JohnJ

Plan to see her at the Tokyo Blue Note in early March. I am also wondering how she will sound.

Did you watch one of the extra features that came with season one? The actress is from Tipperary. Let's just say it'd be a whole 'nother vibe if she used her real voice in the role. Looks like I'll wait to watch when it comes out on DVD. What/where is Tipperary? It's a long way to ... Ireland lad, Ireland. She has a nice thick Irish brogue she has. I heard that the song is actually about a pub in london called 'The Tipperary' that was popular during WW11.

Eddie Higgins Trio - Christmas Songs Typically fine sounding Venus recording.

Same as every other year - Sinatra! More early Columbia stuff this year though.

Down in Yokohama at the weekend and picked up 'The Next Step' by Kurt Rosenwinkel at a local Tower. Tower Japan is seperate from Tower US and still going strong but they had a few items for around $4 in a clearance sale and this was one of them.

Tokyo. Disk Union is where I buy most of my music.

A used copy of the Don Pullen Mosaic Select for the equivalent of $16 at Disk Union here in Tokyo. Pretty good price, I think.

I did the same thing in 1977. Took the Greyhound from Baltimore to San Francisco, Los Angeles and Vegas then up to Vancouver and across to Montreal before returning to Baltimore. The whole trip was a real eye opener for a naive 18 year old English lad. Some of those bus depots were in pretty interesting parts of town. Surprisingly (or perhaps not), the strangest characters I met were in Canada. All in all though it was a wonderful experience.

Sinatra - "I Get Along Without You Very Well". The version on 'In The Wee Small Hours' is the definitive vocal interpretation for me.

Tower Japan is a separate operation from US Tower with completely different ownership. Apparently they are doing very well and an IPO is planned in the near future. By the way, did you check out the Disk Union in Shibuya? They have several of the TOCJ 1500 series on sale at 1000 Yen. HMV Shibuya also was selling them at 20% off recently. This series seems to be widely discounted.

Thanks Dan, I am off to Bangkok tomorrow.

11, I think. Don't really understand the overrated comments, that is the last thing I would call Mosaic.

Another Raja Bell here. Poor guy.

'kafka...' is a great read. long, like 'the wind up bird chronicle', but more satisfying. 'pinball 1973' and 'hear the wind sing', his first novellas, are very short and evocative. these two introduce and establish characters that seem to visit most of his work. have you read either 'dance, dance, dance' or the non-fiction work 'underground'? there's also an anthology of short stories (in english) coming on august 29th. one of, if not my favorite contemporary writers, -e- ps: 'hard boiled wonderland' is so odd because the writer attempts to create a complete subterranean world that just loses the reader (IMHO). etherbored, I bought and read 'Pinball 1973' and 'Hear the Wind Sing' when I first heard about Murakami and agree with your assessment. Really enoyed both of them and they would indeed make a good introduction to Murakami along with 'Norwegian Wood'. I have read 'Dance, Dance, Dance', which as I remember is a kind of sequel to 'Wild Sheep Chase' largely set in Hawaii. Loved that too, actually 'Hard Boiled Wonderland' remains the only Murakami I am less than enthusiastic about. Have not read 'Underground' though. Readers of this board might enjoy 'East of the Sun, West of the Moon' where the main protaganist owns a jazz club. Wonderful novel. Anyway, Murakami is probably my favorite contemporary novelist too.

Murakami seems to be more popular than ever. I have been a big fan since reading 'A Wild Sheep Chase' in the early 90's and just started 'Kafka on the Shore'. 'Hard Boiled Wonderland' is actually my least favorite Murakami, I found it a difficult read.

The segment below is from an article about Osaka in a recent IHT, it explains a little about the Sawano/Sketch relationship. Coincidentally, HMV were selling a number of CD's at 70% off on Saturday and I was fortunate enough to pick up a couple of Sawano releases for 750 yen each including the Wilen mentioned in the article. Half an hour's subway ride away from Truck brings you to the Shinsekai district, where Sawano Jazz's shop is located. Sawano Jazz is tucked into a tiny corner of Sawano Sandals and Clogs shop, which belongs to the parents of the jazz connoisseur and recording artist Yoshiaki Sawano. Like Truck, Sawano Jazz is well- known among a small group of people, catering to a community of jazz lovers who appreciate its efforts to revive old recordings of obscure, and not so obscure, European jazz musicians, like the Parisian jazz legends Philippe Petit and Barney Wilen. Sawano tracks down their recordings, recompiles them into CDs and sells them under the Sawano label, with permission from the artists and producers. Sawano albums are available in record shops and online (at ¥2,500 per album). The label revives about 10 albums each year. That number is expected to increase this year, now that Sawano Jazz has bought the Sketch label in France. A brother of Sawano is based in France and acts as an intermediary. Sawano packages the CDs one by one, complete with original liner notes. The Sawano label is a mark of distinction for record shops in Japan. To the jazz lover, the fact that a shop carries a Sawano product speaks of a true love for music.

Don't believe the Dusty hype on "Natural Illusions", that one really is pretty bad. And I say that as a very big Hutcherson fan who loves just about everything else I have heard him on.

Is "African Flower" hard to find? I bought a used copy in a local store recently for around $6. Come come, young sir; surely nothing can be hard to find in Japan. I found the riches of the Japanese second hand record dealers - especially the Disc Union shops - to be nothing short of AMAZING. MG True MG, there are worse places for a music lover to live than Tokyo. And yes, the various Disk Unions have a great used CD selection, often at very reasonable prices. I spend way too much time browsing there. I have never seen a TOCJ of "African Flower" though and it was the US version I found (strangely enough in a local shop with very little jazz).

I would actually do some work when I am in the office. (Well, maybe not).

Is "African Flower" hard to find? I bought a used copy in a local store recently for around $6.

Agreed. Saw this on cable on Sunday and was very impressed.

I also meant to read this when it first came out, so thanks for the reminder. Sinatra still matters a hell of a lot to me and nobody I have heard since comes close.

Just found a used copy of this for around $20. Look forward to listening to this later.

Guys, just click the 'More Options' icon and you are back to the old system.

Red, judging from this and previous comments, it is obviously hard for you to be objective whan it comes to Beckham. For me, he has been one of the better English players so far. Without him, we may well have drawn all three games. Anyway, England are gradually improving and did what they had to do against Sweden to ensure first place. The real action starts now, and I expect them to move into a higher gear (or maybe I am just being hopelessly optimistic).