patricia

DUH. PLEASE. Lead us to the liguistic light. Let us smile, for God's Sake!!!

Cedar Walton did an amazing job, backing Etta James, a few years ago on her "Mystery Lady" collection. It was her take on some of Billie's hits and I like it very much, though I was skeptical and almost didn't buy it. When I saw that Cedar had agreed to do this with Etta, that convinced me. Glad I snapped it up. Etta doesn't "do" Billie, so much as interpret her and that was very wise of her.

The same thing happened to me when someone, years ago, pronounced awry, "AWREE". Ever since then, I have to correct myself when I read it, even though I know how to pronounce it, of course. A mental block to play with til I die.

Harold, Is the accent on the middle syllable on "poLOPponies"?? I have one more time to use RODOMONTADES in a sentence and, according to my personal rules for expanding my vocabulary, it's mine.

I was amazed, because I had never paid attention, that there was such a thing as a turntable which only plays 33 1/3 RPM records. Saw one in a secondhand store the other day. When did that happen?? I picked up a turntable, not new, but not that old, few months ago and it has 33 1/3, 45 AND 78RPM settings. Considering that my favourite vintage vinyl place not only has LP's, but 45's and 78's in really good condition, I wonder what the point was. Did the only 33 1/3 one come out just before the advent of CD's, or the advent of audio-tape popularity?? I feel like I must have fallen asleep at the switch. Keep watchin' the misc for sale column for people offering jazz record collections. I've found that if I can find out how old the person offering them is, I won't make an unnecessary trip to view old stuff from the 60's that have spent too much time in the hands of kids [like I was at the time ] so, on the floor, or out of their covers. People who collect jazz seem to treat their old records like the treasures they are, in my experience.

It occurred to me that when the world was created, everything was in perfect balance. The animals survived, or not, according to nature and evolution culled the herd over time. Of course the stronger animals preyed on the weaker ones, but not for fun, but for survival. On the sixth day, according to Genesis, God created Man. It seems to me that that could be equated to the last card on a house of cards; you know, the one that causes the whole thing to collapse. So, in a way, the sixth day's work by God, which caused disruption of a perfect creative effort by the Almighty, is the best case for a five-day workweek that I can think of, offhand. Terrible thing, Joe. I'd be furious too.

A poem about Death. The great leveller. We laugh because it's not going to happen to us. All I can think to answer is with the following: A Character With a half-glance upon the sky At night he said, 'The wanderings Of this most intriate Universe Teach me the nothingness of things.' Yet could not all creation pierce Beyond the bottom of his eye. He spake of beauty : that the dull Saw no divinity in gras, Life in dead stones, or spirit in air; Then looking as 'twere in a glass, He smooth'd his chin and sleek'd his hair, And said the earth was beautiful. He spake of virtue : not the gods More purely when they wish to charm Pallas and Juno sitting by: And with a sweeping of the arm, And a lack-lustre dead-blue eye, Devolved his rounded periods. Most delicately hour by hour He canvass'd human mysteries, And trod on silk as if the winds Blew his own praises in his eyes, And stood aloof from other minds In impotence of fancied power. With lips depress'd as he were meek, Himself unto himself he sold: Upon himself himself did feed: Quiet, dispassionate, and cold, And other than his form of creed, With chisell'd features clear and sleek. Tennyson The Life Without Passion They that have power to hurt, and will do none, That do not do the thing they most do show, Who, moving others, are themselves as stone, Unmoved, cold, and to temptation slow, They rightly do inherit Heaven's graces, And husband nature's riches from expense; They are the lords and owners of their faces, Others, but stewards of their excellence. The summer's flower is to the summer sweet, Though to itself it only live and die; But if that flower with base infection meet, The basest weed outbraves his dignity: For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds; Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds. W. Shakespeare :D Thought I'd raise the tone, since poetry was injected into the thread.

Geez, it's not like the guy said all Dixieland sucks and that anyone who listens to it should have his brains eaten out by a yak. Just that he doesn't listen to it. I personally have my gear stuck in the 50's - 60's right now, although that may change in the future. I'm actually reaching a point where I'm getting tired of recordings. I love the energy of live jazz but there's none to be had in my hometown. My apologies. The blanket statement was there and I responded to it. I can't get into fusion, no matter how many times I try. I do hope that the standard punishment isn't having one's brain eaten out by a yak. The first jazz that got to me was the soundtracks from films noir. Then came the totally forgettable film, "Walk On The Wild Side". I would have forgotten it, except for the Elmer Bernstein soundtrack. I liked it so much that I have every version of the title song, from Bernstein's to Brook Benton's, to Jimmy Smith's, to Earl Bostic's. That sound, "Harlem Nocturne", "Take Five" and "Swingin' Shepherd Blues" were the only jazz I listened to during what I like to call my "folk and blues phase". After a brief period of easy listening, I went to back to Blues and added a little Flamenco guitar, Edith Piaf and then, back to JAZZ in all it's glory, except for fusion. I wasn't flingin' sod at wolff, just questioning his limiting himself, which is certainly his prerogative.

