RDK

Great story, Chris! As for the Columbia box and its funky packaging, I ended up buying a jewel boxed promo copy and selling the official box.

If nothing else, that may be one of the unintentionally worst titles I've ever heard!

Monk's Basement Tapes!

As the former Gene Harris Fanatic, I can assure you that you would be incorrect. There are no redeeming features or moments on those albums. I beg to differ.

Maybe my least favorite of his 1970's BN work.

Thanks guys! Even after all these years on the 'net, my first reaction is always, "How the heck do they know?" Yesterday, a friend asked me how we'll celebrate. I told him we might go out to dinner with the girls if we don't attend a PTA-like meeting at their school tomorrow evening. Such is life now.

Seriously though: why?

It's like a karaoke track; you can supply your own vocals.

I can only imagine that the lack of any black artists on the Yoshi's comp was an amusing, ironic coincidence. I can honestly say that whenever I compile a compilation - such as the blindfold test discs - I never consider the race of the artist. When I first read this story, I laughed; I never saw it as a "race" issue. As for the follow-up piece, while I can't agree with its tone and presentation, I think it makes some good points.

57 records in ten years!

I couldn't wish for a better (well, at least funnier) birthday present!

Most labels are stoopid, and yet we find them useful nonetheless. Guy Hence the need by some for a Classical Music forum?

Looks like a Steranko.

The LP is still available for $9.

I'm not sure how "intellectual" my insight might be but I've found that a number of the free jazz artists that I initially had a hard time embracing got easier to listen to with age: both mine and theirs. I grew to really like such players as Archie Shepp and Pharoah Sanders not from their earliest (and arguably heaviest) albums of the sixties, but from some of their later albums, when their playing really mellowed but still had some free jazz "edge" to it. Now, Pharoah's Impulse albums hardly seem free at all anymore, nor do Shepp's albums of the early 70s. One can argue that stuff like "Creator Has a Master Plan" or "Steam" isn't free at all anymore - and maybe that's true - but either way they provide a very accessible entry point to artists who were typically considered "free." A few more examples of "free jazz" guys doing relatively inside albums: Check out any of Braxton's "Standards" discs. Braxton may be tough to get into, but hearing him perform familiar tunes really helps. I'm not sure if Andrew Hill is even considered "free" anymore, but I've found him to be a terrific waystation towards Cecil Taylor ("For Olim" is pretty accessible by the way). Guys like Von Freeman and Hamiett Bluitt can be really easy to listen to even though you might consider them a bit "outside," and while Marion Brown can definitely play free, his "Back to Paris" disc (available on emusic) is a delight. (Also check out his duo discs with Mal Waldron.) Sun Ra's music is often very accessible (blues-based and bop-ish) though some of it can be very outside as well. And then there are Mingus' albums with Dolphy. Who says free jazz has to lack melody and rhythm? I can't recommend emusic highly enough for anyone looking to check out some free jazz. It's a cheap way to try some guys out since many albums are only 2 or 3 tracks long and you can hear samples of every track. It's so easy to "take chances" and expose your ears to new stuff that way. I know it's turned me on to more free players than I could count that I nevre would have checked out otherwise if I had to drop $10-15 on a disk I might just as easily hate than love.

Haven't heard this one, but while I'm certain it's a fine LP (I really dig HT!) I'm not sure this is the place to start with him. Personally, I dig his trio sessions most of all, though Dark Tree is a tremendous live date.

I don't like itunes either - and in fact I hate them at the moment - but this is simply a function of their pricing structure. Do we complain when they have an import-only CD (that might cost $20-30) available for download for $9.99? Either way, emusic is better and cheaper for downloads.

You might try www.dimeadozen.org.

Thanks Shawn. No, I just have an Xbox that someone gave me and I can pick up a Xbox360 cable cheap, but it sounds like that won't work.

Haven't been to AAJ for many months now, but just checked it out for shits and giggles as they say. No problem accessing the forums, but the rest of the site seems to require a different account and/or password. Either that, or it doesn't believe me when I tell it my mother's maiden name (and I should know!). And when I try to create a new account, it won't let me use my normal password but requires something more stringent, with too many letters and numbers than I really care to remember for future use. It is a jazz site isn't it, and not a repository for atomic secrets? Anyhow, it's no longer worth my effort to even sign up...

Quick question: does anyone know if the Component Video cable for the Xbox360 is the same as the one for the regular Xbox? Are they interchangable?

But that's the thing: the "crap" isn't the norm. The early episodes do rely heavily on the untalented, but that's done in a humorous way and the no-talents are ridiculed for it. Personally, I find it fascinating (from a psychological, socialogical, whatever level) that there really are parents out there who tell their tone-deaf kids that they truly are god's gift to music... only to see them fall on their faces in public. Yeah, I suppose the show encourages this, but I don't see the harm. As for the competetion part of the program, I don't see it so much as a contest among amateurs as a means to let the would-be/could-be pros rise to the surface amidst mediocrity. I think one thing the show is really good at (even though it's not necessarily its objective) is showing just how thin the line is between good and bad, success and obscurity.

Not so hard being the smartest guy on that island. But one must give props to anybody who can make a radio out of a coconut.

I know it can't compare to your woes, Lon, but I understand completely in my own way. My kids have grown up watching the show, love it, and it's one of the few shows we can all watch as a family. I've taken much delight, especially this year (the girls are six now) that they've really developed their own favorites and don't just dig whoever Sheri and I like. I found it amusing that their two favorites this year were Antonella and Sanjaya, but I was also encouraged that it meant that they were developing their own preferences and passions.