Guy Berger

They're not real. And neither is the brain. ← YIKES... if she needed to get a fake brain and this is what she ended up with, things must have been pretty dire to begin with! Dig the body though Guy

Looking forward to this! Guy

Don't have enough knowledge or familiarity with the Messengers' live music to make an informed choice, but keep in mind that there are two "Jazz Corner of the World" sets on Blue Note: the "Meet You atJCoftW" (w/Wayne) and the "AtJCoftW" (w/Hank). Others to add to your list: various dates on Riverside from the early 60s and both volumes of Three Blind Mice (all are the sextet with Wayne, Freddie, Curtis and Cedar). Also, the two volumes (Buttercorn Lady and one I can't remember) from the Lighthouse in '66, with Keith Jarrett on piano. Out of the stuff I've heard, I'd rank the Birdland '54 recordings slightly above the Bohemia '55. The "Meet You" is poorly recorded (though certainly listenable), but the music is superb and has really grown on me. Guy ed: In terms of "historical importance" (rather than quality of music), I think the Birdland and Bohemia recordings should be at the top of the list.

That's not a bad album, but the two I've heard on Impulse (Man from Two Worlds and Passin' Thru) are better IMHO. As far as earlier groups -- the live performances by the quintet with Buddy Collette and Jim Hall are excellent. It's interesting to hear a young Eric Dolphy discovering his sound on the Original Ellington Suite, though the rest of the group isn't that great. Guy

Yeah, but Olivier took his trade list (which is, AFAIK, the best "unofficial" discography out there) offline a while back. I vaguely recall an interview with Redman (maybe on the recent KJ DVD -- can someone who owns this check?) where he said that initially he played half the year with Keith and half with Ornette. Maybe he mentioned a starting year? Thanks for the info, Mike. Guy

Next one on the queue is the Jazz Crusaders Lighthouse '68 CD -- if I like it I may pick up the Crusaders box. guy

The Way Back Machine bails me out. Here's the final known (to me) recorded gig of the trio. The first known recorded gig of the group with Dewey is the Village Vanguard appearance on Fort Yawuh. Guy

Alas, Olivier Bruchez's list of Keith Jarrett setlists seems to have disappeared (or evaded my google attempts), so I was wondering: does anyone know when Dewey Redman first appeared in concert with the Jarrett/Haden/Motian trio? I know they recorded together in the studio as early as 1971, but I have a trio-only live recording from late 1972 (Munich). Did Dewey only start gigging with them in early 1973 (c. Fort Yawuh)? Guy

Walker will always be a chucker and Williams still has issues (not as much as in the past), but these guys are huge upgrades on the nobodies that Miami had last year. This is a really good team. The only potential bump on the way to title contention is whether an aging Shaq can still last a whole championship run. He broke down last year by March or April and I could see the problem repeating itself in 2006. Guy

I just started renting "The Prisoner" from Netflix. After hearing so much about it I found the first episode ("The Arrival") a little disappointing. Guy

Sounds good, hopefully I can do it. One thing we COULD do is all chip in off-site with a few bucks and set up our own payouts. It would be a bit of a pain to set up. Alternatively, and given the nature of this board, we could replace cash by CDs. Guy

Different styles of play and sets of skills. You obviously need both if you want to win tournaments. If you are planning to play low-limit ring games, then the latter is better because it's easier to make money. Guy

Happy birthday, Lon! Guy

No doubt -- I just meant that Garbarek's tone on this tune particularly bugs me, and adds a certain "smooth jazz" tint to the tune. Guy

I was wondering if there are any other recorded performances of the beautiful Keith Jarrett ballad "Country", aside from that on My Song and the solo version he did on SNL. I'm especially interested in any versions with a more robust saxophonist than Garbarek, who's a little too KennyG-ish on the original. Guy

As soon as yourmusic gets this, it's going into my queue. Guy

Thanks a lot for posting that interview, Mike. I'm glad I wasn't drinking anything while reading this interview or it might have come out my nose when I read this:

I have volume 2 as well. Nice music though I've only listened to it a few times. Guy

Herbie or McCoy at the piano. Freddie or Woody instead of Lee. Lee and Cedar were right for Joe in '63, not in '67. Guy

Tolliver will definitely have to be picked up in the future. The Tyner contains amazing music -- his best work for BN -- but I already have most of it on individual CDs. The Williams looks interesting but I'll wait for more comments on that one. Agree that the "future projects" page deserves a .

Jumping the gun a bit here, but this article discusses the cast for next year's "24". Minor spoilers -- they don't discuss the plot, but they do mention who may or may not be back in January. I can't wait!!! Guy

Most of the titles I want aren't on sale! Guy

There's a nice free jazz sequence in Rosemary's Baby performed by (I assume) K. Komeda's group w/Tomasz Stanko. Guy

I'd be up for a free, or low buy-in (no more than $5) tournament. Guy

The Jones book is excellent, though it's only aimed at low-limit ring games and is of limited use for those interested in playing tourneys or no-limit. As a plus, it's well-written -- something that I wouldn't say for some other poker books I've read or leafed through. I also have Sklansky and Malmuth's "Advanced Hold'em" book. Lots of interesting stuff in there, but not that applicable for the kinds of low-limit tables the beginning player should be looking for. If I had to pick 5 recommendations for the beginning low-limit ring game player who is too lazy to actually read a book, I'd say (in descending order of importance): 1. Be able to quickly identify the nuts from the board. 2. Play very tightly before the flop. (You shouldn't play overly tight, but I'll go on a limb and say that few beginnings err on the side of caution.) Corollary: unless you're on one of the blinds, NEVER play an unsuited ace-rag -- in this game, these hands are worse than garbage like 7-2 and 9-3. 3. Play very aggressively when you think you have the best hand. 4. Understand odds (and implied odds) for various draws. 5. After the flop, if your hand isn't the best hand and isn't likely to improve, fold it ASAP. Guy