gmonahan

"Battlefield Earth" won the Razzie for Worst Film of the Decade, and Travolta for Worst actor. Its status as one of the worst films of all time has remained virtually untouched. I watched it once with a friend, and we found it largely unintelligible and unwatchable (it's very dark--not in plot, of which it has little, but just hard to SEE). To me, it lacks any of the the fun of the really STOOPID bad films like Ed Wood's classic "Plan 9 From Outer Space" or my personal favorite, "They Saved Hitler's Brain." It really is a hopeless piece of shit, reminiscent, no doubt, of the source material and its talentless author. gregmo

Finally watched it last night. It made a pretty powerful argument that the whole thing is a fraud in just about every sense of the word. I thought the stories about Hubbard were particularly interesting, though my guess is that Philip Seymour Hoffman's version in "The Master" was far more interesting than the real guy! gregmo

Not commenting on the nuttiness or not, but NOT a "demigod." The Word incarnate, the Son of God, not a son of a god in the Greek sense. ejp, saw lots of evidence of "missing something and hoping to find" in these friends and cohabitants. And I was too. . . just was not looking to Scientology to find that, and found what I needed independently of Scientology and left that place and started my real life. Seems like a distinction without much of a difference, Lon, but I sure won't start a discussion of religion here! I am very much interested in the documentary. It's getting a fair amount of play in social media. gregmo

It is. Thanks for that heads-up, Lon! gregmo

Frankly, I tend to regard all religions as kind of nutty (I mean, really, a demigod born to a Palestinian virgin in the reign of Augustus??), but I do confess that some are definitely crazier than others, and Scientology is at the top of the list. I recorded the show and plan to watch it tonight. gregmo

Very fine trombonist. I like "One 4 J," his tribute album to J. J. Johnson. gregmo

with you on that. Nope, the album is listed on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TTZPY12/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=293F9OCSQSYYV&coliid=I2RF15TIMV1D2Y gregmo

Along with Jerry West, one of the great stars to come out of West Virginia and its wonderful university. I'm a graduate degree alum of that fine institution! RIP Hot Rod! gregmo

So, 2 cds-worth of what, alternate takes? Studio chatter? songs that didn't make it on to the original album? The description is more than a little ambiguous, but, thanks for the heads-up, Lon. What can you tell us based on the Japanese edition you have? gregmo

Anita O'Day, Complete Verve/Clef Sessions, disc V. gregmo

It's a great record. I think a lot of people really rose to the occasion when they played with DeFranco. My sense is that he could be pretty intimidating as a player. gregmo

Really? Well, I think eleven is probably enough for me! gregmo

Weren't there alternates on the OJC reissue? Yes, two alternate takes, one of "I Can't Believe that You're in Love with Me" and one of "All the Things You Are." About 12 minutes of extra music. Edited to add that there are about 11 bonus tracks altogether on the late 50s-60 Pepper OJCs. I'd think that would cover the lion's share of those on this new issue, no? gregmo

Interesting. In the James Bond field, I would have picked Goldfinger, which I recall (it's been 30+ years since I read it) as a pretty engaging book and is certainly a top shelf Bond film. Does any one have any opinion on Gone With The Wind? I've only seen it once just because it seemed an obligation. I would never feel the need to see it again and certainly never wanted to read the book. I think I would include Elmer Gantry. It's the only Sinclair Lewis work I've ever read. I thought both it and the film adaptation were good. Goldfinger was a good book, make into a pretty good movie, but Spy Who Loved Me was a lousy book, so almost *any* movie would have been an improvement! gregmo

So, are all these new alternates going to be issued in cd form, or only as downloads? gregmo

"The Spy Who Loved Me" "Patriot Games" gregmo

Coleman Hawkins, "The Essential Sides Remastered, 1934-36, Disc C. Some of Hawk's interesting European recordings, including some with Django. gregmo

I'm reading (and mostly enjoying) Herbie Hancock's autobiography right now. Thinking of getting hold of Clark Terry's next. Both from the library. gregmo

Just want to point out a silly claim by Mosaic - "Thanks to Mosaic's ability to bundle collections from numerous labels and archives..." - Universal/MCA/Decca own Commodore. It is one company, one license. Well, they were half right, Chuck. One company, but I think they did draw recordings from a variety of sources, i.e., archives. gregmo

I'm bumping this one to respond to this query. I just saw "Keep on Keepin' On," and besides the fact that it had me in tears half the time, what struck me was that this film is the almost perfect "anti-Whiplash." In the great Clark Terry, we see a master teacher and mentor who loves his students, works hard with them, encourages them and thereby makes them find whatever greatness is in them. He does not torture them or abuse them or cheat them, and the music comes out of this particular film as an act of creativity, love, and genius. His students come out of the experience of working with him unbelievably better musicians AND human beings than they were when they started. Certainly, the movie has its maudlin moments, but it sure makes a great antidote for the sterile, mean, regimented view of the music in the *very* fictional "Whiplash." gregmo

That would be very, very hard. It reissues "Sketches on Standards" and "Contemporary Concepts" whole, but it draws various pieces from a bewildering array of singles, EPs, and albums. Because this was a fairly early set, the booklet does not list the LPs the way later Mosaic booklets have done. The only way one would be able to trace them is to go track by track in the discography, note the numbers (like "T462" or "H525") and then figure out what albums correspond to all the numbers! gregmo

Many thanks for the responses! gregmo

Has this one ever been reissued on cd? I have it on an ancient Alamac LP. gregmo Yes. It was available briefly. Details? gregmo

Has this one ever been reissued on cd? I have it on an ancient Alamac LP. gregmo

GRP issued some of the music. A good selection of the best of the Commodore material was issued on the 2-cd "The Commodore Story" (with a really fine essay on the label by Dan Morganstern, who has apparently also done the notes for this set). More of the Eddie Condon Commodores could be found, also on GRP, on Pee Wee Russell, "Jazz Original." A selection of the Condon Decca material is on GRP Decca Jazz, "Dixieland All-Stars," and I have a chunk of the Bud Freeman Deccas on Classics, "Bud Freeman, 1939-1940." I imagine there are other Classics releases with more. All of these are out of print, but you can often find them used for not too much money. All that said, having all of this great music in one set will be wonderful, and I've already preordered it. You can see the complete discography on the mosaic records site, but here it is, anyway: http://www.mosaicrecords.com/discography.asp?number=259-MD-CD&price=$136.00&copies=8%20CDs gregmo