Cowboys all through the Landry/Schramm era. They were sanctimonious hypocrites (trust me, the Cowboy's "problems" w/cocaine and such didn't begin with Michael Irvin, not even remotely...). When that bunch left and the Junes/Johnson regime took over, I became a fan as they systematically went about dismantling the legacy of their predecessors. That was a short-lived honeymoon though, as Jay-reh soon proved imself to be a pompous ass without a clue (or is that a redundancy). Still, I can loathe the owner and still like the team, and that's where I'm at now.

Gimme a place to preorder and I'm there.

Niners.

Here's wishing you the very best, with or without Dena DeRose.

Teo's wrong.

Yeah, Holland and Chick locked in tight. Can't overlook DeJohnette's madcap antics either. The guy was to Tony what Tony was to Philly Joe - a radical but logical extension, and a total maniac (in a TOTALLY positive sense). The whole band was like that - a radical but logical extension of the Second Quintet, one that went on ahaed and made blatant (the rock/free jazz/electric mix) waht their predecessor was already but only just hinting at. And they all played like maniacs (in a TOTALLY positive sense). Wayne just went on ahead and cut the tether. No wonder he went on to minimalize. It was the only remaining option. Pretty mind-bogglin' stuff. It needs to be made generally available.

That would be nice, but KNTU doesn't really play "out" music, and especially if you don't have a "name". Quartet Out hit them THREE times w/promos, by mail and in person, even stressed the fact that 3/4 of the band are UNT alum (their current obsession, seemingly), and we never got played ONCE. They say we don't fit in with their "format". I think the station has kinda gotten under some control by the Lab Band department over the last year or so, because you hear a LOT more big-band than you used to, ESPECIALLY the older UNT bands, and like I said, they take every opportunity to point out each and every player on any given record who's a UNT alum (which apparently means having gone to a class once - they called Norah Jones a UNT alum!). It's a nice list, but you gotta wonder what the point is. Could be that they're streaming on the Internet now ( www.kntu.fm ) and recruiting worldwide. Sour grapes? Maybe, but not really, it's a school-sponsored station and if they want/need to function as a recruiting/propaganda arm for the NT Jazz Education program and its vision of jazz, that's their right. They still a lot of play good stuff of the more traditional type, and I still listen regularly. But there are definite programming/philosophical/musical parameters in place, and apparently Quartet Out falls outside them, as will, I suspect, Monktail. But give it a shot anyway, Johnny. You're half a continent away and pose no immediate threat to the Pedagogy Police, so ya' never know...

No.

If Joe's guess on #11 is correct, then I ammend my comments about how I'll feel if it's not Wynton Kelly. There's a few (ONLY a few) other player I'd do that for, but Hampton Hawes would DEFINITELY be one of them.