JIM's poetic passing reminded me of the following: I have found reason to quote Patrick Dennis' wonderful character, Auntie Mame, twice in the last few days. LIVE. LIVE. Life's a banquet and most poor bastards are starving to death." And less encouraging, The rain has such a friendly sound To one who's six feet underground. Edna St. Vincent Millay Those who welcome death have only tried it from the ears up. Wilson Mizner And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover, And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over. John Masefield

My God!!! Was that the dream in which when you turned to speak you noticed another minor oddity? In the mirror, which reverses things, there was nothing amiss. But, as he adjusted his trousers, did you notice that he "dresses" on the wrong side? Did he dress, as tailors say, on the right, which not one American male in a thousand, ask any tailor, does? In fact, American pants are made for left-dressing. A small oddity, true, but slightly discommoding to the observer, like talking to a cross-eyed man. It's a lot like the "falling" dream and, depending on the dream analyst means many different things, depending on the surrounding circumstances. No wonder you woke up in a cold sweat!!! Or, it could be just the flu. Lots of that going around.

Good deal!! Lansing Michigan for the first hang. Joe can just clear a space on the floor for sleeping/passing out, whichever comes first. As for showing up with guns, I don't know. Since I would have to clear customs, how'd it be if I just brought pictures of my moose rifle and my target pistol?? I know it's not the same thing, but those gimlet-eyed customs guys are a little jumpy these days.

Me too! Uh, do I need a passport if I'm coming from Ohio? No, I don't think you need a passport if you're coming from Ohio. However, I noticed a while ago that my own passport has expired. Now, with the new security concerns about terrorists sneaking over the Canadian border, despite that none of the terrorists from Sept 11 did, it takes months to renew. I can understand your concern about me, since the best cover would be to be skinny, blonde and wandering aimlessly around the airport, all sure signs of nefariousness. On second thought, let's re-schedule the "hang" for late summer [Calgary Jazz Festival] or early fall [at a location yet to be determined] to allow for any who observe the "dry" season. By then I should have a new passport containing a new unflattering likeness. A HANG, BY ALL MEANS!!! No, conn

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends south of the line. We in Canada are more sensible. We have Thanksgiving in October, so that we have enough time to forget that we had turkey for days and days, before we, once again, have turkey for days and days at Christmas. But, I'm thankful for all my friends here. For myself, every time I wake up in the morning and look in the mirror to see that I'm still reflected there, I'm very thankful.

Thanks Maren, There is life and JAZZ outside New York City. But, if people insist on spending more money, Seattle sounds good to me and I can sleep anywhere. Come to think of it, I should probably give a plug to the annual JAZZ FESTIVAL right here in Calgary. It lasts for a week in the summer, right after the Calgary Stampede, which I avoid like the plague. Big hats and pointy boots are not my style and most of the time I feel like a visitor from another planet. But, the jazz festival attracts some good acts and is worth checking out.

Wolff, Not giving ALL jazz a chance, limits your chances of having a whole new jazz experience. I LOVE Dixieland, but certainly don't only listen to it, to the exclusion of other styles. I'm open to ANY jazz, and make a decision on whether or not I like it on a case-by-case basis. I'm surprised that you would make such a blanket statement about Dixieland, and it saddens me that you wouldn't like Jack Teagarden, Max Kaminsky and the miriad of Dixieland musicians available to you. People who love JAZZ are not usually that closed minded.

Well, there you go. How bad could a place named after somebody's grandmother be?? I'm thinking sometime in the early spring, after the ugly-coat season. Somebody scouts out DULUTH in advance and gives us the skinny on what is there. Yes, I'm serious. The good thing about a non-tourist trap is that the prices will be reasonable; you probably won't get lost; the people are friendly and JAZZ is everywhere.

Well guys. I just took a ruler and determined that the midway point between NYC and where I live, Calgary, AB Canada is DULUTH MINNISOTA!! Not exactly the centre of the JAZZ experience, but gathering there would perk up the local economy for a day and certainly keep the gang together and keep us focussed, considering that the local alternative may very well be accordian polka bands.

Claude, Of course you're right, but I had to vent. AAJ is back up and the only thing to do is to carry on. The jazz boards are so valuable and so informative for all of us that it just burns my butt that whole topics threads are gone. It isn't the end of the world as we know it.

Well, there is a second reason for the current disaster: the automatic backup had stopped working in may of this year. A webmaster must always be prepared for hacker attacks or hard drive crashes that destroy all the server data, that's what backups are there for. Too bad Michael noticed that late there was something wrong with it. I agree with you, but the fault, ultimately, is with the benign acceptance of the practice of hacking. If the hacker were breaking into our homes and destroying our belongings, one of which is our computer, there would be a huge outcry. I assume that it is considered vandalism when a hacker breaks into a site and destroys data. Why are people more concerned about what the victimized site has lost, rather than in effect blaming them for the damage the hacker has done to their property?? Because of these cyber-scum, we have to have programs which save our data and take extraordinary means to prevent this from happening. If the hacker were tampering with the mail, they would be reviled, prosecuted and jailed. They would not be being hired to develop programs for companies to guard against what they, themselves, consider a marketable skill. As it is, there is a large segment of the world which excuses the vandal and blames the victim of their malicious burglary and vandalism for their lack of forsight. Are we trapped in some parallel universe in which it is OK to destroy other people's property, if you are more computer-literate than your victims?

