Werf

This was such a disappointment, especially since The Black Dahlia is such a thrilling read. All of the crackling tension, paranoia, and brutality was cast into a nostalgic window-dressing of a flick. I figured that DePalma was a good choice to translate Ellroy's tone into a decent adaptation, but this was so limp. L.A.Confidential KILLED in comparison. The cast was lukewarm, the props, clothes, cars, etc., spotlessly clean, thus unreal, and the violence and depravity was cast into the background. DePalma should've unleashed a few of his own demons into the mix, to up the ante, but maybe all of those slasher movies drained him. What a bummer.

I just watched video footage of Harris conducting a lecture on the process of composing this piece. He first, after speaking extensively with the church officials, wrote a free verse poem. Then he divided various lines of the poem into 8 movements. The first movement is Eden's Dream, which represents people living in the Garden of Eden, all as one. The second movement is Run, which layers various rhythms, minor sounds (dark), and happy sounds by the various instruments in modes that build into improvisations. In the third movement, Stainglass Times, Harris co-ops an early church hymnal feeling, like early Bach. The fourth movement is Portraits of the Promise, in which he mimics the momentum of people reaching up, as one, in a Pentacostal Service. Dancing Movement, Laughing Stars, is the fifth movement, where Harris taps into Buddhist or Beatific vibrations, creating a happy feeling. The sixth movement is Mara, who is a demon figure, tempting and distracting. This movement is based around one repeating chord, upon which the improvisation builds frenetically, and is one of Harris's showcases in the piece. Number seven is Snake Charmer, using clarinet to climb the melody. Eighth movement is One where the multiple rhythms and melodies from the previous movements coalesce into a tapestry of one. Harris sat at the piano and alternated from reading the lines of the poem, and then pecking the chords and melodies, while talking about the themes of each movement. He also demonstrated various modes, chords and notes that can cause specific feelings or emotions in the listener, and how he applies them to composition. Harris mentioned that this is the method he employs more with suite composition than with shorter pieces, where he might just improvises until the motifs of melody emerge, and inspire him to write. The guy is articulate, passionate, and joyful in his lecture style. WGVU TV is doing a five camera shoot of Thursday's performance for future broadcast on PBS, and for a DVD project.

Somebody eat a cheese steak for me, and don't forget the whiz.

http://www.omnitone.com/store/artists/brackeencharl.htm Omni still lists two.

The fruit juice company also produced that last Atlantic recording, too, didn't they? The one recorded in Jamaica, where I'm sure a high time was enjoyed by all.

I've only got it on vinyl, and I like sides 1 and 2 better than sides 3 and 4. I'm going on memory here, since I haven't listened to it in about a year.

http://www.jazzpolice.com/content/view/5027/2/ I just stumbled across this, sorry if it's old news.

It sounds jazzier than the last one, too. Probably because the presence of Gary Thomas and Sam Yahel. I listened to it last night, and enjoyed most of it. It does seem to suffer from the disease that many recordings have, since CDs changed the biz: it's too long. I'd lose three of the tunes (not sure which ones, though--give me a few listens).

Every single one of my movie-going friends said the same thing to me when I tried to organize a group screening. Everyone except the cute girl who went with me.

I tell every I get into a musical conversation with, that I went back to vinyl after getting rid of it twenty years ago. And when I go to The Corner Record Store or Vertigo Music, my regular stores, I usually see several teens and twenty somethings going through the used and new vinyl. It's a good thing.