OK, here we go... TRACK ONE - seems to have already been nailed. Sounds right to me. Good stuff, everybody's playing. Good club music for a lively crowd on a lively night. TRACK TWO - Don't really have a clue, but the vibes player seems to be using slightly harder mallets than Bags. The pianist sounds a HELLUVA lot like Red, but I know of no Red date w/vibes. A few things, like the tone, phrasing, attack, and that one thing coming out of the bridge on the solo where he rapidly repeats one note remind me of Terry Gibbs. Definitely a Van Gelder recording, so maybe Lem Winchester, a player who I don't think I've ever heard. THIS WINCHESTER DATE has personnel that seems plausible. Beautiful tune, by the way. Never heard it before that I know of, but very, VERY nice. In fact, the words of the title of the first tune on that Winchester date seem like they fit with the closing phrase of the A-section, so that's my guess - a tune I've never heard off an album I've never heard by a player I've never heard. If I'm right, well, like they say, I'd rather be lucky than good... TRACK THREE - VERY easy. Pretty sure I have this in some form or fashion. El Emincee Jay on the "Martha Quinn" tip. TRACK FOUR - I have no clue, but this ("The Dolphin") is a REALLY nice tune, one that I'm casually familiar with. Jim, your reputation as a "tune guy" reveals itself throughout this disc, and very nicely so. I've never heard Louis Stewart, but from what I've heard OF him, this sounds like the kind of player he is, so I'll guess THIS Again, I'd rather be lucky than good, at least on things like this. TRACK FIVE - Now THIS one is seriously fukkin with me. I'm thinking the tune is "How Am I To Know", and the tenor player is Benny Golson, but I can't find a match to those terms, so I got SOMETHING wrong. Assuming that it's the tune, I'll guess THIS , another album I don't really know, but it's the closest match I could find, even though the drummer sounds a lot more like Philly than Persip. Whoever it is, this is some badass stuff. The way the cat plays the melody SO relaxed and then goes off into the Hawk-via-Lucky vertical lines that are really involved while all the while keeping that relaxed feel is the mark of a master, and you can say something similar about the whole group. For this kind of playing (inspired craftsmanship in a familar "style"), this is as good as it gets. Love it. TRACK SIX - Stumped again. I feel like I should know who the pianist is, and will probably feel like an idiot when I find out. The bassist sounds like an animated and involved Ron Carter on piccolo bass when he solos, but not when accompanying. The habanera section on the bridge is quite nice. The quoting thing is ALMOST annoying here, but done with just enough ingenuity to keep it from being so. The reconizable quotes are both from Nat Adderley tunes, so I wonder if there's any significance? I'm tempted to guess Oscar Peterson, but won't. It's a tad too loose and controlled, simultaneously(!) for me to go there. No matter - highly spirited music, with both players going with the flow in a completely engaging manner. Good stuff. TRACK SEVEN - the guitarist's tone, attack, and phrasing virtually screams "JIM HALL" to me at first (a little less as the piece develops), but more than that I can't say, not even for sure that it IS Hall. But I like the piece and performance very much. It's got a kind of peaceful calm to it that I very much admire in others because I so seldom have it myself. The interplay is wonderful, marvelous even. TRACK EIGHT - Always a pleasure to hear Nino Tempo! Seriously, if that's not Getz, then it must be Rich Little... The tune we know, but what recording? I don't have a clue. This is a really spirited rendition, with Getx/Little really digging in and pushing it. I'd have to listen more to say whether he was pushing the rhythm section or vice-versa, but no matter, everybody's playing for keeps here. The guitarist (is it really his/her album w/etz/Little guesting? Probably not, but...) is into it too, especially in the duet section. Very telepathic, getting into Konitz/Marsh territory in that regard. And the DRUMMER!!! HELL YEAH!!! You get a lot of guys who play bossa/samba/etc, and they just play the beat with the little fill here and there, but this cat is playing the MUISC, very much "in the moment". An excellent cut. TRACK NINE - OK, first time through I was thrown until the tenor player played. KNEW who he was! So playing geographic tag, I took a stab at the altoist. Third listen through, I copped the bari player from some Ra and other sides. Went to AMG, and TA-DAH!!!! Love Mr. Alto's twisted phrasing, the backwards way he displaces his phrases, almost Ornette-like. Very personal. This is a cat that deserves to be better known, and I WILL be checking out this album. Sounds like the proverbial "lost treasure", oh yes it does. TRACK TEN - at first I was thinking Lenny Breau because of the occasional multi-lineage going on, but I couldn't sell myself on that idea, so I cheated, looked up the tune on AMG and got THE ANSWER which is perfectly logical, because this cat is a musician of the highest level, and what he does to this tune harmonically requires such a mind - nothing cheap or grandstanding about it. It's bold, yeah, but so much more. He pushes the time a tad more than I really feel comfortable with, but since it's him, I'll assume that that's how he wanted it, and I gotta respect that. You can't argue with this cat. TRACK ELEVEN - Sounds like a REALLY opened up Wynton Kelly, maybe a cleaned up Vee-Jay cut from the Mosaic set (haven't heard it yet) but I don't think so, but still (no, I CAN'T make up my mind...). I have no idea who it is. It's really nice, but if it's not Kelly, then I can like it but let it go. If it IS Kelley, however, it's a very revealing cut, one that I'd say showed his "after hours" side, just playing w/o any "gig" pressure, and as such it would be a very valuable document. What difference does it make? Well, if you're the type that takes everything in life at face value, probably none. But I'm not that type... TRACK TWELVE - Eddie WHO? Yeah, once you know that tone, that feel, that VIBE, you can NOT mistake it. MY "GUESS" , which explains the quality of the guitar work, if correct (and suggests a reinvestigation of this edition of Dizzy's band for their role in the introduction of the Bossa to American audiences). Beautiful tune, whatever it is. starts out like "Deep In A Dream", and then goes into bebop blues changes. Some hip shit. TRACK THIRTEEN - Works for me. Kinda Burrell/Davis/Haynes-ish, but there's worse things to go after, eh? Good-Wilbur Ware-ish bass lines, and the drummer's the real deal. MY GUESS Solid stuff. Maybe not what I'd buy, I'll definitelylisten to all of it anybody gives me. TRACK FOURTEEN - Sounds like Sarah, but closer listening brings some real doubts. It's not controlled or graceful enough for her, I think. And that vibrato on the tag is NOT Sarah-esque, unless it's her on an off day towards the end of her life. Funky lyrics too, not really "singable" at this tempo for this singer. Who is it? I don't know. Great tune ("Double Rainbow", right? Don't know it that well, just going by the lyric, unfortunately), but this version doesn't do it justice, at least not for me. TRACK FIFTEEN - I smell a trick! I think this is Dexter on soprano! Can't say from where, but those lines and the way they're phrased are PURE Dexter. Translate what you hear to tenor, and it's GOT to be Dexter, and fairly late too, judging from how far behind the beat he is and how every phrase in wrought with the drama of if he'll be able to finish it or not. Some people don't care for this very late Dexter, but I love it. It's as real as anything gets, and if it's kinda weary, well, that's kinda the point, dig?. Might be from THE OTHER SIDE OF ROUND MIDNIGHT, ANOTHER album I don't have and have never heard (hey, can't do it all at once, gotta save something for later...), but I really don't have a clue. But that's Dexter, I'll bet some money on it. TRACK SIXTEEN - It's good life, sure, but it would be better if you'd TUNE THE BASS!!! Seriously, a big part of this sounds like the way Red garland used to play in the 70s at the Recovery Room, but not with all those flourishes. Kind of a schizo performance, but I like it well enough. As for who it is, AMG provides me a prety good clue, but I would have never guessed this person (although it amkes a lot of sense in many ways), so I'll not put it out here, since I'm still not totally sure. Hey - a GREAT disc. Again! Thanks to Jim and all the others who put the work into getting it out to us, and even mopreso, thanks for having such good taste.

