Guy Berger

The flutist is Becky Friend, Alan Silva's then-girlfriend (early '70s). Conception Vessel is a really, really good date. ← Just listened to this a few times. I agree about the quality of the music, some very nice stuff on here. It reminds me a lot of Tony Williams's 2 albums for Blue Note. I'm looking forward to Tribute, which should arrive in the mail any day now. ed: It's interesting how Motian's compositions bring out KJ's Bleyian influences. Guy

By the way, I didn't mean to imply that if Monk isn't playing a "difficult" classical piece "properly" (which he may very well be doing -- my prior is skepticism -- but I don't have realplayer and can't download the clip) he doesn't have "technique". Just that the whole "Monk can play Chopin, of course he has technique" argument bugs me, it seems to concede the bogus argument that Monk's "regular" playing was somehow technique-deficient and that legitimacy comes only playing Chopin, or playing like Bud. Guy

I guess I don't really buy this interpretation. Lloyd's quartet made music that straddled soul jazz, free jazz, and post-bop -- nothing sanitized about that, it was just the music they were making. I agree that as a saxophonist wasn't one of the giants of the period, and that he's not in the same class as Wayne, Trane, Sam Rivers or (at his best) Ayler. But I don't think his late 60s playing is any more watered-down than that of Pharoah Sanders. I definitely agree, though, that he was overhyped at the time. The (maybe excessive) reaction against him afterward was a natural response to that hype. Guy

A question about yourmusic... I joined last night, and noticed that I can't put multi-CD sets in my queue. Is it possible to use these as monthly selections? Guy

Wheat I also like rice

I thought this article was pretty funny:

My favorite Eric Clapton on ECM is the one he did with Keith Jarrett. Guy

Chris, you're a lucky bastard Guy

That was brutal. Spurs better learn how to play basketball again if they want to win this series. Guy

Dan, This is a live CD. Assuming that Stefan has heard most of Wayne's recent live recordings (extremely well circulated), he may very well have heard the entire CD. Guy

Two of my favorites are the two Charlies, Mingus and Haden. Guy

I don't think it's Lloyd's best for ECM, but if you like the other ECMs you'll probably like this one. Some great stuff on here -- "Blood Count", the Silvio Rodriguez tunes, "Amazing Grace", the flute tune on the second disc. Parts of the second disc ramble. Guy

Another Sports Guy column: ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Hey, the Pistons know that to have a real chance of winning this series they need to induce some key injuries. But seriously, I'm not sure how bad that Ginobili injury was -- he's playing tonight. The Pistons know where to hit him tonight... Guy

Is this an unusually difficult Chopin piece? How well does Monk pull it off compared to classical pianists? Guy

Standards are rare from '69 onward. There's the ubiquitous "I Fall in Love Too Easily" duet between Chick and Miles, usually as an introduction to "Sanctuary" (just like on Bitches Brew). "On Green Dolphin Street" appears once, as do "So What" and "Walkin'". There are 3 or 4 recordings of "Round Midnight", 2 of "Milestones". Esto es. Guy

I agree that there's a lot of emphasis on Vitous's playing, but he's an interesting player. I wouldn't have complained if the ratio of Vitous to McLaughlin & Henderson was a little lower, but it's not like you're listening to Ron Carter torturing a cello or something. Guy

Very interesting, Jack, and a nice complement to what we have on recordings. Any chance you have a stash of audio tapes lying around? Interesting that they played "Freedom Jazz Dance" and "Mood" live; neither of those tunes appear on any live recording. I didn't realize "Joshua" continued to be played after ESP was recorded -- it appears several times in '63 and '64, never again afterward. Also, I'm kind of surprised that you don't recall hearing any tunes from the later albums -- "Masqualero", "Nefertiti", "Riot", "Paraphernalia" all crop up quite a few times in the recordings. Did you see these gigs in clubs or in one-off situations? Guy

Agreed. Pistons played great; the Spurs played terrible. I'm guessing that the teams will split the next two before San Antonio wraps things up in #6. Though there's a small possibility of San Antonio wrapping things up in 5, and a slightly smaller probability of the Pistons winning the next two. Guy

Yeah, I think it's from October. Unusual lineup to say the least; the only minus is that Joe H, who absolutely kills on this, only appears on two tracks. Guy

I like his contributions too. (On the other hand Keith would agree with Kari.) And unlike Lon, I like a fair amount of John M elsewhere, though not everything. Lon, do you like Infinite Search? Guy

Some of their stuff is alright. I have Flight of the Cosmic Hippo and it has its moments. I heard some other stuff (after Howard Levy left the band) and it was much weaker. Guy

He knows what's under these basketballs:

That brings to mind a funny story. A prof here was telling me that he was in the hospital a few years ago and was somewhat surprised when a friend of his brought him a box full of Tour de France tapes. Guy

Jack, Have you heard any of the many unofficial recordings of the group? How does this release compare to those? Guy