Guy Berger

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

Yeah, I'd say it's pretty much worth getting anything on the label by artists you like or think you might like. They had a very strong run. ← I don't disagree. But why is that? I mean, what was it about Black Saint/Soul Note that often resulted in an artist's best work? ← I think this is a particularly interesting question because BS/SN don't have the same label mystique as BN, Impulse! or ECM, which would potentially bias assessments upward. Guy

I hate saying this, but I thought the second set was even better! A monster version of "Epistrophy" and a long, loose "Yahllah". Definitely catch them again. Setlist: 1: standard?/Jack of Clubs/Crepescule with Nellie/Misterioso (very countrified)/It Should've Happened a Long Time Ago/Good Morning Heartache/Drum Music 2: Round Midnight/Epistrophy/Monk's Mood/Yahllah/Drum Music

It's worse than this, Jim. Contrary to what administration water-carriers like Michael Goodwin are saying , the federal government response was not just "slow." The senior officials weren't just slow in their response, they seemed to have no conception of the situation on the ground well after the public at large had a grasp of the facts (see: Convention Center). And once they did become apprised of the facts, they decided to focus on political damage control instead of, you know, actually saving people's lives. Agreed. Guy

In answer to that question, I just saw on CSPAN that Haliburton was awarded a $500 million, no bid contract, for re-construction in N.O. And we were all wondering where Cheney was. ← Is this a different contract than the competitive-bid contract we were discussing in another thread a few days ago? Guy

I've said it several times in this thread, but worth repeating at least 50 times more: it's a tragedy that the administration put more effort into covering its ass than into saving lives in NO. Guy

A few of us have been discussing catching a show of this engagement this week. I'm pretty much stuck going this Thursday (8th) so if you guys decide to go another day, no hard feelings -- but it'd be cool if a bunch of us met. Guy

I saw her a lot: including getting ripped by Anderson Cooper for thanking all the other politicians for theri help. ← Maybe you are confusing her with Senator Landrieux? Guy

I think the correct question is not "should New Orleans be rebuilt?" but rather "should New Orleans be rebuilt as a major residential center in the exact same spot rather than in a safer area a few miles down the road?" I agree that most areas in the country face at least some risk of natural disaster, but even within those areas some sub-areas are more dangerous than others. For example, New Orleans was a much more vulnerable area than nearby areas of MS and AL. (A related question could be asked about parts of the southwest -- is developing areas that increasingly encroach on dry forests that burn every summer really a good idea?) A secondary question is whether, if people do choose to locate in the area where the old New Orleans was, whether the government should impose some sort of cost relative to if they chose to locate in safer regions nearby -- i.e., a smaller amount of financial assistance. Guy

I'm curious about the content as well -- anybody have a short review of this album? Guy

It's been known for quite a while that Manhattan is more likely to be a target for terrorist attacks than, say, Omaha. Guy

Leaving aside issues of sensitivity, there's absolutely no racism in what GA Russell wrote. Guy

Agreed. Guy ← Are you seriously agreeing that they should be "tried"? Not sure if there are laws for criminal negligence. Sorry to disappoint. Guy ← Alright, here's the wikipedia entry on criminal negligence. Guy