Big Wheel

Thanks Lon! Any other highly recommended titles?

Are these the latest domestic releases of Sonny Meets Hawk and Far East Suite? I don't do Japan or gold discs but would like the best sound possible given those constraints.

I learned very early on, before the age of 7 and possibly earlier--I remember someone showing me the moves at 5 or 6. Most of what I picked up came from I.A. Horowitz's "Chess for Beginners." Despite learning so early, I suck. I dunno if it's that I never really practiced, but I blunder constantly whenever I play (maybe once a year these days).

The Rouse was my second choice. I've heard a bit and it's good, but nothing beats more Larry Young in my book.

You learn something new every day with AMG's "factoids"... "Dutch avant-garde pianist Misha Mengelbergand American composer/multi-instrumentalist Anthony Braxtonare both intense and devoted chess players. Braxton even made a living, briefly, as a chess 'hustler' prior to joining Circle."

Sweet. I really dig The African Beat so I bet I'll like that one.

Well if comedian Richard Lewis is to be believed about the size of Shaq's "6th man," I can sympathize!

Maybe even the Lizard Lounge would be a good fit, too. Organissimo meets The Fringe--that could be interesting!

Damn it, damn it, damn it...I'm thinking of taking advantage of this promotion by getting a 6-CD set and the Art Ensemble box but I'm leaning much more strongly toward the Mobley and Tristano/Konitz/Marsh than I am toward the Hamilton (I don't have any Hamilton, though I have heard Forestorn, one of his recent records). Am I being a fool to let the Hamilton set go? Is there any chance in hell that BN will reissue some of the sides someday?

Mike, just out of curiosity--how do the Holiday for Skins sessions stack up against this and Blakey's other albums of the period?

The GRE is basically the SAT, on steroids, and with a writing section, right? On the reading comprehension parts it may help to skim the passages first to get a general feel for what they are about. Then read the questions, then go back and read the whole thing more closely. On the math, force yourself to work just a little bit faster than feels comfortable. That way you'll have a little time left over to check your work. Based on what I've seen of Bagatellen I doubt you'll have too many problems with the verbal and writing. Also, eat eggs the morning of and stay hydrated. Protein really does help.

If you go to Boston, you may even be able to swing a weekday gig at Regattabar or Scullers (the two big clubs), though it might be a long shot. I have contacts at both locations so if you're interested, email me. I would be happy to put together an on-air interview too. John: Do you know if the Green Street Grill still does music? I'm pretty sure that Ken Clark's organ trio used to gig there.

I thought everything short of an R rating was merely a suggestion, not a ban on kids in the theater. "PG-13: Parents Strongly Cautioned." Can anyone point me to Ebert's quote? All I can find after searching Google News and Lexis-Nexis are a couple of sentences where he yells at the MPAA for viewing sex as more objectionable than violence. But that's nothing new for him.

Fela's a tough one to top. The thing I like about this record is how a lot of it was approached more from a hip-hop perspective (the breakbeats on "Zombie," for example) rather than just trying to reinvent the wheel with the rhythms of Afrobeat.

With Common, Roy Hargrove, D'Angelo, Baaba Maal, Archie Shepp (also taking a vocal turn, no less!), Organissimo's buddy Ron Blake, and many other guests. If you are at all into Afrobeat or quality hip-hop, you NEED this record. Plus at least some of the profits go to fight AIDS, as they do for all the discs in the Red Hot series. Check it out at http://www.redhotriot.com . (Has anyone here seen the DVD? I'm thinking of buying it.)

Dude, April Fools' Day was almost four months ago. Even with the "serious" emoticon, I'm not falling for that one. What next, that the word "gullible" is written on my ceiling?

Me too. Looks like I may pick it up with the Mosaic promotion next month, if finances allow it. Ghost, which of the live records would you say is your favorite?

Looks like the alto player's name is Dan Higgins. According to his AMG page, he's been on a ton of records in the last decade. Unfortunately most of them are total crapola.

Here's one I turned up whilst googling for something entirely different... http://www.shit.ru/

Here comes the Whistleman was a Label M issue, not Verve. BLACKNUSS. Actually, I haven't heard the whole record. But if the rest of it is like "Old Rugged Cross"...damn. It don't get much funkier than that. Warning: it may not jive with your political persuasions.

Hey Evan, what part of Miami are you from? I used to live right around where the old Parrot Jungle was.

I saw your reply in the other thread but wanted to wait until I had listened to the album again before responding. First of all, what stuff do you usually listen to? Are you comfortable with Ornette? How about late-period Trane or the Art Ensemble, or Mingus? If some of these more adventurous styles don't appeal to you, you might want something a little more straight-ahead (say, Andrew Hill) to help you ease into music like Jang's. That said, I don't really find this music to be all that "out" or unstructured--and my tastes aren't generally squarely in the avant-garde camp. Which places in particular are you having trouble with? Parts of "Meditations on Integration" can certainly get raucous but I can hear the melodies that Murray and Newton are playing off of one another--it isn't just skronking, at least to my ears. My suggestion: with this album, don't try to focus on individual melodies or "solos" at first. Instead, try to absorb the textural/emotional changes that take place within each piece as a whole, listening to the whole band. In my opinion, Jang is carefully orchestrating what he wants out of each player; they're all just great enough to express themselves so freely inside what is actually a fairly tight framework.

PS: good luck finding the Anderza in particular. I think I have seen that one only once and that was several years ago, possibly before these were deleted.

A few too many on that list, which includes some PJ titles not released as "West Coast Classics." Curtis Amy/Dupree Bolton - Katanga Earl Anderza - Outa Sight Chet Baker - Quartet with Russ Freeman Bob Brookmeyer - Traditionalism Revisited Teddy Edwards - Sunset Eyes Jack Montrose - Sextet Bill Perkins - On Stage Bud Shank/Bill Perkins Bud Shank/Bob Cooper - Blowin' Country Jack Sheldon - Quartet/Quintet Cy Touff - Octet and Quintet plus the 2 disc Gerry Mulligan "Original Quintet with Chet Baker" should cover them all. So far I have the Amy, Baker/Freeman, Brookmeyer, Shank/Perkins, and Touff and am looking for the Edwards. Not a bad one in the bunch and it's hard to pick a favorite.

Conflict was just put out by Fantasy this year. You should be able to order it directly from them if you can't find it anywhere else.