Guy Berger

You should check it out. It is a very fine recording by Wynton. I'm not a big Wynton fan per se, but I'm surely not on board with this hard core Marsalis bashing and denigrating him as a trumpet player. I have noticed this seething vitriol towards Wynton for a while and much of it seems unwarranted or either grossly exaggerated. Saying the man cannot play is simply dishonest or just stupid. As I said, I'm not a big fan of Wynton (I think Bradford is much more creative and open) and I have only his first four recordings (lost interest after that) but I don't agree with the "he's not a good trumpet player" mantra. It's simply not true. Amen. I haven't heard the whole album, but the four or five I've heard is outstanding. The group (both Marsali, Kirkland, Moffett, Watts) is incredibly tight. Guy

Happy b-day, David. Guy

When I first moved to the east coast for grad school, I was one of the only people who used the word "dude". Now everybody around me does it as frequently as I dude. I mean, I do.* I like to think I did my own little part in debasing the English language. Guy *When I was typing that sentence I really did type out "as I dude".

Try Downtown Music Gallery or OmniTone -- they usually carry Soul Note / Black Saint CDs. I picked up the Dr. Cyclops at a Herbie Nichols Project concert at Lincoln Center. Guy

Given some of your past comments about Sonny Rollins, this post is rich in irony. Guy

It's extremely unlikely that the Rollins/Monk CD will be deleted, and I think the Dolphy will hang around as well. Guy

Nobody's said it yet, so here goes: Lee Morgan. A great trumpeter, but he probably made too many records. Guy

My friend Robin is bitter because I've cropped her out of this photo... I can't find the original. I was almost totally sober when this picture was taken.

I'm thinking of breaking down, eating $2 and ordering an Eric Kloss from DeepdiscountCD. But since this OJC binge is a serious moral lapse on my part, maybe I should hold off. Guy

I guess the jig's up. I was hoping to keep alldirect.com a secret so the items I want would stay in stock.

I emphatically second this recommendation. I picked up this album almost by accident, but it's great. Especially "Parisian Thoroughfare" and "Memories of You". Guy

Any comment on Don Friedman's OJCs? Are any of them particularly essential? I don't know anything about this guy but am intrigued by reviews in Penguin and OJC. Guy

I just placed an order for 10 Fantasy CDs. I will be buying 10-20 more next week. Uggh.

Due to the "Fantasy panic" I broke a personal rule about how many CDs I buy in a month and picked up 10 CDs. And I'll probably be buying at least 10-20 more titles next week. I feel pretty guilty about it. I guess I'll just have to cut down on CD purchases as a result. Anyway here's round 1: Jaki Byard: Sunshine of My Soul, Quartet: Live!, Last from Lennie's Woody Shaw: Blackstone Legacy, Song of Songs Steve Lacy: Evidence, Reflections Oliver Nelson: Straight Ahead Cecil Taylor: Lookin' Ahead Lee Konitz: Duets

Jesus, I'm making a list of stuff I want and I'm already up to about 30 titles. If I had to pick only one or two Hawk titles, which ones would fit into both the "very essential" and "likely to vanish" categories?

Since I figure that few of us are going to lay down thousands to acquire a bunch of OJCs, I think this thread will be useful as well. Some stuff that is certain to stay in print: most if not all of the Miles titles most if not all of the of the Trane titles most of the classic Bill Evans stuff on Riverside most if not all of the Monk (Riverside + Prestige) most if not all of the Sonny Rollins most if not all of the Cannonball the two Ornettes on Contemporary oh, and don't forget the Creedence

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