Mike is in the process of restoring the site. Apparantly some hacker [may he/she roast in the eternal fires of Hell] gained access and screwed up the site. It took Mike and his associcates SEVEN YEARS to create and establish the site and a few hours for some miscreant hacker to wreck it, just because they could. The "Birthday" thread on the site is, apparantly, gone, as is everything after the middle of May. Damn. Also, I can't log on at all, because I "don't have permisssion" to do so and my e-mail address is already in use by another poster [ME]. I've e-mailed Mike and haven't heard from him yet. As for hackers, so revered by many; they are a plague!!!!!

Add my "YES" to the list. Although it's true that many jazz albums have been re-released on CD, that's not true of all the music on vinyl. I quite recently bought a turntable, to replace the one I had, when I switched to CD some years ago. This was fortuitous, in that there are many fabulous collections of old jazz, on vinyl, available out there and I am now into collecting them, a few at a time. There are some labels which never did go to CD and JazzTone is one I can think of, off the top of my head. Cheap label, but top names and well done cover notes. On that basis alone, call me crazy, having a turntable is worth it. I do have tons of different labels, but JazzTone was the catalyst.

Mancini has put out some great stuff and along with his themes for "Peter Gunn", "The Pink Panther", "Charade" and "Mr Lucky" one of my favourite LP's has almost a cross-section of his talent, divided into five distinct styles. The album is "Mancini Concert", which features his versions of Simon and Garfunkel, March with Mancini, the Overture from "Tommy", and "Medley From Jesus Christ Superstar". However, I bought it for the Big Band Montage which has a killer version of "Take The 'A' Train". He can swing hard when he wants to and, I think, he is well worth exploring. Another collection that I like very much is "Mancini '67" which has a great version of 'Round Midnight" included as well as his take on "Satin Doll". Mancini may very well have gotten a lot of his success from what almost amounts to MUSAK, but he is a very accomplished songwriter and arranger, as well as the orchestra leader with whom we are all familiar, in elevators.

Found TWO JazzTones at a second-hand store, a DOLLAR each: "New Orleans Jamboree" Paul Barbarin and his New Orleans Jazz Band Paul Barbarin,drums, Bobby Thomas, trombone, Danny Barker, banjo, Willie Humphrey, clarinet, John Brunious, trumpet, Lester Santiago, piano. and "Dixieland Free-For-All" Rex Stewart, trumpet, Albert Nicholas, clarinet, Ferdinand Arbelo, trombone, John Dengler, baritone sax, Herb Nichols, piano, John Fields, bass, Tommy Benford, drums. Covers are worn, of course, but the records are pristine. I've found JazzTone at various sources. Some were from vintage record places at around $10-$40. But, JazzTones are disposable junk to some people, as these latest ones were. I've also found them at garage sales and at second hand stores, for as little as 50 cents. Just keep your eyes open. There are lots out there, but they are usually owned by people who hang onto them. But, nobody lives forever. When I re-discovered JazzTone, about four years ago, I had no turntable. However, I found two or three, I think at least one was a ten-inch, with Woody Herman as one of the tracks and sent them to a friend in New York, who collects everything vinyl. Still on the hunt.

One of my favourite Carmen McRae collections is "Carmen McRae Sings Monk". Although I love Monk's music without any lyrics at all McRae adds something to his compositions which is wonderful, I think. Usually I don't like lyrics being added to jazz unless it was originally planned that way, but this, IMO, is one of the exceptions. Vocalese, again IMO, is not the same as singing words, in the conventional sense. The voices are additional instruments and, as such, add something to the whole.

Jazztone was a low-end, mail-order label, in the fifties and, I think, early sixties, which was an off-shoot of a classical music mail-order series. They first came out with re-releases of existing material, in compilations, on 10" LP's. There were not that many 10" records, before they moved to the just developed 12". The good thing about them was that they were the original artists and that each record had, at least, extensive liner notes and sometimes even a booklet which was included. They were very inexpensive, even for the times at around $2.00 or so, when other mainstream labels were running at about $5.00. They are available on-line, if you just search for "jazztone" records. My source has been used vinyl shops and they will charge anywhere from $10.00-$50.00. Considering that some of them are fifty, or more years old, most are in amazingly good condition. They are mono, but the sound is amazing. This series was really limited, particularly the 10", but they were of the top names, which we, as jazz aficianados, try like crazy to find. Now that many of the artists' work has been re-released on CD, I suspect that, like me, the historical aspect of having the Jazztones outweighs the ability to obtain the actual music. However, that doesn't stop me from snappin' them up at garage sales, estate sales and other places where people get rid of older relatives' old stuff.