Here's what I wrote last week on another message board about SoaP: Last night was one of the two greatest audience participation movie experiences of my life. The theater was packed with mostly kids that were hissing and chanting "Snakes! Snakes! Snakes!" a half hour before the flick started. The place erupted in applause when four or five guys walked in covered in plastic and rubber snakes. One guy, in a straw cowboy hat, kept leaping up and whirling a snake over his head, leading the audience in chants, pumping his other fist. Then three other costumed people walked in, a guy with a sandwich board with SNAKES ON A MOTHERF****ING PLANE written on it, a guy behind him with his arms held out, with poster board wings and a cone hat, dressed all in white, and a snake covered girl. The place went bananas. All this before the movie even started. When it did, everybody screamed and howled throughout, but at all the right places. Like the campy dialog, the obviously cardboard, two-dimensional characters, and the actors hamming it up. This movie seemed like a throwback to the 60s/70s B or C level genre flicks I used to love on late night UHF TV. (This is Ghoul or MST3K material, through and through). BUT, the director does know how to ramp up the suspense and shoot violence. My date was clutching my arm or jumping in her seat a lot. And at the end, the theater exploded in applause. Now, a week later, I'm kind of disappointed that my experience didn't translate into some decent box-office numbers. The movie is cheesy, but it's also exactly what the title states. And I had such a load of mindless, spontaneous fun with a theater filled with people GEEKED over this flick, that it's a shame the phenom wasn't wide spread. Oh, well, I had mine, jack.

His new one, CITYSCAPE is very good.

I wanted to make Detroit, but the pocketbook is light this month, and near 90 bucks for a ticket, with TicketGouger service, was a bit much. BUT, I'm sure worth every penny, if you got it. I saw Waits in K'zoo on the Frank's Wild Years tour, and that is one of my greatest live music experiences. A few co-workers made The Opera House, though, and they're still reeling. I'm sure it was wonderful. Did you read about the Akron/Cleveland two-fer? Sounds amazing, with the Cleveland show starting after 1am? Google Eyeball Kid for details of all the shows.

It's a Guided by Voices forum, but a lot of other modern rock gets discussed, too. http://www.ragebox.com/dts

July 17th, 2006 Delmark Records has very sad news to report as our long time Delmark family friend and musician, Malachi Thompson, passed away yesterday morning at home, July 16th, 2006. Malachi (1949-2006) was a beautiful soul and an extremely kind man and will be dearly missed by so many people whose lives he has positively touched. Malachi was a brilliant trumpet player and composer, writer and jazz historian, and a highly influential advocate for jazz and arts education. As part of the 2nd generation of AACM, Malachi Thompson is best known for his innovative approach in combining free jazz with the discipline of bop and the emotion of the blues and gospel. Malachi sadly passed away from leukemia, which had been in remission for almost 20 years. Just like his main musical heroes, Coltrane and Lester Bowie, Malachi was more than a musician, but a musician with vision and purpose. Malachi's band Africa Brass with Billy Harper will be performing in a tribute to Malachi Thompson at the world famous Chicago Jazz Festival on Friday, Sept 1, 2006 from 6-7 pm at the Petrillo Main Stage. This will be a special tribute and very moving performance. I know Malachi was looking forward greatly to this anticipated event. No other details about Malachi’s memorial service are announced at this point.

Recent Rock lps that have been revving my stereo: Sonic Youth "Rather Ripped," which is their most melodic record, ever. It sounds like Sonic Youth being influenced by the bands that were influenced by Sonic Youth: Pavement, Helium, 18th Dye, Yo La Tengo. The National "Alligator," this one is a pure grower, it's gotten better to my ears with each listen. Glittering, shimmering guitar pop rock, with a singer in the baritone area. Three new Robert Pollard side-projects: The Keene Brothers, a collaboration with Tommy Keene, that is pure powerpop; The Takeovers, a long-distance collab with a bunch of Northwestern rockers, like Mudhoney, Quasi, and Chris Slusharenko; and Psycho and the Birds, an old-school lo-fi combination of boombox recordings, and studio stuff, with every song a post-punk nugget that's between a minute and two minutes long.

