Guy Berger

I think it’s worth reading up on prior flu pandemics. I know it’s sometimes a little Pollyannaish to say “we’ll get through this” but... we will, even if there are hard times ahead.

Jim, 1) Most people (80%) will have flu-like symptoms and then recover. 15% require hospitalization (more serious than the flu) due to difficulty breathing, but will also recover. 5% are critical cases - need to be in the ICU. This is much more serious than the flu. 2) We have really limited ICU capacity in this country. If we blow through that (and it's a real risk), then we start facing the scenario encountered already in Wuhan and Italy. It ends up cranking the death rate way up, from 0.5%-2% to 3%-5%, because a lot of those ICU cases can't be treated. Doctors and nurses will also get sick and miss sleep. 3) The "not yet a killer on the loose" claim is incorrect... because we have been massively undertesting, the true number of cases is way higher than the official count and doubling every ~7 days.

Randy, you're making the right decision. I really hope the festival planners consider cancellation given the growing public health risk. A lot of transmission of this illness relies on close contact which is inevitable in large public gatherings. I also hope people reconsider "the flu is a greater risk" (which seemed possible earlier when there was a chance this would be contained to China)... this is a much more dangerous illness with higher mortality rates and no immunity in the US population. Those at risk should be extra careful; those that are less at risk (younger, healthy) should follow public health measures to slow down transmission.

"I Fall in Love Too Easily" was included in the August 1969 studio performance of "Sanctuary". After that, the two were paired regularly in concert. But I'd be curious why Davis specifically paired "Sanctuary" w/IFiLTE rather than another ballad. (It was genius IMHO...) IMHO we're suffering from at least some selection bias on the 2nd quintet recordings. Davis would have been more inclined to play a semi-fixed setlist on European tours (where fans hadn't seen him for a long time) than in the US. I think the performances of "RJ" and "Seven Steps to Heaven" at the 1966 Newport Festival, or the performance of "Dolores" in Berkeley during the spring of 1967, or various "oddball" standards like "Yesterdays" and "Who Can I Turn to?", suggest he was open to wildcards. (Also, think of the performances of "Footprints" and "Paraphernalia" at the Fillmore West in the spring of 1970.)

IMHO, yes, a lot of the larger events at the very least be cancelled, and there may be eventually be a need to limit use of indoor spaces. This is a very contagious illness; the danger here is lots of people congregating in large numbers, contracting it, then reinfecting a bunch of other people. Even if you can't fully contain it, there are big public health gains from slowing the spread. The "everyone should stay in their homes" comment is a straw man. Clearly there is a vast difference between being in close proximity with 10,000s of people and walking around outdoors.

IMHO this was the right decision.

I think the fact that Columbia recorded both of these around the same time highlights why the 70s was such a great era for jazz. Love them both. The Inner Mountain Flame had a huge impact on my transition from a rock listener to a hardcore jazz listener.

I’m really enjoying the November 1971 Swiss gig on this box. The absence of Jack DeJohnette is felt in a big way but Ndugu plays “good enough” and the rest of the ensemble is awesome

I love the McGregor album. A nice combination of experimentation and tradition, African American and South African music. The Ellington is imho very good, though it tails off in quality after the first 3 classic tracks. The Getz is nice but not a favorite.

Lots of worthwhile Blue Note from the 70s! IMHO the Hutcherson is the most “well rounded” of these 3, though the Morgan has the highest peaks (esp due to Bennie Maupin). I like the Byrd! It’s lightweight but enjoyable. Like Weather Report or Bitches Brew when you don’t want to think too hard 🤣

Between the Cohen and last year’s Lovano/Crispell, ECM really leaning into the hideous album art thing

The first two sessions are IMHO great (discs 1 & 2 in the box). Ben Webster is great, Bird is great, Stan Getz is great, Count Basie is great... The 3rd and 4th (CDs 3-5) I enjoy less.

I feel bad for James Moody

So good hearing Pharoah Sanders and Joe Henderson side by side, even if it isn’t either dude’s strongest performance.

I've been listening to the June Fillmore East box recently, and am enjoying it, but these March gigs with Wayne are SO MUCH BETTER

I love the breadth of suggestions on this thread!

I've been listening to quite a bit of SM over the past few weeks and here's my current read. First, the original run of albums, at least the early ones, is really great. Albums 2-4 in particular are wonderful to listen to. Second, the archival releases I have (Noisette, Virtually) show that as a live unit, they weren't in the same tier as the top American jazz-rock contemporaries that were mining similar terrain (esp Weather Report and the Miles Davis bands). That's not surprising because the caliber of improvisers/visionaries was so exceptional in the elite American units, i.e. Soft Machine does pretty well if you bracket it with the next tier of Americans. Also worth adding that they definitely brought something new and innovative to the table. There are flavors in the SM gumbo that you don't get when you listen to WR or the MD bands.

Definitely not my favorite pianist and I don’t love everything he did (nor am I interested in exploring his catalogue in depth), but he was on a lot of classic records and provided a lot of value added to my ears. Would rather listen to 5 min of OP than 5 min of Bill Evans. I think the comparison of OP to AT is off, maybe Freddie Hubbard is a better analogue? I think Ethan Iverson’s post on him is pretty useful in terms of explaining why OP has raised such hackles over the years: https://ethaniverson.com/rhythm-and-blues/oscar-peterson-and-miles-davis/

Zawinul is the clear #1 I’d probably put George Duke #2. Víctor Feldman #3. (Though if studio appearances count, I’d put Wynton Kelly above Feldman)

IMHO this is a phenomenal album and arguably would have qualified as a classic in any BN era

Yes It may have to do with Cannonball’s playing gaining depth as the 60s went on, but imho this isn’t one of their best albums. If I ranked Cannonball pianists/keyboardists Timmons would be in the bottom half of the list.

It’s a different concert than the ones in the bootleg series and imho a notch above them (though they are all great). Isn’t the item on amazon and Spotify just an unauthorized bootleg? (With wildly incorrect track names....) Why not just download the widely-available recording? BTW I don’t think Felser meant to imply that Tony Williams plays on this recording but... the drummer is Jack DeJohnette

No... the 25 minute length of “Sanctuary” is due to the fact that the track names and timings are wildly incorrect relative to the actual music It’s extremely well documented! There are hours upon hours of concert recordings, albeit not by Columbia

Agree w/Larry. I’d listen to all the Prestige stuff (+ Blue Train) before this, but if you’re hungry for more after that you won’t be disappointed. Love this characterization

He’s on the July 1970 bonus tracks to the CD edition