Guy Berger

Arrrgh... I've been putting off an OJC binge because I'm trying to whittle away the backlog, but maybe blowing $200 might not be such a bad idea at this point. Some of my favorite "limited edition OJCs" are The Jaki Byard Experience and Firebirds (Sonny Simmons & Prince Lasha). Also Eric Kloss with the Corea/Holland/DeJohnette rhythm section. I assume more of the Jaki titles are essential? And also Sonny & Prince's The Cry? What about the Eric Kloss In the Land of Giants (with Jaki, Booker and Alan Dawson)? Guy

That little spider marmoset or whatever the hell that tiny thing in the photo is called looks pretty vicious as well. Guy

I enjoyed these two photos: Also don't let your kids ask you what these rhinos are doing

Yes. A very accurate description of this music. I hear Monk and Trane in Smith's music recorded live at Small's. Due to the Trane-ish sound of Smith's organ I can sense a bit of Larry Young. I know Larry Young arrived after Jimmy Smith and John Coltrane. It makes sense that Young would have been affected by both players. I wonder how much influence Coltrane had in 1957? Would it have been enough to make an impression on the style and technique of Jimmy Smith? Or did Smith and Trane develop a sameness of style, so to speak, due to other developments that affected jazz as a whole? Not sure, but Trane played with Jimmy before he joined Miles's group. Guy

Wow, I'm embarrassed for that guy. Guy

Anything that's out of print by Bobby Hutcherson, Andrew Hill, or Jackie McLean. As little currently-available stuff as possible. Any of the currently OOP Chick Corea BNs!!! PLEASE!! Guy

I didn't vote for Pepper Adams, but he has one of the coolest bari riffs ever on Mingus's "Moanin' ". Gary Smulyan had a lot of fun with this when I saw the Mingus Big Band. Guy

interview I think the interview is really illuminating -- Fripp usually doesn't talk about his jazz roots. Guy

I think John Medeski uses a Wurlitzer. Or did. Guy

Interesting. This is a case where I would have definitely preferred to hear an acoustic piano. Guy

Have to vote for Chick. Was just listening to the Nov. 3 '69 "Masqualero", where he takes a five minutes solo -- yowza. Herbie and Joe come in 2nd and 3rd. Guy

Man, I wanna go to Europe. Though I guess a couple of days in Southern California aren't a bad substitute... Guy

Bingo! Guy

I more or less agree with Shrdlu on the '56 vs. '57 distinction, with the caveat that Trane got much better during 1956 (compare his playing on the May and October sessions with Miles's quintet). Still, his playing on Tad Dameron's Mating Call is great, and it's a lot of fun to hear him matching wits with Sonny on "Tenor Madness". Guy

I haven't heard the whole album, but "74 Miles Away" (the tune) is awesome. Cannonball's solo is intense -- maybe invents Gary Bartz's style. Guy

You can hear Ron Carter torturing a cello on McCoy Tyner's Expansions. Guy

Are they ever going to reissue the Joe Farrell album with John McLaughlin, Chick Corea, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette? Guy

I really like this one. As a bonus, I think BMG has it -- you might be able to get it for cheap. The version of "What Is This Thing Called Love?" is awesome. And now that Chris mentins it, so is "Chelsea Bridge" -- the only thing that's missing is Ben Webster. Guy

I went to see this tonight... way better than I expected. But given how much The Nation is whining about it, I shouldn't have been surprised. Guy

Yeah, it was pretty ridiculous. But at the same time, it seems like all the ESPN guys are blowing it out of proportion. We'll look back in June and it won't be anything other than a footnote. And as for Crazy Ron, it's all Don Nelson's fault! Guy

A great album. Herbie reminds us why he's one of the finest Rhodes players in jazz. Guy

His contributions to Miles Davis's Dark Magus at Carnegie Hall are really nice, though according to him he had much better performances with that band. Guy

This is the 50th anniversary of the legendary Christmas Eve session at RVG's studio. The session is split across two albums: Obviously any stuff from these CDs is fair game, but I'd like discussion to focus on the 6 tracks recorded on 12/24/54. I'll be posting various links and info as the date approaches. Guy

His playing on the first tune ("Mrs. Parker of K.C.", I believe) is mind-boggling. Other favorites by Roy: the tenor-drums duet on "Impressions" from Trane's Newport '63, Now He Sings Now He Sobs Guy

I haven't heard the whole thing, but "La Fiesta" is smoking. Guy