Guy Berger

Happy birthday Wayne. Only 28 more years til we'll celebrate your 100th! Guy

RUMORS, RUMORS: (Also posted to the KJ setlist. This one sounds even more ridiculous than the first, if only for the Joshua Redman bit.)

Except for the title track -- that one really does cross a line as far as I'm concerned...

Here's what I found:

Keith Jarrett's solo intro to "Roads Travelled, Roads Veiled" (Fort Yawuh)-- I'm iffy on his solo concerts, but some of his solo work within group confines is masterful and this one is stunning Charlie Haden's bass solo on "Ramblin" (Change of the Century) Joe Henderson on "Zoltan" (Unity) -- maybe my favorite Joe H solo Joe Henderson on "Teeter Totter" (Our Thing) & "El Barrio" (Inner Urge) John Coltrane on "Creation" (from the Half Note 1965) Chick Corea on "Masqualero" (Paris 11/3/69) -- the best Chick Corea solo I've ever heard Wayne Shorter on "Mademoiselle Mabry" (Filles de Kilimanjaro) -- I like how he allows the recurring melody to fill in the gaps in his solo Wayne Shorter on "So What" (Plugged Nickel) -- burning Wayne Shorter on "Arabia" (Mosaic) Horace Silver on "Blowin' the Blues Away" -- my favorite H Silver solo Booker Ervin on "I.I. BS" (Mingusx5)

Wayne Shorter on "Message from the Nile" (McCoy's Extensions) -- one of the greatest soprano saxophone solos I've heard

Yeah, Andersen and Christensen pop up on a few CDs in my collection (no disagreement about them being heavyweights), and I have one album by Molvaer. What does Masqualero sound like? How is Andersen's album with Vasconcelos and Ralph Towner? Guy

Jeez, we waited 86 years for as championship, and people are already hating us? ← I think people hated you before you won the Championship!!! ← You read my mind! Matthew, I hope you're right about the As. Guy

I have to go with the Yanks winning the Wild Card -- the A's recent meltdown doesn't bode well for them, but Boston looks too strong to blow the AL lead. I wish I could enter a second vote for "fuck the Yankees and the Red Sox", though.

I was fishing around in that Tower garage sale and there were 5 or 6 ECMs by artists that aren't well-known in the states. You know, the kind where the artists' names include lots of punctuation. I'd seen some of the names before (Penguin Guide?) but AMG usually didn't have good reviews. Any thoughts or descriptions would be useful. Not planning to pick up any of these soon but I am curious. Some of the names: Masqualero Jon Balke

Jim, could you talk about this a little more? Mercy, Mercy, Mercy has some of this on the first track ("Fun" I believe) -- Cannonball's playing dipping into avant-garde waters. Does the new release have more or less of this kind of stuff? In the recent Zawinul biography, he talks about how the band's music really started getting adventurous once Charles Lloyd joined. I don't remember whether what I've heard from Fiddler on the Roof has the more adventurous Cannonball sound, though "74 Miles Away" from 1967 definitely has that vibe -- Cannonball takes a very intense, inside-outside solo. Maybe I'm a little weird in that I like this style of Cannnonball's playing better than the late 50s/early 60s style (which I like too, don't get me wrong). I guess the moral of the story is, pick up Money in the Pocket soon. Guy

Wow... a very eclectic set of CDs for sale. Lots of Italian jazz (some Black Saint and Soul Note titles) as well as lots of those intriguing weird European ECMs that never make it out to the states. (Masqualero, Jon Balke, etc) I bought: Joe Henderson & Chick Corea at Montreux (w/Gary Peacock & Roy Haynes) Tomas Stanko, Matka Joanna Dave Holland, Seeds of Time Paul Bley with Gary Peacock Mat Maneri, In Full Cry Any thoughts on the Maneri & Stanko? I'm a little pissed at myself for ordering these CDs, but ECMs for $9!!! plus I'm guessing that at least some of them are out of stock. Guy

I've seen it. Definitely some interesting bits, particularly when Chuck is on the loose in Europe. Very hard to believe any of the spy stuff was true. More like Andy Kauffman pulling your leg and never letting on that it was a gag. ← Fun movie though! Guy

Booker Ervin's on "Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting" (is it just me or did Mingus bring out the best in Ervin)

Brana, Welcome to the board! Guy

No clue. The guy who posted this on the email list will have egg on his face if it turns out to be baloney. I'm just reproducing it here because it's interesting and I'm bored. Guy

Can't say whether this is reliable or not, and this is the way rumors get started, but the following was posted to the Keith Jarrett email list:

Wayne Shorter's solo on "Directions" (Miles Davis, Live at the Fillmore East Disc 2) Keith Jarrett's solos (both introduction & main) on "Inflight" (Backhand)

My favorites are Eric Dolphy, and Bennie Maupin (primarily on Bitches Brew). With Eric there are so many phenomenal examples, but I think his solo on "Hat and Beard" is my favorite. Guy

Aside from a dangerous lack of cowbell, you're gonna dig Black Fire. I was listening to it a lot last week and it's goooooooood. Since they just shipped the Jazz Crusaders '68 Lighthouse, I think Brownie & Max at Basin Street is next. Guy

I don't have anything especially interesting to add to what's been written above, except that there are several hundred Fantasy CDs I have on my mental wish list -- and that's not even including the several hundred I probably haven't thought of yet. As Jsngry said, I can't buy 'em if they aren't in print. Guy

I wish Blue Note and Verve had reissue policies as good as Fantasy's. Guy

They're not bad, and it's hard to argue with the prices. However, they can take forever to stock certain CDs (particularly new releases) -- I had some annoying experiences with a CD that "would be in stock in 10 days". After the 10 days were up, they told me it would be in stock in another 10 days. Guy

I dunno, I've always thought Christian McBrie is too cheesy. Guy

And besides, it's impossible -- we all know that when Charlie Parker "died" he really went into the Witness Protection Program, got plastic surgery and emerged as "Ornette Coleman" shortly thereafter. (I mean, come on, you thought "Ornette" was a real name?)