Guy Berger

If you had asked me at the beginning of the season whether a Shaq/Kobe/Karl/Gary team would lose to the Spurs in a playoff series, I would have said no way. But at this point, I have a hard time imagining the Spurs doing worse than winning the series in 7. 6 sounds about right. By the way, isn't Bill Simmons the funniest writer alive? Check out this jewel from his most recent column: The bit about Doug Christie later in the article is excellent as well. Guy

They're all pretty remarkable, though I like the live 1969 dates better. I've always thought of this band in terms of an arc that starts with the May '63 Seven Steps to Heaven sessions (where the Hancock/Carter/Williams rhythm section appears) and ends with the final Lost Quintet dates in '69. Guy

I like ESP a lot but I think that unlike the later albums, Miles's playing isn't quite as powerful. Miles Smiles is just an unalloyed masterpiece, IMHO. Water Babies is actually a compilation of two different sessions. The first three tunes feature the quintet with Carter and Hancock, from 1967; the next three tunes, recorded over a year later, feature a sextet with Holland, Hancock and Corea (the latter two on electric pianos). My favorite piece on this is Shorter's "Two Faced". My rec would be to get Nefertiti, Miles in the Sky and Filles. That should give you some understanding of how Miles's music evolved between June '67 and September '68. Then you can fill out your collection with Water Babies. Guy

FWIW, the Pistons split with the Lakers, Spurs and Mavs this year ... Hey, all due respect for beating the Lakers and Spurs (how did they do against Sac and Min?) but I can't see them winning 4 in a playoff series. Maybe against the Mavs. Guy

Barring some sort of disaster, I will be at both. Guy

I can't see the Pistons (or Pacers) winning a playoff series against any of the top 4 West teams. They are totally outmatched in terms of talent. Guy

By the way, did anybody else notice that after 15 mediocre-to-awful episodes, this show is suddenly awesome again? Guy

I'm definitely planning on going to one of the gigs. He was great when I saw him last May. Guy

Slate's Fred Kaplan offers a cranky, but not especially unfair assessment of Wynton's career. I haven't heard The Magic Hour. Guy

You could probably make the case for Solid, with Elvin, McCoy, Joe Henderson, James Spaulding and Bob Cranshaw. Though to be honest, despite more-than-competent playing he's out of his depth in this group. Guy

I'm thinking of buying this album. (I'm a big fan of the Coltrane Quartet's 1965 recordings.) Claude once wrote an enthusiastic recommendation. The reviews (and a sound clip of "If I Die Before I Wake") suggest that Trogdor... er Pharoah is completely burninatin' on this disc. Anybody else familiar with it? It's either Solomon's Daughter or Bill Frisell's Have a Little Faith. Help me make the right choice. Guy

One of the Half Note dates (3/28/65) in the tree is not in Wild's discography. This is the date with the 20 minute Trane-Elvin duet on "One Up, One Down". Guy

The Trane-Ali duets are absolutely essential, of course. There are also some fine Trane-Elvin duets on "Vigil" and various live recordings from '63 and '65. Check out the Dewey Redman / Ed Blackwell duets album on Soul Note. Guy

Horace Silver

By the way, Slate has a fascinating article about the science behind this movie. Guy

I have been itching to dip into Ben Allison's catalogue but can't decide whether to start with Peace Pipe or Riding the Nuclear Tiger. I figure I'll get both eventually. Which one is better? (I'm leaning toward Nuclear Tiger since it has Ron Horton and Ted Nash.) Guy

Last night I saw this movie, written by Charlie Kaufman (same guy who wrote "Being John Malkovich" and "Adaptation") and starring Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, and Kirsten Dunst. It was not quite as wild as BJM but more human, if that makes sense. Guy

VV, Live in Japan, Live Trane: the European Tours

I saw them in December -- they were great. The group I saw included Jack Walrath, David Kikoski, Jaleel Shaw, Craig Handy, Conrad Herwig, John Stubblefield, Seamus Blake, and Gary Smulyan. Guy

Yeah, I think "Mind Garden" is listenable. Parts of it are good, parts not so good -- it's one of the weaker songs on the album (along with McGuinn's "CTA 102", the one about the aliens). But Crosby also co-wrote "Everybody's Been Burned" and "Renaissance Fair" to the same album, so we'll forgive him. My favorite Byrds albums are #1 and #4-6. The second and third seem a little rushed and unfinished, with typical mid-60s rock album filler. Guy

The Beatles are an easy first choice for me. I would also have to second Bev's comments about the Byrds -- their early albums are a major piece of work. (Though they're all a little short!) Other bands I really like from that period are Traffic, the Who, the Band, and Pink Floyd. I like Cream, but feel like they never reached their full potential as a band. Guy

Amen -- it is an incredible, incredible album. I think the only ones I like better are Filles de Kilimanjaro and Miles Smiles. If we go beyond a top 3 to a top 10, other albums I really love are Kind of Blue, Milestones, the Plugged Nickel box, Bitches Brew, In a Silent Way, Round About Midnight, and Cookin'. Guy

Just got back from seeing this. Talk about intense! (In fact, I thought this was a more intense movie than Mystic River.) The plot is flimsy, but I don't think that's what this movie is about -- it's about the emotionally harrowing experiences of three people. Penn's character was the least interesting, but Watts and Del Toro were spectacular. Guy

This is actually a pretty good plan for getting rid of spam! Guy

The Half Note performances from '65 are among the most amazing Coltrane performances anywhere. "Creation", "Song of Praise" and "One Up, One Down" (with a monster Trane-Elvin duet) will peel the paint off your walls. Guy