June 14 06 7pm Benny Golson "Time" James Moody "I Remember Clifford" Budd Johnson "Come Rain or Come Shine" Illinois Jacquet "It's Alright With Me" all from Chess Saxophones Gerald Beckett "Coral Keys" FluteVibes Hank Mobley "Mighty Moe and Joe" Hank Mobley Jim Cooper "This Could Be the Start of Something Big" Itchin' to Groove Allen Toussaint & Elvis Costello "Who's Gonna Help a Brother Get Further" River in Reverse Billy Kilson's BK Groove "Rabbit Kat" Pots and Pans Tineka Postma "Song for Sea-Tea" For the Rhythm 8pm David 'Fathead' Newman "Goldfinger" Cityscape Dana Landry "Soulful Bill" Journey Home New Stories w/Bobby Porcelli "Roll On" Hope Is In the Air: The Music of Elmo Hope Organissimo "Tenderly" This is the Place Frank & Joe Show "Sway" 66 2/3 Arturo Sandavol "Eastern Blues/Blues for Diz" Live at the Blue Note 9pm Bird "Ornithology" Bird at St.Nicks Al Haig/Stan Getz "Pennies from Heaven" Al Haig Trio/Sextetts Birdlanders "Indiana" Birdlanders Vol.2 Donald Harrison/Ron Carter/Billy Cobham "Easy Living" NY Cool Anthony Wonsey "Overjoyed" The Thang Greg Osby "Mob Job" Channell 3 Ingrid Jensen "Capt. John" At Sea Gerald Wilson "Musette" In My Time Virginia Mayhew "Sandan Shuffle"

It was rock music that got me back into the turntable, after over 16 years of buying CDs. Specifically, Robert Pollard and Guided by Voices had been releasing vinyl only stuff, demos, official "boots," and side-projects. I enjoyed listening to that stuff so much, I started buying the other rock artists I enjoy on vinyl too. Unlike most jazz labels, the independent rock labels are big on vinyl. Matador, Merge, Jagjaguwar, Secretly Canadian, Barsuk, and Luna are just a few of the indie rock labels putting out vinyl. This year Matador has been using the RTI pressing plant, and their releases are absolutely gorgeous. Cat Power "The Greatest," Belle and Sebastian "The Life Pursuit," Mission of Burma "The Obliterati" are the ones I have, and the packaging, the thickness of the vinyl, and the sound are wonderful. I'm really looking foward to the new Yo La Tengo "I'm Not Afraid of You, and I Can Beat Your Ass" in Sept. It should be the finest vinyl release ever for them, quality wise. Every week I check out the new releases at the local independent, and there's always a stack of brand new vinyl. I'm getting "Rather Ripped" by Sonic Youth on my next trip. And as I type, Luna Music in Indiana is shipping the latest Pollard projects on vinyl, The Keene Brothers "Blues and Boogie Shoes," The Takeovers "Turn to Red," and Psycho and the Birds "All That Is Holy." I'm geeked!

I bought my first car in 1980, a 69 Buick Skylark, for 125 bucks, it was rusting, with a trunk that wouldn't close. I used a bit of rope tied through the empty lock hole, and the license plate. I called it the Doorsmobile, because the guy who sold it to me had two Jimmy Morrison stickers on it. I drove it back and forth from Carbondale, Illinois and home to Michigan for three years before the radiator started leaking. Instead of replacing it, I travelled with several gallon jugs of water. The trip from SIU, in Carbondale, to Grand Rapids, was about nine hours. For a while I could drive the whole way, before refilling, but the leak got bigger and then I had to stop every two or three hours. The final trip I was stopping to cool it down and then refill every hour or so. Finally the car crapped out twenty miles from home, at about 3am; I got out and the engine was glowing in the darkness. There weren't flames, just this orange glow. I was travelling with a friend and we took off running, thinking it was going to blow. After a while we crept back, I looked in and the glow was gone. We waited until the cap was cool, put in some water, could literally hear it leaking and then straggled onward, made it home. The next day it wouldn't start. The block was cracked.

