Guy Berger

Same here -- I think of this band as what Miles's group would have sounded like if in 1955 he'd hired the 1980s version of King Crimson instead of Red, Paul and Philly Joe. Guy

Both Sanborn and Botti can play when motivated, though obviously "jazz giant" is over-the-top. Guy

All of the recordings from this quintet's spring 1960 tour are worth hearing. Some of Trane's greatest playing. There's one in particular on "Bye Bye Blackbird", from Paris, that stands out in my memory. Guy

On everything besides Iraq, Hitchens is fairly far to the left, though not as far as he used to be. I guess political moderation just doesn't agree with some people. Guy

It's a shame you aren't still with us, JC, but thanks for your amazing music. Guy

Last weekend I saw

All four of these are studio albums. Guy

whoops There's the other Vanguard album on JMT, which I haven't heard but is getting reissued by W&W in a few weeks. In addition there are quite a few unofficial recordings of this group (+ guests on occasion) from 1983 to 2003 floating around. Several of the later ones feature "Crepescule with Nellie". (And they've also done it a few times when I've seen the group at the Vanguard.) Sound of Love is DAMN GOOD (even relative to the other JMT/W&W I've heard, and those aren't too shabby), so I can't wait to hear the companion volume. How is the Tokyo disc? Guy

On MiM they don't solo on this tune, whereas various live versions I've heard feature solos by Lovano & Frisell. So yeah, it gets a big thumbs-up from me too! Guy

Koestler or Hitchens? I think to be the opposite of Hitchens politically you have to end up somewhere near Pat Buchanan. Guy

Hmmmm... I recently got the Lighthouse '68 album and while it's nice, I don't think I'll be rushing out to buy this box. Guy

If any of the BN releases I intend to pick up include copy protection, a hearty FUCK YOU BLUENOTE! from me too. Guy

I think that despite some major fireworks on "The Eternal Triangle" and an excellent "On the Sunny Side of the Street", this CD doesn't quite "live up to expectations" for me. Or stated another way -- if I had to pick favorite CDs with Rollins from this period, this wouldn't be near the top of the list. It's a nice album, but not a classic to my ears. Curious to see if anyone else agrees. Guy

I started a thread a while back about performances by others of American Quartet pieces. (Too lazy to find a link.) Not as many exist as you would expect given Jarrett's excellence as a composer, but there are a few noteworthy examples (Branford Marsalis doing "Rose Petals", Steve Khan doing "Common Mama"). The most bizarre (which I haven't heard) is the Flying Luttenbachers' performance of a theme from the Survivor's Suite. Guy

He's also quite funky on the acoustic. One favorite example is the intro to "Inflight", from the album Backhand. It's one of my favorite facets of his playing, though like everything about Jarrett's playing it can get excessive. Guy

Not sure who has read Arthur Koestler's excellent (and unsettling) novel Darkness at Noon, but Christopher Hitchens has a very interesting review of his work on Slate. Guy

Interesting point. I remember thinking the same thing when listening to Tord Gustavsen's latest CD at Tower. Guy

I only have two of the boxes, Plugged Nickel and IaSW -- otherwise I've gone for individual albums. As far as the music, I have a heavy bias toward the 2nd quintet material live and solo. The Gil Evans collaborations, along with the '50-'53 recordings for Prestige and other labels, are my least favorite Miles. Guy

I've been listening to this album quite a bit over the past few days and I have to say that its brilliance mostly eludes me. There are definitely a few "moments", and it's enjoyable in a lightly melodic way the whole way through. I can understand why this album would have mass appeal, but as far as solo concerts I think Bremen & Lausanne are better. I guess I'd describe it as "ear candy", but not even particularly tasty. Anyway, Jarrett's work in ensembles is much more enjoyable IMHO. Guy p.s. One more thing -- I'm sure some people will toss in the usual quips abou Jarrett's personality, mannerisms, etc. Yawn. That's not interesting, save it for another thread.

I just saw this movie:

Only because I don't think they played as much Monk the last two times I saw them. And after all they don't do as many standards or (as far as I can tell) any of the Bill Evans material. Guy

Welcome to the neighborhood. Guy

Well, I guess it depends on what circles you run/ran in. Me and all the other unconceived babies... I haven't really had the chance to dig into the BS/SN catalogue yet (I might have only 4 or 5 CDs -- will be rectified over the coming decade), but I don't think anybody's mentioned the Redman/Blackwell duets album (Red & Black Live at Willisau), which is very good if you like those two musicians. Guy

I don't think so. The Ballads stuff definitely gets dull after a while -- not a lot of variety between takes. The number of alternates on the deluxe Coltrane is excessive. On the other hand, the deluxe ALS is essential. Guy

I was surprised at the heavy Monk content -- it seems like they play more Monk every time I see them. They didn't play anything from the recent album though I'm guessing that this was a result of it being only the third night of the gig. Guy