Guy Berger

I have the first two albums as well as the most recent one. All are enjoyable though I'd say the first two are a tier above. I will say that this isn't music for people that want something reflective or "emotionally deep"; it's high-quality, fun overachiever/smart-aleck music. Guy

RIP Bobby - you were on a lot of amazing recordings.

I agree with fasstrack. In general his interviews could be interesting/enlightening but probably not intended to be taken 100% literally.

Love live recordings. Not interested in this.

Fivethirtyeight had a good article on this - Cavs were 4th best this season. Though they were the best "4th best" of all time.

I had a fun conversation with one of my work colleagues when the Warriors were trailing 3-1 about whether the Thunder had significantly underachieved in the regular season*** or whether the Ws had experienced unusually bad luck during this series. (Also probably that Curry was still sub-par post-injury.) My colleague was leaning toward the former explanation, I thought the latter explanation was pretty important. My general opinion is that in sports (as in many other facets of human life) people tend to overweight the significance of recent unusual events. FWIW, if the 4-3 series outcome is an accurate reflection of the probability of Ws winning any given game, the probability of the Thunder going 3-1 in any given 4 game stretch is nearly equal to the probability of the Warriors going 3-0. Both are ~18%, i.e. unlikely but far from impossible outcomes.

Dan, sorry you had to deal with this. This is why I'm intensely skeptical about "investment" in real estate. (Which was obviously not your motive here - just a general comment.)

It's a testament to good packaging and marketing that TB&TAT has such reputational dominance relative to its 2 Prestige siblings. (Not a criticism.)

I'm finally getting around to exploring the music of Japan & David Sylvian. I thought Japan's early albums were OK but mostly forgettable. But Tin Drum is quite good and what I've listened to of Sylvian's solo work thus far (just the 80s stuff) is damn good. If you like Peter Gabriel, the more experimental side of David Bowie, 1980s King Crimson and RIL-era Talking Heads, it's essential listening.

Follow-up to this discussion - in the liner notes to the reissue of BEN WEBSTER MEETS OSCAR PETERSON, it's noted that Webster liked to say that he was NOT one of those saxophonists who knew the lyric to every ballad. Was this Webster just engaging in a humblebrag?

I agree, he's extremely underrated relative to some of his contemporaries (cough Ron Carter cough)

The Josh Redman album is great!

So I finally got around to picking up this album. It's really good - I'd put on the same level as his best ECM work.

I've been spending a fair amount of time listening to this over the past few weeks and am not crazy about it, TBH. When I was younger and really into prog rock I probably would have appreciated it more. BTW, I love Weber's two subsequent albums (Yellow Fields and Silent Feet).

Out of the Getz/Dizzy collabs, I like SITTIN' IN the best. Love the contrast between the 3 tenor soloists.

Hi all, I'm going to acquire a copy of Monteverdi's famous Vespers. The two versions I'm considering are: John Eliot Gardiner w/the English Baroque Soloists and Monteverdi Choir Andrew Parrott w/the Taverner Consort I've heard and liked performances from both groups, so I imagine neither would be a mistake, but maybe experts here have a preference?

Beautiful dog, Dan. Congrats!

Well if it was up to me he'd have gotten the Pulitzer for This Brings Us to vols 1 & 2

What do folks think about this? It's a nice summation of Zooid's work, though not necessarily their best.

Sounds good. It's unfortunate that Wynton & Branford ended up financially sponsored as "young lions" instead of folks like Hemphill, Murray, Blythe, Lake, etc - people who wanted to make music "within the tradition" without simply recreating it.

Am I right to assume these albums are essential? I have Lenox Avenue Breakdown already - are the other 3 equivalent in quality? Also, what is the James Blood Ulmer reissue mentioned?

I really enjoy the new one. Not quite as good as ToMH or MtB (I haven't heard WWD) but absolutely worth listening to if you like the musicians involved. 3 years later: revisiting this. Nice album.

Are you thinking of the ghostly organ sound on the track? I never really thought of that! But I'm pretty sure the answer is no, LY did not play on that track.

this is awesome. hooray!

not specifically picking on Soulstation here, but KB's sendoff is a good reminder of how our society rehabilitates celebrity rapists.