June 13 06 7pm George Shearing & Montgomery Bros. "Love Walked In" George Shearing & Montgomery Bros Coleman Hawkins "The Bean Stalks Again" Hawk in Hi-Fi Chet Baker "Pent-Up House" Chet Baker in Milan Dr. John Hair & New Connections "Sippin' at Billy's" When the Spirit Gets You Harry "Sweets" Edison "Helena's Theme" Live at the Iridium Bobby Lewis "It's Got That Swing" In the Forefront Herbie Nichols "Love, Gloom, Cash, Love" Love, Gloom, Cash, Love Jessica Williams "Finally Free" Billy's Theme Dexter Gordon "Home Run" The Resurgence of Dexter Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn "Drawing Room Blues" Live at the Blue Note in Chicago Art Pepper "Move" Art plus Eleven 8pm Roy Brooks "5 for Max" The Free Slave Duduka Da Fonseca "Janeiro" Samba Jazz in Black and White Dafnis Prieto "The Coolest" Absolut Quintet Yosvany Terry Cabrera "Rampa Abajo" Metamorphosis Willie Pickens "Lord, Whose Love Through Humble Service" Jazz Spirit V.2 Charlie Haden "It's Me, O' Lord Standin' in Need of Prayer." Steal Away Kalaparush Maurice McIntyre "I Don't Have An Answer Unless It's God" Morning Song Paul Chambers "Beautious" Paul Chamber Quintet 9pm Ben Webster "Jive at Six" King of the Tenors Sonny Clark "Tad's Delight" Sonny Clark Trio Slide Hampton "All In Love Is Fair" Spirit of the Horn Roland Kirk "I Wished On a Moon/Making Love After Hours" Here Comes the Whistle Man Kenny Dorham "Royal Roost" At the Cafe Bohemia Larry Willis "I Have a Dream" The Big Push Joe Henderson "Black Narcissus" Power to the People Steve Talaga "Miles Ago" Basement Alchemy

IMO, Elf always sounds to me like he's trying too hard to play hip and often comes off a little too stiff.. Even the talents of Washington and Nash couldn't get the tune into the groove zone. The mix didn't help either. Washington's tone was very muddy and Nash's cymbals and overall drum mix are mediocre at best.. I liked everything else I heard on the show.. Nice selections Scott! "Lift Off" is Elf's melody on Coltrane's "Countdown" chord changes. I played the alternate track, which is longer and slower than the master. Sorry you didn't dig it. I really like "Chuy's Challenge" on the record, which also has Daniel Sadownick on percussion.

June 12 06 7pm Miles David All Stars "Walkin'" Walkin' Bobby Schiff "Mode to Bud" Late Game Curtis Fuller "Up Jumped Spring" Up Jumped Spring Eldar "Daily Living" Live at the Blue Note Western Jazz Quartet "Jesse's Dilemma' The Mayan Suite Jerry Bergonzi "The Tomb" Tenor of the Times Roseanna Vitro "Tryin' Times" Live at Kennedy Center Mark Elf "Lift-Off-alternate take" Lift-Off 8pm Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis "In the Kitchen" Cookbook Vol 1 Jimmy Smith "Small's Minor" Cool Blues Killer Ray Appleton-Melvin Rhyne "Blue n' Boogie' Latin Dream Melvin Sparks "U Got Me" Groove On Up Freddie Hubbard "Hub Tones" Hub Tones Thelonious Monk "Evidence" Monk in Tokyo Lowell Davidson Trio "Dunce" Lowell Davidson Trio Art Blakey "Alamode" Art Blakey!!!!!Jazz messengers!!!!!

I greatly enjoyed the program, which was both entertaining and educational for me because, for some inexplicable reason, I've never heard the original recordings of the All-Stars, only the reunion discs in the 80s. (Although I might've heard a track or three from Lazaro sometime in the past two decades, and overlooked it). The original recordings far out-shine in capturing an ellusive energy. Great stuff. I have heard scads of records by all the individual members of the Lighthouse All-Stars. The root stuff has the stinkin' appeal, though. I'm going to seek that out. I loved the hour.

What are the other reissues, other than "Nonaah?" And is there an estimated time of arrival for "Nonaah?" I'm really looking forward to that, it's the lode stone in my Roscoe collection that has eluded me.

Nice playlist Scotty... I especially enjoyed the Hatza track.. It reminded me of the times I got to play with him and Bollenbeck when they were brought here several years ago.. You reminded me of Greg a month or two ago, Randy, and I remembered that moment when I was thinking of something to pair up to the McDuff. I searched on the web, and apparently he had a record out in 2001, and that's the last time his official website was updated. We never received that, and I'm going to check into getting it, and seeing what the guy's up to.