Niko

from my German perspective it was somewhat depressing, the second time in three years we had a song that was really fine with me musically (Max Mutzke in 2004 and Country this year) and didn't win anything... that Estland, Lithuania and Latvia support each other I understand, but that Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia etc give all their votes to each other I can't accept - if they like each other that much why didn't they stay together... (Musically Bosnia which was 2nd or 3rd in the end was not great but somehow okay with me while Crotia which ended up in the top 10 (?) was incredibly crappy) if you've seen it in the 60s the last time you don't know it, as it has fundamentally changed its flavour since in 2004 all those (20 or so) new countries joined in - much more flutes and drums, and naked flesh since then - and they don't seem to write songs in these countries but rather ballet performances where someone is singing... Lithuanians were great, I found Spain a lot better than their 20th rank... i shouldn't take it that serious...

The second horn playing the head of Ghost of the Past clearly sounds like some sort of clarinet to me (it's somewhat softer than the alto saxophone and doesn't solo - I always thought it "symbolized" the Ghost of the past echoing Simmons alto and wasn't credited to emphasize that it was not just Lasha playing but the whole past of "Bird, Chu Berry, Clifford Brown, Richie Powell, Charlie Christian - all the outstanding musicians who passed before we even were present." I love those liner notes) Whether it's a normal clarinet, a bass clarinet or the alto clarinet Lasha plays on the cover of Firebirds - I can't hear, so why not bass clarinet...

A little late I bought the record on the strength of the line-up having never heard of Jimmy Woods... when I read the liner notes on my way home with statements like "It was a course in Sociopathic Behavior with Professor Diehl at Los Angeles State College (where I am majoring in Sociology) which clarified many of my thought on this subject [i.e. conflict]." I was a little worried about what I had bought there (like yesterday when I bought Aldo Romano's Alma Latina at a similar reduced price and don't like it at all so far) but now I listen to it very often... I also thought of hill's point of departure - while I share Joe's opinion on that one I really respect but don't really enjoy it (had never seen it that way but it's true) I find Conflict much more enjoyable...