And btw, the TV coverage on Fox was sponsered by Tums, w/ads that directly mocked Prevacid OTC. The ESPN radio coverage was sponsored by Prevacid OTC, but there were also ads for Mylanta. I had to leave for work in the 8th, so I saw and heard both broadcasts. Never has sponsorship been so conflicted, but never has it been so appropriate.

Seems to me that the difference between near-success and the real deal is fluidity, the ability to toss theory out the window and do what needs to be done the second it needs to be done. In other words, respond to the moment in the moment, and don't let nobility interfere with reality. Grady Little had not learned this lesson as of last night. Hopefully he has now. He's fucked if he hasn't. FWIW, when Joe Torre was managing the Braves way back when, he did the same thing. Always left pitchers in too long becasue he "believed in them". It worked out occasionally, but more often than not it bit him in the butt. Joe Torre no longer has this problem. Instead, he has World Series rings. Carpe diem, baby.

Side Two of MMT is Hello Goodbye, Strawberry Fields, Penny Lane, Baby You're A Rich Man, & All You Need Is Love, in that order. That covered their 3 then most recent singles. I Am The Walrus was the flip of Hello Goodbye, & Baby You're a Rich Man was the flip of All You Need Is Love. Strawberyy Fields and Penny Lane, well, I don't know what the "A" side was for that, I just know that they pretty much changed the world and came out before Sgt. Pepper. So kinuta, if I wanted to talk about THE BEATLES SECOND ALBUM or SOMETHING NEW, you'd not know what I was talking about, eh? Welcome to the wonderful world of Capitol Beatledom, where they took the real albums apart to make more of them and STILL didn't get all the singles on LPs until way ater the fact. That's spirit that made this country what it is today!

I think so. The stuff with the Cosey/Lucas/Henderson/Mtume/Foster rhythm section can be variable (although the BLACK SATIN bootleg by this band w/Dave Liebman may very well be the very best Electric Miles album ever in terms of it being totally integrated group music), but it's never less than very good. The rest of it is pretty much exceptional, in my opinion, at least what I've heard of it (quite a bit, but by no means all). And - the "Lost Quintet" stuff w/Shorter. Corea, Holland, & DeJohnette is like nothing anybody has done before or since.

Got my copy yesterday. listened to it at work last night. Good stuff. Gotta take the kids to school soon, but I'll post my guesses upon returning.