Guy Berger

I cleared 24% of free space on my hard drive. The hard drive refused to completely defragment! Motherfucker! Guy

I wouldn't be so sure. Guy

I'm only slightly familiar with this period of Miles's career, but "informed sources" tell me that the best stuff was live. Hence, if you are interested (and loaded) you should skip the studio recordings and go for the Montreux box. Guy

Nice album, I picked it up a while back and am finally spinning it. I think Firebirds is better, but both are worth hearing. The solo introduction to "Lost Generation" is indeed fantastic. Guy

I disagree. The Cellar Door band is fantastic. The On the Corner band had its moments but Miles definitely knew what he was doing when he revamped it into the Dark Magus-Pangaea-Agharta lineup. Guy

I liked that poem. (I'm not a poetry connoisseur.) Randy, do you mind posting some more? Guy

I don't like these as much as Beethoven's sonatas... That said, the first movement of the last Schooby sonata is really great. Guy

Not just that, but an Earl Klugh compilation. Is this really the best use of Mosaic's resources? Guy

It did for me, but that's because I put a lot of tabasco sauce on the CD before eating it. Guy

I like it, and you will too if you like the moderately adventurous (not avant garde, not hard bop) BN albums of the period. That said, it didn't blow away as much as it did other people. Guy

Judgment, Andrew!!!, Dialogue (a Bobby H album) He appeared on Dialogue, Hank Mobley's No Room for Squares, and Joe Henderson's Our Thing. Guy

Both Noj and SS1's recommendations are right on the money. Black Fire is my second-favorite Hill. A combination of great compositions and great musicians doesn't go wrong in this case. Passing Ships is my favorite of the late 60s Hill recordings for BN (I haven't heard the Mosaic Select) -- you can hear the Hill vision projected onto a larger ensemble. Guy

My thoughts -- hey, if they want to reissue this stuff, best of luck to them. That said, I really wonder what they're thinking. Mosaic has never before shown interest in "contemporary jazz" and this change of heart seems insincere. It really seems like a gimmick with the primary purpose of (relative) commercial success. Ghost's question about Mosaic's dilution of their brand* is on the money. Companies sometimes paint rosy pictures of other pastures and as a result spread themselves too thin, forgetting their values and core competencies and what made them successful in the first place. We've been down this road before. Let's hope that's not the case here. Guy

This is a combination that will work on teams without a legit big man. Detroit has been playing OK since he showed up. This is definitely a pale shadow of the championship Pistons team. Guy

Did Chewy get booted off the board again? Guy

There's a lot more to this concert. The highlight is an abstract collective improvisation (Miles sits out) on "This". Guy

Trust me, there will be many other auditions. In a few months you'll forget this audition ever happened. guy

Amen. Guy

Who is Andy? Guy

A really "tight", controlled style. (In contrast to Elvin and Blakey.) Also, a real precision and attention to the sounds coming out of the drum kit. I probably haven't paid enough attention to Roy Haynes. Guy

Did Tony ever talk about being influenced by Max? I hear a lot of similarities in their playing. Guy

My feeling as well. I'm not sure why anybody (well, it is chewy...) would get worked up about this. FWIW, I was just thinking that Tony Williams's 60s BN albums could have easily been early ECM releases. Guy

Larry -- I'm not judging it as an interpretation, I'm judging it as music. Guy

I'm not sure if this phrase equates to the oft used, 'trying to polish a turd', but, yes....if the song is a bit cheesy this band's attempts at giving it credibility have to be admired. Or you think not? I think not, because the hook progression in the song is so annoying/nagging that any "tasteful" attempt to play "Send In The Clowns" must attempt to significantly modify that phrase or skate away from it altogether, but when you do that, either there's nothing left or you're not even playing the song. I have a copy of "Goodbye" (don't ask why), and, as I recall, the interpretation there is close to both of those alternatives, but that damn phrase finally turns out to be unavoidable. I'd say that the only way to handle it is the way Albert Ayler might have. I guess I am lucky not to be familiar with the original song. I think their interpretation is really nice. Guy

Keith Jarrett's Fort Yawuh really knocked my socks off when I first heard it. I picked it up during an Impulse! binge a few years back and it turned me into a huge fan of this group. Guy